The Good Stuff:

Last year Steve Saka announced the end of the Sobremsa Solita Cervantes fino. This year he announced the blend was being replaced with one called the “Sobremesa Solita Red”. The Sobremesa Solita Red line made its debut with the description of it being a much more bold and richer blend of the beloved Sobremsa line of cigars. The blend features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Mexican San Andres Negro binder and Nicaraguan filler tobacco from the Esteli, Condega, and Pueblo Nuevo regions along with some Pennsylvanian Broadleaf. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/4 x 46 size (same as the Solita Cervantes Fino), and comes in boxes of 13 running $16.35 per cigar.

• Size: 6 1/4 x 46
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
• Binder: Mexican San Andres Negro
• Filler: Nicaraguan / Pennsylvanian Broadleft
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $16.35

Prelight:

The Sobremesa Solita Red starts out with a stunning, deep, dark, reddish brown wrapper that’s extremely consistent in color. The wrapper’s texture is very hard and dense while the entire cigar feels very firm, and well packed. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself and there are some very mild veins running through the cigar’s slim body leading up to its stubby, pigtail style cap. The band on the cigar is the same elegant band we’ve come to expect on the Sobremesa brands and of course is red with gold embossing of Saka’s crown. There is an additional red and gold foot band with the Sobremesa crest embossed on it.

The wrapper on the Sobremesa Solita Red gives off an abundance of spice and sweet aromas while the foot of the cigar is very earthy and spicy with some soft sweetness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw products notes of spice, raisin, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Solita Red starts off with a soft black pepper punch which lasted a few puffs before fading away and leaving behind strong notes of sweet raisins, pecan, cinnamon and cocoa with some lighter floral and earthiness of the finish. The draw is absolutely brilliant. Each puff kicks out a great deal of thick, white smoke. The burn line is something burnline fanboys will go crazy for. It’s dead even, razor sharp, and leaves behind an extremely compacted, perfectly formed trail of white ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Sobremesa Solita Red and the flavor profile turned very woodsy, very quick. The main flavor is now this great, deep cedar flavor backed by raisin, sweet brown sugar, black cherry, cocoa and a nice earthy finish. The flavor profile is bold and very pronounced. The retrohale brings out some soft spice that I don’t really get during the standard smoking experience. I close out the second third with only a slight bit of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

The flavor profile continues to the same as the second third here in the final stretch. The woodsy flavors are the leading character with the raisin, brown sugar, black cherry and cocoa in the background. The cigar took about an hour and a half to smoke down to the nub. There was no sap, harshness, or extended heat. The cigar burned absolutely flawless from start to finish with no help needed. It left me with only a very mild nicotine kick at the end.

Overview:

The statement “a richer and bolder version of the Sobremesa” is pretty much spot on. The cigar contains a more complex and elevated body with a bit more strength, yet stays true to the Sobremesa roots. I am very impressed with the huge jump up in body without sacrificing the smokablity of the cigar by ramping up the strength too much. When a cigar falls in the full-bodied but medium-strength range it just hits different. I also really like the format of the cigar as you get a ton of flavor from the wrapper with the thinner ring gauge. This is easily a boxworthy purchase and I wouldn’t think twice about paying the cost for what the experience delivers.

The post Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Solita Red appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Sin Compromiso has been a hit right out the gate. Years ago the founder of the brand, Steve Saka created and released the first portfolio line and has never looked back. This year he dropped the Seleccion No. 4. In the most Steve Saka of ways, he states that he was never quite happy with the Robusto format in the blend. He’s a perfectionist in the best/worst kind of ways, as the name Sin Compromiso suggests. This lead to him tweaking the blend a bit in order to achieve the experience he was looking for which in turn, produced the Seleccion No. 4. Offered in a single 5 x 54 prensado format, the blend features a Mexican San Andres negro “Cultivo Tonto” wrapper over an Ecuadorian Habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua. This regular production cigar comes packaged in boxes of 13 running $17.95 per cigar. huge thanks to the Dunbarton team for sending these our way for review.

• Size: 5 x 54
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Negro Cultivo Tonto
• Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $17.95

Prelight:

After removing the cedar sleeve the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Sleccion No. 4 reveals a brilliantly dark, consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and gritty with only a slight amount of oils coating it. The wrapper feels very dense, thick and hard while the cigar as a whole has some weight to it with no soft spots to be found. There are a few minor veins running their course through the cigar’s body leading up to a round, double-wrapped cap. I absolutely love the soft box-pressed format as it’s so comfortable in both hand and mouth. The cigar is polished off with the standard black and manilla Sin Compromiso crest.

The wrapper on the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Sleccion No. 4 gives off notes of cedar and musk while the foot of the cigar carries some nice spice over lots of natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean with a little extra effort due to the density of it. The cold draw produces mostly musky and earthy flavors over some nice tobacco and spice notes.

First Third:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Sleccion No. 4 starts out with some very slight pepper which fades instantly allowing the cigar to showcase some deep, dark chocolate flavors over earthiness, slightly charred wood, light coffee, and a bit of pine on the aftertaste. The draw is perfect as each little puff kicks out a massive amount of thick, white smoke that hangs out for a very long time before dissipating while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rest in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a beautiful trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Dry chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. That’s the dominating flavor in the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Sleccion No. 4. Backed by some nice musk and earthiness, light coffee, cardamom and a light floral aftertaste. The retrohale brings out a little spice that is buried underneath everything else. The cigar is still burning perfectly as I close out the second third with no nicotine hit.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Sleccion No. 4. and I am still really enjoy this flavor profile. Lots of dark chocolate still over notes of pecan, and earthy tobacco with lighter notes of cedar and pine. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no heat, and no sap as the cigar burned like a champ from start to finish. I close out with only the lightest of nicotine hits.

Overview:

Let’s just get this out of the way. Steve Saka makes great cigars that I love. Bias? Whatever you want to make of that. I just feel a lot of his brands fit my personal preference very well and in the end, that’s what matters. This is why I liked it: First, the construction and burn was perfect from start to finish. I never had to mess with my torch. Second, the flavor profile was great. It’s not the most complex cigar and it didn’t need to be. I really enjoyed the flavor structure and consistency. Lastly the cigar has a ton of great body, but isn’t overpowered by strength. This mixture makes for a wonderful cigar that I would love to keep in my regular rotation.

The post Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Seleccion No. 4 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

After a long day, there’s nothing better than the company of good friends, good food, and a great glass of wine. The Newair Shadowᵀᴹ Series 62 Bottle Wine Fridge lets you enjoy the finer things in life—and looks great doing it. The sleek, updated design features a mirrored glass door that blends perfectly into your décor while resisting smudges and fingerprints. The double pane glass blocks harmful UV rays to protect your wine’s flavor and aroma. The durable control panel is built right into the glass, allowing you to select the perfect temperature with ease. It’s never been easier—or more stylish—to serve up your favorite vintage. 

– Newair Website

You can purchase this refrigerator directly from NewAir using this link. If you use code CASAS10 you will get 10% off your total purchase!

Shipping / Unboxing

Newair uses FEDEX to ship which has always been my favorite carrier due to how well they treat packages. The NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler landed within 3 days of my order being placed. The box arrived intact with only a few dents on the outer cardboard. This machine is heavy at 102 pounds. Just a warning there as the dolly was a lot of help transporting this cooler to my backyard where I decided to place it.

The box itself has 2 white, plastic straps holding it together. Once you slice these open you can lift the top of the box directly off of the cooler itself as the cooler sites on the bottom of the unattached portion of the box. This is a huge convenience as other machines I have purchased in the past require you to actually life the machine out of the box to deploy. The cardboard box has a full layer of thick, white foam inside which keeps the cooler free of dents and dings. Under the foam is a layer of foam, tissue-like paper which protects the machine from scratches. There was also a handful of taped area to make sure that the door doesn’t open during shipment. After removing that it was a matter of sliding the machine off the bottom portion of the box and positioning it where I want it. This particular cooler is the first one I have received that actually has wheels at the bottom making it extremely easy to move around and position wherever you need to.

Setup

One thing I love about Newair is how easy they are to setup. In the case of the NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler it took no longer than 5 minutes. After positioning the cooler where I wanted it, I opened the front of the cooler to reveal the drawers. There is a strap that is attached to the topmost and bottommost shelves to keep them from moving around during shipment. Once removed everything is free. The next step was to remove the instruction manuals and keys. I then closed up the cooler, removed the electric chord from the back of the machine and plugged it in.

One Note: The cooling mechanism is located on the back, bottom of the cooler. This is important to note as you need to make sure you leave enough room behind the bottom of the machine for sufficient airflow. In most cases, this won’t be a big deal at all. Its just worth mentioning as other machines often have the cooling vents towards the bottom from of the cooler. After that it’s as simple as setting your desired cooling temperature and then loading it up!

Storage

The Newair NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler states that it has an internal volume of 6.11 ft³. What that translates to is enough capacity to hold 62 bottles of wine. I decided to measure that to see just how many I could fit. There are a total of 10 shelves, 8 being full-depth while the bottom two are a little shorter to make room for the cooling element. On the full shelves I was able to fit 4 bottles of wine side by side with another two bottles of wine on the same shelf positioned horizontally in front. Since the bottom two shelfs are shorter, I was only able to fit 4 bottles side by side. That makes 6 bottles of wine on each bigger shelf and 4 bottles on the bottom to for a total of 52 full-sized wine bottles. I also wanted to see how many beer cans it would hold however due to the wavy shape of the 8 full-sized shelfs, only the bottom two had the proper grating structure to support cans. The other 8 would allow them to fall through. Each of the bottom two shelfs would hold 2 rows of 4 cans and an addition two cans on the side. If you’re looking at a mixed-capacity that would equal to a Toal of 48 wine bottles on the top 8 shelfs and 20 cans on the bottom two shelves.

It’s a taller machine, and yet it still fit comfortably just about anywhere I planned to put it. The outer dimensions measure 17″ wide, 24″ deep and a whipping 49.5″ tall.

Cooling

The Newair NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler uses a very simple panel to adjusting the cooling on the machine. A HUGE improvement over the previous versions I tested is that the control panel is located on the outside of the machine instead of within. This makes adjusting the settings a breeze without having to release cold air to do so. The control panel allows you to adjust the temperature range anywhere between 41 degrees to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. When adjusting the temperature the control panel will display the desired cooling temp. Once done, the panel will then display the actual internal temperature of the cooler.

The outside temperate was 82 at the time of my setup and it took the cooler only 41 minutes to cool itself from an internal temperature of 70 all the way down to 41 degrees. Using a calibrated thermometer I also calculated the internal temperature from the center shelf of the machine and compared it to the front display and was happy to see it was only a 1 degree difference. I also decided to monitor the machine to see how much it varied during the temperature fluctuations throughout the day. On this particular day the morning started out at 59 degrees with a high of 81. The internal temperature only fluctuated between 41 and 44 degreed throughout the day showing the cooling power of this cooler as well as its consistency.

Features / Convenience

I covered the control panel for the Newair NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler above, but there are a few more minor settings. First, after you set the temperature you can also lock the buttons in place by holding the up and down arrows. Holding them down again for a few seconds unlocks the control panel. This protects against any accidental adjusting. There is also a power, C/F toggle switch and a light button on the front of the panel. The lights themselves are a nice, subtle blue. There is a large upper blue LED light strip as well as multiple LEDs located throughout the cooler. The only downfall here is that there is only 1 brightness setting. It also would be nice to have a setting where the lights are completely off, but turn on once the door is opened to illuminate the inside.

It’s also a very quiet machine, emitting almost no sound at all. The updated doors on the front of the Shadow series are absolutely gorgeous as they look a deep black from some angles and then completed reflective from others. At night, the doors are mostly reflective with a slight illumination from the interior LEDs which gives off such an elegant look and feel. Surprisingly the door isn’t as prone to fingerprints as the previous versions either. One added little bonus is the lock mechanism found at the bottom of the cooler to keep unwanted guests from drinking the good stuff.

Overview

The Newair NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler is a huge step in both elegance, design, and efficiency. Not only does it look good, but it operates at such a high level that it easily surpasses the other two wine fridges I currently have in my house and has instantly become my favorite. And boy, does it look good. It also holds A TON of product! It’s a bigger machine, however I have one almost the same size that holds about 2/3 of the amount of wine bottles. The fact that I can’t store more cans is a bit of a fall-off for me. However, this product is listed as a wine cooler, not a beer can cooler so I won’t be taking any points off there. It’s just worth mentioning.

Don’t forget, You can purchase this refrigerator directly from NewAir using this link. If you use code CASAS10 you will get 10% off your total purchase!

The post Newair NWC062BK00 Shadow Series Wine Cooler Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Earlier this year Matt Booth and Room 101 announced the return of one of their more favored lines, the Daruma. While the original release featured an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Brazilian Mata Fina binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Honduras, the 2023 Daruma is nothing like the old blend. In fact, this year’s blend utilizes a full make-up of all Nicaraguan tobaccos. While the specifics are not released, the cigar is being produced at the Oliva factory in Nicaragua. This year’s release comes in a single 6 x 50 toro format, packaged in boxes of 10, running $12.99 a stick with only 2,000 boxes being produced.

• Size: 6 x 50
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan:
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $12.99

Prelight:

The 2023 Room 101 Daruma is dressed in a beautiful, asian-inspired, gold and black printed paper. Under the paper is a layer of white tissue. Once you remove the dressing you can finally get a good look at the cigar. The wrapper is very dark brown with lots of splotches of scattered red areas. The wrapper feels very hard and dense while the cigar as a whole is extremely heavy and well packed. The are a few smaller veins running through the cigar’s body as well as some nice tobacco webbing in the wrapper leaf. The wrapper carries a good amount of tooth and some mild oils as the cigar’s closed foot leads up to its round, doubled-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a beautiful black and gold Daruma crest on the main band and the added secondary gold band with the phrase “LMT ASF” printed across the front.

The wrapper on the Daruma gives off lots of sweetness and sandalwood aromas while teh foot of the cigar is mostly the same (due to the closed foot) with just a slight bit of earthiness. The cap took a bit of effort to clip using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter due to the thickness of the wrapper leaf. The cold draw produces a whole lot of milk chocolate flavors over natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Room 101 Daruma starts out with a huge burst of black pepper which quickly fades allowing the cigar to release a ton of dark chocolate flavors over heavy pecan and nutmeg with some light espresso hidden underneath. The draw is perfect. Each little puff kicks out a great a mount of thick, gray smoke which dissipated very quickly while the cigar doesn’t release a whole lot of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is slightly wavy, but not concerning as it produces some mildly compacted light gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Room 101 Daruma the pecan and dark chocolate completely own the flavor profile backed by light cedar and dry cinnamon. The retrohale brings out some great sweetness and nutmeg while the standard experience is overall a dry mixture of flavors. The burnline has really cleaned itself up at this point by itself and I close out the second third with absolutely no nicotine kick.

Finish:

Wow, now this is where an already great cigar starts to really shine. Into the final third of the Room 101 Daruma the cigar loads on more pecan flavor over bold dark chocolate and cinnamon. Great notes of cedar and gingerbread start to creep into the mix as well as an awesome sweetness which just carries the final profile home. It took me about an hour and forty five minutes to smoke the Daruma down to the nub and by the end, I didn’t want to put it down. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, no burn issues, and never once had to touch-up or relight the cigar. It left me only with a mild little nicotine twang.

Overeview:

This is a huge departure from the Room 101 Daruma of the past, and I don’t mind that at all, especially with this incredible flavor profile. The cigar produces a complex mixture of flavors that really speak to my personal palate. The construction is on point, and the price is a bit high, but completely acceptable given how much I enjoyed this cigar. I have gone back to this cigar a few times now and each time I surprise myself by liking it more and more. It starts out slow, but ends with a bang. This is a stick that I will definitely keep a few on hand as it’s a very limited run.

The post Room 101 Daruma appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

It’s no secret that I am a Liga Privada fan. When the H99 and 10 Aniversario dropped I went hunting, however it took me way longer to acquire both of these blends as the release was so limited they flew off shelves. Created to celebrate the Liga Privada’s 10 anniversary the 10 Aniversario arrives in style. The blend features a Connecticut Criollo wrapper over a Mexican San Andres Otapan Negro Ultimo Corte binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania USA. The cigar comes in a single 6 x 52 format that features the same unique fan-tail style cap as the UF-13 and a covered foot. The cigars come packed in boxes of 10 running $17.90 per stick with only 10,000 cigars have been released. I purchased mine from our good friends over at Cuenca Cigars who offered them in singles and boxes at the time.

• Size: 6 x 52
• Wrapper: Connecticut Criollo
• Binder: Mexican San Andres Otapan Negro Ultimo Corte
• Filler: Pennsylvanian and Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Funk
• Price: $17.90

Prelight:

The Liga Privada 10 Aniversario starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper. The wrapper carries some slight grit and a whole mess of oils that come off on your hands and you handle the cigar. The wrapper itself feels very hard and dense while the cigar as a whole is extremely heavy and well-packed. There are a few smaller veins running from the cigar’s covered foot up to the pigtail/fan-tail styled cap. The cigar is finished off with a first that I’ve seen, a black version of the Liga Privada band featuring the Lion crest with a number 10 on the back and the standard Liga Privada script on the front in silver. There is also an added secondary band with the word “Aniversario” on the front.

The wrapper on the Liga Privada 10 Aniversario gives off mostly coffee and cedar-forward aromas. The foot is much of the same with a little bit of earthiness and spice leaking out. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of coffee, sweetness, musk and cedar.

First Third:

The Liga Privada 10 Aniversario leads with a black pepper punch that left my lips tingling. After the first few draws the pepper fades and the cigar left me with bold cedar, sweet brown sugar, espresso, plum, and musk over lighter floral and earthy flavors. The cigar really starts off with a bang. There is a certain floral flavor that I pick up in only two other blends, the Dirty Rat and Undercrown Corona Viva. It’s one of my favorite flavors I have ever had in a cigar and the 10 Aniversario carries a ton of it. The draw is perfect as each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke while the cigar just unleashes a massive amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. I seriously have never seen a cigar spill this much stationary smoke. The burn line started out a bit wild, likely due to the covered foot, but it corrected itself after the first few draws leaving behind a very tightly compacted trail of white ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

I am just absolutely loving the Liga Privada 10 Aniversario. I’m not even going to be shy about it. That unique floral flavor is still banging into the second third backed by vanilla, espresso, musk, and espresso over some great maltiness, cedar, black cherry, and earthiness. The retrohale really brings out the sweetness and a bit of spice as I find myself doing it quite often. The cigar is still burning perfectly. I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick already.

Finish:

I can’t believe that awesome floral flavor is still rocking from start to finish of this Liga Privada 10 Aniversario. Backed by bold espresso, vanilla and musk with lighter raisin, pecan, and cedar. This cigar has been a flavor bomb from the get go. It took me a little over two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. No harshness, no extended heat, and I never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. I close out with a pretty heavy nicotine kick and a smile.

Overview:

This is by far one of the better cigars I have smoked in recent memory and one of the best Liga Privada blends I have had to date. The flavor profile in the 10 Aniversario is just something to behold. Bold, complex, and extremely enjoyable. The cigar burned flawlessly from start to finish and at a slower rate with made the $17.90 price tag well worth it. I just wish these were easier to come by. Hopefully the success of the cigar makes Drew Estate realize how big the want is for these suckers cause I’d really like to stock up!

The post Drew Estate Liga Privada 10 Aniversario appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Scandinavian Tobacco Group has teamed up with Sazerac Co. to bring forth yet another cigar that features tobacco aged in bourbon barrels. The Cigars International exclusive “Buffalo Trace Special F” is composed of fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua under a Brazilian Arapiraca binder that has spent 6 months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels and then finished with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The cigar is offered in a single 6 x 60 torpedo format and runs $11 per cigar. You can order yours directly from Cigars International.

• Size: 6 x 60
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Brazilian Arapiraca
• Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $11
• Pairing: Buffalo Trace Bourbon (Spec’s Single Barrel Pick)

Prelight:

The Buffalo Trace Special F starts out with a very messy, rustic looking wrapper. That’s not a bad thing, the Ecuadorian Sumatra just does a great job showing off all the characteristics in its tobacco leaf. It’s very dark brown with loads of lighter and darker areas scattered throughout the cigar. On top of that there is a ton of natural webbing and light veins running through the leaf. The wrapper’s texture is very oily and very toothy while the cigar feels a bit spongy to the touch. The torpedo shape on this cigar is quite long as the cigar starts to taper shortly after the foot leading to the sharp cap. The cigar carries matching branding to the Buffalo Trace bottle with a band that features the buffalo image and a secondary band with the Buffalo Trace logo which is laid over a very elegant green ribbon for an awesome added touch.

The wrapper on the Buffalo Trace Special F gives off notes of black cherry and musk while the foot of the cigar is much more spicy with loads of earthy aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw is straight up chocolate with earthy undertones.

First Third:

The Buffalo Trace Special F leads with loads of chocolate, spice, and cardamom over lighter notes of leather, floral, and a nice woodsy mixture. It wasn’t until I was a few draws in that a great cayenne pepper entered the mix only powerful enough to tingle my lips. The draw is phenomenal as each puff kicks out huge clouds of thick gray smoke while the cigar releases a great amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is mostly even and very thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and lighter gray ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Buffalo Trace Special F and the spice and woodsy flavors have really picked up along with a blast of floral hints. This makes for an amazing pairing with the leading flavors in the Buffalo Trace bourbon I paired it with. The chocolate, spice, and leather are all still factored into the profile, however they have taken a back seat at this point. The retrohale really brings out the spice in this cigar. I close out the second third with no type of nicotine hit.

Finish:

As I get into the final third of the Buffalo Trace Special F I am impressed with just how much spice is still in the flavor profile. I think it’s important to note for two reasons: 1) The spice matches up identically to the spice in the paired Buffalo Trace bourbon and 2) in my cigar experiences that spice has long been gone by the time you get to the final third. The backing flavors are still very woodsy with lighter notes of chocolate and leather with hints of floral. It took me almost two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor extended heat although the final third did leave me with a slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

I was a bit pessimistic about another bourbon-themed cigar, but I am happy to report that I truly enjoyed the Buffalo Trace Special F. I am a fan of Buffalo Trace bourbon, especially since it is very easy to obtain at MSRP in these parts. While I am unsure how much of an impacted the barrel-aged tobacco had, the blend itself made for a perfect pairing with the bourbon. I even think that if I smoked this cigar without the bourbon, and instead paired it with water that I would still be able to pick up the complimenting notes in the cigar. The pricing is also very reasonable for the cigar especially given its burn time. I was surprised, and I would definitely find myself going back to this one.

Pairing:

Naturally I decided to pair the Buffalo Trace Special F with a bottle of Buffalo Trace Spec’s Single Barrel pick bourbon. The bourbon leads with tons of spice, wood mixture, and floral flavors over lighter notes of orange, caramel, vanilla, and sweetness. It’s easy to see why the pairing makes so much sense as the flavors found in the bourbon not only marry up with the Buffalo Trace Special F, but compliment the cigar without overpowering it.

The post Buffalo Trace Special F appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Antonio Lam over at Reinado Cigars. Given his track record, we’re pretty excited to be taking a look at his newest creation, the C29. The cigar got its name from the 29 different iterations it took Antonio before he landed on a blend that he was happy about. While the blend is mostly kept under wraps, we do know the cigar features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and a lot of high-priming tobaccos. The C29 is a full production line that has just started to hit shelves. It’s offered in a single 5 x 52 format running $10 per cigar however you can purchase these now directly from Reinado here at $39.85 per 5-pack.

• Size: 5 x 52
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $10

Prelight:

The Reinado C29 starts out with a gorgeous light-brown/orangish wrapper which is stunningly consistent in color. The wrapper feels as an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper should, thin and brittle while the cigar as a whole is nicely packed with a good weight and not soft spots. There is some slight tooth and a good amount of oils coating the wrapper. There are some smaller veins and a good amount of natural webbing in the wrapper as it’s laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a simple, yet elegant black and white band with the Reinado crest on the front.

The wrapper on the Reinado C29 gives off a a good amount of honey and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more grainy with loads of earthiness and natural tobacco. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of black tea, honey, cashew and cedar.

First Third:

The Reinado C29 starts out with a quick blast of black pepper which fades after the first few puffs allowing the cigar to release notes of black tea, pine, cashew, honey, cedar and earthiness. This cigar starts out with much more flavor than I expected. The draw is flawless and every little puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke while the cigar releases very little stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor sharp leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of white and light gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Reinado C29 and the flavors have been mostly consistent. Loads of black tea, pine and honey backed by cashew, cedar, earthiness and a nice dry vanilla. The retrohale is really smooth and really helps bring that vanilla out of the woodworks. The cigar is burning flawlessly and I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

Now into the final third of the Reinado C29 and the cigar is still rocking. The flavor hasn’t changed up much, but there are no complaints about that as I really enjoy the profile Lots of black tea pine and honey over the cashew, vanilla, and cedar with a earthy finish. The cigar took me an hour and a half to smoke. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, and no sap. I close out with really no nicotine kick either.

Overview:

I believe I have smoked through the entire Reinado portfolio now and I have yet to encounter a cigar I didn’t enjoy. While most of Antonio’s blend fall in a more full-body arena the C29 fills the gap with a nice, subtle cigar with a medium body that still delivers on flavor. I find it hard to find a Connecticut-wrapped cigar that still keeps me entertained, and can count the amount of these blends on one hand, but may need the second hand to include the C29. This is a perfect addition to any cigar smoker’s regular rotation for those early days when you are looking for a cigar that will delivery, yet not knock you on your ass.

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The Good Stuff:

Making it’s debut at this year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas, the Garagiste is one of the newest blends added to Illusione’s already extensive portfolio. The term “Garagiste” is in reference to a small group of renegade winemakers in Bordeaux who produce “garage wines”. The Garagiste is the first blend to come from Illusione to features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The rest of the blend is composed of Viso Corojo and Viso Criollo Aganorsa Nicaraguan tobacco. Created at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A (TABSA) factory in Nicaragua, the Garagiste comes in four sizes: the robusto (5 x 50), the short robusto (4 1/8 x 48), the toro (6 x 52), and the gordo (6 x 56). Each come packaged in boxes of 20 and run between $8.35 and $10.80 a stick. The first shipment of these are pretty much sold out all over the U.S., but more should be on it’s way soon. I scooped up a handful of these over from our friends at Atlantic Cigar.

Size: 4 1/8 x 48
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.35
Pairing: Stone Xocoveza  (Spiced Stout 8.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The Illusione Garagiste starts out with a very deep, dark brown wrapper which isn’t very consistently colored. There are lots of scattered splotched of reddish-brown as well as darker brown found throughout the cigar. The texture of the wrapper is very smooth with only a tiny bit of grit to it and a good amount of oils. There are very few, small veins running through the cigar’s body as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the round, triple cap. The cigar is polished off with a very simple brown band with the words “Illusione” and “Garagiste” printed modestly across the front. As a whole the Garagiste feels very firm, with no softspots, and no give as I press the cigar between my fingers. The wrapper does feel a bit thin a brittle so I won’t apply too much pressure as I inspect it.

As soon as the Garagiste is taken out of the cellophane a rush of deep musk, oak, and spice aromas are unleashed from the wrapper of the cigar while the foot of the cigar carries more spice, oak, and honey scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my double bladed Xikar cutter. The cold draw produces some great raisin, oak, spice, and sweetness.

First Third:

The Illusione Garagiste starts out with a big black pepper zing right out of the gates which begins to fade and take a step back after the first few puffs revealing some rich spice, sweetness, musk, oak, cocoa and honey flavors. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each tiny puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a good amount of time before dissipating while the Garagiste gives off a decent amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a compacted trail of black and dark gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ahstray.

Second Third:

The black pepper is still lingering around as I venture into the second third of the Illusione Garagiste. Lying underneath is still the bold sweetness and spice, honey, cocoa, and some vanilla while the oak and musk have began to tone it down a bit. The retrohale pours on the spice as it brings the musk back to the forefront of my palate. The burnline is still dead even and sharp as I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine bite.

Finish:

The musk is back in full force in the final third of the Illusione Garagiste. The leading flavors are cocoa, espresso, musk, and spice with a good amount of sweetness and some soft oak and honey. While the flavors have been consistent for the most part, I am impressed with the amount of changeups in the strength of each flavor. For such a small cigar the Garagiste actually took a while to take down. Clocking in at a total of one hour and forty five minutes I experienced absolutely no harshness, nor any extended heat from the cigar. It burned like a dream from start to finish. I close out the cigar with only a small nicotine kick.

Overview:

I’m a very un-biased fan of Illusione. I love most cigars in Dion’s line, but that doesn’t ever stop me from giving my honest feedback. With that out of the way I think that the Garagiste is an absolutely stellar cigar. The cigar provides a ton of complex, yet balanced flavors with a flawless burn at a great price. Never once did the cigar get too strong, more did the body become too much for me while the complex flavors kept me on my toes from start to finish. This is a box worthy purchase for sure and one that will easily find its way into my regular rotation and might just make an appearance on my best cigar of 2016 list (which I haven’t put a lot of thought into yet to be honest).

Pairing:

Stone’s Xocoveza is on my “must have” winter beer list every year. Brewed at the Stone Brewery in California, this 8.1% ABV stout is brewed with cocoa, coffee, peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. What an intense mixture that works out incredibly well. The Xocoveza leads with the pepper which seem a bit more potent this year, backed by sweet spice, cocoa, vanilla, and malt with a pretty light mouthfeel before finishing with very heavy milk chocolate, sweetness, spice, coffee, and oak while the booziness is completely masked by the sweet flavors in the beer. The flavors in the beer were almost identical to those found in the Illusione Garagiste and I knew the second I smoked this cigar for the first time that this would be the pairing I’d end up with. It’s almost as if they melted the cigar down to liquid form, tossed it in a stout, and released Xocoveza.

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The Good Stuff:

This year Quesada announced a new line of cigars created to celebrate 40 years of hard work. The 40th anniversary is composed of three regular production lines: Robusto – 5 x 52, Toro – 6 x 54, and the Toro Real – 6 x 65. There are two limited edition vitolas: Toro press – 6 x 49 boxpress, and the Salomon Press with is a 6 ¾ x 50/33. It’s a crazy size with a Salomon foot and head and a slender box-press body. Through those 5 sizes the blend is consistent featuring a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, Dominican Binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica shares the same name as it’s 5 brothers, but the blend is quite different featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut Wrapper, and a tweaked blend using a Dominican Criollo binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is blended by Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. and is only available at events that he personally attends where it is sold in packs of five. After the event, that specific retailer who put on the event is able to sell the cigars which then comes in 50 count cabinets. You can find a bit more information about the blend over at Halfwheel’s site. While these may be elusive to some, I was able to pick up a handful over at Smokeinn and believe they still may have them in stock. Like many of the other cigars is the 40th anniversary line, the Corona Clasica is a limited run so you may want to pick them up while you can.

Size: 6.5 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Criollo
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.25
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales – Prairie Ale (Saison 8.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is mostly covered in a soft white tissue. While the tissue gives the cigar an interesting look and provides a bit of protection for the rather delicate Ecuadorian Connecticut leaf, it’s a pain in the ass to get off on all the Corona Clasicas that I have smoked. Not only is it tightly twisted around the foot, but they also have a small strip of glue on them. In a few cases it worked against the attempt to protect the leave as it tore small parts of the wrapper off during removal. On the plus side, the tears were all very minor and never harmed the smoking experience. Once the tissue has been successfully removed a beautiful, light brown wrapper is on display. The wrapper is pretty consistent in it’s yellowish-brown color but features a few areas of green tinted leaf, and darker brown webbing. As I stated before, the wrapper is pretty thin and delicate but the filler is very tightly packed and firm with no soft spots at all. The long body which resembles more of a toroish vitola leads up to a beautiful round triple cap. The construction is perfect. The cigar is then polished off with a double band. The first is one we are familiar with as it came on the Seleccion de Espana blend featuring a black, gold, white, and silver color wheel and Quesada’s emblem. The second features the same colors with the elegant writing of “40th Anniversary” on the front. The presentation on this cigar is incredible and I just can’t wait to light it up.

The wrapper on the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica gives off a very bold grassy/mossy aroma with hints of tobacco while the foot of the cigar features much more spice and cedar. The cap cut clean and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw features much of the same with lots of spice and cedar backed by grassy notes and even a bit of sweetness.

First Smoke:

The first draws on Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica start out very salty, with some slight pepper and spice over lots of sweetness, citrus, cedar, and floral notes. As I carried on the saltiness began to face and the spice became a bit more prominent. The draw is a bit snug, but nothing too bad. The burnline is razor thing producing a very pretty, tightly compacted, dark and medium gray ash which held on for an inch before softly falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There:

The floral flavors have really taken off in the second third of the Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica. Each puff the spice peeks through more and more as the cedar and sweetness are still in the mix. It seems all the flavors have to battle through the strong floral flavors to get attention, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The floral notes are great. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica has a real Cubanesque feel to it’s flavor profile. The retrohale is very smooth and it lets the cigar show off those spice and cedar notes more. The burnline is still rockin’ even and I am feeling absolutely no nicotine as I close out the second third.

Finish:

The final third of Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is where the cigar really starts to shine. Up until now the body was medium at best, but it’s now pushing it into the medium/full range with lots more cedar and spice, sweetness, and citrus while the floral flavors begin to fizzle out. I am starting to pick up a bit more of the pepper though, although it’s quite mild. I’m just surprised it’s still present at this point in the experience. The burnline has been perfect the whole time. I never once had to reach for my torch the hour and a half it took to take the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica down. I smoked this bad boy down until my fingertips were on fire encountering absolutely no harshness at all. Knowing the blend, I do recommend taking your time with this one. If you speed through it there is a good chance you just may encounter some harsher areas.

Overview:

Having smoked a few of the 40th Anniversary sizes outside of the Corona Clasica, there really isn’t any similarities between the two. The standard 40th anniversary is bolder, sweeter, and flavorful while the Corona Clasica is much more cubanesque, milder, and in my opinion much more balanced and well-rounded. I seldom reach for Connecticut wrapped cigars, but this is one that I could see myself smoking all day. Flavorful enough for the evening, mild enough for the morning. The construction is absolutely flawless, and the experience is incredible while the price point is just. My only suggestion is to lose that tissue, it’s a bit of a pain. I picked up quite a few of these and will probably grab some more. If you happen to come across these do yourself a favor and pick a few up.

Pairing:

Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Ale is an 8.2% ABV Saison style Farmhouse ales brewed at the Prairie Artisan brewery in Oklahoma. I’m a big fan of Saison style ales, especially in fall. The citrus, spice, and fruit really match the weather’s mood, and most of them come in at a nice, high ABV. The Prairie Ale is very light, leading with strong citrus, doughy bread, and spice with a light mouthfeel and a strong citrus and bitterness on the finish. It has a bit of bite, but finishes crisp. The first time I smoked the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica I immediately pictures pairing this with a light saison. I needed something that had some citrus and spice, but wasn’t overpowering at all as the cigar could easily be overdone by a bolder pairing. The Prairie Ale fit that description to a tee. The citrus, spice, and even the bready flavor paired up perfectly with the existing flavors in the 40th Anniversary. Other pairing would include coffee, a Belgian golden ale, or a mild Marzen.

The post Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: La Aurora’s 107 has been a long time coming and I for one, didn’t know if we would ever see the cigar reach final release. The original 107 made it’s debut in 2010 (Check out my review of the Robusto here and Daniel’s review of the Corona here). Shortly after there were mumblings around the cigar community that a 107 Maduro was in the works. About a year later the cigar scene got looks via various social media accounts of the 107 Maduro. Something held up production though and these cigars are just now about to hit the market. This just goes to show the detail in Miami Cigars’ / La Aurora’s process. The cigar took so long to hit the shelves because they were dead-set on how they wanted the blend to turn out and weren’t quite reaching their desired dream. Either way,  we are just glad that this blend has been finalized and will be finding it’s way onto shelves, and into our hands soon. La Aurora 107 Maduro starts out with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper placed around a Dominican Corojo binder filled with Dominican and Nicaraguan Tobacco. The 107 Maduro was first released in limited quantity last year to TAA members at the TAA convention, but will be released to the public this year at the annual IPCPR show in Las Vegas. The 107 Maduro will come in 4 sizes: Robusto 4.5 x 50, Corona 5.5 x 43, Toro 5.5 x 54, and the Belicoso 6.25 x 52 with a price range about about $6 to $8 depending on the format. Barry from Miami Cigar Company hooked me up with a few samples for review.
Size: 4.5 x 50
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: ~$6
Pairing: New Belgium Dig (American Pale Ale 5.6% ABV)

Prelight: The 107 Maduro starts out with a crazy dark wrapper. You can see from some of my photos that it’s almost as dark as the black table I took them on. The wrapper is beautiful sporting an extremely dark drown wrapper with a reddish hint, and some black webbing throughout the leaf. The wrapper feels really tough, and really firm as it leads up to the round double cap. The construction on these samples are flawless and each cigar only showcases one or two small veins. The cigar itself is very firm and seems to be packed very tightly with tobacco. I really enjoy this format. Love them smaller ring gauges.

The wrapper gives off a very sweet chocolate and tobacco aroma with just a hint of spice white the foot has a much more earthy, tobacco aroma with lots of sweetness. The cap cut VERY easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces massive amount of sweetness and chocolate with just a bit of spice at the end.

First Smoke: La Aurora’s 107 Maduro starts off with loads of spice, some light black pepper, crazy amounts of sweetness and chocolate with a nice earthy finish. As the spice began to drop and the pepper began to fade out a really nice cedar began to appear in the profile. I wasn’t expecting such a flavor-bomb so early into this cigar and it definitely caught my by surprise. The 107 Maduro not only kicks out a ton of thick, stationary smoke but it also fills your mouth with so much dense smoke from each and every little draw you take. I was scared that it was packed too tightly and would produce a tight draw, but it’s just the opposite. The burnline is dead even and razor-sharp leaving behind a very thick, tightly compacted white and light grey ash.

Halfway There: A lot of the flavors dropped from La Aurora’s 107 Maduro into the second third while others became stronger. The cedar and chocolate are now the main flavors in the mix with some nice sweetness and earthiness while the spice and pepper have removed themselves from the profile. The experience is starting to balance out more creating a very creamy experience. The retrohale is BANGIN’ coating my nasal passage with a very strong, very sweet cedar and spice. I could retrohale this baby all day! The burnline is still flawless as I close out the second third and I am feeling absolutely no nicotine at this point.

Finish:  La Aurora’s 107 Maduro has kept me on my toes so far with some great change-ups and the final third keeps with the same theme. The cigar is burning straight chocolate now with lots of sweetness and an earthy/cedar finish. The flavors haven’t necessarily changed up, but the depth in the flavors had making for an interesting experience. The strength in the cigar has ramped up slightly, but didn’t finish over medium as I am feeling no nicotine as a nub it. There is no harshness but he cigar is burning a bit hot as I take it into the final inch. This cigar burned pretty slow lasting for about an hour and a half from start to finish. The burn was excellent needing no touch-ups or relights the entire experience.

Overview: I’ll be the first to say that it was worth the wait. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever really see La Aurora’s 107 Maduro out in the wild and I am glad that Miami cigar took it upon themselves to make sure the blend was exactly what they wanted before they released it. It’s a dynamite cigar with a bold, yet creamy experience. I really loved all the sweetness and the sizes this cigar is offered in. I’m a sucker for smaller ring gauges. It’s really hard to compare these to the 107 natural. The two cigars seem to be very different in experience while both delivering very sweet, very smooth experiences. It would be hard for me to pick one between the two as well, but given the 107 Lancero natural was so great I would probably reach for that size/blend first. This would depend on the situation of course cause I think the maduro would stand well after a mean, later in the evening, or during a herf with multiple cigars.

To Sum it up: The 107 Maduro is a great cigar for both the novice and the seasoned cigar smoker. The cigar has great depth, lots of sweetness while not being too strong or complex. I would definitely smoke these again and I would buy these again, and due to the price I think this is an ideal box purchase to have in just about anyone’s everyday rotation.

Pairing: Today I reached for a great summertime/spring seasonal beer that differs from your run of the mill light seasonal. New Belgium’s Dig is a new take on the classic American Pale Ale. Brewed at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado this Pale Ale is coated with a malty, caramel profile which brings the flavor experience up to a whole new level. Take the malt and caramel, add some sweetness, citrus and hops and you have dig. This zesty, sweet Ale comes in at 5.6% ABV and is the perfect summertime beer. Not only is it perfect for the weather but the balance of the sweetness and flavors makes it a perfect match for almost any sweet cigar. Since it’s not packed with hops it doesn’t easily overpower a cigar. In the case of the 107 Maduro I was actually more concerned with the cigar overpowering the beer but nothing of the sort happened as the flavors blended in perfectly with one another.

The post La Aurora 107 Maduro Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today I have a review from a brand we haven’t really seen too much of lately since they release the OSA SOL a while ago (which I reviewed here). The brand is CAO and if you remember they were also purchased by General Cigar. Today’s new addition to the lineup is known as the Concert.

The Concert is intended to be a throwback to the roots of the CAO brand in Nashville, Tennessee. The musical parts of this cigar are pretty darn easy to spot. Not only does the name give musical reference but the band actually looks like a guitar and pick. Also on the side of the guitar is written “Perfect Harmony” in some fancy script.

Rick Rodriguez of CAO is the mastermind behind this blend and the leaves used here seem pretty interesting. I’m a big fan of Rosado cigars when they are done right but to have a Broadleaf binder is very different, I guess we’ll have to see how that plays out in the flavors. The cigars in this line are also all 5.5 inches long and only vary in their ring gauge starting at 46 and going up to 60. In line with the rest of the cigar, all the vitolas have music related names such as Roadie, Amp and Stage. Today up for review is going to be the 50 ring gauge version called the Solo!

Cigar: CAO Concert
Drink: Crown Royal Maple Finish
Vitola: ”Solo” Robusto (5.5 x 50)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Rosado
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan
Price: About $6
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• A nice looking cinnamon brown wrapper surrounds the cigar
• I found one crack in the wrapper just below the halfway mark of the cigar
• It has a pretty firm consistency from cap to foot
• The single cap is applied very cleanly and looks well done
• The foot is well packed for the most part with just a couple spots that had a bit of a gap

Burn:
• Toasting was even, quick and easy with no problem spots to worry about
• The crack in the wrapper is causing it to unroll a bit as I burn closer to it
• Other than that crack the cigar has been burning razor sharp and even through the first 3rd
• The cigar started to expand a bit causing the crack to get even worse and grow, starting to cause some burn problems now and I needed to give it a quick touchup
• The crack continued to cause problems until I finally passed it in the last third
• I still needed a couple touchups nears the end though

Smoke & Ash:
• Even with a slightly tight draw, I’m getting a ton of smoke each time
• There’s also a good amount of resting smoke coming off the cigar as well
• The ash is coming along really nicely in the early stages, looking strong, tight and clean
• The color on the ash is also quite nice with alternating light grey and white tones
• To prevent the ash from falling onto my laptop I tapped it off around 1 inch but I think it could have easily made it to at least 1.5 inches
• Even with the messy wrapper and re-lights the ash still continued to be strong holding on for 1 inch each time
• Smoke also continued to be full right through to the end

Tasting Notes:
• There wasn’t much aroma coming off the foot here, maybe just a bit of spice and woodsiness
• From the foot, I’m getting a fresh woodsy aroma with the same touch of spice
• Lots more of the fresh wood flavor and even some earth now on the pre-light draw
• The initial few draws had a defined burnt undertone to them but it seem went away
• After the burn notes went away I was left with a bit of a pepper spice flavor profile with some notes of wood mixed in there
• The flavors have stuck in the woodsy and slightly spicy range through the first half with just a bit of leather getting mixed in now and again
• On the retrohale, I’m picking up more of the spice in the bite and a dry spice on the finish as well
• Body has been mostly in the medium range up until now, we’ll see if it changes coming through to the end
• The last half has stuck with the wood and spice main notes, the leather is peeking in more often now and I’m getting a bit of coffee notes here and there
• More leather flavors as I burn down the the end here with just a touch of soft spices hanging around

Final Thoughts:
This turned out to be a pretty nice smoke overall and I enjoyed it for the most part. The cracked wrapper definitely caused some burn issues but they luckily didn’t affect the flavors much and it was probably just a one-time thing since no other Concert sticks I’ve smoked had the same problem. Now there wasn’t anything over the top here but it was a good solid medium smoke with some nice flavors. Not too much change in the profile though so I don’t think I would opt for anything bigger than a robusto. Definitely worth lighting one up though so give it a try, good to see CAO is still turning out some good sticks even after their recent ownership change.

Pairings:
Just in case you missed the name of my pairing before it is Crown Royal Maple Finished. Yes, that’s right, MAPLE! And damn does this bottle pack some serious mapley-goodness! My wife actually said it smelled like pancakes when I opened the bottle. IF you’ve had Crown Royal before you’ll know it’s got a pretty smooth texture to it but a lot of people tend to mix it with coke. The Maple flavor added here makes it perfectly enjoyable just on ice. And it made an excellent pairing for the cigar too, the sweetness can be a little overpowering at first but it settles down after a couple sips. Just don’t try pairing this with any soft or mild sticks cause they might get lost. +1 for Maple!

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

On the chopping block is the Habano wrapped version of the Espinosa Cigars La Zona. If the Espinosa name sounds familiar it’s probably because you heard about it from the EO Brands cigar label where Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega worked together to create some very popular lines. Espinosa Cigars is Erik fairly new project and the La Zona line is one of his first few blends.

The La Zona line currently comes in two flavors, a Connecticut and the Habano, they are also only available in two sizes, Super Toro and Robusto. The only noticeable difference between the two blends is a slightly different color on the bands. The Connecticut had a sort of lime green touch to it while the Habano is a bit more of a subtle brownish green.

The price on these cigars comes in well below $5 a stick. If you opt for the massive 80 count boxes, the price per stick can drop to nearly $3 each making this a very affordable stick to have in the humidor. Fans of Nicaraguan tobacco will also be happy to hear that the La Zona’s are Nicaraguan Puros and are also manufactured right in Esteli.

Despite a ton of snow we’ve been having, the weather is actually warming up a bit. I think Mother Nature in a bit confused… But I’ll take advantage of that as I enjoy some good cigars. So let’s just right in and see if the La Zona Habano is worth stocking up on in the Humidor.

Cigar: Espinosa Cigars La Zona Habano
Drink: Coffee
Vitola: Super Toro (6.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $4
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The medium brown color of the wrapper is accented with some golden touches
• Almost no veins on this slightly dry looking wrapper
• It also has a somewhat rough texture and lots of toothiness to it, just missing the oily spots
• I did notice a sort of green water spot right around the middle of the cigar
• After a small and easy cut, the draw is super open, pretty surprising since it’s such a long cigar
• There is a definite softness from cap to foot here, lots of give when I squeeze it a bit
• The foot looks to be decently packed and the cap is finished very cleanly

Burn:
• Toasting took a bit of time but it lit up nice and evenly
• Burn line has been a tad wavy but pretty good for the most part through the first third
• Through the first half, I had one minor touch up for a peninsula that was forming
• The La Zona Habano is burning at a good pace, not too fast and not too slow either
• A couple more touch ups as I get near the end, none were major issues, probably jsut me wanted to be a perfectionist! lol

Smoke & Ash:
• There is a fair bit of smoke off the start but a slightly open draw is making it tough
• The resting smoke is pretty minimal
• Ash is looking to be pretty clean and somewhat strong
• First ash got tapped off at about the one inch mark since it looked to be getting a bit wobbly
• A fair bit of smoke from each draw but it does take a few tries to get it all out
• The remaining ashes all stuck around the 1 inch mark pretty consistently
• Other than the dark spots from touch ups, the ash had a light and dark grey color to it

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a deep cedar aroma to it with a touch of spice
• On the foot, I’m getting the same cedar and more spice to it, tickled my nose quite a bit
• Pre-light draw had a ton more cedar but much less spice here, a touch of sweetness here as well
• Initial flavors brought out more of the cedar but not as much spice right off the bat
• I found a touch of spice in the aftertaste and main flavors mostly dominated by some leather and woodsy notes
• I’m picking up some hints of creaminess but they don’t seem to be sticking around too long
• Body started off in the medium range and has been sticking there through the first half of the cigar
• The retrohale has a nice little spice bite to it and a bit more on the finish, with just a touch of creaminess in there
• I got a few coffee notes and a bit more creaminess towards the last half which kept it interesting
• No real harshness or bitterness right to the nub, allowing me to enjoy the whole cigar

Final Thoughts:
I have to say that both the Habano and Connecticut version of the La Zona cigar were a satisfying smoke. They are also quite different in their own regards. The Connecticut brought a surprising amount of spice to the table while the Habano had a more creamy and woodsy approach. For a $3 price tag, you are definitely getting your money’s worth on these cigars. Other than a couple minor touch ups, the whole burn was pretty darn good and the flavors were just enough to keep things interesting. I’d definitely consider buying a few more of each and for the price, you don’t feel bad to hand over a tasty and flavorful stick to a novice smoker either.

Pairings:
I went with plain old coffee for today’s review and it actually worked out really well. I don’t tend to pair with coffee quite enough and I’m not sure why, it definitely makes for a great pairing. Especially in the morning or early afternoon. I think a nice amber ale, maybe something oaked would make an awesome pairing here. Or possibly a light scotch as well.

The post Espinosa Cigars La Zona Habano appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Rodrigo cigars is probably a brand you haven’t heard too much about but it is a brand that has been making some appearances over the last year or so. George Rodriguez started his venture into the cigar world very recently in 2010. The story on the Rodrigo Cigars website is actually a pretty interesting one, take a read through it here.

At the moment, Rodrigo cigars has 3 different blends in it’s inventory. The Habano Classico, the Boutique Blend and today’s featured cigar, the La Fortaleza. All of the blends have filler from the Dominican Republic, where George first began his cigar making adventure, and each blend comes with a different wrapper.

The La Fortaleza line is claimed to be the full bodied and full flavored. It comes in 4 different vitolas and all have interesting names such as the Absoluto, Forte, Elegante and the Cinco 5. All of the cigars are also made at the Tabacalera Ventura factory down in Dominican Republic. 3 of the vitolas come in boxes of 24 but the Cinco 5 comes in an odd numbered box containing 55 sticks. There is an obvious link to the name here

Let’s dive in to the Rodrigo La Fortaleza Cinco 5 and see how it turns out!

Cigar: Rodrigo La Fortaleza Cinco 5
Drink: Pocas Special Reserve Tawny Porto
Vitola: Cinco 5 (6 x 56)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: About $6.75
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A very nice, velvety smooth wrapper surrounds this cigar
• It does have a very appealing reddish-brown wrapper on it
• The squeeze shows an even firmness from cap to foot with just a bit of springiness
• There are only very small veins to be seen on this wrapper, they don’t look to have any potential problems with the veins
• The cap is cleanly finished and looks to blend into the rest of the wrapper nicely
• The foot looks nicely and cleanly packed with lots of filler leaves and all are a nice consistent color

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and easy and even, had a nice amber foot with very little effort
• Shortly after, the La Fortaleza started canoeing on me thanks for a giant tunnel/gap in the filler
• I touched it up but it started to happen again right after, hoping with one more touch up and we’ll be at the end of the tunnel
• Weird burn continues with more touch ups and canoeing
• This cigar needed touch-up after touch up to keep it burning properly
• Finally in the last bit, I got some decent burn without touch ups but it was a constant battle throughout the whole cigar

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke is medium in body, not quite full and billowing
• It’s also taking me a couple draws to get a decent amount of smoke out
• The ash is coming along as very light grey, almost white
• Problem is the ash isn’t lasting very long with the tunneling and touch ups
• I keep tapping the ash off just short of an inch, it looks pretty weak and flaky, especially with all the touch ups
• Smoke continues to be pretty light throughout the cigar, would have been nicer to have a little more density to it

Tasting Notes:
• The notes on the wrapper seem to be mostly of mild cedar, not much else here
• I still get the mild cedar on the foot but now I’m picking up some tiny hints of spices, more baking spices rather than pepper
• The pre-light draw was very woodsy with just a touch of mild spices
• Initial few draws are telling a similar story of woodsy flavors backed by some cinnamon and also some leathery notes in there
• The cedar flavors are really shining through with a nice medium body to back it all up, also picking up some light coffee flavors
• The retrohale has a tiny little bite and is full of flavorful spices with a nice woodsy finish
• The body has been pretty mild, almost medium so far
• The constant touch ups from burn issues are continually making the flavors charred and harsh, it’s hiding the potential of the cigar
• I’m still picking up hints of good flavors such as coffee and cedar, maybe even some nuts or almonds but the charred flavors introduced from constant touch ups is ruining this cigar
• Throughout the whole cigar, the body never really passed medium making for a good early day smoke
• The last inch or so probably had the most flavors since I didn’t need any touch ups so the potential of this cigar really showed, no harshness here either
• I have to note that even though the cigar claimed to be really full bodied, I barely felt much past medium so I was pretty surprised.

Final Thoughts:
This is a tough one to judge and I have to say I will need a few more to make up my mind. The burn really ruined the experience since the constant touch ups negatively affected the flavors I was getting. I got very nice hints of flavorful cedar, coffee, cinnamon and almonds but they were always being overpowered by the charred notes. The Rodrigo La Fortaleza Cinco 5 is something that will leave me wondering “what could have been?”. I really wanted to like this cigar and I’m definitely going to seek out a few more, perhaps a different vitola and for sure a different box to see if the burn issues are persistent or if I just had a bad batch. Has anyone else had similar issues? I’d love to get some feedback on that!

*Sorry no ash pic here, the wind actually kept blowing the ash out of my ashtray so there was nothing left to take a picture of. The wind stole my band too… Some dog is probably chewing on it right now…

Pairings:
I had just a little bit of this port left so I decided to pair with it one more time, it’s gone now so you won’t see it again! lol. The Pocas Special Reserve Tawny Porto pours very very light and has some very fruity notes on your nose. The flavors follow those same lines with a very light flavor, fairly fruity, lots of oak flavors and not bold at all. It did offer a bit of saving grace to the charred flavors of the cigar today. The sweetness really helped to cleanse my palate after those touch ups. It would have been an excellent pairing without that set back though so I’d definitely pair this cigar with port the next time I decide to light one up.

The post Rodrigo Cigars La Fortaleza Cinco 5 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano is also unique in a new way. It is the first cigar in this lineup to be a Nicaraguan Puro and is even produced in a different factory than the rest of the Edge blends. I’ve had some mixed opinions on most of Rocky Patel’s cigars, some I’ve loved and some not so much. But The Edge lineup has been one of the blends that has been consistently good for me so far.

When Rocky unveiled these at IPCPR earlier last year, he also gave some details that I found interesting. First was the price which you can find below, but he also mentioned they would be sold in boxes of 100 which is pretty interesting and does make for a pretty nice show piece. Lucky enough for us who have no room for 100 cigars of a single type, they are also being sold in boxes of 20, a little more digestible for sure.

So let’s go ahead and dive right in to see if the newest edition to the Edge lineup can hold it’s own. I reviewed The Edge Corojo not too long ago so those notes are still fresh in my mind to compare with.

Cigar: Rocky Patel The Edge Habano
Drink: Pocas Special Reserve Tawny Porto
Vitola: Toro (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan(Esteli, Condega, and Jalapa)
Price: $6.15 MSRP
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Rocky Patel The Edge Habano has a pretty bumpy yet oily wrapper on it
• The color of the wrapper is a deep brown with what looks to be some slightly golden accents
• Near the foot, this cigar was definitely a bit squishy but the rest of the cigar had a slightly firm and springy feel
• No major veins to be worried about here, looks like a well chosen leaf to me
• The Triple cap was fairly clean but there was a piece that wasn’t quite stuck on very well

Burn:
• The toasting took a bit long here, seems the edges lit up easy and fast but the core of the cigar took a bit of time to catch on
• Through the first bit, it seems to be burning really fast, a lot of wrapper disappearing on each draw
• The burn line has started out pretty nicely, keeping it fairly even with just a bit of a wave
• Can’t complain here, the burnline wasn’t perfectly straight but it stayed nice and even throughout the whole cigar and I didn’t need to touch it up at all

Smoke & Ash:
• Each draw is pumping out a decent amount of smoke here, not really requiring me to go back for seconds
• The ash is coming out with a nice light and dark grey alternating pattern
• We’ve got some clean and strong ash here, doesn’t look like it will fall off very easily
• Lasting past an inch before I tap it off so it doesn’t land on my laptop
• Next few ashes stayed strong and clean as I tapped them off around the 1 inch mark
• The draw did open up a bit in the last half giving me a nice full pull of smoke on each draw

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper had an aroma of cedar and a touch of spice on the nose
• From the foot, the aromas I grabbed were more spice and a touch of nuts or almond
• Pre-light draw gave me a nice creamy cedar sort of flavor
• From the first few draws, you can easily pick out the creaminess from the Habano wrapper and a nice amount of cedar
• There is definitely not as much spice here as on the original The Edge but there’s still a bit just to keep it interesting
• Picking up a soft coffee note as I burn through this first third adding a nice layer here
• The retrohale actually has a nice kick to it considering I’m not getting too much spice, but it has a nice smooth and creamy finish to it
• The spice definitely started to pick up after the halfway mark, more signature Edge flavors now
• The creamy and coffee notes continue to stick around with some cedar to back it all up
• The Edge Habano entered the last third with more creamy, coffee and cedar notes, maybe a touch of roasted almonds here too
• As I approach the nub, the flavors sort of all melted together and turned a bit bland, even a touch harsh so I put it down

Final Thoughts:
I had some pretty high expectations going into this cigar simply because the past few I’ve smoked from Rocky Patel’s The Edge line have all been good. So would this new Habano edition stand up? Seems like it did a pretty darn good job. Minus the last bit when it got a bit harsh, the rest of the cigar was spot on with some smooth flavors and a great burn. That harshness might have just been from the cold weather or the fact that these were pretty young sticks but I definitely would have a few more even with that caveat at the end.

Pairings:
So the pairing I chose today was actually the same bottle of Port I used to pair with my review of The Edge Corojo not too long ago. I won’t re-invent the wheel here, the port is about the same. The Pocas Special Reserve Tawny Porto pours very very light and has some very fruity notes on your nose. The flavors follow those same lines with a very light flavor, fairly fruity, lots of oak flavors and not bold at all. Definitely an easy drinking port that’s not overly bold. It paired quite nicely with the softer creamy notes on The Edge Habano and countered the spicier parts nicely as well.

The post Rocky Patel The Edge Habano appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The La Zona cigar comes from Espinosa Cigars. Erik Espinosa was the “E” behind the EO brands label that gave us the popular 601 line. He’s gone ahead and started his own line just as his counterpart Eddie Ortega did. The La Zona comes from the factory in Esteli Nicaragua and is intended to be a value cigar with premium flavors. There are two wrappers, the Connecticut in a brighter lime green band and the Habano which has a darker green/brownish band. They also only come in 2 vitolas, Robusto and Super Toro.

Today’s cigar was the Connecticut variety in Robusto vitola and I have to admit that I would NEVER have guessed it was a Connecticut just from smoking it. This cigar started with a huge punch of pepper and spices that really surprised me. The pepper and spices also continued through most of the cigar. Where the Connecticut shone through was with the smooth creaminess, especially on the retrohale.

This cigar was pretty unique in that most connies don’t try this, they tend to stay in the mild range so the contrast was interesting to what I was expecting. The spice tapered off a bit towards the middle but they were still there. To compliment them I got a nice mix of cedar. The construction was awesome the whole way through even though I was walking in some slightly windy weather and it was a chilly 25F or so. I also have some Habano’s to try and see how they smoke. For a cost of just under $4 this was a pretty tasty and interesting cigar that kept me on my toes so keep an eye out and give them a try if you find them.

The post Quick Draw Episode 11 – Espinosa Cigars La Zona Connecticut appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.