Casas Fumando » mill street brewery

Montecristo Petit Edmundo (Cuban)

Daniel Temos — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:49:02 +0000

The Montecristo Petit Edmundo is quickly making it’s way to the top of many people’s favorite cigar lists. It’s a fairly new cigar to the Montecristo brand and brings a totally different blend of Cuban tobacco into the mix. It may share a name similarity with it’s larger brother, the Montecristo Edmundo, but the flavors are quite different.

Tony and I did a joint review of the
Montecristo No. 2 a short while back, check that out for some more details about the Montecristo company and it’s history. The way they decided on the name was always an interesting topic to me.

This cigar comes in as a short robusto size, which was historically not too common to see in the Cuban market. Recently a few brands have started coming out with their version of a short robusto as well. I purchased a box of 10 of these a while ago with a box date of Feb 09, the cigar reviewed below comes from that particular box so it had just over a year of age on it.

Cigar: Montecristo Petit Edmundo
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Short Robusto (4 x 50)
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: $7-8 in Cuba
Burn Time: 1.25 Hours

Construction:
• Fairly even diameter throughout
• One large vein but it doesn’t look like it will cause problems
• Clean triple cap
• Nice and firm throughout with a perfect spring to it
• Foot looks very well packed
• Cut was firm but very clean
• Small crack in wrapper near the foot, was due to transit and not manufacturing
• Great draw, perfect resistance

Burn:
• Toasting was perfectly even with absolutely no dark spots
• Slight waviness at start, mostly due to the small crack
• After clearing the crack effortlessly, the burn has been razor sharp through the first half

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke right from the first draw
• Abundant resting smoke with a nice cedar aroma
• Ash is very white with gray highlights
• Seems to be holding strong and no flaking
• Ash held a little past one inch and fell off in the ashtray as I set the cigar down, perfect timing

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is faint, just a slight hint of sweet tobacco
• Foot has a sweet citrus-like aroma and a touch of cinnamon spice
• Pre-light draw is more of that citrus-like sweetness with a hint of coffee notes
• Initial draws taste of cedar and coffee, the sweet and spice seems to have disappeared
• Body is starting in the mild-medium range
• Retrohale is fairly mild with a smooth cedar finish, no bite at all
• As I approach the half-way mark, the cedar is making a strong appearance and that initial cinnamon spice I detected is coming in slowly
• Along with the cinnamon, the slight sweetness also is making an appearance ever so slightly around the half-way point
• Also picking up some earthy flavors here and there
• cigar started approaching the Medium-Full range near the last 1.5 inches but it stayed nice and smooth
• The last inch of this cigar was all cedar, still very enjoyable and I nubbed it right to the end

Final Thoughts:
Most Cuban’s have a distinct flavor that they share and it’s usually pretty easy for me to pick out. I’ve found that with this stick I can never seem to find it. This is definitely not a bad thing. It’s one of the few Cuban’s I’ve had recently that is very unique in comparison to others. If you’ve ever had the Edmundo and compare it to the Petit Edmundo, you will find they are quite a different cigar. I’ve enjoyed every one of these I’ve had and they also seem to be quite consistent in construction quality as well. It doesn’t change flavors all that much but it is a short vitola and I enjoyed every bit of it. This is definitely on my top 10 list along with it’s larger brother, the Montecristo No. 2 (Click to read the joint review Tony and I did) and is a must-try to everyone who hasn’t had one yet.

Pairings:
You’ve seen this brew on many of my reviews and it is still one of my favorites. The dark porter mixed with great coffee flavors make it a perfect match for many occasions and cigars. It matched very well with this cigar since it had some nice coffee undertones and the brew really brought those out. Click here for a full review I did on this brew. This cigar also pairs excellently with Tawny Port, Coffee, Cuban Coffee, Scotch and sweet tea. It’s one of those diverse cigars that can pair well with nearly everything.

Tabacos El Triunfador Original Blend Lancero – Blind Review

Daniel Temos — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:10:04 +0000

Recently, I participated in a blind trade with some fellow BOTL’s. If you aren’t aware what a blind trade is, let me explain. What we did was package together a few cigars in a price range of up to $10 and remove the bands. The bands on the cigars I reviewed were all on blank paper with just a simple number on the label. I really enjoy participating in these types of trades since they remove and misconceptions, biases, cost considerations and other opinions which could sway the review of a known cigar.
The first cigar I lit up from this trade was Blind Cigar #1, which ended up being an Original Blend El Triunfador Lancero. The El Triunfador line is blended by Pete Johnson, more popularly known for the Tatuaje Cigar line. This particular blend was a limited production cigar released before the El Triunfador become a production line. He blend is quite different from what the current blend became. Tony did a review of the new blend not too long ago, you can read it here: Tatuaje Tabacos El Triunfador #1. Try to compare the notes between this Original Blend and the new blend that Tony reviewed.
I have to say I had no idea what this cigar was while I was smoking it. The funny thing is that just a week before I had smoked two cigars of the new blend from the El Triunfador line. Even with such a close time between tasting both of these cigars it didn’t even cross my mind that these were from the same line. I was pleasantly surprised to find out what this cigar was but was also disappointed since it is limited production. There are still a few boxes kicking around if you look hard enough for them.
I wrote all the below notes prior to knowing what cigar I was smoking. I got the reveal a day after. Take a read and I hope you enjoy this. There will be a few more blind reviews coming up soon!

Cigar: Blind Tasting Cigar #1
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Lancero (7.5 x 38)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.50
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• Very attractive oily and dark chocolate wrapper, appears maduro but I don’t think it is
• Slightly bumpy appearance but no toothiness to it
• Clean triple cap with a small pigtail
• Appears evenly packed at the foot
• Slightly soft and springy throughout with one minor hard spot
• Draw is a bit tight, hopefully it loosens up
• Draw loosened up shortly before halfway and is now dead-on perfect

Burn:
• Toasting was amazingly even and easy
• Burning fairly evenly with a bit of wave at the start
• Approaching the halfway point the the burn is moving along excellently, no issues at all
• Cigar is staying lit effortlessly and letting me enjoy it slowly

Smoke & Ash:
• Medium mouthful of smoke, nothing overbearing but enough to keep me satisfied
• Lots of constant resting smoke that smells fantastic, lots of cedar in the aroma
• Ash is tight and even but not too strong
• First ash was only about ¼ of an inch
• Second ash was a bit longer but seems to be between ¼ and ½ inch each time
• Amount of smoke increased quite a bit in the last 3rd

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has a sweet tobacco aroma
• Foot has an earthy and cedar aroma with a touch of spice
• Pre-light draw definitely has an earthy spice type of flavor to it complimented by cedar touches
• Initial draws are of earth, cedar and coffee with a touch of spice on the aftertaste
• Retrohale is mild with a cedar and smooth espresso finish
• Body started off mild-medium
• Approaching the half-way mark, flavors haven’t changed much but the spice has pretty much disappeared and the the espresso flavors have got stronger. Earth and cedar flavors are still lingering
• As I approach the final 3 inches, the coffee flavor has slipped into the background and some of the spice is coming back, reminds me of baked cloves, very interesting
• Body has also started to ramp up a bit as I approach the end
• Retrohale has also picked up in body, getting a similar clove flavor complimented by some cedar
• A slight bitterness crept in near the end but nothing overpowering and it did not ruin this cigar, still enjoyed it quite a bit

Final Thoughts:
I was very impressed by this cigar. It had everything you could want. Great construction, lots of smoke, good flavors, and a couple dimensions to keep in interesting. The value on this cigar is also great considering the burn time of 2 hours. If you can find some of these still hanging around somewhere I would definitely recommend grabbing them. These are not the type of limited cigar you want to miss. The new El Triunfador line is good ad it’s hard to compare the two due to the fact that they are so different in body and flavor profile.

Pairings:
The dark Coffee Porter paired very nicely with this cigar and any similar stout or porter would go well. This beer has is full of flavor and coats your palate but has a smooth finish. It obviously has a strong coffee flavor and it complimented the coffee and espresso notes of this cigar nicely. A strong coffee, such as Cuban of Americano, would also be an excellent pairing here.

Mill Street Brewery – Coffee Porter – Beer Review

Daniel Temos — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:29:27 +0000

Hey guys, we are going to try and mix it up a bit here, and Daniel is kicking our first beer review. I live in the southwest where it is pretty warm all year round, and extremely hot in the Summer. Unfortunately, Daniel doesn’t have the same luck. He lives in Canada…somewhere… where it is pretty much cold year round. That being said, we’d like to keep him around, so to make up for lost time he may start doing beer and wine reviews! Let us know what you think. Like it? Hate it? Speak freely. Now, on to the review. -Tony Casas

Mill Street Brewing Coffee Porter

The Brewery: Mill Street Brewery

The Beer: Coffee Porter

The Brewers Home: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Situation: Relaxing on the couch

Mill Street Brewing Coffee Porter

The Story:

Mill Street Brewery was one of Toronto’s first commercial breweries and has been open for over 100 years. The company does make a few mass produced beers and also satisfies the beer enthusiast with some small-batch craft beers. They have earned many awards and currently have 13 brews in their inventory. You can read more about them at http://www.millstreetbrewery.com or follow them on twitter @MillStreetBrew.

The Bottle:

This slim dark brown bottle is slightly on the small side, holding 341ml(11.5oz). The bottle design is quite appealing, having an embossed front and back. The embossing on the front states “MILL STREET BREWERY” in black text and the rear embossing containing a circular logo, initials and a line stating “Quality Brewing”. There is also some text on the front:

“Beer Brewed with Coffee”

And some on the back:

“Mill Street Porter is a wonderfully sinful blend of Balzac’s own dark roasted coffee, brewed to perfection with a full-bodied traditional porter. We know you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this delicious and satisfying combination.”

Mill Street Brewing Coffee Porter

The Eyes:

The porter is dark with a moderate amount of froth. The glass is completely opaque and filled with a dark golden-ruby color. Even holding it up to a light, it barely penetrates the liquid I’m about to enjoy.

The Nose:

A refreshing aroma comes off this dark porter. The nose picks up scents of malt and a sweet yet mild coffee tone. It’s very a pleasing aroma that begs you to drink it and enjoy.

The Tongue:

As expected, the first sips give a strong taste of coffee with an added sweetness. The malt flavor also shines through. The coffee flavor is more akin to something along the lines of espresso or a very strong brewed coffee.

The taste is till refreshing despite it’s fully flavored brew. The flavor lingers on the palate after swallowing and leaves a pleasant after taste with little to no bitterness.

Mill Street Brewing Coffee Porter

The Final Drop:

This is a great beer. Whether you enjoy a full bodied porter or a beer infused with the flavor of a great coffee you will enjoy this. This brew will also appeal to those not used to drinking a dark beer since it has a great tasting and refreshing finish. The Coffee Porter would also make a great pairing for nearly any cigar although I would probably recommend it with a medium or full bodied cigar since the full flavor of the beer may drown out a mild cigar.