The Good Stuff:

Anytime Antonio from Reinado reaches out to me to take a look at their newest offering I get excited. Reinado is a small, boutique company who has consistently kicked out bangers since their inception. The Capablanca is named after a famous Cuban chess player who donned the same last name. As a tribute to Antonio’s father he named this cigar after the chess player as his father would often replay his chess matches with Antonio and his brother. Proceeds from each of the Capablanca blends sold will go to the Dementia Society of America as his father is suffering from dementia. The only known detail on the blend is its Cameroon wrapper while the rest of the blend is kept secret. The Capablanca will come in a single 6 x 54 format which will run $14 per stick. Big thanks for Antonio for sending this my way for review.

• Size: 6 x 54
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $14

Prelight:

The Reinado Capablanca starts out with a medium brown wrapper that showcases some darker and orange-tinted areas scattered throughout. The medium-density wrapper’s texture is gritty and toothy with a good amount of oils coating it. The Capablanca features an unfinished foot where the wrapper extends past the filler and then is folder around it. There are a few smaller veins running from the unique foot up to the cigar’s round, point, pig-tail style cap. The cigar is then polished off with a simple, yet elegant, white and black band with the Reinado crest and the “Capablanca” moniker printed on the front.

The wrapper of the Reinado Capablanca gives off an absolutely incredible cologne/sweet woody aroma while the foot of the cigar is more natural with loads of earthiness and spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some rather unique flavors of black liccorice over sweet herbal flavors and a dash of wood.

First Third:

The Reinado Capablanca starts out with a very minor blast of black pepper which fades almost instantly allowing the cigar to release notes of graham cracker, musky wood, and earthiness with lighter notes of citrus and an awesome black licorice. The more I venture into the first third, the more pronounced the licorice is. The draw is perfection. Each puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke, which stick around for a very long time before dissipating while the cigar releases only a minor amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burning is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for about an inch before into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Reinado Capablanca and the flavor profile is very similar to the first. The black licorice is still hanging in there under great notes of musky wood and graham cracker with a touch of honey and vanilla. The retrohale brings out a little bit of spice that I dont really pick up during the regular smoking experience. I close out the second third with no signs of nicotine.

Finish:

The flavor profile really ramps up in the final third of the Reinado Capablanca. The woodsy flavors mixed with the graham cracker ramp up and completely dominate the profile. Under are some light notes of honey and vanilla. I really enjoy the profile here at the end. It took me an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness and no extended heat. The cigar burned flawlessly from start to finish and I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar. I close out with no signs of nicotine at all.

Note: In some photos there are signs of wrapper crackage. Super minor and didn’t affect the the experience at all. I chalk this one up to the insane heat and dryness in my area. In retrospect I should have let this cigar sit in my humidor and acclimate a bit more, but I was excited to fire it up.

Overview:

When Cameroon is done well, it rocks. In the case of the Capablanca, it is done VERY well. Every time I smoke a Cameroon-wrapped cigar I often wonder why I don’t smoke them more. The tobacco treats a bold and complex flavor profile that usually more unique than most other tobaccos. The Capablanca is such a great example of this. The flavor profile is not only unique, but very enjoyable. It’s not overly complex so you don’t have to really reach in and dig for flavors, yet it does carry enough complexity to keep my both entertained, and craving for more.

The post Reinado Capablanca appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

If every there was a year to make a cigar branded “Vision”, 2020 is the year to do it. While this isn’t the first time we have seen the CAO vision, this is the first time in a very long time this has hit shelves. Last seen in 2013 before General Cigar Company took over the blend, Vision was a highly sought after cigar. With updated branding and a heck of a packaging concept, the cigar also changes things up with a whole new blend featuring a Cameroon wrapper over an Ecuadorian Sumatran Binder and Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa and Esteli regions of the county. The CAO vision comes in a single 7 x 50 Churchill format packaged in LED lit boxes of 20 running $18.99 with only 4,500 boxes being released.

• Size: 7 x 50
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $18.99
• Pairing: Bottle Logic Distant Messenger (Imperial Golden Stout 13.04% ABV)

Prelight:

The CAO vision sports a very lovely, consistently milky brown wrapper that shines a bit green in the sunlight. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy with a ton of oils coating it while it showcases a decent amount of veins and natural webbing in the leaf. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself lead up the cigar’s long body to its round, double-wrapper cap. The cigar is then polished off with a hologram infused white band with the words “Vision” on the front as well as a small secondary foot band sporting the brand’s “CAO” logo. The cigar as a whole is very heavy, and very tightly packed as there is absolutely no give as I squeeze it between my fingers.

The wrapper on the CA Vision give off very little aroma outside of some faint natural tobacco scents while the foot of the cigar releases a good amount of sweet spice, earthiness and toffee. The cap on the CAO vision cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a great deal of apple, toffee, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The CAO Vision starts with a quick blast of cayenne pepper which only left my tongue and lips tingling for a minute before quickly dissipating allowing the cigar to release great notes of nutmeg, toffee, musk, and earthiness with some very light citrus and sweetness. The draw on the CAO vision is fantastic as every little puff I take kicks out a huge cloud of very thick, white smoke which sticks around for quite some time while the cigar releases almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is dead even and very sharp as it creates a trail of tightly compacted, medium gray ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the CAO Vision and the flavors have creamed out a bit. The cigar still leads with musk, nutmeg and vanilla while the earthiness, citrus, and toffee have began to fade a bit. The retrohale brings out a lot of the musk and earthiness, and while I enjoy that it tens to overpower some of the other flavors in the mixture so I refrain from retrohaling too often. The cigar is still burning perfectly and I close out the second this with nothing really in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the CAO Vision and much is the same. Musk, vanilla and nutmeg lead the charge every creamy toffee, earthiness and now a nice floral flavor. The profile is great, I just wish it had a bit more body to it. It took me 2 hours to smoke the Vision down to the nub. I experienced no sap, no harshness, nor any extended heat while the cigar itself left me with only a very slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

The CAO Vision has always been a special cigar, and the 2020 version is no exception. From the branding to the packaging to the tobaccos used, this cigar screams luxury. The experience as a whole is super. That being said I do have two things to note. First, the price point. This is quite pricey for this cigar as you are now pushing in the the higher end Fuente and Padron category. While that’s ok, and the company knows it, I just wish the cigar delivered a bit more in the flavor department. While the flavors are good and enjoyable, at times I felt they were too mild and really toned down the experience. That being said, this is something I’d definitely smoke again, but not something I personally would keep on deck in my everyday rotation. I think people who love milder ultra-premium cigars are going to LOVE this one.

Pairing:

Inspired by Hawaiian coffee cake Bottle Logic’s Distant Messenger is a 13.04% Imperial Golden Stout brewed with lactose then aged in bourbon barrels before finishing on gobs of marshmallow, coconut, pineapple and Salvador Angel Mountain coffee beans. The beer leads with a sticky, brown sugar sweetness with bold notes of coconut and vanilla over lighter notes of malt, caramel, and pineapple with a very heavy, sticky mouthfeel before finishing with a ton more brown sugar and coconut, pineapple, and just a dash of coffee. The pineapple really started to come out as the beer warms. The vanilla, pineapple and coffee all mashed up very well with the existing flavors in the CAO vision while the beer as a whole really helped push the dryness out of the cigar.

The post CAO Vision 2020 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

By now, you should all be acquainted with RoMa Craft’s Baka series. The blend was released at last year’s IPCPR Show. At the time only two vitolas were released, the Pygmy and the Bantu. The plan is to release a new format every year, all in limited quantities. This year the Baka features the Jengi, a 5 3/4 x 46 corona. The blend is quite secretive with the only detail released being that it features a Cameroon wrapper. As of now, the following formats have been released: The Pygmy (4 x 46), The Bantu (4 x 52) and the Jengi (5 3/4 x 46). The Pygmy comes packaged in boxes of 30 while the Bantu and Jengi come packaged in boxes of 24 ranging between $9.25 and $11.40 a stick. I got mine over from our good friends at Cigars International who still have some in stock while I am writing this, but I would imagine will sell out any day now.

• Size: 5 3/4 x 46
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $11.40
• Pairing: Firestone Walker Imperial Walker Reserver (Imperial Porter 12.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The RoMa Craft Baka Jengi starts out with a very dark brown wrapper with scattered spots of lighter brown throughout and a nice orange sheen. The wrapper’s texture is very firm and dense with a ton of gritty tooth and natural oils. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself showcasing some smaller veins and lots of natural tobacco leaf webbing. The slender body of the cigar leads up to a round, double-wrapped cap before being polished off by the standard maroon and white band which features the “BAKA” crest embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Baka Jengi gives off a very nice cocoa aroma while the foot of the cigar is much more natural with earthy and spice notes. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of almond, cocoa and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The RoMa Craft Baka Jengi starts out running with a light blast of black pepper which fades almost immediately after the first draw allowing the cigar to showcase bold notes of oak, almond, and musk over dark chocolate and honey. There is a nice little floral touch that peeks it’s head in every now and again. The draw is absolutely perfect as each puff kicks out a thick cloud of white smoke which hangs around for quite some time before dissipating while the cigar itself releases a standard amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is razor sharp and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted light gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the RoMa Craft Baka Jengi and the dark chocolate flavor has began to lead the charge backed by almond, oak and musk with light floral and honey. There is also a nice herb flavor in there, almost tea-ish. The retrohale is really nice and clean while it brings out a nice spice thats not really present in the standard experience. The burn line is still dead even and I close out the second third with a nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the RoMa Craft Baka Jengi and man, the oak and dark chocolate have really taken over the flavor profile. Underneath it are soft mixtures of musk, almond, and honey at this point. The cigar started in the medium/full bodied arena and finished full bodied. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat and close out with only a very minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

I am a big fan of RoMa Craft’s cigars and there is no hiding that. While I smoked quite a few Baka last year, I never got around to reviewing them. I just kept smoking them thinking “It’s ok, you can just grab more when you’re ready to review them”, and then suddenly they were gone. Not making the same mistake with the Jengi I am glad to finally give my thoughts on this cigar. Plain and simple, I absolutely loved it. The whole Full-Body, Medium-Strength combination is my preference and this flavor profile is incredible. Its complex, yet easy to pick apart. The chocolate and oak flavors really appease my personal profile. All while delivering a flawless smoking experience. The only gripe I have is the availability, but that just means I need to buy more up front and make them last right? Box-worthy for sure.

Pairing:

This week I decided to pair this cigar with a special beer, Firestone Walker’s Imperial Walker Reserve. Brewed at the Firestone Walker brewery in California, this barrel aged porter comes in at a comfortable 12.5% ABV. This beer leads with tons of oak, caramel, coconut, and malt with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more caramel, oak, vanilla, and a an interesting cola aftertaste. The oak, malt, and caramel really married up well with the existing flavors in the Baka while the sweetness from the beer added the cherry on top of the pairing.

The post RoMa Craft Baka Jengi appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua, the New World Cameroon Selection is available in Short Robusto (4 by 48), Robusto (5 1/2 by 54), Toro (6 by 50), Torpedo (6 1/2 by 52), Gordo (6 by 60), and Churchill (7 by 48). The cigar features a Cameroon wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos grown at A.J. Fernandez’s Esteli farm. The cigars come packaged in boxes of 20 and will run you between $5 and $7 a per cigar.

You can purchase New World Cameroon Selection from our good friends at Famous Smoke Shop.

THE FACTS

Price: $6.50
Vitola: Churchill
Size: 7 by 48
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 50 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The New World Cameroon Selection wears a medium brown wrapper with a greenish hue that has some darker markings, small sugar-like crystals, and small veins running down the leaf. To the touch, the cigar is smooth, velvety, and somewhat spongy as I gently press down the cigar. 

As I bring the wrapper to my nose, I am met with barnyard, vinegar, and coffee. The aroma on the foot is of cardboard and dry wood. The draw is easy showing more of the wood and some light cinnamon with a spice heat being felt on the lips.

FIRST THIRD

The New World Cameroon Selection opens with a rich profile showing off flavors of earth, heavy black pepper, and a vegetal flavor. A sweetness moves into the profile that is tied to the vegetal flavor and continues to intensify as the cigar progresses. I can feel a spice in the back of the throat that lingers for some time between puffs. A light colored ash forms as the cigar burns evenly. 

MIDDLE THIRD

As this latest iteration of the New World progresses, the earth and cocoa become the central flavors. The unique vegetal flavor appears every couple of puffs but seems to be fading out.  An espresso coffee flavor is now on the finish of the smoke, and the earlier black pepper flavor and accompanying spice have calmed. The texture of the smoke is smooth and creamy in the mouth.

FINAL THIRD

Moving into the last third, the sweetness has evolved to a roasted marshmallow and is pairing well with the dark espresso, earth, and cocoa flavors. I am also getting a fat nutty flavor on the backend of the flavors. The New World Cameroon closes out with rich and full flavors. 

WRAP-UP

The original New World has been a go-to cigar for me over the last couple of years. A cigar that I know will deliver and hit the spot when I am not sure what else to reach for. On a recent trip to Florida, I was introduced to the New World Cameroon Selection. And after smoking it, I knew it was a cigar I needed to review. The cigar takes a little time to warm up, but it is an absolute treat once it does. The combination of flavors in the second and final third won me over and held my attention through this nearly two-hour smoke. The performance was right on from start to finish and a price tag under $7 makes this cigar that much sweeter.

The post A.J. Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Produced in Nicaragua at the Tabacalera Oliva De Esteli S.A. factory, the Nub lines are available in Connecticut, Cameroon, Maduro, and Habano wrapper options. The Cameroon frontmarks include 358 (3 ¾ by 58), 460 (4 by 60), 464T (4 by 64 Torpedo), 466 BPT (4 by 66 Box Press Torpedo).

You can give the Nub Cameroon 464T and 466BPT a try for yourself in the Nub 8-Cigar Sampler from our good friends over at Holt’s Cigar Company.

THE FACTS

Price: $27.95/8-Cigar Sampler
Vitola: 464T
Size: 4 by 64 Torpedo
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 5 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Nub Cameroon wears a milk chocolate wrapper. Only small veins are found and there are some scattered bumps on the leaf that has a light oily sheen. I find no soft spots, but there are a couple of indentions as I run my fingers down this 4-inch cigar.

The aroma from the wrapper is faint with some generic wood and earth notes. The same woodsy notes are found on the foot of the cigar with an added touch of pepper spice. A quick clip through the tapered head opens up a good draw allowing cold draw notes of rich, warm cedar and potpourri spices to move freely across my palate.

FIRST THIRD

Once lit, medium flavors of nuts, leather, and pepper are first to greet my palate. The smoke is both smooth and thick in the mouth. I find a slightly sour edge to the smoke but it is working well with everything else going on. The Nub Cameroon is burning along evenly as a salt and pepper ash forms.

MIDDLE THIRD

The profile has downshifted from medium to mild as the Nub Cameroon burns into the second third. The sour edge in the previous third is more of a lemon zest now, while the other flavors in the profile remain consistent. The finish of the cigar is very clean with only a lingering black pepper spice.

FINAL THIRD

The sour quality has faded out as the leather kicks up a few notches and a deep earth and cocoa flavor joins in. The thick texture of the smoke remains the same. The retro-hale is smooth but still brings enough spice to the table to tickle my sinuses. The burn is right on up to the very end of the cigar. 

WRAP-UP

This may have been my first go-around with the Nub Cameroon and it was a very positive one at that. The mild to medium profile makes this a perfect morning to early afternoon cigar, but there is also enough spice from the Nicaraguan tobacco to kick your palate into gear. The thick texture paired up with the smoothness of the smoke made it a satisfying experience. And unlike the Nub Habano that struggled to burn, the Cameroon version burned nearly perfect from start to finish.

The post Nub Cameroon 466BPT by Oliva Cigar Company appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

By now you should all be familiar with the Cromagnon line from RoMa Craft Tobac as it was the debut blend that launched the company into what it has become today. Back in 2013 the line was expanded with the addition of a Candela version of the cigar and this year it was expanded once again with an extremely limited production blend of a Candela/Broadleaf wrapped cigar called the “Black Irish”. The Black Irish is offered in a single 5 x 56 format and starts out with a Connecticut Broadleaf / Candela barber pole style wrapper over a Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan fillers. The blend is very difficult to find and I was lucky enough to nab mine from a buddy who I’m pretty sure had a hard time parting with them (Thanks Jason!). 

Size: 5 x 56
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf / Candela
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan (Esteli. Condega, and Ligero from a small farm in Esteli on the Honduran border)
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Mefium/Full
Price: $10.99
Pairing: Belching Beaver Good Morning Beautiful (Brown Ale 5.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The obvious stand-out characteristic of the Black Irish is the beautiful barber-pole style wrapper on the cigar where the Connecticut Broadleaf and Candela wrappers overlap each other giving a candy-cane style effect. The Broadleaf is a beautiful dark, consistent brown and the small amount of Candela is an olive green. The construction on the cigar is flawless as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself. The wrapper’s texture is pretty toothy with a good amount of oil while the candela portion is a bit smoother than the broadleaf. The wrappers feel very dense and hard while the cigar as a while is firm to the touch with no soft spots leading up to the cigar’s rounded double-cap. The cigar is then polished off with the standard, elegant, black white Cromagnon band which I absolutely love. The band features an embossed “Cromagnon” logo in the front and a small, white Roma Craft Tobac logo in the back. Band design doesn’t get much cleaner than this. 

The wrapper on the Black Irish gives off some great spice aromas, sweetness, and coconut while the foot of the cigar carries much more spice, pepper, musk, and natural tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my double bladed Xikar XO cutter. The cold draw produces some great musk, pepper, spice, and oaty flavors. 

First Third:

The Roma Craft Tobac Cromagnon Black Irish starts out with a subtle little black pepper zing, just enough to tease my tongue before transitioning into a melody of sweet chocolate and coffee notes back by some herbal tea type flavors, coconut, spice and musk. The draw on this bad boy is phenomenal. Each tiny little puff kicks out a whole mess of thick white smoke which hangs around for a considerable amount of time before dissipating. The cigar also releases a pretty fair amount of stationary smoke as the oils burn from the wrapper while the cigar rests in my ashtray. The burn line is very even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of compacted medium gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray. 

Second Third:

As I continue into the second third of the Roma Craft Tobac Cromagnon Black Irish the chocolate and coconut really begin to take center stage backed by sweet brown sugar, musk, black tea, and spice. The flavor profile is phenomenal. I find retrohaling the cigar really brings out the musk and spice while not being too harsh on the nasal passage. The cigar is still burning perfectly without any help from my torch as I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine. 

Finish:

Into the final third of the RoMa Craft Tobac Black Irish and the flavors continue to pour out pure awesomeness. The chocolate and coconut still lead the charge, the tea has became much more prominent while the backing flavors are a subtle mixture of musk, spice, and a bit of floral pings here and there. The cigar took me almost two hours to take down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness, nor extended heat while it burned flawlessly from start to finish and I never once had to reach for my torch to touch-up or relight my cigar. 

Overview:

I have been a long-time fan of RoMa Craft Tobac’s releases and I have to be honest hear, the Black Irish is probably one of the best cigars I have smoked from the team. The flavor profile is unique, and incredible while the cigar sports perfect construction, and the price point is about where you would expect it to be. I bet you can guess that my only gripe is that these are pretty near impossible to find. So if anyone has been hoarding onto these… let me know.. now please.  

Pairing:

Belching Beaver’s Good Morning Beautiful is one of a series of releases the brewery has created to celebrate the Deftones. This 5.5% ABV brown ale is brewed along with coffee, coconut, and maple syrup. The beer leads with a very light body with hints of coconut, malt, chocolate and really light coffee with an incredibly thin mouthfeel before finishing clean with more malt and coffee. The beer itself is a bit lacking and I really expected more flavor for it. If it I had to pair this cigar again I’d toss in a heavy imperial stout, sweet bourbon, or even some sweet iced black tea.

The post RoMa Craft Tobac Cromagnon Black Irish appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Tobacco Association of America, or TAA is a group of around 80 retailers nationwide that meet annually to discuss and plan to address issues facing the cigar industry. Many cigar manufacturers choose to create special blends that are only sold at TAA retailers to support these for standing up for the industry. For the sixth year in a row La Flor Dominicana is one of those manufacturers releasing the TAA 49. The TAA 49 is based off last year’s TAA 48 blend utilizing a Connecticut Wrapper (the TAA 48 used a natural San Andres wrapper while there was a special edition TAA 48 that was limited to special events which carried the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper), Cameroon binder, and Dominican fillers. The cigar is offered in a single 6 x 54 box-pressed format which comes packaged in boxes of ten running $9.90 a stick. These are manufactured at the Tabacalera La Flor S.A. in Dominican Republic and I picked mine up from our good friends at Ford on Fifth.

Size: 6 x 54
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Dominican Republic
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $9.90
Pairing: Avery Barrel Aged Coconut Porter (Baltic Porter 10.4% ABV)

Prelight:

The La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 starts out with a meaty, extremely dark brown, consistent, rustic looking wrapper. The texture on the wrapper is incredibly toothy (it feels much like a gritty sandpaper), and decently oily. The wrapper showcases some darker natural webbing throughout the wrapper leaf as well as some slight veins running through the long box-pressed body leading up to a round triple wrapped cap. The cigar is very firm, and the wrapper is insanely dense and hard. The cigar is pushed off with the standard gold, maroon and black band with the LFD crest in the front, as well as a maroon and gold secondary band with the TAA moniker.

The wrapper on the La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 gives off a bunch of spice and pepper aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of dirt and moss over natural tobacco scents. The cap took a bit of extra pressure from my Xikar double bladed XO cutter. Probably due to the density of the wrapper, but it did cut very clean so no complaints there. The cold draw produces a ton of raisin, cayenne pepper, and tartness.

First Third:

Despite the bold pepper in the cold draw of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 the cigar started out with little to no pepper, lots of raisin and brown sugar, strong spice, vanilla, and musk with some tartness left on my palate on the aftertaste. I absolutely love how this cigar is starting out.  The draw is perfect releasing a great amount of thick white smoke into my mouth with each little puff while the cigar smokes like a chimney as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is slightly wavy, and pretty thick leaving behind some flaky light and dark gray ash which held in place for a little under an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the La Flor Dominican TAA 49 and the dirt/moss/earthy flavors I picked up in the cold draw are starting shine through the sweetness, raisin, vanilla, musk, brown sugar and spice. It almost tastes like Christmas if that makes any sense. Now that I think of it, I’m even picking up a bit of spice here. The retrohale coats my nasal passage with some great spice and oak that I am not picking up in the standard draw. The cigar is still burning pretty wild but I have had to reach for my torch just yet as I close out the second third with only a slight little nicotine kick.

Finish:

The strength really ramps up in the final third of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 and is now well in the Full category. The flavors have started to blend and cream together at this point with the oak I picked up in the retrohale leading the charge backed by spice, raisin, musk, and brown sugar. There wasn’t too much in terms of change-ups in this cigar but the flavor profile more than makes up for that. It took me 2 hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I experience no harshness, nor any extra heat it did leave me with a hell of a nicotine punch though.

Overview:

The La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 was off to the races right out the gate and never stopped pouring it on. With a fantastic flavor profile, bold body, and a ton of strength this cigar isn’t for the faint of heart. But LFD rarely is. This powerhouse cigar was right up my alley all while supporting the TAA. You can’t really ask for more than that. With a price of $9.90 this cigar falls right in the center of what I would pay for it. It’s not something I could smoke often as it would knock me on my ass each time, but with the 10 count boxes I could easily see this as a box-worthy purchase. At least pick up a 5-er.

Pairing:

Avery’s Barrel Aged Coconut Porter is an imperial porter brewed with coconut before being aged in bourbon barrels. Coming out of the Avery Brewery in Boulder Colorado this beer comes in at a whopping 10.4% ABV. The beer leads with sweet coconut, vanilla, malt, cocoa, bourbon, and a bit of booziness with a rather light mouthfeel before finishing clean with more sweet coconut, brown sugar, malt and vanilla. As the beer warms more and more of the already bold coconut comes out as the overall experience becomes sweeter. Its easy to see why I chose to pair this beer with the sweet flavors in the La Flor Dominicana TAA 49. I think this cigar would also pair well with a heavy Belgian quad, or even a nice spiced stout.

The post La Flor Dominicana TAA 49 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Partagas Ramon y Ramon was one of many cigars that made their debut for General Cigars at this past year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas. The cigar is produced with care using seeds that the company has stored in a vault from almost five decades ago. The seeds are modified and then produced to create some of the blends we enjoy today. This is the same process used to create the Macanudo Mao, except this particular blend uses seeds from Ramon Cifuentes Toriello who was the previous owner of the Partagas brand. The Ramon y Ramon blend utilizes this vintage seed which is farmed in the Dominican Republic as well as a Dominican Piloto Cubano and Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa region for it’s fillers. The binder is from Dominican Republic and the cigar is wrapped in a Cameroon wrapper. The Partagas Ramon y Ramon comes in four sizes: Robusto (5 x 50), Maxim Grande (6 x 52),  Fabuloso (7 x 54), and the Gigante (6 x 60). All of which come in boxes of 20 ranging between $7.49 and $8.99 a stick. Big thanks to the General Cigar team for sensing samples our way to review.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Nicaraguan/Dominican Republic
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $7.99
Pairing: Bosque Brewing – Sangre to Coco (Imperial Brown Ale 8.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Partagas Ramon y Ramon starts out with a rustic looking, medium brown wrapper. The wrapper is pretty rough looking with lots of splotched dark brown, orangish-brown, and yellowish -brown areas scattered throughout. The wrapper feels extremely thin and delicate, with some soft oils, and mild tooth. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself as it leads from the long body of the cigar up to the round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a very detailed, yet elegant, white, yellow, gold and red band with the Partagas crest displayed in the front. The cigar is a big soft and spongy, but nothing to really be concerned about. Let’s just hope the draw isn’t too loose.

The wrapper on the Partagas Ramon y Ramon gives off a very nutty, earthy aromas while the foot of the cigar has some very mild spice and tobacco scents. Not much going on there. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some mild spice, dirt, musk, and nut flavors.

First Third:

The Partagas Ramon y Ramon starts out with a pretty impressive pepper boom that I wasn’t expecting at all. Once the pepper started to fade I was greeting with some bold floral and musk flavors, great nutiness, clove, sweetness, and this awesome pine type taste that cameroon can only offer. The draw on this cigar is magnificent. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke while the cigar pours like a chimney as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of medium and dark gray ash which held on for about in inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Partagas Ramon y Ramon and the body is still way up in the medium/full arena. The flavors are leading with the clove and pine backed by spice, musk, soft nut, and a bit of chocolate and coffee. The retrohale really helps bring out the pine and clove. the burn line is still rocking dead even while the cigar is burning at an average rate. I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

The flavors have still been pouring it on in the final third of the Partagas Ramon y Ramon. While most of them balanced out a bit that pine is still rocking hard backed by spice, musk, nut, clove, coffee, and cocoa. It took me about an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub and I loved it the entire time. The cigar finishes really clean despite being so full of flavor. No harshness, no extra heat, and only some very slight nicotine. I really need to get more of these.

Overview:

I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t smoke enough Cameroon cigars. When they are done right, they can really offer some bold, unique flavor profiles. In the case of the Partagas Ramon y Ramon this is Cameroon done perfectly. The cigar carried way more body than I was expecting, and the flavor profile was complex, and not something  I encounter often. Again, I need to smoke more Cameroon. The price of this cigar is exactly where I’d expect it to be and I could easily see this cigar slotting into my regular rotation.

Pairing:

One of the huge upsides about living in El Paso is how close we are located to Las Cruces, New Mexico which houses a great little taproom for Bosque Brewing out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bosque has been a local favorite of mine for a while, and one of the beers I’ve enjoyed the most as of late is their Sangre de Coco. Sangre de Coco is an Imperial Brown ale brewed with coconut which comes in at a modest 8.5% ABV. The beer leads with a ton of sweetness, coconut, almond, milk chocolate, roasted malt, and a bit of coffee with a very light mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with more coconut and chocolate and a nice coffee aftertaste. This beer honestly reminds me of liquid Almond Joy. While the flavors weren’t an exact match for the cigar, I knew that I wanted something a little bolder to pair with the Partagas Ramon y Ramon to really bring the body out of the cigar. I really enjoyed the flavors in the cigar, but thought that with a bit more sweetness this cigar could really get to a whole new level, which in fact it did with this pairing.

The post Partagas Ramon y Ramon appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

-Tony

Cigars blended and/or manufactured by Abdel (AJ) Fernandez have certainly not been ignored here at Casas Fumando, as there are too many reviews of them in the archives to list or link to.  Suffice to say that we are all fans of what he has put out ever since he burst onto the scene several years ago.  The Enclave follows on the heels of the New World that he and his father Ismael introduced last year, and is a tribute to the community of cigar smokers the world over.  Although I have yet to try the New World (I know, shame on me), the premise of the Enclave was too much for me to pass up on it for a review before I could get around to the New World.  With all of the vitolas of the Enclave being of a 52 ring gauge, it is right up my alley in terms of size.  Those sizes are Robusto 5×52, Toro 6×52, Figurado 6.5×52, and Churchill 7×52 and fall within the $6 – $7 range.

The cigars for review were once again provided by Cuenca Cigars.

The Basics:

Wrapper:   Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Binder:  Cameroon
Filler:  AJF Select Nicaraguan and AJF Piloto Cubano
Size:  Figurado 6.5 x 52
Price:  ~$6.80
Pairing:  Great Divide Claymore Scotch Ale (7.7% ABV)

Pre-light:

The AJ Fernandez Enclave presents itself in an oily wrapper, uniformly medium brown in color and sporting a couple of medium sized veins.  It is for the most part firmly packed with a few slightly softer spots, starting with a blunt foot and culminating in a sharply pointed cap.  The main band is primarily blue, red, white, gold, and sepia, and depicts a Native American astride a horse, while the secondary band of red, blue, and gold reads “A.J. Fernandez”.  The wrapper displays scents of tobacco and light earth.  The foot gives off tobacco, earth, wood, and light coffee.

Snipping the cap, I’m greeted by a snug draw, but that may be the effect of the nearly closed foot, so we’ll see how that progresses.  The flavors on the cold draw are light cedar and tobacco with a touch of sweetness.

First third:

Despite the slightly tight draw, the Enclave produces a decent of smoke featuring sweet cedar and just a hint of white pepper.  Earth and leather become apparent, more so on the retrohale.  Although I needed to make a quick correction due to the shape of the foot (i.e. my iffy lighting technique), the Enclave is now burning with thin and even line.  The ash which is part white and part gray (again, most likely due to the shape) looks solid, save for a crack about ½” down, and sure enough, it falls on me ¾” in.  The smoke output has increased and inch or so in, and the body has likewise gone up to a solid medium, bringing in a bit of musk and fleeting bread notes.  It has become nice and smooth on the entry, while leaving a bit of lingering tickle on the back of the tongue and throat.  Sweetness has become more apparent in the wood flavor, with bread on the retrohale.

Middle third:

Entering the second section of the AJ Fernandez Enclave, the cedar, earth, and leather continue to drive the flavors, while some bitter coffee and herbaceousness has come into play.  The sweetness has backed off and the body continues to climb.  With bitterness creeping up, I have given the stick a quick purge, and the sweeter notes immediately come rushing back.  Since my initial touch-up, the Enclave has been burning beautifully, with a razor sharp and even line, although the ash still wants to drop off unexpectedly.  The flavors have become earthier, and the woodiness darker.

Final third:

The Enclave continues to smoke smoothly, picking up more pepper, and the body is now at medium-full and climbing, and so is the strength.  There is a certain brightness that has entered the mix that helps to balance the darker flavors, and the sweetness has again come back into the picture.  At the two hour mark, with the strength kicking at me and the body at nearly full, I put the cigar down, although it is still smoking cool and without harshness, even at this point with an inch left.

Overview:

The AJ Fernandez Enclave turned out to be a solid smoke, which while not the most complex around, provided a good range of flavors with enough transitions to keep me interested in it.  Construction and burn were top-notch, it smoked nice and slow, and the price is absolutely consumer friendly.  Mild smokers and those who have an aversion to strong smokes might want to build up to this one, but for those who like their cigars on the stronger side, this would be a good one to pick up and try. It’s a worthy salute to the brotherhood/sisterhood of cigar smokers at a great price point.  I’m now interested to see how it shows itself in one of the Parejo shapes.

Pairing:

After smoking my first Enclave, I decided that I wanted to go with something on the sweeter and smoother side, so I went with the Claymore Scotch Ale by Great Divide.  While it does have a good amount of malty sweetness to it, it also is not so sweet as to be cloying.  Medium bodied and balanced out with a touch of tartness, it proved to be a good match with the cigar, helping to bring out more of the sweetness of the Enclave, while not overpowering it.  A strong ale or dark Belgian would also make for a great pairing.

The post AJ Fernandez Enclave appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

-Tony

As Summer winds down – and it is showing it with much cooler temperatures and wetness here this week in Seattle – I figured it was time to get in a cigar that is a bit more fitting for the fading warmer temperatures than those that will be more in my wheelhouse as thing cool down further… or maybe not. We shall see.

The cigar in question is the Sucker Punch, made as an exclusive for Famous Smoke Shop by General Cigar’s Punch division. I can’t tell you why, but I have not smoked more than a small handful of Punch cigars prior to this, but when I found out about this line, and saw what the components were and how they were priced, I knew I had to give the cigar a shot, so I ordered up a five pack from Famous. Touted as a Connecticut wrapped stick with a surprising “punch”, the Punch Sucker Punch was concocted by General Cigar’s Central American operations manager, Augustin Garcia Lainez and made in Honduras. The Sucker Punch comes in four sizes: Lights Out 5×52; King Hit 6×54; Critical Condition 7×52; and Smash Face 6.125×60.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan (ligero)
Size: Lights Out (robusto) 5×52
Price: $5.56 for singles, less for five packs and boxes
Smoking time: One hour, 25 minutes
Pairing: Anchor Porter (ABV 5.6%)

Pre-light:

The Punch Sucker Punch come swathed in a satiny and lightly oily absolutely uniform yellow-tan wrapper with one or two small veins and a tight, firm roll leading to a nicely applied double cap. The foot has a bit of a box-pressed look to it, but that seems to be a result of how the cigars were packaged more than anything. The large band of blue manila (picked up from Tony’s descriptions, but spot-on for the color J), red, and gold depicts a cigar smoking female boxer in fighting position, with the word “Sucker” placed above the traditional Punch logo. Under the word “Punch” is a closed fist bearing a ring, which my aging eyes couldn’t make out until Famous Smoke Shop’s Gary Korb sent me an enlarged graphic.

The wrapper aroma is light and dissipates rapidly as I try to discern the scents I pick up – mostly tobacco with faint tangy earth. The foot shows grass, earth and tobacco. Clipping the cap, the Sucker Punch reveals an ideal draw with just a bit of resistance, producing a sweet tobacco flavor and a hint of earth.

First third:

The initial draws present sweet grassy tobacco, cedar, earth, and slight pepper in a smooth mild body. The pepper quickly disappears along with the sweetness, replaced by leathery and earthy flavors. The somewhat thick burn line is for the most part even with just bit of waviness and is rapidly evening itself out, leaving behind a solid white ash, while pumping out a rather hefty volume of stationary smoke with a pleasant sweet wood aroma. Nearing the end of the first third of the Sucker Punch, the flavors have been very consistent with just a few fleeting sweeter notes playing amongst the predominant earthy cedar.

Middle third:

The ash has finally fallen at 1-3/4” into my lap and onto my porch floor with an audible thud and the body of the Sucker Punch has climbed to a low-medium. A bit of bread has come into play, even as the earthiness has pushed itself further into the picture… or maybe not, as it quickly fades back as the cigar suddenly becomes much smoother, and a bit of sweetness begins to linger on the palate. Although I was beginning to feel a bit of nicotine kick at the halfway point, that too has dialed down.

Final third:

Tapping off the ash – this time into my ashtray – at another 1-1/2+”, the Punch Sucker Punch continues to be a smooth, yet a bit edgy, smoke. Wood, earth, and now lightly toasted bread are the primary components with a faint sweet baking spice in the background. Pungent black pepper again rears up, as does a bit of nicotine, but it’s definitely more of a soft left jab than a strong right hook. As the flavors begin to thin out a bit and a peppery bite makes itself felt on my lips, it’s time to send the Sucker Punch to its corner after over an hour and twenty minutes, ending at a solid medium body.

Final thoughts:

I found the Punch Sucker Punch to be a pretty solid medium bodied smoke, and one that will provide a viable alternative to smokers who want a little more of an edge to the traditional Connecticut wrapped, mild cigar. Contrary to its marketing, it is not, in my opinion, an ass kicking strong smoke, but it does carry some slap to it. I would have liked a little more of the sweetness that a Connecticut stick usually provides and was a little surprised that the Cameroon binder did not for the most part provide that, but I still enjoyed it, and the price is certainly rather easy to take, especially since it can frequently be found on sale at Famous Smoke and on Cigar Monster at substantially lower prices (even their regular box price for the Lights Out comes in at about $4.28 per stick). It will not make me forget about the EP Carrillo New Wave, Emilio Suave, Nomad Connecticut Fuerte, or even the AVO Domaine, but it is still a cigar well worth considering if you are looking into a Connecticut with more to offer than the usual suspects at a budget friendly price. Although the appearance of some individual cigars can be a bit spotty (the two I smoked prior to this review had respectively a crack and a lump near the cap, neither of which affected the smoke negatively), the overall construction, draw, and burn were great with no re-lights or corrections necessary.

Pairing:

I wanted to match the Punch Sucker Punch up with a beer that had enough of a presence to stand up to what the cigar offers, but not so much that it would overpower the Connecticut and Cameroon leaves, and especially wanted to avoid anything too bitter, so I decided to go with Anchor Brewing’s Porter. A smooth, lightly sweet and mouthful, complementing it with malty and chocolate-y flavors and just enough bittering hops on the finish to deep things balanced. Of course, a sweetened coffee would also be ideal, and a White Russian* would also seem to be a perfect match with the Punch Sucker Punch. *Disclaimer: I usually hate sweet cocktails, and I don’t know that would go this far, but I think this pairing would be great, lol!

The post Punch Sucker Punch appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: RoMa Craft’s La Campana de Panama Soberana is the first limited edition release that we have seen come from the Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueno factory. While there have been a few event and shop exclusives the Campana is the only full limited release and will not be the last. La Campana de Panama Soberana is part of Skip Martin’s “Craft” series. The Craft series will feature runs of limited edition cigars that are either rare by accounts of tobaccos used in them, method of production, or both. In the case of the Campana de Panama Soberana the rareness relies in the production process. The Campana is composed 100% by hand using no molds. In fact, the only tool used to create the Campana de Panama Soberana besides two hands is a chaveta. The Campana de Panama Soberana starts off with a Brazilian Ariparaca wrapper coated with a few small bands of Ecuadorian Connecticut leaf around the foot bound by a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and filled with Nicaraguan and Cameroon filler tobaccos. The Campana is carries a unique, tapered, trompeta format and comes in boxes of 10 running $150 a box, or $15 a cigar. Only 1,000 boxes will be released.

Size: 5 x 46/60
Wrapper: Brazilian Ariparaca / Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Nicaraguan / Cameroon
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $15
Pairing: Uinta Crooked Series Labyrinth (Quad Black Ale – 13.2% ABV)

Prelight: RoMa Craft’s La Campana de Panama Soberana obvious characteristic it’s unique format. The cigar starts out with a very large 60 ring gauge at the foot area which consistently tapers up to a much smaller 46 ring gauge around the cap. Much like a trompeta vitola. Surrounding the foot of the cigar is two separate sets of lighter double bands made from a lighter shade tobacco leaf. In between each of these sets is a much darker band of leaf. Not only does it give the cigar a very unique feeling, but it also reminds the smoker that this cigar is completely hand-made as the lines on the wrapper bands are quite crude. The foot of the Campana de Panama Soberana adds to the effect by being unfinished, meaning instead of a straight cut showcasing the filler tobacco some of the wrapper leaf is folded over the foot concealing areas of the filler. While the cigar looks a big wonky it’s actually rather balanced in my hand and for the most part comfortable. The wrapper leaf is a medium brown with areas of darker brown webs and orange accents. There are a few larger veins running through the body, but nothing worry some. The Campana is polished off with a snubby, round, double cap which runs seamlessly into the body of the cigar. The wrapper has a decent amount of tooth and some slight oils but what’s most impressive is how seamless this cigar feels. There are the expected bumps and what have you, but had you not told me this cigar was rolled without the use of molds I would have had no idea. The wrapper feels a bit delicate but I couldn’t locate any soft sports or areas that would concern me. The wrapper on the Campana de Panama Soberana screams of sweet spice and honey while the foot of the cigar was a bit more modest releases some spice and tobacco aromas. The cap cut like butter using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw revealed some sweet spice that I was expecting along with some awesome berry I wasn’t mixed in over some natural tobacco flavors.

First Smoke: La Campana de Panama Soberana started out with a nice little pepper blast which quickly faded away a left me with some strong cinnamon, sweet brown sugar, cedar, and tobacco notes with a really interesting black cherry aftertaste. The draw on this cigar is incredible. I always fear that the draw will be too loose whenever I dive into a mold-less cigar, but this baby is perfect as it pumps out mouthfuls of thick, white smoke with every little puff. The burnline has a few slight waves, but nothing concerning and it’s rocking razor thin. The ash left behind is a bright white with medium gray mixture which held on for almost an inch before it fell into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Into the second third of RoMa Craft’s La Campana de Panama Soberana and the flavor has started to mix up quite a bit. A strong floral and honey mixture has made it’s presence known while more of the cinnamon and spice have faded out leaving behind the cedar and black cherry notes. Every once in a while I get a nice hit of espresso in there, but it’s not very consistent and just slips its way in there to keep me on my toes. The retrohale is badass coating my nasal passage with some sharp spice, cedar, and cherry. It really opens up the pairing I chose for this stick. The burnline is rockin’ solid at this point and hasn’t required any additional attention from my torch. I am feeling zero in the nicotine department as I close out the second third.

Finish: The cinnamon is back in full force during the final third of the Campana de Panama Soberana. I swear this is what smoking a graham cracker would taste like. Cinnamon, brown sugar poured over some soft spice, honey, cedar, and espresso. I’m not sure if it’s the variable ring gauge or what, but this cigar has really had some nice flavor change ups and has never failed to keep my attention. The burnline has been perfect, and in the hour and forty five minutes it’s taken me to smoke this cigar I never once had to pull out my lighter, nor did I feel any nicotine at all. The Campana de Panama Soberana really showcases the skill of the rollers at Fabrica de Tabacos de Nica Sueno.

Overview: Now I am torn a bit with the Campana de Panama Soberana. Let me start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. The flavor profile, the unique size, and the change ups really made for a great experience and It’s hard for me to get over the absence of mold use for this cigar as it preformed so well. While I enjoyed this cigar, it’s hard to see myself grabbing it over an Intemperance BA or Aquitaine especially at the price point. It’s a great cigar if you are looking for something special or different, but it’s hard to place the Campana de Panama Soberana over some of RoMa crafts already released blends that come in at half the price. The Campana does however showcase the tobacco, and the extreme skill of the staff over at RoMa Craft’s Fabrica de Tabacos de Nica Sueno which I am sure they were striving for. I can’t imagine how hard this cigar is to roll, and to roll as consistently as they are doing it over there. If you can appreciate that then this cigar is definitely worth picking up. I personally can see having a few of these on hand for those times I am in the mood for a different type of experience, but I don’t think it would easily find it’s way into my regular rotation.

Pairing: I’ve been sitting on a few bottles of this brew for a while now. I was pretty impressed with the first one I drank and made the effort to make sure I had a few on hand as it could easily pair well with quite a few cigars. Hell, almost anything Uinta has been brewing lately is worth picking up. From the Crooked series comes Uinta’s Labyrinth a barrel aged quadruple black ale with licorice sticks added as it’s aged in oak barrels. Boasting a ABV of 13.2% this Utah brewed beer isn’t for the faint of heart. This is a very dark, very heavy brew. The flavor profile consists of a ton of malt, sweet berry, chocolate, with just a hint of licorice with some great cola and spice on the finish. I loved how the fruit, licorice and spice married up with the flavor profile in the Campana de Panama Soberana while the chocolate and malt really helped bring out the fullness of the blend. Word to the wise though, take your time with this beer. Not only will it overpower most mild to medium cigars, but it will also start to cloud your vision as the alcohol will creep up on you.

The post RoMa Craft Tobac La Campana de Panama Soberana appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Back in October, Tony posted a preview of the LFD Foxtoberfest and had this to say:

Anthony Cantelmo shot over blend specifics, price points, batch size, and pictures of the cigar. It will be a 6.5 x 54 toro-ish vitola with a slight box press to it. The wrapper consists of a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper around a Comeroon Binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The cigars will run $8 a stick and will come 10 count boxes. Only 150 boxes will be produced and available at Foxtoberfest.

The Facts

Price: $8.00
Vitola: Toro
Size: 6 ½ by 54
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Drink: Water
Smoke Time: 2 Hours

Pre-light

The La Flor Dominicana Foxtoberfest wears a dark brown marbleized Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper that has deep red hue. Between the veins, the bumps and color imperfections, this is one rustic looking cigar. There is one soft spot midway down the cigar and the rest of the stick gives just slightly when pressed.

The aroma is faint off the wrapper with some mild vinegar and cedar. The foot gives off notes of chocolate, dark fruit, and chili powder. The small pig-tailed cap clips easily and I find a fantastic draw that is highlighting sweet chocolate, some nuttiness, and chili powder. There is no accompanying spice to the chili powder.

First Third

Harsh notes of toasted/burnt bread are prevalent right at the start of the Foxtoberfest. However, within a couple minutes the profile softens with some sweetness countering an enjoyable tartness, along with some cedar, earth, and spice. The spice really stands out on the retrohale and seems to be a brighter, white pepper spice. The spice and sweetness lingers on the finish of the smoke and there is also some cocoa to be found. The burn line is thick and lopsided. I will take the blame for the lopsided burn due to rushing the toasting process. With a quick touch-up right at an inch in, the burn is back in-line and things are looking good. The ash is dark, layered, and flaky but holding past an inch.

Middle Third

The cigar is burning incredibly slow as I am barely making my way into the second third after 50 minutes. The cedar has become a bit charred tasting, somewhat like the introductory flavor I picked up on but is not overpowering. The sweetness and tartness continue to balance out the harsher flavors. Cocoa and a savory, meatiness seem to be creeping into the profile. The spice has calmed on the retrohale and some yeasty, bread-like notes have joined the mix. The flavors have picked up from medium to full, as well as the strength.  The burn line is still meandering requiring another touch-up at the end of the second third.

Final Third

The charred wood continues to hold its ground, and there is some additional earthiness and leather. The smoke production is just awesome right now. The smoke remains cool. The sweetness has faded or at least is being hidden by the more dominant flavors. The burn line is sloppy and I am going to see if I can make it to the end without any additional fixes. Ash flakes are dropping all over the keyboard and I am making quite the mess.

Wrap-up

While I am no leaf expert, I was able to easily distinguish the different roles the leaves played in the flavor profile. The Cameroon binder showed off a wonderful sweetness, while the Connecticut Broadleaf  contrasted it with its common tartness and savory meatiness. The first and second third delivered complexity and a mostly balanced profile. However, the cigar did not end as well as it began when charred notes  arrived. I have almost a full box left so I am going to let these puppies age a bit and revisit in 6 months or so to see if the final third improves. The performance did not meet my expectations with a few relights and a crazy flaky ash. Overall, this was a good cigar that offered a unique experience.

The post La Flor Dominicana – Foxtoberfest appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So at the end of my last post we had just finished up at first island on our cruise which was the beautiful island of St. Thomas.

Our next day was spent at sea so I went to check out the “cigar bar” that this ship apparently had. It was a small room that the bartender sold cigars from under the counter. They were all the mass production blends such as the Dominican Romeo y Julieta’s and Cohiba Red Dots, none of which appealed to me so I passed on that and enjoyed another Padron 2000 I picked up the day before.

Our third day brought us to the island of St. Lucia where we took a Pirate ship to a beach, no shopping here so I can’t report on any cigar selection or prices. But the weather was awesome, the water was blue and the rum punch was flowing!

The next island stop was Barbados. We went into the main town but it wasn’t much to see or do, we were gone pretty quickly and I didn’t see any shops that looked to be selling cigars in our short time there. We spent some more time at the beach then walked around the duty free shops in the cruise port. There was one shop that had a decent selection here including their locally made Royal Barbados brand which is a decent mild stick and a variety of Avo’s, Joya de Nicaraguan, Davidoffs and a few La Aurora brands. Prices were still a bit over US Retail here but were actually pretty good. I managed to grab myself a sampler of La Aurora sticks and some Royal Barbados while at this shop. That night I sat outside and enjoyed one of the La Aurora Cameroon’s I picked out.

The island of St. Kitts was up next, we did a scenic tour on train which took us the entire way around the island. The island has an amazing mountain right in the middle that touches the clouds, was very impressive. Then we walked around the shops at the cruiseport again but I didn’t see much in the way of cigars. This port was full of souvenir shop after souvenir shop. Not all that interesting but I did get to see an awesome sunset. Here’s a shot of it from my iPhone, I’ll have more on Flickr soon if anyone is interested in seeing some trip photos.

Our final island, and one of my favorites was St. Maarten (or St. Martin). This is a beautiful clean island with lots of nice shops and long beaches by the blue water. Another place I’d really like to come back and stay for a week or so. Here I found some of the best prices on Cuban cigars but the next day we’d be flying into Florida so I didn’t want to bring them into the US. If you do happen to stop here I do have to caution you that there were a lot of fakes so be careful what you buy! I did grab myself an RyJ Corona to enjoy while we walked around and also managed to buy myself a nice watch! While watching the ship leave port I also enjoyed a Don Lino backed by some awesome scenery.

The next day brought us back to San Juan where we made another dash to the airport and off to Florida. No time to shop around in San Juan unfortunately. While in Florida I got to enjoy a few more sticks and even remembered to take pictures of some. Here I am enjoying a Leon Jimenez Red Label with some more Rum & Coke.

While we were in Florida I made a trip down to visit our friend Jackie over at Bonita Smoke Shop. It’s about 2.5 hours away from where we were so I didn’t get a chance to stay too long. I dropped off my wife to do some shopping and headed over there. Now I have to say Jackie and the crew are a bunch of super awesomely nice people and I will DEFINITELY be going to visit them again next time I’m in Florida. She sat me in her office and we just chatted for a bit then she took me for a grand tour. This place is like cigar lovers heaven. It was room after room of nothing but good cigars. Was great to meet her and to see the shop. If you live or will be anywhere near Bonita Smoke Shop, make sure to pay them a visit! This pic is just a tiny corner of the store, there’s tons more in there.

I managed to grab myself a whole variety of sticks but here’s some of the main ones. I got a few of each of these but to make the picture easier I just lined up one of each.

When I got home that night I lit up one of Jackie’s special house blends called the Time Warp and paired it with 2 interesting brews, the Vieille Provision Saison Dupont and some Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale. The cigar was fantastic with tons of flavors and the beers were very tasty too. Thanks for the awesome cigar Jackie, you rock!

Another place I hit up while down there is a restaurant chain called Columbia. This chain started out in the cigar town of Ybor City which is just outside of Tampa. They make some great food and offer up a killer Sangria. They also have some house blend cigars out of their own little factory. I blindly picked up a couple of sticks, more out of curiosity and a bit of a souvenier. Turns out I should have bought more, this was a damn tasty cigar and next time I’m down there I will definitely be grabbing more! I also paired it with some Stone Imperial Russian Stout which was damn good as well!

I smoked a few more cigars that week but doesn’t seem I grabbed many pictures. Some were while we were walking and shopping and sometimes at the beach when I didn’t have my phone. I did manage to snap a pic of this pairing which was another Jaime Garcia Reseva Especial and a tasty brew called the Weyerbacher Blasphemy Ale. Both were darn good!

I think that’s all I got for our good readers. Hope I didn’t ramble too much and it was an interesting read. I had an awesome time and if anyone has questions about any of the places I visited I can go into more detail for you on what/where things were or whatever else. Things are still crazy at home since I’m still moving boxes and clothes while also working but look for me to finally buckle down and squeeze out a full review for everyone next week (I hope!) lol

Will have more pics of the trip up on Flickr soon, if you want that link just let me know!

The post Why I was MIA – Part 2 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

2 Days before I tied the knot I had a great cigar gathering with about 10 friends. Not all of them are big on cigars but there were a few. So I pulled out some mild sticks for the newbies and kept some of the good sticks for those I knew would enjoy them. I happened to grab myself a Cohiba Behike 52 (Which Tony reviewed here) that I had been saving for just this occasion and damn was it ever good. I paired it with a super smooth scotch which I had also been saving, the Macallan Select Oak. I highly recommend both of these! To finish off the night I also enjoyed a Drew Estate Undercrown and a Montecristo No. 2 which are staples in my humidor and still darn good. But hard to compare to the Behike…

The wedding day was mostly a blur and flew by very quickly. I didn’t have time to sneak out for a cigar but I did make sure they were part of the day. I had ordered a bunch of cigars from our friend Paul Maldonado and gave them out to our guests. Each cigar had my wonderful wife’s creative touch as well with a nice ribbon and little label that said “Compliments of the new Mr. and Mrs. T”. The whole day and evening went wonderfully smooth and without any problems at all, a great day for sure!

Now for the fun part, the next morning at 7am we were on our way to the airport! I made sure to pack my travel humidor with a few sticks cause I didn’t want to get stuck without any cigars while I was away. Our first stop was the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. The island itself has some great scenery but apart from the cruiseship port there isn’t many shops that tourists would visit so we stuck to the resort for the most part. Now I’m very glad I brought my own cigars because they were selling Cuban’s for about 4x the retail price, which is even more than they would cost me in Canada!
But you can’t really complain when this is the view you have at your table every morning for breakfast!

So while I was there this is what I had from my Travel humidor. I didn’t pack any Cuban’s because we’d be hitting U.S. soil and I didn’t want to deal with a Customs issue. The first night in Antigua I celebrated with a Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial. I really love this cigar and it comes at such a great price, can’t go wrong with these.

I didn’t have a cigar every night simply because we were having fun doing other things but the resort was very open to letting you smoke pretty much anywhere on the grounds. So I also enjoyed the odd smaller cigar such as a couple Illusione ~mk~ sticks and some little Tatuaje Verocu 5’s that I happened to bring along. The night pictured below consisted of a Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label paired with some Nachos + Cheese and my staple drink for the trip, a Cuba Libre (a.k.a. Rum & Coke). And yes, I had it in a mug because I ran out of glasses in the room! lol

The next cigar I snuck in my travel humidor is one of my recent favorites, the Drew Estate Undercrown. Of course, I have myself some more Rum & Coke here, El Dorado seemed to be the standard of this resort.

That was it for the cigars I snapped pictures of at the resort. The next leg of the trip brought us to San Juan where we would be catching our cruiseship for a tour of the Caribbean. We didn’t have time to shop around San Juan when we got there as we had to head straight to the ship. At this point I was running low on cigars and starting to get worried! lol The first night while we were watching the ship disembark I squeezed in an Illusione ~88~ and I think I only had 1 cigar left now.

The first stop on our tour was the island of St. Thomas which is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This was a really nice island with lots of clean shops and friendly people, definitely a place we’d consider going back to for a longer stay. While my new wife went crazy in all the jewelry stores I kept my eyes peeled for cigars. There were a couple duty free shops that I ended up grabbing some cigars at but the prices were kinda high so I only grabbed a few. I picked up a couple Padron 2000’s that were a little over $8 each and some Arturo Fuente Chateau’s that were in the $10 range. Selection wasn’t that great on this island either…

I have a bunch more to tell but it seems this post is already getting pretty long so be on the look out for part 2 coming up later this week! Let us know if you guys enjoy this type of post and we could chat more about our adventures with cigars whenever we have them!

The post Why I was MIA – Part 1 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Photo courtesy of Jay L. from www.cigarphoto.net – Be sure to check out his awesome photography!

Now, I think it’s no secret that I’m a La Aurora fan. They have turned out a number of great smokes in the past year or two that have all been quite good. Now while their newer releases are enjoyable we can’t ignore some of their previous releases. So that’s what I decided to pick up tonight for review, it’s the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Ruby Edition.

Now this particular cigar is part of the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Special Edition series which covers 5 different colors and each one represents a specific wrapper and . The particular version I’ll be reviewing tonight is the Ruby Edition which is their Brazilian Sun-Grown wrapper version. Each of the Preferidos 1903 Special Editions come in wonderfully crafted aluminum tubes, each matching the color of their appropriate names.

It’s not just the wrapper or tube that makes these cigars special, the process for all the tobacco involved is quite unique as well. Firstly, the only Torcedors permitted to make this line of cigars are the resident experts that have at least 15 years of experience. This experts are also restricted to making a maximum of 125 cigars per day so they can pace themselves accordingly and not rush to over-produce. This ensures high quality cigars and extra time allotted for each one.

As for the tobacco leaves themselves, each one used in the Preferidos cigars have been aged a minimum of 4 years. This time includes a full year of aging in rum barrels and another 6-8 months in the aging room after being rolled. All this extra time and attention to this cigar makes for an exceptional presentation. So without further delay, let’s jump into the review.

Cigar: La Aurora Perferidos 1903 Ruby Edition
Drink: Hockley Valley Brewery Black & Tan
Vitola: Perfecto (5 x 54)
Wrapper: Brazilian Sun Grown
Binder: Piloto Cubano
Filler: Piloto Cubano, Brazilian Bahia, Cameroon
Price: $10 – $15
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A very nice dark chocolate brown wrapper surrounds this perfecto shaped cigar
• The wrapper is amazingly toothy and rough like sandpaper, but the presentation definitely shows attention to detail
• There are quite a few visible veins but none of them are too large or worrisome
• The cap blends into the cigar and the start of the cap is barely noticeable
• There is a fair bit of firmness on the cigar and it offers almost no give when squeezed
• The foot is fairly small due to the tapered edge but it actually appears poorly packed, which is odd since the rest of the cigar is really firm
• I gave the cigar a short cut which sliced through easily and cleanly
• Draw was excellent even with a small cut

Burn:
• Given it’s super small foot, the cigar toasted quickly and evenly
• I usually have a lot of problems with sharply tapered ends on cigars but so far the burn is super razor sharp
• It’s also quickly noticeable that this cigar is burning very slowly, hopefully that keeps up
• Passing an inch and we’re still razor sharp
• It’s still burning amazingly slow too, really allowing me time to enjoy it
• I was expecting the thinner portions of the cigar to burn faster but the total burn time ended up being longer than what I would have expected on a 5 inch cigar, love it when that happens

Smoke & Ash:
• Right off the bat it’s easy to notice the ton of smoke from every draw on the Ruby
• Initial sightings of the ash are showing a nice white/light grey color
• It also appears to be nicely clean and tight
• There’s also a ton of resting smoke from this cigar and it’s giving off a nice cedar aroma
• Ash is holding strong at about two inches and looking good
• The ash lasted well over 2 inches but in my greediness to try and get a massive ash, it fell onto the floor
• The middle of the ash turned out to be amazingly white, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a bright white on an ash before
• The thick billowing smoke was consistent right to the end

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the La Aurora Preferidos Ruby offers just a touch of sweet coffee aroma
• The foot is fairly small and I basically get the same aroma as I did on the wrapper
• The pre-light draw brought a lot more flavors, including cedar, cocoa and just a touch of spices
• The initial draws are bursting with notes of cedar and spice, it actually made me sneeze, lol
• The retrohale has no bite and a very smooth and enjoyable cedar finish
• So far the body seems to be in the low-medium department and I’m enjoying this profile
• The spice kicked down a notch but I’m still getting a smooth cedar and maybe some hints of coca are appearing now and then
• The cedar and cocoa flavors are really intensifying and getting super tasty, also picking up lots of coffee notes now too
• It seems like the flavors just keep intensifying and getting more enjoyable, the spice and coffee are also making a bigger appearance just past the halfway mark
• The flavors are staying balanced and taking turns being dominant right to the end, took out the toothpick to get max enjoyment out of this cigar tonight
• No harshness right down to the super small nub, enjoyed every last bit of this tasty cigar.

Final Thoughts:
This was not my first dive into Preferidos territory and it definitely won’t be my last. I think La Aurora has another winner with this line of cigars and the Ruby Edition is definitely one of my favorites. The intense but smooth array of flavors makes for a very enjoyable cigar from start to finish. I did find quite a variance in the prices of these cigars so you might be careful and do some research before purchasing. At $15+ these can be a tough buy, and may not live up to expectations. But if you can find them at the $10 range then these are winners in my book and deserve a home in your humidor. The burn was also sensational on the La Aurora Preferidos Ruby which helped tie up the whole experience with a winning combination.

Photo courtesy of Jay L. from www.cigarphoto.net – Be sure to check out his awesome photography!

Pairings:
Today’s brew pairing comes from a local brewery about 30min away form my home called Hockley Valley Brewing Co.. It’s actually a gorgeous place I’ve visited a few times before that is very picturesque and surrounded by forests. In the winter time they have some fairly basic ski hills to enjoy as well. This offering is called the Black & Tan. The best way I can describe it is some sort of hybrid between ad dark ale and a stout. It’s got some thick creamy notes but is also smooth like a dark ale, very interesting. It offers up notes of creamy coffee and lots of roasted malt with almost no bitterness at all. It’s very enjoyable! It also paired very well with the cedar and cocoa notes of the La Aurora Preferidos Ruby, they complimented each other quite well. Other good pairings for this tasty cigar would include coffee or a fine tawny port!

The post La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Ruby Edition appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.