Don Pepin Garcia, series JJ Maduro

I enjoyed this bad boy in Greg Bennett, my 2003 Alero, while catching up with my bro on the phone. I had to roll down both windows due the immense amounts of smoke it produced -- and I usually embrace that sort of thing.

The stats:

• Appearance - 9 \ Classy look and red, gold and cream label.
• Burn - 8 \ Gave it a minor touch-up a couple times towards the end, nothing major.
• Draw - 9 \ No problems.
• Plumage - 10 \ Unbelievable amounts of smoke. That sort of thing really makes me feel like I am smoking a great cigar. A few times halfway through, I thought the smoke might have smelled a little twangier than desired, but the copious amounts of it just overpowered any such concerns.
• Flavor - 8.5 \ Really enjoyed this cigar. It was potent the whole way through. It started with a heavy coal taste that actually left a heaviness in the back of my throat. Halfway through it seemed to include (more aromatically than in flavor) a bit of a twangy cheese. Weird, I know, but there you have it.
  
• Overall - 8.5 \ I quite enjoyed this smoke -- and I'm sure it helped that it was the first one I've had in awhile experienced in a halfway enclosed environment, but I think it was a solid stogie to begin with.

In the grand scheme of things, I might not seek this baby out at the prices it runs for -- but I definitely enjoyed it and wouldn't turn one down.

Joya de Nicaragua Antano

Joya de Nicaragua Antano (not sure on size-thin and short)




This is a short review for a short cigar. Strong. Very strong. I can't identify any specific flavors-not one. Instead, this cigar delivered a full on attack on taste buds (and, I think, my body). This cigar reminds me of when Ryan and I were looking for the hottest hot sauces...and we ran across Dave's Insanity sauce...and decided that sometimes, the hottest is NOT the best.




Rating: very difficult to rate. I couldn't smell the smoke after the first few blasts to my sinuses...and the flavor was impossible to rate as well. The construction was good...and I can see myself eventually liking this cigar if smoked it regularly for a few days or weeks. However, I'm certain that all other cigars would taste like cardboard and my poor taste buds might never recover!

This stands in stark contrast to the Don Pepin Garcia JJ Rosado (White Label) that I had last night...the JJ had some power but it also had some nuance-in it I could recognize at least three different flavors (jalapenio pepper, mocha, and coffee)...whereas this damn La Joya was a donkey punch to the face.

I'll probably buy another (a big one!) to try to get Seth to smoke and roll through his nose...but I'm staying clear of these dudes for me!

Oliva Master Blends III Double Robusto

Oliva Master Blends III Double Robusto

Shoulda been a perfect smoke...warm Sunday afternoon in January, great cigar...nice cold Boddington beer...but I started the smoke riled up and pissed off (why, I don't even remember)...I remember thinking when I lit up "Should I even try to relax and enjoy this cigar? Will this bad boy temper my foul spirits or will my bad mood ruin the stogie"?




Turns out that the stogie conquered...and really improved my mood and day. However, I am certain that I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been upset when I started.

The stogie has a very colorful band-looks like a picture of a tobacco farm with lots of color. You can't tell from looking at it, but it is sort of an "almost box press", squished a little from the top in order to make the stogie "thinner" on the vertical axis and thicker on the horizontal. I really like this type of press-makes the cigar feel heartier.

From the Oliva website, it says that the binder and filler are Nicaraguan and that the wrapper is Conn Broadleaf. It also says that it is super fancy, super sexy, and that only cool guys should smoke it (or at least that's the way I read their marketing).



The prelight aroma on this stick is good-smells like a maduro. Upon lighting, the draw was perfect and the smell was very aromatic. Plumage was solid (though nothing compared to the Alcazar Ry was smoking-he was shooting smoke out faster than Anne-Marie can belt out the words to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which is saying something.




There's Ry, enjoying his Alcazar before work.



Here I am, enjoying the Master Blend III while experimenting with a new form of mustache. Yeah...I shaved it this morning!

As for the stogie...this is a really good stogie. Constructions, plummage, aroma, and flavor are all top knotch. The flavor was a rich maduro with some hazelnut nuances. I kept remarking to myself how rich and buttery it was. The "wide press" effect is really nice and I wish more stogies were like this (wider horizontally and thinner vertically). The only complaints I'd offer is that it is pricey ($12 at one store in KC where I saw it) and that the stogie doesn't change much. I found myself kinda hoping for a transition during this cigar and I didn't experience it-what you get it very good but it stays the same throughout the smoke.


RTR Quick Review: 9.3

Sol Cubano Artisan

Here's a review done by Ryan (Jr!) on a "barber pole" cigar that I had given him for Xmas.

It’s 2:41 p.m. on January 8, 2009. The day is beautiful, very little wind and it’s about 60 degrees. I woke up about 1:00 grabbed some oatmeal for breakfast and thought what do I want to do before I have to go to work at four. Yes, I could’ve done some work around the house, ran some errands or even went to see my girlfriend who’s in town for a little while, but it would seem the Sol Cubano Artisan Blend was my destiny today.

I’d been telling my dad for awhile now that I wanted to try out the barber pole designed cigars and on Christmas he gifted me with a box of five Sol Cubanos. I’m about half way into this cigar and it’s been great ride so far and only seems to be getting better. It’s a mild cigar; mild of course should not to be confused with boring. This cigar has been a good since I lit it up, but now as I’m in the middle of it the taste just kicked up as it does with most cigars. The interesting thing about the Barber pole design is that as you hit the different wrappers the taste of the cigar changes. I think everyone should try this cigar.

Ratings:

Taste: 9.5 (excellent taste)
Aroma: 9.5 (smelled amazing)
Wrapper: 7 (cracked in a few places, didn’t make it so I couldn’t smoke it though)
Draw and smoke output: 8.5 (just a little tight and a medium amount of smoke)
Band: 9.5 (masterfully done)

Review by:
The DC Fumador

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion (torpedo)

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion (torpedo)

Warning: This review may not be suitable for all viewers. This cigar met a tragic and violent end.

Here's the setup...home brew, warm New Year's Day (50 degrees F), and the sole survivor of the ill-fated La Joya Endeavor. Let me explain...




It was late in 2008 when my bargain hunting eye discovered what I believed to be a good deal on La Joya Nicaragua Celebracion cigars. My research had indicated that the cigars would be one that my brother Eric and I would enjoy and thus I created a perfect plan-We would split a box of these stogies and both be better for it.

But like many brilliant plans, the Devil is always in the Details...

The cigars arrived from Cigarbid at Eric's Kansas City location dry and broken. He gave me half of these sad sticks. I examined them and I had to toss all but one of the units-they had been savaged by low humidity, rough shipping...who knows? The one I saved had a tiny crack but I hoped that it would still prove to be a decent smoke...and since it was the New Year, I thought I'd embrace hope and go for it! After all, the stick had been loving cared for for over a month in my humidor-now was the time to see what it was made of!


This is how the stick started.


But almost immediately after lighting, this crack developed and worsened. I was worried but the nice peppery flavor kept me going at it.

Towards the end, this is one of the many horrors I endured while trying to brave this doomed cigar. Numerous lickings did not save it. I spent much of the hour long smoke plugging holes with my fingers and trying (to no avail) to keep this p.o.s. together.


As for the review...it tasted peppery and was consistant (if not dynamic) all the way through. It was medium body and medium strength. My review...this stogie would have been decent and possibly an enjoyable $2 smoke-had it not arrived to us in shitty shape (with cigar leprosy). I cannot give it a numeric rating given the circumstances but I do not think I'll tempt fate and try another. One thing that I did like was the shape-a tapered tip for the lips and a big ring gauge on the rest. Great form factor.

I will say that I had a Joya de Nicaragua Antonio the other day and it was very, very strong and very good. I think I'll stick with that line in the future.

Here's my boy, taking a break from playing with his little sister and buddy George.

Oliva V (natural) Lancero

Oliva V (natural) Lancero
"Snap into a slim jim!"

I've had WAY too many great cigars this holiday...so far, it's been one superb smoke after another. This one is the latest and I figured I'd drop a review down.

There she is, below-in all her glory. Granted, I tend to like my stogies thick...but I've been reading that the "cigar pros" think that the lancero format is the best one to truly appreciate a stogie...something about the "fact" that there is a higher wrapper to filler ratio so the nuances of the wrapper really come to the fore.

And here is a close up of the band.

This is a really great stogie, amigos. Get one. You will not regret it. I think I paid $6 for it at a shop.

The stogie had a rich brown coloration, not quite maduro, but very smooth and attractive. I don't normally get all gushy about the appearance but this stogie was elegant and smooth. It started out with a bit of tartness and black pepper and then gradually added some mocha and buttery creaminess. It changed several times and at the end it got fairly potent-but still in the "Medium" range on flavor and on strength. I paired this dude with a medium McDonald's coffee and both of them were gone in about an hour and fifteen minutes.

I had tried one other Oliva V Natural (in KC with Rico and Ry) and it was also outstanding but this one was...better. The flavors were "sharper"-possibly due to the thin form factor.

Was I embarrassed to smoke this girly thing? Sure.
Will I smoke another? As soon as I make room in my humidors, I'm buying a box of these dudes!

The plummage was great, the construction flawless, and the flavor was outstanding. I'd rate this as a 9.6 or maybe higher when you figure that this bad boy is (relatively) affordable.


Here I am enjoying this lancero...finishing it off in fact!

Ry and I don't always see eye to eye but this is one thing that brings the Family together! He likes'em too. Oliva is making some great smokes...I've enjoyed the V, the G (maduro), the O (maduro), and the Master Blends III, and all (especially the V and MMIII) are outstanding!

Here is a photo of the Fam (minus Ry and I), at the Garden City zoo. Anne-Marie wanted to see the new baby giraffe there and we headed West on Sunday afternoon.

Gurkha "Doble Maduro"

Mom and Dad gave me the groovy new Xikar lighter for Christmas. Some friends gave me the cool cutter. I purchased a Gurkha sampler pack for myself. Providence provided a perfect 65 degree afternoon here in Kansas City the day after Christmas. 65 degrees in December? Freakin' strange. I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by.

I wasn't disappointed.


The Doble Maduro comes wrapped in a cedar sheath that I figured was purely cosmetic; hardly. The scent had penetrated the cigar and the flavor was greatly enhanced by it. This smoke was earthy and rich and stunningly smooth and even.


My Dad also gave me this jacket. It's a hand-me-down and perfect for smoking in tricky weather. I didn't really need it that day but who can resist donning the Marlboro Man image?

It was a perfect medium-bodied smoke. Flavorful (did I mention the cedar? Wow) but not overpowering and it came with a bit of a buzz. Lots of leather and wood.

The burn was even, the plumage good but not amazing, and it was well-built. I only used my lighter three times so it stayed lit (I've had trouble with that in the past).

There are few cigars that I've smoked to the nub; this is one of them. The other was a Perdomo Reserve Cameroon.



This one is better than the Nepalese Warrior I reviewed on this blog earlier. Considerably better. 9.0? 9.5 perhaps.

Cheers!