The Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir comes packed with quality Nicaraguan tobacco and wrapped with a Cuban-seed maduro wrapper that’s been aged for at least 14 months followed by an extra 6 months in bourbon barrels. How could you say no to a combination like that??? This Nicaraguan puro sounds super appealing on paper and I hope it translates to awesome when I light it up as well.

One thing to mention about the blend here is that it contains pretty much the exact same filler and binder as the 10th Anniversary Champagne cigar. The difference is of course the dark maduro wrapper it comes with. So you can see why I was excited to give this blend a try!

As I’ve mentioned before, Perdomo has a pretty big reputation to maintain with me. I’ve always had good luck with both construction and flavors when it comes to their sticks so I expect all of their sticks to live up to that same expectation. Now to be honest, the 10th Anniversary Maduro line up wasn’t as much of a success for me as the Champagne was so I’m really hoping the Champagne Noir rounds out the Reserve lines up with a solid and tasty maduro!

Cigar: Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir
Drink: The Macallan Select Oak Scotch
Vitola: Epicure (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $5.60
Burn Time: 2.5 hours

Construction:
• A smooth and silky wrapper adorns the Champagne Noir, with a soft touch and only a few minor veins
• The wrapper has the color of milk chocolate and is fairly consistent from end to end
• The single cap is cleanly applied and has an elegant touch to it
• The foot appears mostly well packed except for one small area that has a little bit of a gap in it
• The whole cigar has a consistent squeeze and spring to it
• Another great sign of Perdomo quality, the band slid off with almost no effort and absolutely no damage to the wrapper at all

Burn:
• The toasting was a little odd, even though it looked lit up, only the edges seemed to catch. But after one quick draw the whole foot was glowing nicely
• Burn has been razor sharp right from the start
• I can’t believe how slow this cigar is burning, it’s crazy
• As I burn through the halfway mark, I’ve had nothing but razor sharp and slow burning, fantastic quality here!
• Did I mention how slow this is burning? I’m going to easily pass 2 hours here!

Smoke & Ash:
• Tons of smoke right from the first draw, fills the air with a fluffy whiteness
• Even the resting smoke is pretty abundant with lots of cedar notes in the air
• The first ash stayed nice and strong with just a bit of flaking
• It lasted past 1 inch and tapped off cleanly into the ashtray
• The full volume of smoke continues right through the whole first half
• Ash is staying nice and clean and strong and easily passing the 1 inch mark every time

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a mostly barnyard/hay type of aroma to it
• The foot brings an interesting fruity tartness along side some baking spices, an interesting combination there
• The pre-light draw has a freshness to it, almost like inhaling mint, along with some sweet cedar and a touch of spices
• The initial draw has a slight pepper kick and some hefty cedar to back it up
• The pepper subsided a little and I’m getting some nice cedar and coffee flavors
• The coffee is making nice full flavored appearance in the middle here
• The retrohale has a nice pepper bite to it, but the finish is smooth cedar and coffee
• The coffee is developing into a nice roasted espresso flavor and adding to it some nice roasted almond flavors
• The flavor started off near medium but it’s easy to see it’s at the border of full now but seems to be holding nicely there
• The whole experience has a sort of creamy undertone to it as well
• The roasted espresso and almond flavors stuck through the the end without any harshness at all

Final Thoughts:
Well it’s easy to see that this cigar did not disappointment at all. There were some hints of the Connecticut version in here but the maduro wrapper definitely brought a different experience to the Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir. The roasted espresso and almond flavors really brought it home nicely in the end and the burn and construction was top quality right through to the end. The pace at which this cigar burned was incredibly slow! Definitely got my money’s worth with the slow burn on these. This is another winner in Perdomo’s inventory for me, give them a try and let us know what you think!

Pairings:
I had first cracked this bottle the week before the wedding and it was and good, so I had been saving it for a special occasion. So this weekend we ended up buying a house so I thought that’s a damn good reason to finish off the last bit of this Macallan Select Oak. It’s so darn smooth that you definitely don’t need ice cubes to drink this one. A touch of smoke, a touch of peat and lots of caramel and fruity notes. Darn good if you like some good ol fashion Scotch! Great pairing for any full bodied cigar and even though the Champagne Noir wasn’t too full bodied, it still complimented the coffee and cedar notes well. A nice stout or strong coffee would have been great here as well.

The post Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So I managed to grab a box of these cigar on a pure impulse buy when I saw them go on sale in a e-newsletter. At a price of only $2 per cigar and brand name behind them like Padilla I figured I had nothing to lose. So I grabbed it! After my trigger finger purchase I jumped on Casas Fumando and checked to see if Tony had reviewed this one by golly and he did! It was actually one of the blind reviews he did awhile back, here’s the link.

Now this got me a little worried cause Tony didn’t seem to like it a whole lot and we seem to have somewhat similar preference when it comes to our cigars. But I figured even if it was terrible, I’ll have a cheap stick to hand out to people I don’t like lol

The pre-light had an almost minty or menthol type of aroma that sorta surprised me, especially on a Habano wrapped cigar. It even came through for the first half of the cigar, giving an almost fresh finish to each draw, was pretty interesting to have that. Beyond that, the La Terraza stared off with some woodsy and coffee flavors backed by a smooth almond like finish. The burn for the most part was nowhere near razor-sharp but it never strayed too far off course to need a major touch-up or anything. The retrohale offered an interesting cedar and musty type of finish with almost no spice.

The first half of the cigar had almost no spice and I usually expect some spice in any Habano wrapped cigar. The spice did show its face a bit in the last half along with some intensified body going from mild to the high end of medium. The coffee and cedar flavors continue to be strong. The last third picked up into the full category and all the flavors mixed together for a nice strong finish with very little harshness. For the price, I’m totally happy with this purchase. It’s not the most dimensional cigar out there but it had a lot more flavor to it than some other budget sticks I’ve come across. Definitely worth picking up a few if you can find them.

Photo Courtesy of PadillaCigars.com

The post Quick Draw Episode 7 – Padilla La Terraza Capa Habano appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So the pairing I decided on today to celebrate Halloween is the Grimalkin by Emilio Cigars. If you’ve been following our reviews over the last couple months you would have seen Tony post up two reviews from Emilio, the AF1 BMF and the AF2 Toro. If you take a glance through Tony’s reviews you’ll see that he enjoyed both of them quite a bit. I also had the chance to smoke them and thought they were both quite enjoyable. So does the Grimalkin continue that trend?

If you haven’t heard of Emilio Cigars don’t be surprised. They’ve been making a larger splash in the market recently but up until a few months ago I hadn’t really heard of them either. They are slowly expanding distribution and getting a name out for themselves. You can check the Emilio Cigars website for information on retailers near you that carry their products. Emilio Cigars is owned by Gary Griffiths and there isn’t too much info available on this cigar.

From what I can find, the Grimalkin is made in Esteli, Nicaragua from selected and limited tobaccos. The yield of this cigar is limited based on the harvest amounts of the various tobaccos. So what this basically means is that each year will have a different production amount based on the amount of required tobaccos they manage to harvest. I like this approach, it’s fairly practicle and it’s not limiting production to a set amount of boxes every year. A quick google search shows them available in a few shops so that’s a good sign as well.

Now I found the band here to be kind of interesting… The name “Grimalkin” seems sort of like some creepy monster, maybe like a more evil Gremlin, and it goes nicely with the ominous yellow cat-like eyes on the wrapper. What seems odd to me is that the text is printed in curved pattern which makes it look sort of like the cat is smiling at me? Am I crazy? It’s not really an evil smile either, it looks happy to me! Seemed to take away from the spooky aspect since it made me laugh, lol. But maybe it’s just me? I’ll stop talking now… let’s get to the review!

Cigar: Emilio Cigars Grimalkin
Drink: Huyghe Brewery Delirium Nocturnum
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: about $7.00
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• The is a very nicely constructed cigar that is evenly round and has almost no veins on it at all
• The wrapper is smooth and oily which compliments its dark cinnamon brown color
• The Grimalkin actually feels a tad firm along it’s whole length, I’m hoping that doesn’t mean a tight draw
• The head of the cigar is finished with a triple cap, it’s not overly neat but not messy either
• Not the foot looks to be as tightly packed as could be possible, there are almost no gaps here at all
• The cut was pretty easy considering the firmness of the cigar but the draw was definitely suffering at the start
• Within an inch the draw definitely opened up which I wasn’t expecting but is a pleasant surprise

Burn:
• Toasting took a bit longer than I expected for this vitola and got a little messy as the wrapper edges started to burn a bit
• Got started off to wavy burn and it’s continued that way through the first inch or so, hasn’t gottne worse and seems to be nice and sharp
• Burn seems to be improving slowly, staying sharp and getting straighter
• It’s actually burning very slowly and easily too, no need to constant draws to keep it lit
• The burn did round out and burned razor sharp through to the end

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite a fairly tight draw I am getting a ton of smoke each time, really fills your mouth
• The resting smoke seems non-stop but at least it’s somewhat moderate, gives off a nice aroma too
• The ash is coming along nice and clean, looks to be strong but we’ll see how long it lasts
• White is the dominant color of the ash with some light grey tones, very nice
• I knocked the first ash off at just about an inch as I could see a crack forming along it but it stayed clean and strong
• The thick billowy smoke continued to the end and so did the nice looking ash

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper aroma has an interesting cedar and grassy touch to it, I usually don’t get much grassy aromas on the wrapper
• The foot offers more woodsiness, but this time it’s just a generic chopped wood type of aroma, not really cedar. Along with that I’m getting some dirt-like earthiness and a bit of the grass aromas again
• The pre-light draw brought lots more interesting cedar and a bit of earthiness
• The initial few draws are very tasty, filled with a smooth cedar, some earthiness and a bit of a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove mixture
• The body seems to be in the low medium range at the start and comes with a small bit on the retrohale and a cedar finish
• The mixture of spices is really picking up in flavor intensity as I get near the halfway mark, I’m also picking up some coffee notes which are accenting very well
• Not sure if it was intentional at all but the mixture of flavors in this cigar seems to pair perfectly with this time of year
• As I continue, I got some toasted almond type of flavors mixing in, this keeps getting better
• The woodsiness made a big comeback in the last half, at times it seemed a little overpowering “roasted”. Not quite burnt though
• The spices, coffee and almonds are still around but with less intensity now
• The retrohale has pretty much remained the same and the body is gaining a bit of ground and more in the high range of medium now
• The general flavor profile didn’t change much in the last third and the flavors each took turns being the prominent flavor
• I was able to smoke the cigar down to my burning with almost no harshness at all, a nice finish

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this cigar quite a bit, not sure I would call it a top 10 or anything but it made for a good relaxing afternoon. It had a variety of flavors, burned well and kept me interested the whole time. I think the balance was a lot better in the first half but it wasn’t bad at all in the second half, just had a little more of the woodsiness versus the other flavors. The band still makes me laugh a little but oh well, lol. The flavors seemed to be perfect for fall for some reason, they reminded me of what you would find in pumpkin pie or something. I think I would definitely pick up a few more of these to keep in the humidor. The price is just a touch higher than I would want for this flavor profile, but considering it is a limited release it’s not over the top either.

Pairings:
This pairing was actually a recommendation I got from our resident Belgium beer connoisseur, Tony. I happened to find it down in Florida a couple months ago and finally decided to crack it open today. I thought the weird label fit well into the “silly spookiness” of the Grimalkin. There’s not much I can say about this label other than it looks like someone was high on something when they came up with the idea of a pink elephant dancing in a blue and yellow vortex type of thing… It is made in Belgium by the Huyghe Brewery and clocks in at a nice 8.5% alc./vol. The name itself is called the Delirium Nocturnum and claims itself to be simply a Belgian Ale. Now aside from the crazy label and interesting stone textured bottle, the brew is actually very good. It’s got a nice amount of hoppy bitterness on the finish and when it first hit’s your mouth you get a wake up call to your senses. There’s all kinds of flavors going on including a burst of fruitiness, a nice helping of malt and there’s even some roasted flavors in there. All in all, it’s a great brew and definitely worth trying if you can find it. I know they don’t sell it here in Ontario which is disappointing
Now did it pair well? Hell yes it did. Tony is lucky this time! lol. The fruit, malt and bitterness made an excellent pairing to the coffee and spices of the Grimalkin and I think it would pair excellently with a ton of different cigars and various strengths.

The post Emilio Cigars Grimalkin appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

For those of you who didn’t know, this past weekend was our Thanksgiving up here in the Great White North and the weather was downright awesome! We had gorgeous clear skies and temperatures above 75F all weekend. This was a big change because just a week before that we were hovering in the mid 30’s and ready to busty out the parkas and the igloo building equipment! So I picked out a nice summery brew and a lighter cigar to enjoy the weather before it disappeared

The cigar I settled with was the Angelenos Toro from 2009. Now the Angelenos is an interesting prospect. It’s not really the company name, and it’s not really cigar line name, but it’s sort of a mixture of both. The founder of Angelenos is Keith K. Park whose name you might recognize from Prometheus as well as a couple other brands such as God of Fire and Sencillo. If you visit the Angelenos website, Keith K. Park has a nice letter detailing the “why” of Angelenos and about what the name means. As a quick summary, the Angelenos cigar was created to honor Los Angeles (a.k.a the “City of Angels”). He feels the Los Angeles is home to a great number of passionate cigar lovers and wanted to create something for all of them.

The Angelenos cigars are wrapped in an Ecuadorian leaf and rounded out with Dominican binders and fillers. The cigar itself is rolled in the Tabaccalera A. Fuente y Cia factory which is located in the Dominican Republic. you may recognize the Fuente name in that factory, and it is indeed the factory where Arturo Fuente cigars are produced. One neat thing to note about these cigars is that the band has a year inscribed on them in red. This particular Angelenos has “2009” on it. Would be great to see more manufacturers adopt this style!

In a lot of my cigars I’ve come to associate the Ecuadorian wrappers as something that packs a punch. This is most likely just by chance and the choice of cigars that I’ve smoked, but that’s just what pops into my head when I think Ecuadorian wrapper. Now from some basic reading I know this is not the case with the Angelenos and the website promises me a smooth and relaxing cigar. A quick note that this cigar was sent to us from our good friends over at Smoke Inn. Check their site when you have a moment, they have a great selection of cigars! So, Will the Angelenos live up to this claim? Time to read on and find out!

Cigar: Angelenos 2009
Drink: Bell’s Oberon Ale
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $9.95 MSRP @ Smoke Inn
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• The Angelenos has a nice light brown wrapper surrounding it with some smaller visible veins
• I noticed that the wrapper itself is fairly fragile and even found a few green spots on some of the samples
• The entire cigar is surprisingly firm from head to foot, offering almost no spring at all
• In line with the firm feel, the foot of the cigar appears to be very well packed
• The cigar clipped easily leaving a cleanly cut cap
• At first it seemed the draw was a bit tight but it’s actually doing very well

Burn:
• The toasting went very nicely, took a little bit of time and ended up with an evenly glowing foot
• The burn has been razor sharp through the first inch or so, let’s hope it stays that way
• As I get to the halfway point I’m happy to report we’re still moving along with a razor sharp burn and I have no problems letting it sit to enjoy it slowly
• Loving the burn on this cigar, still nearly perfect as I head into the last third
• Not having much to say is a good thing here, not problems to report!

Smoke & Ash:
• The initial draws are giving a nice comfortable amount of smoke that quickly fills your mouth
• The resting smoke on this cigar is constant and pretty thick too, gives off a campfire type of aroma as well
• The ash is looking very clean and tight and is holding on past 1 inch so far
• The color is also quite nice, showing off a light grey tone with the occasional black line
• The ash fell jsut short of two inches before falling off gently into the ashtray
• The next ash help on beautifully past the 2 inch mark with very little effort!

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma off this wrapper is mostly woodsy with a bit of barnyard
• The foot has a much more interesting aroma though, I pick up a touch of floral, more woodsy and a slight hint of spice, maybe like a paprika
• The pre-light draw brings more woodsiness again, along with it I’m getting the paprika and maybe a touch of sweetness
• The initial draws bring out a lot of woodsy flavors, mostly cedar but I’m even picking up a touch of pine. Along with the woodsy notes there is a slight touch of coffee and the paprika is hiding in there as well, a good start
• The start of this cigar has been a nice mild body with a small bite on the retrohale and a smooth cedar finish
• As I progress, the coffee flavors are making more of an appearance and the woodsy notes are still the primary
• The spice has mostly disappeared and I’m enjoying the woodsy and coffee flavors here
• I’m also getting some nutty flavors here and there, perhaps it’s almond like, very nice
• The flavors are intensifying a bit as I go into the last third, it’s still mostly woodsy and coffee but I’m also getting light hints of leather and the almond is around too
• The flavors finished strong but the body didn’t really pass medium, a good smoke right to the nub with no bitterness to worry about

Final Thoughts:
The Angelenos makes for a very nice smoke and can be enjoyed pretty much anytime of the day. If you like to enjoy an early day or morning cigar, this would go well with a cup of coffee or it can hold it’s own in the evening as well. The flavors were not multi-dimensional but they were enjoyable and I didn’t really get bored of them. Maybe a longer vitola might lose it’s appeal but in a Toro size or similar it’s a good smoke. The burn was also top-notch with no issues from start to finish, that always earns extra points in my book. I like to work, read or watch a movie while I enjoy my cigar and if I’m fighting to keep it lit or touch it up, it ruins the experience for me. The classic flavors of cedar and coffee are also very easy to enjoy and pick up on for any level of smoker to enjoy. My main gripe here is probably the price, it seems a little high for this type of cigar with a straightforward profile. With that said, the price isn’t out of this world and still accessible. They are worth buying at least a 5-pack to have around when you need a nice relaxing smoke.

Pairings:
Today’s brew is another one of my imports from my trip to Florida. It from Bell’s Brewery Inc. located in Missouri and it’s called Oberon Ale. The Oberon Ale is actually a summer seasonal and I probably should have drank it earlier but this weekend turned out to have some awesome summer-like weather so I popped it open. The beer has nice light color to it and is obviously not filtered since it is cloudy and has some particles floating around in it. I also found it to be a little more carbonated than normal although that didn’t really bother me. The flavor is very bright as soon as it hits your tongue, definitely a lot of fruity notes but they aren’t overpoweringly sweet. The beer still has a nice medium body to it and a tasty malty finish. This makes for an excellent summer beer that isn’t all clear and watery like some other summer beers are. I definitely enjoyed it and will look for more next time I head south. As for a pairing, I found it made a good partner with the Angelenos. Although you have to be selective with this brew, a nice connecticut or mild maduro would go well. If the cigar is too far into the medium or full range the beer probably won’t stack up as well. As for the Angelenos, this is a good option along with a smooth dark ale or possibly a nice coffee as a morning smoke.

The post Angelenos Toro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Nestor Miranda is the founder of the Miami Cigars and Company and has recently started producing his own blends that come attached to his name. These include the Nestor Miranda Collection 1989, the newer Nestor Miranda Special Selection and the recent Casa Miranda. The Art Deco cigar also carries the Nestor Miranda blend and is currently sold in 3 vitolas, all of which are over 50 ring gauge.

The Art Deco is a joint effort effort between Nestor Miranda & José Pepin Garcia. I think we all know that Don Garcia is no stranger to success in the cigar industry and if he has a hand in the blending, you can usually be guaranteed it will be a quality cigar. The blend consists of 60% Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and 40% Dominican San Vicente, plus Dominican Criollo ’98 & Nicaraguan Habano 2000 binders rolled and triple-capped in dark, shimmering Nicaraguan Corojo ’06.

I actually picked up this cigar as part of a box set which included 4 Nestor Miranda Special Selection Ruky’s (2 Oscuro and 2 Rosado) along with an Art Deco. I’ve also enjoyed a few singles of the Robusto Grande vitola bought separately. I want to mention how awesome I think this band is. It’s so retro and different and the colors really pop. The cigars are also packaged in retro tins with the same neat design. But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover! So I think that’s enough chatter, let’s get onto the review

Cigar: Nestor Miranda Art Deco
Drink: Unibroue Don De Dieu
Vitola: Robusto Grande (5.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo ’06
Binder: Dominican Criollo ’98 & Nicaraguan Habano ’00
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 & Dominican San Vincente
Price: $8.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• This looks to be a wonderfully constructed cigar, very even in diameter with a dark golden brown wrapper
• The whole cigar is very firm when squeezed and has almost no bumps on the wrapper
• The head of the cigar is finished off with an extremely clean triple cap, it’s easy to see some extra care went into making this cigar
• The foot looks to be mostly well packed with a one gap that looks a bit under-filled
• The cut was fairly easy despite the firmness of the cigar
• The draw seems to be a bit more open than I’d typically like but it’s not terrible
• Seems that the draw tightened up a bit near the halfway mark making for a perfect draw each time

Burn:
• The cigar toasting was very easy with a short time frame to get the foot evenly glowing
• The initial burn was a bit wavy but it quickly corrected itself and started burning razor sharp after that
• Through the first half I have no complaints about the burn here, it’s still razor sharp and requires zero attention from me

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke from each draw is fairly full but it’s actually not that thick in density
• The resting smoke here is almost non existent at times, it’s a very friendly cigar to have while non-smokers may be nearby
• The ash is starting off with a nice light gray color and looks to be tight and clean
• I’m getting some awesome striping on the ash and its staying clean and strong
• It lasted nearly 2 inches before making an awesome nosedive into the ashtray. A perfect 10 anyone???
• The next ash only lasted about an inch but it stayed clean and crisp and fell off easily into the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on this cigar gives a strong earthy and barnyard aroma with a touch of cedar
• The aroma on the foot carries through with the earthy and cedar notes but adds in a slightly sweet spice, maybe of raw cinnamon
• The pre-light daw brings an interesting mix of sweet notes on top of the cedar, possibly some dried cherries
• Initial flavors are stong in the cedar department with that slightly dried cherry taste in there, very interesting!
• The cedar has stuck around through the first inch but the initial sweetness has tapered off a bit
• For the most part, the cigar has started off in the low end of the medium range with a small bite on the retrohale
• As I continue along, I’m getting a bit of leather and the initial earthy aromas are making an appearance in the flavor department now
• As I pass the halfway mark, the mix of cedar, leather and earth has me seeking a little something more. It’s not bad or harsh but I feel like there’s something missing since the sweetness disappeared…
• As the cigar continued I started getting a bit of the sweetness returning here and there along with some slight nuttiness
• The body is building ever so slowly in the last third, heading into the high medium range
• Some toasted nutty/almond flavors are making this last third a lot more interesting along with the dried cherry sweetness that keeps rearing it’s head here and there
• The nice final mixture of flavors stuck through to the nub with almost no harshness, a very nice finish

Final Thoughts:
As with all of the Miami Cigar offerings I seem to come into them with high hopes. They’ve had such a great track record recently that I only expect the best. The Nestor Miranda Art Deco is a well balanced cigar with a variety of flavors. The first and last 3rds of the cigar were interesting and kept me on my toes but the middle portion seemed to lack something. The burn was excellent the whole way through and overall construction was top notch. The price is also very reasonable so it’s something I would probably buy again, perhaps in the Coffee Break vitola (4.5 x 50). I think that size may be the sweet spot and keep the interesting flavors going from start to finish. If you like a good medium smoke with an interesting profile these are worth checking out.

Added note: I asked Tony his thoughts here and he’s only smoked the Coffee Break vitola and loved it. I’ve only had the Robusto Grande, so I think my guess that a smaller vitola would make this cigar great is probably a good guess!

Pairings:
So this beer comes with a funny sort of story.  I’ve done a few other reviews with Unibroue brews and always loved them, not to mention they are also Canadian which is a plus in my eyes!  Unfortunately, most of their brews are actually not even available for me to purchase cause of the ridiculous taxes and restrictions in my province. The brewery is only about a 5 hour drive away, but it’s in another province… So, I actually picked this bottle up in Florida. Yes, that’s right. I drove 1600 miles away from the brewery to actually buy it! I guess that speaks to the silliness of our taxes here! lol
Enough of my complaining, let’s move onto the actual beer. I had no idea what to expect from this as I’ve never had it before and the bottle doesn’t really explain what type of beer it is. The name of this beer, “Don De Dieu” literally translates to “Gift from God” so I figured it can’t be that bad!
After doing a bit of research, I found out this is a triple fermented wheat beer that is also unfiltered, giving it a cloudy appearance in the glass. The flavors in this brew are excellent, mixing a little bit of fruit, maybe some vanilla and very smooth malty finish. This is not your average wheat beer though, it packs in 9% ABV and the triple fermentation without filtration makes it feel a lot fuller bodied than you might expect. I found it to be an excellent pairing with the Nestor Miranda Art Deco as it offered up lots of interesting flavors. I think a fine tawny port would also be an excellent pairing here or perhaps keep it simple with a dark soda.

The post Nestor Miranda Art Deco Robusto Grande appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now onto the cigar… If you attended IPCPR back in 2010 or read articles about the event, you probably heard about the new blend from El Primer Mundo, called the Liga Miami. I recently stumbled across a few of these sticks at the bottom of my humidor and realized they’ve been sitting there since sometime last year (oops?). With the upcoming IPCPR 2011 in July, I figured it would be a good cigar to pick up and review.

The Liga Miami blend from Sean Williams(Twitter: @PrimerMundo) made some waves at IPCPR 2010, especially in the blogosphere where a lot of reviewers were impressed by the unique array of flavors this cigar offered. The El Primer Mundo website is currently under construction, but before it went down you could also read up on their previous blends, the Connecticut Shade and Habano Criollo Maduro. The Liga Miami has the same company band on it but also adds an additional goldish-brown and silver band with the words Liga Miami on it.

The cigar itself is produced in Miami at the El Titan de Bronze factory. Willy Herrera of El Titan de Bronze also has a hand in making them This is a big change from the other two blends which are made in Esteli Nicaragua. You’ll also nice there is no box press on this cigar like the other offerings from El Primer Mundo.

Along with today’s Robusto vitola, you can also find the Liga Miami in a Toro and Churchill size. The cigar has an interesting mix of tobacco including a double binder and some ligero used in the filler. So without any more babbling from me, let’s see how this cigar stacks up!

Cigar: El Primer Mundo Liga Miami
Drink: Waterloo Brewery Radlermass Lemonade Lager
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sungrown
Binder: Double binded Nigaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican Republic (some Ligero)
Price: about $9
Burn Time: About 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Liga Miami has a very nice reddish colored wrapper surrounding it
• Slightly oily and rough, the wrapper has some medium sized veins running along it
• There was a nice spring to the cigar when squeezed, not enough to seem under-filled though
• The head of the cigar is finished with a very clean triple cap, definitely some attention to detail there
• The bands themselves take up quite a bit of real estate on this cigar, at least a good 1/3rd
• The foot looks the be moderately packed
• The cut was fairly easy and left a clean opening but made a bit of a mess in the ashtray

Burn:
• Toasting didn’t go so well, had some unevenness to it and I just couldn’t get it all lit properly without some assistance from a couple draws
• Despite the my failed toasting, the burn started off surprisingly well through the first inch
• Burn was razor sharp through the first half
• The cigar has burned nice and slowly the whole way through and allowed me to enjoy it slowly without ever feeling like it was going out

Smoke & Ash:
• Tons of smoke coming from the cigar straight from the start
• The ash has a very nice white color to it
• Despite the nice color, the ash is getting a little flaky very fast
• The resting smoke on this Liga Miami is consistent and has a very unique aroma, you get a bit of sweetness on the nose. Very pleasant.
• Ash managed to hang tight for close to two inches

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the Liga Miami has a nice sweetness to it, along with a bit of cedar
• The foot definitely brings more sweetness and a tasty mild spice, almost like Cinnamon Sugar
• The pre-light draw brought with it a heavy helping of woodsiness and a bit of earthiness
• The initial draws offered up more of he woodsy flavors with a subtle note of sweetness in there, still along the same lines of cinnamon sugar
• The sweetness is definitely building up in this cigar, almost adding a syrupy flavor to the mix
• Body has been mostly mild to start and the retrohale has the tiniest bite with a smooth and creamy finish
• Adding to the syrupy/cinnamon sweetness, the cigar has a very pleasant creamy finish
• The woodsiness is still hanging around, is that burning caramelized wood could smell like? lol
• Body built up to a nice medium around the half-way mark
• The sweetness has tapered off a bit now, it’s still there and I’m getting some nice nutty almond flavors
• Definitely seems like the ligero was saved for the last half of the cigar, I’m getting some leathery flavors in the mix now and a touch of spice
• With about 1.5inches left, the sweetness has mostly left the mix but the remaining flavors are balancing well and the body is still a comfortable medium
• The creamy finish has remained consistent, I think this can probably be attributed to the double binder along with a smooth wrapper
• The creamy finish and leather/woodsy flavors continued to the nub with no bitterness, this was a finger burning cigar!

Final Thoughts:
Now this was a surprisingly unique and enjoyable cigar. When I hear ligero I usually brace myself for a powerful cigar with a straightforward flavor profile. This was definitely not the case with the El Primer Mundo Liga Miami. The first half of the cigar was totally unexpected. Sweet, smooth, creamy notes with a superb burn. Very uncharacteristic of a ligero filled cigar and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The last half came closer to what I expected from this cigar but it still had a smooth and balanced creaminess I don’t usually find in ligero cigars. I’m curious if the extra age in the humi made a difference since I didn’t smoke one when I first got them. It’s easy to see there was a lot of care and planning that went into this cigar and the final result speaks for itself. These are something everyone should try and can go well as a mid-day or evening cigar.

Pairings:
Today’s pairing was from Waterloo Brewery, just a short 1 hour drive from my house. It is part of the Seasonal Collection and is called the Radlermess. It is a Lemonade Lager and has an interesting story behind it. The term Radlermess comes from Germany and was coined by a Innkeeper not far from Munich. The story says that he was overloaded with cyclists one day and was running low on beer so he took a risk and mixed his remaining beer with some lemon soda. It was a big hit! In German, Radler means cyclist and Mass means a liter of beer.
I took a bit of a risk with this pairing but based on the past few Liga Miami’s I’ve smoked I figured the sweetness from a lemonade beer would go nicely. I was worried the beer may have been too sweet but they did a good job balancing the lemonade and beer together. It actually worked out very well! The sweetness of the beer complimented the sweetness of the cigar at the start. As the cigar turned a little more into the woodsy/nutty/leathery flavors, the beer counteracted them, leaving a nice sweet aftertaste between draws. I think this beer would also go excellently with some connecticut wrappers. As for the cigar, an Amber lager would have gone well here too, as would my favorite tawny port. Maybe even a nice coffee with a bit of sugar to add some sweetness.

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It seems that Perdomo is a name that many cigars smokers know about and often enjoy yet it’s also I brand that seems to do minimal advertising. I don’t seem to see them launch large campaigns or expensive sponsorship but rather it seems word of mouth and consistent quality help spread their name. I’ve also had the chance to review the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro and Perdomo Patriarch Maduro in the past. Today we are going to take a look at the Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro.

The Perdomo Grand Cru is a cigar grown and rolled with the intention of giving a Cuban-like flavor in each blend. All of the seeds used to grow the Tobacco in Nicaragua are from Cuba. The tobacco itself has also been well aged before being rolled into the cigars. Each box and cigar is clearly marked with a “Crop of 2004” label. I really like this idea and it lets you know just how old the tobacco is. If they decide to keep the same blend moving forward but change crops, I’m curious to see if they will just change the year or change the name. From what I can tell, all the cigars and boxes still say 2004. The website also says this blend is made from that crop as well so it may not change at all.

I would actually love to see that type of labelling adopted by more companies. I think it’s an excellent idea. There are other cigars that do this currently, such as the Tatuaje L’Esperit de Verite that Tony reviewed or the Camacho Liberty series (we’ve reviewed the 2009 and 2010) but those are more limited editions. Having this label on regular production cigars would be and interesting piece of information. The above linked reviews already show how much a blend can change from year-to-year. But enough about me complaining, without further adieu let’s jump into the review of the Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro.

Cigar: Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro
Drink: Delaforce 2005 Late Bottled Vintage Porto
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Price: $4.50 – $5.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A rough and bumpy wrapper with a few medium sized veins, but nothing concerning
• The wrapper has a sand-paper like texture and is a consistent medium chocolate brown color
• The cap is cleanly applied with a double-cap design, almost impossible to see the second piece of tobacco
• The foot appears well packed and the length of the cigar is pretty firm with very little spring to it
• The cut was very easy and quite clean, falling in a neat little package into the ashtray
• Draw is a little tighter then I’d like

Burn:
• The burn line is not neat and pretty on this cigar but it’s not out of control either
• Felt like the cigar was starting to go out after only an inch and started needing a few more draws
• The funny burn finally hit a rut and needed a small touch up just past the half-way mark
• For the most part, the cigar burned without much effort or extra draws

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite the tightness I’m still getting a giant mouthful of smoke from every draw
• There is a small bit of resting smoke visible while the cigar sits in the ashtray, it gives off a mostly woodsy aroma
• The ash is a little flaky on this cigar but not too weak
• A very nice white color to the ash as it burns
• Each ash tumbled into the ashtray shortly after an inch

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper gives off a strong hay and barnyard aroma
• The foot stays consistent with the barnyard aroma and mixes a touch of spice into the nose
• The pre-light draw brings an interesting bakers chocolate flavor mixed with some woodsy notes
• The initial draws give off a strong woodsy flavor with some hints of coffee here and there
• As the cigar progresses I’m picking up a lot of roasted notes, a mix of roasted almonds and roasted coffee beans, very nice
• I noticed a bit extra dryness on my throat with this cigar
• As I approach the halfway mark, the body has been mild-medium and retrohale has no bite with a woodsy finish
• The flavors still seem to hover around with roasted coffee, woodsy and roasted almonds all taking a turn
• In the last third the flavors got much more intense and I started picking up some more bakers chocolate type of flavors
• The body picked up only slightly near the end, making it a comfortable medium

Final Thoughts:
The Grand Cru Maduro from Tabacalera Perdomo proved to be a nice smooth cigar that can easily be enjoyed by many experienced or new smokers. It offers a nice variety of flavors that are neither too complex or too boring making for a perfect cigar to relax with. It’s something you can pick up and smoke without paying too much attention to and still enjoy and easily pick up on the various flavors. The price is also very attractive, make sure to search around a bit as my research showed a HUGE variance in pricing on these. I’d definitely suggest picking up a few of these to try out, especially at the good prices you can find them for.

Pairings:
Yes I’m still riding the Port train and today I bring something new. This bottle is something I haven’t seen around before so I grabbed it to try something new. Damn am I ever happy I did. The Delaforce 2005 Late Bottled Vintage offers some excellent flavors backed by a robust and bold red wine flavor. A lot of Ports overdo the fruity notes but this one seems nicely balanced between a full bodied red wine and a flavorful fruity port. It paired well with this cigar but was maybe not the perfect pairing. I think this cigar was made for coffee, the roasted coffee and almond notes would have made a great compliment. You could also enjoy this with a nice dark porter with some coffee flavors.

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The Cohiba Maduro 5 line is the only line that proclaims itself as a maduro wrapped cigar.  Not only is it a maduro leaf but it’s also aged for a full five years before being used.  The Maduro 5 line is currently offered in 3 vitolas, the Genios (Robusto), Magicos (Short Robusto) and the Secretos (Petite Corona).  Today the review will focus on the middle of the three vitolas, the Magicos (Short Robusto).

The particular cigar I will be reviewing today comes from a box that as dated in June of 2008.  That makes this about 2.5 years old.  As with many Cubans, they always seem to benefit with a bit of age as the flavors start to balance out more and the body smoothens out.  I’m bringing this cigar outside on a cold Canadian night where the temperature is hovering around freezing.  The burn of many cigars are adversely affected by the cold so take this into account as you read on.

Cigar: Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos
Drink: Abbaye de Maredsous Brune
Vitola: Magicos – Short Robusto (4.5 x 52)
Wrapper: 5 Year Aged Cuban Maduro
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: About $12 in Cuba
Burn Time:

Construction:
• On visual inspection, this cigar screams classic cuban, it’s wrapper is bumpy and uneven with some discolorations
• The wrapper has a soft brownish tone with some darker brown highlights
• The cigar is surprisingly soft from band to foot and quite firm near the head
• The triple cap is extremely clean and blends well into the wrapper
• The foot appears very well packed with no open holes to be seen
• There are some medium sized veins that concern me, we’ll have to see how they play out in the burn
• Cut was firm but very clean
• Draw is just a little more open then I’d like not still not too airy
• Within 10 draws it seems the cigar adjusted itself and now the draw is perfect

Burn:
• Toasting was very slow but produced a perfectly lit foot
• Had a tiny wave when it first started burning but is razor sharp going into the first inch
• Had one minor correction that I had to make, was creating a peninsula just past the halfway point
• A couple more minor corrections as I go along, the cold is likely affecting this as it’s just about freezing out here right now.  They also would likely fix themselves but I wanted to keep it nice and even
• It is burning nice and slowly without ever going out
• The cigar did not even get warm as I burned into the last half-inch

Smoke & Ash:
• A good mouthful of smoke from each draw, nothing overpowering, just about right
• The resting smoke is very minimal and what little aroma it does give off is mostly like cedar and espresso making it very pleasant in company
• The ash so far is looking spectacular, it’s got some nice ridges and appears wound tightly
• The color of the ash varies between an almost white color to a darker grey in the middle of the ridges
• The ash lasted almost two inches before gently falling off in the ashtray, this is what every cigar should do!
• The last ash actually fell off in my lap which was disappointing but I was trying to keep it on to the very end.  This was my fault and should not affect your opinion of the construction quality

Tasting Notes:
• Even without placing the cigar near my nose I can smell the sweetness this wrapper is giving off
• On closer inspection, the wrapper aroma is of sweet cocoa
• The sweet cocoa on the foot is even more apparent but it comes with a nice hint of cinnamon spice
• Pre-light draw is very interesting, it’s like pure sweet cinnamon on a cedar and graham cracker base
• Initial draws have a nice cedar undertone with some of the cocoa as the main flavors, it’s not sweet now though, more like a natural cocoa
• The finish on this cigar has started off very smooth and creamy, typically that creaminess takes time to build but it was there almost instantly
• The cigar started out in the mild-medium category and is smoking fantastic so far
• Retrohale has a small bite and a soft cedar finish
• Within a few draws I’m starting to pick up a very delicious espresso flavor, blending in perfectly
• As I keep burning away, the cocoa has faded a bit towards the halfway point and the cedar and espresso are making for a well balanced and enjoyable treat
• The smooth creamy finish is still apparent, it’s also not been dry at all on my palate
• The espresso is bursting out now past the halfway point, giving cigar that nice bitter flavor you get from an unsweetened espresso.  Don’t confuse this with the bitter build up on other cigars, this is a delicious bitterness
• I’m also picking up a great roasted almond flavor in the mix now, very nice touch
• the body has been fairly consistent up to now but as I burn into my last third I can sense it ramping up a bit
• The bite on the retrohale is a little more noticeable now but nothing off-putting
• As I approach the final stretch I’m getting a nice dark chocolate flavor, almost like bakers chocolate that is adding a nice layer to the already well balanced profile
• I used a toothpick to get down to the very last bit that I could since I was enjoying it all the way through

Final Thoughts:
I had heard and read many people saying they enjoyed this and figured it was going to be good, but usually when something gets hyped up this much I tend to get disappointed because I was expecting more.  That was definitely not the case here, this was one incredibly tasty cigar!  
Straight from the initial draws I was met with a nice mix of flavors that balanced very well together and through the cigar I was greeted by more.  The burn was spot on and the ash was always beautiful.  There is no doubt that I will be seeking more of these out soon.  If there were any downsides to this cigar I can only think of one.  That one is obviously the price (in Canada at least), which is a combination of the Cohiba name and the crazy taxes. In Cuba, their retail price is fairly competitive and well worth it. Were those prices available to me here I would probably have a steady supply of these in the humi for regular smoking.  If you have a chance to get your hands on some of these I would recommend it highly. They are worth having on hand for special occasions or when you want to sit down with a really good cigar and just enjoy the experience.

Pairings:
If you look through past reviews on the site you can see that Tony is obviously the Belgian Beer expert here.  This is not because I don’t like them but because they are so hard to find where I live.  With the holidays around the corner it seems a lot more different beers have become available and I’m going to take full advantage of that!
The first one I cracked open is from “Abbaye de Maredsous” and it is their Brune offering.  As with a lot of Belgian beers, this one is brewed under the supervision on the Monastic monks.  It is a highly fermented brew that clocks in at 8% alc./vol.  The beer itself pours out with a dark opaque brown color and froths up a nice foam on the surface. It is a very tasty brew to say the least.  I get lots of hoppy maltiness with a slight bitter finish.  There are some tarty notes on the tongue that really add the flavor from each sip.  This brew paired perfectly with the Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos and I would definitely pair it this way again.  Another good pairing that stands out here would be some Tawny Port (Big surprise there right? lol).  Other great pairings would include a nice strong coffee, dark soda or stout.

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