The Good Stuff:

Back in 2016 Joya de Nicaragua went through a rebranding which included the Cabinetta. With the rebrand the “JOYA Cabinetta” said goodbye to the lancero format, a fan favorite. Fast forward to 2024 and the Joya Cabinet Lancero is making its triumphant return. The Joya Cabinetta Lancero carries the same unique blend that starts with a dual-wrapped cigar which features a darker Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper that goes about a third of the way down from the cap before transforming into an Ecuadorian shade grown wrapper for the remainder of the cigar over both Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The Joya Cabinetta Lancero will run $9.95 per cigar and comes packaged in boxes of 20 with only 1,000 boxes being released.

• Size: 7 1/2 x 38
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo/Ecuadorian Shade
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $9.95

Prelight:

The obvious standout characteristic of the Joya Cabinetta Lacero is the dual wrapper setup. The cap starts with a pigtail in a dark wrapper which blends into a lighter brown/orange wrapper underneath the cigar’s band. The wrapper is very slick and silky and smooth. There are very small veins running through the cigar’s body. The wrapper is laid over itself very well leading its way up to the mentioned pigtail cap. The cigar as a whole is very light and the lighter-colored wrapper feels very thin and delicate while the darker wrapper is much more dense and firm. The cigar is polished off with the standard yellow, gold, and brown Cabinetta band with the Joya crest.

The wrapper on the Cabinetta gives off very light oak and woodsy aromas while the foot of the cigar is very earthy and dirty with just a dash of pepper and spice. The cap cut very clean and easily, the cold draw produces notes of musk, wood, and a little bit of sweetness.

First Third:

The Joya Cabinetta Lancero starts out very earthy and grainy with small hit of light pepper which fades quickly. Outside of the earthiness the flavor profile carries great notes of much and deep wood over lighter notes of sweet spice and vanilla with a nice honey aftertaste. The draw is absolutely flawless. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which dissipates quickly while the cigar releases very low amounts of smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted dark gray ash which held on for about 2/3 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Joya Cabinetta Lancero and most of flavor profile remains the same. Loads of musky wood over honey, vanilla, and a bunch of earthiness. It’s a great, lighter-bodied flavor profile. The retrohale brings out a bit more of the spice and pepper I picked up once I initially lit up the cigar. The cigar is burning like a dream and I close out the second third with almost nothing in the nicotine department.

Finish:

The flavor profile really changes up when you hit that dark bit in the Joya Cabinetta Lancero. The light honey and vanilla drop out and instead is replaced with really bold oak, dark chocolate, spice and tartness. A lot of the woodsy flavors are still there however. This cigar smokes very quickly as it took me an hour on the dot to take this down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, and never once had to touch up or relight the cigar. I close out with almost no nicotine kick at all.

Overview:

I love when a cigar reminds my how much I love a particular format. I love it even more when it’s a lancero. There is just something special about a great lacenro and the Joya Cabinetta is a prime example of it. The flavors are great, tasty, and pleasant especially as the grew more complex into the final stretch. The price point is incredibly affordable and I am glad I have so many on hand as I will be sad once these once again make their departure.

The post Joya de Nicaragua Joya Cabinetta Lancero appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Last year Dion Giolito, founder of Illusione cigars, shook things up when he announced a big change to the Illusione Singularé line by introducing the Origen. Each year the company released a limited edition Singulare release, however the new release is not only a full line, but a full production one at that. Dion stated that in this full-production line, he took everything that was great about the previous Singulare releases and used that formula to blend the Origen. Produced at the Agricola Ganadera Norteña S.A. in Nicaragua the all Nicaraguan blend features a Grade AAA Corojo Cafe Rosado wrapper and Corojo ’99 / Criollo ’98 fillers. The cigar is offered in four sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 52), Churchill (6 3/8 x 48), and the Gordo (6 x 56). Each come packaged in boxes of 15 running between $13 and $13.95 per cigar. Big thanks to the Illusione team for sending us a few of these to review, however I have also purchased quite a few over the past few months.

• Size: 5 5/8 x 46
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo Cafe Rosado
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13.35

Prelight:

The Illusione Singularé Origen starts out with a rough looking medium brown and yellow wrapper. I actually love a rough looking cigar and this one looks “rough” in the best kind of way. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy and very oily. The wrapper’s thickness is a bit on the thin side while the cigar as a whole feels rather light and just a little on the soft side. The wrapper is laid perfectly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the new, large, blue Singulare band with the owl crest in the front in white and gold.

The wrapper on the Illusione Singularé Origen gives off a mixture of cashew and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar is a bit more earthy with oat and grain over the cedar. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces dry notes of wood, pear, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Illusione Singularé Origen Started out with a quick black pepper flash which left my tongue tingling. After the first few puffs the pepper faded allowing the cigar to release awesome notes of dry pine and cashew over lighter notes of spice and cedar with some floral and almost champagne-grape style flavors. The draw is beautiful as each puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke with ease which dissipates rather quickly, however it is pretty breezy on my patio. The cigar also releases only a slight amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a thin as it can get leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted, light gray ash which held on close to an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The flavor profile in the second third of the Illusione Singularé Origen shifted more towards an overall woodsy/spicy mixutre of flavors leading dominantly on the cedar and spice that I picked up in the first third. There are some great dry notes underneath which remind me of cinnamon, and black tea with a nice floral aspect to them. The retrohale really brings both the spice and the black herbal tea to the front of the taste. The cigar is burning perfectly and I close out the second third with no signs of nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Illusione Singularé Origen and the cigar is now well into the full-bodied arena as it pumps out a dry, woodsy collection of flavors leading with cedar and cinnamon backed by herbal black tea, floral, and a really awesome leather type flavor. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I was pretty sad when I finally laid it down. I experienced no sap, no harshness and no extended heat while the cigar left me with only a very minor little nicotine hit.

Overview:

In a single word the Illusione Singularé Origen is GREAT. I can’t really say it fits in with the rest of the Singulare series since this was created to be more of a standalone blend, however I can say that this cigar just feels special. And to me, thats what the Singulare always represented. Solid construction, very enjoyable and complex flavors at an excellent price point. I am also a huge fan of not having to chase down limited edition cigars and hoard them if they are good so extra points awarded there. This is absolutely a box worthy purchase and I can see myself smoking these on repeat for quite some time.

The post Illusione Singularé Origen appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

While Dion Giolito of Illusione cigars is no stranger to doing collaborations, the cigar community was caught off guard and quite surprised when word hit of a new collaboration with Hoyo de Monterrey hitting the market. Dion and Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s business development manager Justin Andrews spent over a year working together on the new blend and here is what they had to say about it:

“Dion Giolito and Illusione’s success in the premium cigar category has been driven by his rigorous standards for tobacco and his ability to create cigars that wow the market. So when it came to developing a blend for Excalibur, Dion was our hands-down first choice. I’m very proud of how this project came together. My only regret is that we couldn’t make this a full-time launch.”

Justin Andrews

“When GCC asked me to do a collaboration and offered up Excalibur, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. In college, the Excalibur #1 Maduro was my go-to when I could afford them on a college budget. My buddy George and I would enjoy them after class or band practice. They were a real treat back then, and they still are to this day. For my part, I wanted to make a cigar in the spirit of Excalibur with a bold character and packaging that pays homage to the brand’s origins. I believe this blend really hits the mark.”

Dion Giolito

Produced at Aganorsa’s Agricola Ganadera Nortena S.A. (Previously TABSA), the all Nicaraguan blend starts out with a Corojo ’99 wrapper and Corojo 2012 binder both from the Jalapa region over Corojo and Criollo fillers from Esteli. The cigar is offered in a single Double Corona 7 1/4 x 54 format which comes packaged in boxes of 10 with only 4,960 boxes being reduced. The Illusione of Excalibur runs $19.99 a stick and is available now. I picked mine up from our friends at Cuenca cigars who are now offering cigars in singles for shipping. Think of it as shopping in a brick and mortar store only online where you can mix and match your own bundles.

• Size: 7 1/4 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo ’99
• Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 2012
• Filler: Nicaraguan Esteli Corojo and Criollo
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $19.99
• Pairing: Bruery 2econd (Imperial Stout 17.6% ABV)

Prelight:

First lets just get this out of the way. The Illusione of Excalibur is a very big, beefy cigar. The wrapper is a very consistent dark brown with a bit of a reddish tint to it. The wrapper’s texture is a bit toothy and gritty with a ton of thick oils coating it. The wrapper feels decently thick while the cigar as a whole is very hard and heavy. I think I could using this to hammer a few nails in the wall without taking any damage. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself while the cigar showcases a few larger veins leading up to it’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The band design leans more towards the Hoyo de Monterrey brand than Illusione’s. The classic Hoyo de Monterrey crest is laid in royal blue, white, and gold across the front of the band with a secondary band underneath that says “The Illusione of Excalibur” and the Illusione logos across the sides. There is an additional foot band that is identical to the secondary band described above.

The wrapper on the Illusion of Excalibur gives off mostly caramel and earthy scents while the foot of the cigar carries a great fruit-forward mixture of aromas over natural tobacco and earthiness. the cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of oat and grain over vanilla, honey, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Illusione of Excalibur starts out pretty mild with a quick black pepper hit which only lasted a few puffs before quickly fading away allowing the cigar to release notes of vanilla, honey, and cinnamon over lighter notes of coconut, light coffee, and dirt/earthiness. The draw is flawless. Each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick white smoke while the cigar releases only a slight trail of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The ash left behind id decently compacted and dark gray in color which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Illusione of Excalibur and the vanilla and honey are still going strong while the cinnamon has morphed into a lighter all-spice type flavor mixed with coconut and light coffee. There is a great deep, floral/cologne flavor that comes out on the aftertaste. When I retrohale the cigar the all-spice and floral/cologne flavor become much more prominent. The cigar is still burning like a dream and I close out the second third (after over an hour) with only a very slight nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Illusione of Excalibur and the all-spice flavor has really ramped up and is now up there with the vanilla and honey backed by coffee and coconut. This was a great flavor profile. It took me about two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, no sap, and no extended heat. I never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. Despite the lower strength of the cigar I still felt a pretty good nicotine kick towards the end which was likely due to the massive amount of tobacco in this cigar.

Overview:

I was a bit worried going into the Illusione of Excalibur thinking that it would burn way too long and I’d get bored with it halfway through, but I quite enjoyed the cigar, the overall experience and what the Illusione of Excalibur had to offer. And yes, it was a long burn. A lot longer than I am used to, however the flavor profile was both enjoyable and engaging enough that I never really got tired of it which was my biggest fear going in. The price point is up there, but you also get a lot of bang for your buck. While I enjoyed this cigar I don’t think it would find it’s way into my everyday rotation. It would be more of a treat yo’ self type experience when you have a few hours to just sit back and relax.

Pairing:

The Bruery’s 2econd is the second collaboration with Three Chiefs brewing. This 17.6% Imperial stout is double barrel aged in both coconut rum and spiced rum barrels as well as treated with toasted coconut, cacao, Tahitian Vanilla beans and bananas. I am such a fiend for banana barrel aged stouts. The beer leads with sweet coconut over molasses, caramel, rich vanilla, milk chocolate, some light fig and light banana with a very heavy and sticky mouthfeel before finishing with more fig, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, and the banana is much more pronounced on the finish and aftertaste. Many of the flavors in the beer were also found in the Hoyo de Monterrey / Illusione collaboration “Illusione of Excalibur” while the sweetness and rich flavors in the beer added even more complexity to the experience creating a great pairing.

The post Illusione of Excalibur #1 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

La Relatos is one of Warped’s brand owner Kyle Gellis’s original blends that he created over 10 years ago. Translated to “The Stories”, La Relatos is created at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. (TABSA) factory in Nicaragua utilizing an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan Corojo 99′ and Criollo 98′ fillers and is offered in a single 6 x 38 format running $9.30 a stick and comes packaged in large cabinets of 50. I got mine over from our good friends at Fox Cigar bar in Arizona who have them in stock now, and offer free shipping on all orders, no minimum.

• Size: 6 x 38
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo 99′ and Criollo 98′
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $9.30
• Pairing: Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy (Imperial Stout 12.9% ABV)

Prelight:

The Warped La Gelatos starts out with a very consistent, milky brown wrapper with only a bit of a lighter, orange shade near the cap of the cigar. The wrapper itself is coated with thick oils, small veins, and some slight natural webbing with no tooth as it’s laid seamlessly over itself. The cigar’s thin, long body feel very light in weight, as the wrapper feels very thin and delicate leading up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a beautifully elegant purple and silver band with the “La Relatos” crest embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the La Relatos gives off some sweet cedar and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar is more natural, earthy, and spicy. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar Double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some bold vanilla, spice, and musk flavors.

First Third:

Right off the bat the La Relatos greeted me with with a good amount of black pepper which only lasted the first few puffs leaving me with a good amount of cedar and vanilla over spice and musk. The draw is a bit tight but has slowly been opening up as I smoke through the first third. The building is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of bright white ash which held on for about a half an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the La Relatos and the flavors have began to balance out. The main flavors are still vanilla and cedar with notes of spice, musk, and an awesome creamed coffee that made it’s way into the mix. The retrohale really brings out the cedar and spice making everything nice and I find myself doing it quite often. The burnline is still pretty even and the draw has completely opened up and is now smoking like a champ. I close out the second third with no signs of nicotine yet.

Finish:

Into the final third of the La Relatos and not a whole lot has changed since the second, and that’s a good thing. The flavor profile is still lead by cedar and vanilla with a nice balanced mixture of spice, musk, coffee, and earthiness backing it up. It took me almost an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I close out the La Relatos with no harshness, nor extended heat (outside of the blistering sun) and only a very slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

I have been a huge fan of Warped from the first time I smoked their cigars. Add La Relatos to the quickly growing list of fantastic releases they have put out. The flavor profile is incredible, the smoking experience is brilliant, and the price point is affordable.While the profile isn’t too complex, it didn’t need to be. I can’t see myself buying 50 of these, but I would certainly split a box of these to keep a good amount on hand and add to my regular rotation. Huge props to Kyle for choosing this format too as it’s one of my favorite sizes.

** NOTE: I smoked quite a few of these cigars from various boxes. I experienced draw issues in a few (which all opened up after a bit of smoking time), and no issues with others. Just worth mentioning as I had draw issues on more than just one out of the handful I smoked.

Pairing:

Brewed at the famous Oskar Blues brewery in Colorado the Barrel Aged version of their incredible Ten Fidy stout comes in at a whopping 12.9% ABV. This imperial stout leads with heavy notes of vanilla, toffee, roasted malt, oak, and just a light barrel kick with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with even more vanilla, brown sugar, toffee, and barrel. This is dangerously easy to drink considering the ABV. The flavors in the beer matched up well with flavors in the Los Relatos while adding a bunch of sweetness to the experience pushing it to the next level.

The post Warped La Relatos appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Illusione Cruzado has been around for a few years now. I actually reviewed it for the first time way back in 2009, you can check that review out here. The blend has been updated throughout the years but this newest version actually got a design update as well. Blended by Dion Giolito, owner of Illusione, and manufactured these at the TABSA factory in Nicaragua utilizing a Nicaragua Corojo Rosado wrapper, Nicaraguan Filler and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 and Corojo 99 filler. The Cruzado comes in four sizes: Churchill (6.7 x 48), Gordo (6 x 56), Robusto (5.2 x 50), and the Short Robusto (4.2 x 48) all packaged in boxes of 20 ranging between $8.25 and $11.25 a stick. These were sent to us by our awesome friends at Fox Cigar Bar. You can order them directly from them here.

Size: 5.2 x 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo 98 / Corojo 99
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.20
Pairing: Ballast Point Hight West Barrel Aged Victory at Sea (Imperial Porter 12% ABV)

Prelight:

The Illusione Cruzado starts out with a very natural, rustic looking wrapper. It’s medium brown in color with lots of darker brown and orange splotches scattered throughout the cigar’s body. The wrapper carries a good amount of natural webbing as well as some medium-sized veins. The wrapper’s texture is very gritty and toothy with a decent amount of oils. The wrapper feels a bit thin and I don’t want to apply too much pressure but I don’t encounter any soft spots leading up to the cigar’s triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a simple, beautiful, elegant black, white and gold band with the Illusione logo as well as the Cruzado brand embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Illusione Cruzado gives off a good amount of cedar, cashew, and musk aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more spicy, sweet, and natural. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a great amount of natural tobacco, musk, earthiness and spice. 

First Third:

The Illusione Cruzado starts out with a small black pepper punch which quickly drops out after the first few puffs leaving behind a great mixture of musk, spice, cedar, coffee, vanilla, earthiness and sweetness. This cigar starts out incredible. The draw is perfect as each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a considerable amount of time before dissipating. The burn line is razor thin but a bit wild leaving behind a semi-flaky mixture of medium and light gray ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray. 

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Illusione Cruzado the flavors begin to cream out a bit resulting in a balanced mixture of vanilla, spice, coffee and cedar lead by musk and earthiness. The retrohale really brings out the spice and even a bit of the pepper that isn’t resident through the traditional experience. The burn line is still pretty wavy but my torch has remained in it’s case so nothing concerning there. I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine hit.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Illusione Cruzado and this is where the already fantastic cigar begins to really showcase what it’s all about. Bold cedar, and musk lead the charger backed by vanilla and coffee with light notes of spice, oat, and cinnamon. The burnline has almost completely corrected itself and I never once had to break out my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. It took me an hour and a half to smoke the Cruzado down to the nub and I wish it would have just kept going forever. No harshness, no extended heat, and I closed out with a pretty minor nicotine kick. 

Overview:

If it wasn’t already obvious I thoroughly enjoyed this batch of Illusione Cruzados. The profile is complex, yet balanced, with a ton of flavor and a subtle strength making for a perfect cigar. I could see just about any enthusiast enjoy this experience while it’s an ideal cigar for a novice looking to break into the premium market. In my memory the Cruzado series always smoked very fast, but the last few I’ve smoked from this tweaked blend actually burnt extremely slow making for a long-lasting experince. 

Pairing:

Brewed by Ballast Point brewing in San Diego, California Victory at Sea is an imperial porter with chocolate, vanilla, and coffee added. This High West version then takes that beer and ages it in High West Rye Whiskey barrels and the outcome is amazing. The beer leads with loads of vanilla and coffee, malty, good amount of sticky toffee and sweetness with a great barrel chewiness, and small amount of coffee. The mouthfeel is very thick and heavy before finishing with even more sweetness, vanilla, spice, and a bit of whiskey. The alcohol is very hidden under all the sweetness and the whiskey really starts to come out more as the beer warms. The vanilla, spice, sweetness and coffee pair beautifully with the existent flavors in the Illusione Cruzado without overpowering the cigar. I would also pair this cigar with some great black or creamed coffee, Belgian Dubbel, or Tawny Port wine.  

The post Illusione – Cruzado Robusto appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The My Father The Judge has been one of the most highly touted releases as of late. While it was initially released in 2016 the cigar really didn’t find it’s way into the public hands until last year. The Judge is an extension of the popular My Father line created by Don Pepin Garcia and his son Jaime Garcia. The Judge is advertised as a more full-bodied version of the blend mostly due to the Ecuadorian Sumatra seed wrapper over a Nicaraguan criollo/corojo dual binder and Nicaraguan fillers from 3 different My Father-owned farms. The Judge come in three different box-pressed sizes: Toro Fino: 6 x 52, Grand Robusto: 5 x 60, and Toro: 6 x 56. Each format comes packaged in boxes of 23 running between $11.70 and $12.40 a stick. I got mine over from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars who is having an awesome sampler sale including 10 of Cigar Aficionado’s top cigars of 2017.

Size: 5 x 60
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo/Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Pairing: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (Oatment Stout 7.5% ABV)
Price: $12.40

Prelight:

The My Father The Judge starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper. The wrapper only showcases a few darker areas located around the natural webbing of the tobacco leaf. The texture on the cigar is very firm, and very toothy with a small amount of oils coating the wrapper. The cigar as a whole feels pretty firm, with no soft spots while the wrapper is very thick and dense as it leads up to the cigar’s round, double wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off by the beautiful intricate My Father band we all know, and the addition of a secondary brown band with “The Judge” embossed in gold on the front.

The wrapper on the judge releases some great cedar, leather, and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more natural with an overall dirt aroma. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter.  The cold draw produces a ton of bold spice, deep cedar, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The My Father The Judge starts out with a hell of a cayenne pepper blast which left my lips and tongue tingling for quite some time. Once the pepper fades out the cigar hits you with bold, deep cedar, plum, black coffee, spice, a bit of tartness, and some bittersweet chocolate. It’s an interesting flavor profile and it’s pretty bold so it’s a bit difficult to pick apart. No complaints there. The draw is incredible. Each little puff kicks out so much thick, white smoke. The box-pressed format makes both the mouth and handfeel extremely comfortable. The burnline is pretty even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted black and dark gray ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the My Father The Judge the flavor profile becomes much more focused on the chocolate notes. With chocolate leading the charge the flavors are backed by bold cedar, plum and spice with great notes of honey, natural tobacco, and even some slight notes of orange peel here and there. The retrohale brings all the pepper back to the front of the taste so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burnline is still pretty solid and I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the My Father The Judge and the cigar is still pumping out the flavors. The chocolate is still front and center backed by bold spice and cedar along with some light coffee and vanilla. I love the flavor profile in this little beast. It took me an hour and a half to smoke it down to the nub and I experienced no harshness nor extended heat. The burnline was flawless and I never once had to reach for my light to touch up or relight the cigar. The cigar also left me with a memorable little nicotine kick.

Overview:

It’s easy to see the the My Father The Judge received so many accolades this past year. This is an exceptional cigar. I am a huge fan of the My Father line so anything less than exceptional would have pissed me off. Seriously though, it’s bold, its flavorful, it’s strong, it burns like a dream, and the flavors are incredible. My only gripe is it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a price I wouldn’t mind paying when I am craving a next level cigar experience.

Pairing:

Mikkeller’s Beer Geek breakfast is a simple Coffee Infused Oatmeal stout. Coming in at a modest 7.5% ABV the beer leads with some rich dark chocolate, milk, oat, roasted malt, and vanilla with a light mouthfeel before finishing with even more milk chocolate, oat, and a ton of sweetness with a bold vanilla aftertaste. This beer is so smooth and lacks the acidity that I normally expect when it comes to coffee stouts. The flavors mashed seamlessly with the coffee, cocoa, and oat resident in the My Father the Judge. I would also pair this cigar with just about any stout or double bock.

The post My Father The Judge appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Warped cigars hit the cigar world by storm a few years with some fantastic, unique blends offering a new voice in the cigar industry. Ran by Kyle Gellis, the company released the Maestro del Tiempo blend last year and it’s been the talk of the town ever since. Created at the famous TABSA factory owned by Casa Fernandez in Nicaragua the Maestro del Tiempo features a Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 99 Clara wrapper over a Nicaraguan Criollo 98 and Corojo 99 binder holding in pure Nicaraguan fillers all of which are grown at the Casa Fernandez Aganorsa farms. The Maestro del Tiempo is offered in 3 sizes: 5205 (6 3/8 x 42), 5712 (4 1/2 x 52), 6102R (5 1/4 x 48). All of which are full production outside of the 6102R  which also features a slightly different blend. The 5205 and 5712 come packaged in boxes of 25 running between $8.99 and $9.65 a stick. I purchased mine over from out good friends at Ford on Fifth.

Size: 6 3/8 x 42
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 99 Clara
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo 98 and Corojo 99
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $8.99
Pairing: Alesmith Grand Cru (Belgian style strong ale 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Warped Maestro del Tiempo starts out with a really rustic, beaten looking wrapper. It’s not beaten in terms of mishandling, the natural tobacco chosen for the wrapper leaf has a very unique texture. It’s very soft and sleek in some areas, very toothy in others while it carries a very bumpy mixture of small veins and natural webbing scattered throughout the cigar’s body. The color is a light brown, which is pretty consistent outside of the webbing areas. The wrapper feels very thin and delicate while the cigar as a whole is firm with no soft spots throughout the cigar’s slender body leading up to the round, triple cap. The cigar is polished off with a very small, elegant purple and gold band with the words “Maestro del Tiempo” printed in white ink across the front.

The wrapper on the Maestro del Tiempo gives off a very bold mixture of cedar, honey, and cashew while the foot of the cigar is more subtle with some great spice and pepper notes over natural tobacco. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw gives off a good mixture of strong honey, brown sugar, spice, and cedar.

First Third:

The Warped Maestro del Tiempo starts out with an unexpected bold black pepper bang which quickly faded allowing the cigar to release some very sweet honey, cedar, spice, and citrus flavors. It’s a very interesting flavor profile. The draw is spectacular as each small puff kicks out a great deal of white smoke while the cigar releases a mild amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a very light trail of white and light gray ash which actually fell off into my shoe about a quarter of in inch in. So beware, the cigar will ash when you least expect it to.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Maestro del Tiempo and the flavors have held up leading sweet honey, cedar, spice, citrus and a really nice floral undertone. The cigar has started to build up a bit of sap on the cap so I clipped a bit off and will need to slow down my smoking pace to ensure that it doesn’t build up again. The retrohale is beautiful, coating my nasal passage with a ton of sweetness, honey, and cedar. I close out the second third with absolutely nothing in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Maestro del Tiempo and the cigar has really started to pick I’m steam in the strength department reaching in the the medium/full arena. The flavors still lead with cedar, spice, sweetness and honey backed by floral and a nice resurrection of the pepper we saw at the beginning, only its much more mild this time around. It took me almost two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I never once had to reach for my lighter to touch up, or relight the cigar. Despite the sap I encountered mid-way through, I never found this cigar to be much of a nuisance. Simply slowing down my pace remedied the sap situation and I encountered no harshness nor extended head down into the final inch. I close out the cigar with only a very mild nicotine kick.

Overview:

I’ve been a fan of Warped cigars. Although I haven’t had a lot of the cigars from their portfolio, every one I’ve had has been lights out, and the Maestro del Tiempo is no exception. First, let it be known that I am a huge fan of the company sticking to more traditional Cuban formats. I really love smaller ring gauged cigars so this works right into my preference. The flavors an nuances in the Maestro del Tiempo also carried much of what I personally look for in a cigar. Bold flavors, good amount of sweetness, and great complexity. The construction was top notch which made for a flawless experience. This is a cigar I could see myself going back to quite often. Considering the decent price point and wide availability I think this cigar could easily find it’s way in my everyday rotation.

Pairing:

Coming out of San Diego, California is Alesmiths, Grand Cru. This particular bottle is from 2015. The Grand Cru is a Belgian-style brown ale that comes in at a whopping 10% ABV. The Grand Cru starts with a very robust mixture of Carmel and fruit over some light hops, sweetness, citrus, clove, and a bit of oak with a very light mouthfeel before finishing very crisp with plum, raisin, spice, clove, and a splash over oak. This was a perfect mixture not only for the Warped Maestro Del Tiempo but also for the fantastic summer weather.

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The Good Stuff:

The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express is the follow up release to the 2014 release of the Eastern Standard. The Midnight Express is ultimately a tweaked Maduro version of the Eastern Standard which features the same Ecuadorian Aracon Maduro wrapper as the previous released Last Tsar, only a lower priming. The rest of the cigar is made up from a Dominican Habano binder, along with Dominican corojo and criollo fillers. The Eastern Standard Midnight Express is created at the Tabacalera William Ventura factory in the Dominican Republic and is offered in 4 sizes: Per Se Corona (5.75 x 46), Jockey Club Robusto (5 x 50), Palais Royale Toro (6 x 52), and the Outernationalist Pyramide (6 x 50). They all come packaged in 20 count boxes ranging between $10 and $13.80 a stick and is slotted to be a full-production line. I picked a handful of these up at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 5.75 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Aracon Maduro
Binder: Dominican Habano
Filler: Dominican Corojo, Dominican Criollo
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $10
Pairing: Real Ale Black Quad (Quad 10.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express starts out with a very deep, dark brown, rustic looking wrapper. The color is consistently dark, reddish brown for the most part but does have a few darker splotches around the head of the cigar. The texture is very, very oily and smooth. I can literally see the oil residue left on my fingers as I hold the cigar. The wrapper feels decently dense and semi-hard while the entire cigar is packed pretty lightly making it easy to squeeze between my fingers. There are a few small veins, and lots of natural webbing in the wrapper leaf running through the body of the cigar up to the small, round, pigtail style cap. The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express features the same band design as the Eastern Standard, only in Black and Gold vs the White. The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express does feature a manilla foot band that simply states “Midnight Express” on it.

The wrapper on the Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express gives off a very oaky, musky aroma while the foot of the cigar is much more natural with lots of earthiness, tobacco, and spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some really oaky, musky flavors as well with some nice spice, and subtle sweetness.

First Third:

The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express starts off with only a minor black pepper punch which quickly faded after the first few puffs. What was left behind was a ton of deep oak and musk, lots of spice, some soft sweetness and wonderful cherry/berry flavors with just a bit of pepper on the aftertaste. The draw is perfect. It takes very minimal effort to get a great deal of thick smoke in my mouth while the cigar gives off almost no stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is pretty thick, and slightly wavy while leaving behind a very beautiful, tightly compacted staggered black and medium gray ash which held on for about and inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express and the cherry flavors have really began to show through the bold flavor palate. The cigar is also still pumping out the strong oak and musk as well as great spice, and soft sweetness. The flavor profile hasn’t changed up too much, but it’s very enjoyable so I am ok with that. The retrohale really piles on the oak as it and musk. The burnline is still a bit wavy, but not concerning as I close out the second third with a decent nicotine kick already.

Finish:

I had a few issues with the Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express wanting to go out here in the final third. I remember having similar issues with the Last Tsar so it may just be characteristics of the Ecuadorian Aracon wrapper. Either way, it only happened a few times and speeding up my smoking speed corrected the issue so no problem there. The flavors are still bold in the musk, oak, and spice departments backed by cherry and sweetness. It took me almost two hours to take this cigar down to the nub, and I loved it. No extra harshness, no extra heat, and very little burn issues outside of the cigar trying to put itself out towards the end.

Overview:

I’ve been a big fan of most Caldwell releases to date, and the Eastern Standard Midnight Express is no exception. While The Eastern Standard is a tame, milder cigar, the Midnight Express version showcases just how potent that blend really is. It’s probably not something I’d recommend for for the Novice cigar smoker as it’s pretty powerful, and the price point may turn a few people off, but this cigar is great for the seasoned cigar smoker looking for an excellent ,premium, bold, cigar to add to their arsenal.

Pairing:

Real Ale’s Black Quad is a 10.5% ABV Black Quadruple ale produced in Blanco, Texas annually. While the recipe has been tweaked a bit in the last few years the beer’s character remains the same. The beer leads with some strong, sweetness and spice backed by tons of berry and plum with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing even spicier with more plum and berry, malt, and some very tame clove and black licorice. The flavors in the beer married up wonderfully with the existing flavors in the Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express while adding a bit more flavor to an already bold cigar. I loved it, I could also see this paired with a sweet belgian dubbel, a real spicy tawny port, or a sweet bourbon.

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In July 2014 news broke of the Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014, which was a follow up to the 2013 limited edition release of the Blackout. Produced in Agroindustria LAEPE S.A. factory in Danli, Honduras, the Double Shock is available in five vitolas: Robusto (5 by 50), Toro (6 by 50), Figurado (6 by 42 by 54), Churchill (7 by 48), and Gordo (6 by 60). The price ranges from $11.00 to $13.00 and a total of 1,000 boxes of 20 cigars were produced in each vitola.

While this is 2014 limited edition cigar, a quick online search will bring up several retailers that still have the Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 in stock.

THE FACTS

Purchased at Prohibition Spirits and Cigar Lounge
Price: $12.00 or $24.00 per pair
Vitola: Churchill
Size: 7 by 48
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro and Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Criollo
Filler: Dominican, Honduran, and Pennsylvanian
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 40 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 features a milk chocolate Mexican San Andres wrapper and a medium tan Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The dark color on the San Andres hides some small and medium veins that are found on closer inspection. To the touch, the Mexican leaf feels like fine grain sandpaper with its extremely fine tooth. Small veins are more visible on the Ecuadorian Habano leaf, as well as some stretchmarks.

A dry cedar aroma comes across from the wrapper, while black pepper and dirt are highlighted on the foot of the cigar. Upon clipping the triple-cap that was neatly applied, the dry draw has the right amount of resistance with notes of chocolate, dirt, pepper, and cooking spices. The foot bands slides of with ease and this 7 by 48 Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 is ready to be fired up.

FIRST THIRD

The cigar opens with a sweet woodsy flavor, followed by dark earth and coffee. There is tartness to the profile, but it is contrasted with a sweet honey and chocolate note. There’s a lot going on in the flavor department. You can definitely pick up distinct flavors from the two wrappers, but overall the flavors are hanging in the medium arena. Earth and black pepper, more in flavor than spice, come across as I move the smoke through my sinuses. The finish is dry and a unsweetened bubble gum flavor lingers on the palate. The Ecuadorian wrapper was having a difficult time keeping up with the rest of the burn, but, after 30 minutes, it self-corrected and no touch-up is required for the time being.

MIDDLE THIRD

Burning its way down into the second third, the Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 moves up a couple of notches in richness, boldness, and spice. Most of the sweetness has been pushed out as the dark flavors of earth and coffee continue to push forward. The richness tied to the coffee is making me think of French pressed cup of Joe. The woodsy flavor is still holding strong, but lacks the sweetness that characterized it early on. A yeasty bread flavor joins the mix, as well as cocoa. The burn is jagged and the ash is looking a bit flaky, but holding well. 

FINAL THIRD

The pepper is now sharp as I move the smoke through the sinuses and I am enjoying the added kick in both spice and strength. Big notes of chocolate are pairing up with the deep, dark coffee notes. The cigar that settled in on medium for the first two thirds has developed into a medium full smoke in flavor and body in the final third. 

WRAP-UP

From the first few puffs to the final puff over an hour and half later, the Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 Churchill delivered a wide-variety of flavors that I would contribute to the barber pole style wrapper. I was surprised that the flavors stood in the medium realm for much of the cigar. With a name like Double Shock, I was expecting a fuller experience. With that being said, I found the flavors pleasant and complex. I would like to give this a go around in the Robusto vitola to see if it is a little more ramped up. While the per stick price is around $12.00, you will end up paying $24.00 to try this cigar as they are sold in pairs of two. Considering the price and the experience, I still think the $24.00 is  a fair price to pay to try out the Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014.

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The Good Stuff:

There isn’t a ton of information out there about Casa de Entrada’s Entrada, so I decided to slack out and let them do the talking. Here is the information about the cigar found on the Entrada Website:

en·tra·da

noun \ə̇nˈträdə, en\ : entry; an expedition; a journey.

Entrada has been our purpose for this journey.Passion is the fire that lights this journey. Passion for the leaf and it’s history as a form of trade, commerce, pleasure, memories and as an accomplishment by man.

“Respeto de los que vinieron antes de mí.” – Respect for those that came before us. We believe in the farmer, the field hands, the sorters, rollers, blenders and many others who are instrumental in the development and growth of an industry that we are very fortunate to be a part of.

We believe that when purpose, passion and talent are combined they work together and the end result is a masterpiece: Entrada.

“The virtue of a good cigar man is patience,” says Arsenio Ramos, a 4th generation tobacco master. Patience in the hands that first planted the seed in rich Nicaraguan soil and in the workers who carefully tended the fields, harvesting the full, vibrant tobacco plant only at the precise moment when it was ready. Patience in the Casa Fernandez artisans who crafted a blend that hits only the right notes, then rolled it in its wrapper not so it would be good enough, but so it would be perfect.

We only ask that you have the patience to slow down, savor this rich flavorful cigar, and breathe in this moment. Because life is too short to smoke a cigar not worthy of your time.

ORIGINS

The Entrada cigar was hand crafted exclusively for Casa de Entrada by Casa Fernandez. Using Cuban seed in their fertile Nicaraguan fields, Entrada is born from over three decades of experience. Entrada was specially blended only for Casa de Entrada by the master himself, Arsenio Ramos.

As a vertically integrated business, Casa Fernandez is able to control every step of the cigar making process ensuring that every time you light up an Entrada, you will get a consistently delightful smoke. From the authentic Cuban-sourced seed, seedlings are transplanted to fields and nurtured by hundreds of skilled tobacconists to harvest. In every inhale of Entrada, you will notice the care and love that went into the production of your cigar.

A pamphlet that I received from the company states that the cigar was the work of Chaz Kline who is the founder of Casa de Entrada based in Omaha, Nebraska. Matt Zimmerle is the General Manager of Casa de Entrada while Rusty Mcaulay and Arsenio Ramos were the men behind the Entrada blend.

I’m a huge Casa Fernandez fan so I’m very much interested in how this cigar pans out. The Entrada comes in four sizes: a 6×60 Gordo, a 6×54 Toro, a 5×52 Robusto, and a 5 1/2 x 44 Corona. All of which come packaged in boxes of 20 which run between $8.20 and $10.60 a stick. The company states they are currently working on releasing other vitolas as well including a lancero, which I’m always a fan of. (EDIT: as I read through another site, I noticed the Lancero is actually already available as well). Huge thanks goes out to the Casa De Entrada team for sending a few of these our way for review.

Size: 5.5 x 44
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo, Viso, Corojo
Body: Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $8.20
Pairing: Descutes The Stoic 2015 (Belgian style quad 10.9% ABV)

Prelight:

The Entrada starts out with a very rough, rusting looking wrapper that’s consistently dark brown in color with a few lighter brown areas around the smaller veins found throughout the cigar’s body. The texture of the wrapper is extremely toothy, and almost as gritty as sandpaper with a very hard/firm feel. The cigar is very slender, but is rock hard giving nothing as I press it between my fingers. Leading up through the small, box-pressed body the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself before coming to a round double cap. The cigar is polished off with 2 bands, the first is a white, and red stamp designed band with the Entrada crest and logo as well as “Hecho con El Amor de Trescientas Manos” which means “Made with the love of 300 hands”. The second band rests on the foot and simply states “1st Edition”. It’s worth noting that I absolutely love the band design on this cigar.

The wrapper on the Entrada is faint in aroma giving off nothing more than some soft spice and tobacco scents while the foot of the cigar is a totally different story boasting of strong pepper, spice, cedar, and grain. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw is much of the same as the foot aromas kicking out a ton of spice, cedar, pepper, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Entrada starts out with a whole mess of molasses, bold cedar, sweetness/brown sugar, spice, and vanilla. What an absolutely stunning flavor profile right off the bat. It’s bold, yet contained. The draw on the Entrada is flawless. Each little puff kicks out a great amount of thick, white smoke while the box-pressed cigar fits perfectly in my hand and mouth. The burn line is razor thin and dead even. Even thought he dark/medium gray ash looked pretty compact, it fell into my lap about a half inch in which is why I didn’t get a good shot of the first ash as I usually do.

Second Third:

The flavors remain consistent going into the second third. Lots of sweetness, spice, vanilla, cocoa, cedar, and some great berry flavors started to creep into the mix. The retrohale showcases a much more cedar-heavy, spicy profile which coats my nasal passages. The burn line has started to get slightly wavy, but nothing too concerning as I close out the second third with absolutely nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

The flavors are still ramping up into the final third of the Entrada. The cedar leads with charge backed by bold spice and berry with subtle sweetness, cocoa, and vanilla. The flavor profile in this cigar has been amazing. The burn line is all cleaned up and I never once had to reach for my torch to tough up or relight the cigar. As instructed, I really took my time with this cigar. It took almost 2 hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I never once experienced any harshness or extra heat build-up.

Overview:

For some reason, Casa Fernandez-made cigars are very distinct, and I can always pick them out, it reminds me how Padron, and Davidoff all carry certain district flavor profiles. Anyways, maybe it’s just me. The Entrada by Casa Entrada is a great cigar with falls in line with everything you would expect a Casa Fernandez-made cigar would be. The flavor profile is very bold right from the start, and pours on the flavor until the nub. While complex, all the flavors marry in very well with each other. The strength never peaked over medium, and the burn was flawless. This is a solid cigar for the price and once that I would love to have in my regular rotation.

Pairing:

The Stoic (not to be confused with “Not the Stoic”) is a Belgian style quad brewed in Bend, Oregon by Descutes brewing, which is no stranger to Casas Fumando. This 10.9% Quad is a hefty little beer and one I stock up on every time I see it. It’s a “Tony” beer through and through. The beer starts with some bold booziness, lots of spice, dried fruit, sweetness, and cinnamon with a heavy mouthfeel before finishing a bit tart with more booziness and heavy spice leaving behind a very sweet, honey/molasses aftertaste. Honestly, its like they too the Entrada and turned it into a beer and the Stoic was the outcome. It’s very easy to see why I paired this cigar with this beer, they are almost identical and it made for an incredible pairing.

The post Casa de Entrada – Entrada appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: As most of you know by now Camacho Cigars decided to completely revamp their portfolio last years consolidating their portfolio, reblending their core lines, and completely revamping their marketing and design. The Ecuador is the seventh release in their core line and probably the most talked about out of the bunch. The Camacho Ecuador gets its name from the obvious, the Ecuadorian Habano wrapper the cigar is embraced in and fits perfectly within their new campaign which simply entails “The Bold Standard”. The Camacho Ecuador comes packaged in 20 count boxes and in 5 different sizes: the Robusto (5 x 50), the Toro (6 x 50), Gordo (6 x 60), Churchill (7 x 48), and Figurado (6 1/8 x 54 x 42). I picked up a handful of these from Cigarhuslter.com. Thanks goes out to them for the top-notch service.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Corojo, Criollo Ligero, Pelo de Oro from Honduran and Dominican Republic
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $6.80
Pairing: 21^st Amendment Lower DeBoom (11.5% Barleywine)

Prelight: The Camacho Ecuador sports a crazy shiny, oily wrapper. Seriously it looks like someone waxed this thing. I can practically see my reflection off the tobacco leaf. Along with the gleam the wrapper is a medium to dark brown with lots of darker areas around the medium sized veins and the natural webbing in the tobacco. The wrapper feels really fragile and thin as it leads up to a round triple cap. This may actually be a double cap as one of the cigars I have on hand looks to carry a double cap while this one has a triple. Not too sure, but either way the caps are flawless. The Camacho Ecuador is packed incredibly tight with tobacco making it as hard as a rock all over. This is fine with me as long as it doesn’t plug up the draw. The Ecuador is polished off with the new Camacho band design which I absolutely love. Each blend has a different color, the Ecuador’s is a bright, turquoise. The band has the Camacho brand printed largely across it with the statement “Infamous since 1962” and “Ecuador” with the brands scorpion mascot as well.

The wrapper on the cigar gives off a really musky, leathery aroma while the foot of the cigar carries nothing more than natural tobacco with a bit of dirty earthiness. The cap was surprisingly easy to clip using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produced a lot of the musk I was picking up along with a really grainy, natural, doughy mix of flavors.

First Smoke: Right off the bat I was greeting with a big pepper rush that I wasn’t expecting at all which quickly faded away after the first few draws. The Camacho Ecuador then presented me with some bold musk, leather, spice, raisin and hints of clove and sweetness. The body is full right away and it will be interesting to see how it keeps up later in the experience. The draw on this beast is perfect kicking out a whole mess of thick smoke with every little puff. The burnline is razor thin and dead solid leaving behind a tightly compacted medium and light gray ash which held on for and inch before tumbling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Into the second third of the Camacho Ecuador the flavors began to subside a bit as they all started to mix in with one another. It makes for a creamy experience but the body became just a bit muted here for a while. But as I continued into the second third the flavors began to ramp right back up leading off with lots of musk and tons of woodsy flavors backed by the raisin and leather with bits of espresso and spice. The retrohale showcases large amounts of wood flavors with some nice, subtle spice. I found it incredibly easy to retrohale this cigar .The draw is still perfect, some very sight waves have formed in the burnline (which don’t bother me one bit), and I am actually feeling some slight nicotine as I close out the second third.

Finish: The Final third of this Camacho Ecuador is finishing just as bold as it started although the flavors have switched up quite a bit. Now the cigar is leading with some REALLY strong spice, lots of clove with musk and espresso backing along with some slight fruit and sweetness. I love the changeups, the boldness, and the complexity this cigar offers. It’s taken me about an hour and a half to take it down to the nub and never once had to reach for my torch as it’s burned solid the entire time. I do feel a bit of a nicotine kick, but it’s not real bad. The last inch carried no harshness, a bit of heat, and a whole lot of spice with little hints of the pepper I picked up in the first third.

Overview: What can I say about this cigar other than it rocked. First of all, I am a huge fan of what Camacho has done with their branding. The old branding was just a bit too flashy in my opinion and now they are letting the cigars speak for themselves. The Ecuador is complex, bold, smooth, and incredibly affordable. What else can you ask for? A box maybe? That’s where I’m going. This cigar fits perfectly in anyone’s rotation whether you are a seasoned smoker who enjoys complexity or a novice looking to break into premium cigars without breaking the bank. This is by far a box worthy cigar and knowing Camacho, they will be pretty easy to come by. On a side note, I have smoked a few of the other Camacho reblends and have enjoyed them a lot. That being said, the Ecuador has to be my favorite core line Camacho cigar that I have smoked in a really long time. Don’t be surprised if it’s a contender in this year’s top 10 list not only on our site, but many others.

Pairing: A cigar with as much flavor and body as the Camacho Ecuador needs a beer that can hold it’s own and 21^st Amendment’s Lower DeBoom handled itself quite nicely. Lower DeBoom is a flavor powerhouse of a Barleywine Brewed in California coming in at a whopping 11.5% ABV. I can’t get this brew in Texas but was able to score it in a beer trade with my buddy Patrick. Big thanks goes out to him for the hookup. Lower DeBoom starts out with some really strong citrus and spice which transforms into a bold fruitiness before finishing off with some lingering spice and malt. The spice, fruit, and malt paired up perfectly with the spice, fruits, and natural flavors in the Camacho Ecuador. A word to the wise though as Lower DeBoom, and most other barleywines for that matter are almost always too strong in body and will easily overpower almost any cigar unless they are maxed-out in the body category like this Camacho Ecuador was.

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The Rosalones is produced at Nicaragua’s oldest factory, Joya De Nicaragua. Currently, it  is available in five vitolas to include the Machito (4 by 46), Consul (4.7 by 48), Gran Consul (4.7 by 60), Robusto (5 by 52), and Toro (6 by 50). According to Joya De Nicaragua’s website:

Rosalones is one of the original brands produced in the beginnings of Joya de Nicaragua. It’s been considered the small brother of Joya de Nicaragua Clásico. Returning to the market at the end of 2010, after two decades of rest, Rosalones is an affordable alternative to Nicaragua’s taste.

While the JDN Clasico is a milder body smoke that wears a Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, the Rosalones wears a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper and is said to be a medium body smoke.

The Facts

Price: $64.95/box of 20
Vitola: Consul
Size: 4.7 by 48
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Pairing: Iced Coffee
Smoke Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes

Pre-light

The Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper is dark brown with a deep red, almost burnt orange, hue (too much Texas college football?). Quite a few medium veins are easily noticeable and black marks are scattered down the leaf. By no means is this the prettiest wrapper I have ever seen. The cigar has been packed evenly and firmly. The wrapper aroma is of vinegar and cardboard, while the foot is a completely different story.

Sweet notes of chocolate, espresso, and faint pepper jump off of the foot and some spice can be felt in my nasal passage.  The Rosalones sports a large double cap and, once cut, a decent draw is revealed. There is a little bit more resistance than I would prefer. The cold draw brings out rich cinnamon , chocolate and a mild spice.

First Third

A decent amount of smoke is being produced by this JDN Rosalones. The smoke is light on the palate but the flavors are much darker than expected. Notes of black coffee, earth, cocoa, dry cedar (pencil-shavings), and pepper are making up the profile. The coffee lingers on the finish of the smoke for a good amount of time. My palate is left dry after each puff requiring a sip of water to refresh my palate. The retrohale brings out the familiar Nicaraguan pepper and spice I have come to love. A beautiful light grey ash is being formed.  Flavors are coming across medium and I am feeling a little kick of nicotine.

Middle Third

Along with the peppery spice, cinnamon is now in the mix that is warming my palate and a tingle is felt at the back of my throat. A thick, rich, syrupy sweetness is meshing with the coffee, cedar, and cocoa. The smoke, which was light on the palate in the first third, has become more chewy and is no longer leaving my palate dry. So far so good with the ash and burn that are still performing above par.

Final Third

Removing the band, I am into the final third. Side note: Joya De Nicaragua could lighten up on the amount of glue applied to the band. The flavors have remained consistent with the previous third but the richness has picked up. Cocoa has evolved more to a sweet milk chocolate. The flavors are the most rounded and balanced they have been throughout the entire smoke. As I put the cigar to a close, the ash is a bit flaky but the burn remained right on till the very end.

Wrap-up

I have heard it said that cigars taste completely different in Nicaragua. Whether it is the environment, the people, or the combination of both, smoking in one of the cigar capitols of the world can sway your opinion and provide a completely different experience with a cigar. Since I jumped on a box of the Rosalones without ever smoking one, I sure hoped that this wasn’t the case with Tony and the Rosalones. After smoking a handful of these sticks, I am very pleased to report that it wasn’t the case at all. The Joya De Nicaragua Rosalones is a solid smoke that delivers rich flavors of earth, cocoa, cedar, and pepper. The construction and performance of the Rosalones are rock solid. The stick is said to be a medium body smoke, but seems to sit right at the borderline of medium and full to me. At $3.25 per stick, this cigar is seriously a no-brainer. Already, the JDN Rosalones is in my weekly rotation and I expect it to remain there until I can no longer find them.

The post Joya De Nicaragua – Rosalones appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

• Jamais Vu
• Honor Series (Check out Daniel’s review of the Honor Series Reagan here)
• Tantrum
• Eminence

Ezra Zion Cigar Company is owned by the same guys (Chris Kelly, Kyle Hoover, and Alan Fonseca “the Don”) who are behind cigarfederation.com, a social media site with the mission to “be the world’s greatest social website for cigar Connections, Information, & Entertainment”. The site also hosts two excellent podcasts/webcasts (Half Ashed and Cigar Chat) that I watch on a regular basis.

This week, I will be reviewing the Tantrum Edicion Limitada, which is produced at the Aganorsa factory in Nicaragua and is distributed by the House of Emilio. Kyle Hoover, co-owner of Ezra Zion, provided the following information on the Tantrum:

Ezra Zion Tantrum is 44 x 4.4 inch boxed pressed “Prensado Pequeno” and is presented in boxes of 28. It is a limited edition production of 1500 boxes annually and is made in one vitola. The retail price is $266.00 and retail individual price is $9.50. Tantrum pre-released in select retail locations beginning April 2013 and was released nationwide at the 2013 Annual IPCPR Convention.

The Facts

Samples Provided by Ezra Zion Cigar Company
Price: $9.50/single $266/box of 28
Vitola: Boxed Pressed Petit Corona – “Prensado Pequeño”
Size: 4.4 by 44
Wrapper: Vintage Nicaraguan 99 Corojo Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan 99 Criollo
Filler: 5-7 Year Aged Nicaraguan Ligero
Pairing: Water
Smoke: Just under an hour (I smoke slow)

Pre-light

The design on the primary band can be found on all of Ezra Zion cigar lines with a couple variations in color. There is an amazing story behind the band design and the company name “Ezra Zion”. You can hear the story here at the 16:47 mark. Also, as with the other lines, the foot band distinguishes the line. This one being the Tantrum. The Tantrum wears one rustic wrapper. Instantly, I think of a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Natural Principe due to the size and the rugged wrapper leaf. And trust me, that is not a bad thing. Veins and bumps can be found across the entire stick.

The Corojo Rosado wrapper is medium brown with a slight reddish hue. The wrapper has velvety feel and the cigar is evenly packed with a slight bit of give. The wrapper aroma is unbelievable. Notes of sweet honey contrast a musty cedar in the background. The foot is nutty, followed by the honey and cedar aromas that I pulled off the wrapper.  A shallow clip has opened up a great draw that showcases rich tobacco, cedar, cinnamon, and a spice sting in the mouth and on the lips.

First Third

After sliding off the foot band with ease, I am ready to light this Tantrum Edicion Limitada up. I absolutely adore the size of this cigar and the box pressed format is just one more plus. From the first few puffs, I can tell this is going to be one powerhouse of a smoke. The Tantrum is delivering an incredible amount of spice that is stinging the back of my throat. The flavors are full with the pepper in the forefront followed by cedar and a slight sweetness, along with a heavy amount of spice, lingers on the finish of the smoke. Three quarters of an inch into the cigar, the spice has calmed but by no means is it gone. The richness of the cigar is more noticeable as sweet cedar arrives on my palate that is complementing the spicy profile. The burn line is thick leaving behind a light grey, layered ash.

Middle Third

As I burn into the second third, one side of the wrapper is having trouble burning. I am going to wait it out to see if it will correct itself. The retrohale, which was extremely sharp in the first third, has leveled out. The mixture of earth, cedar, and pepper makes the retrohale very enjoyable, but not recommended for a novice. A toastiness has joined the sweet cedar, as well as a mild cocoa and coffee. Each draw produces a copious amount of smoke. Sure enough, the burn has completely corrected itself. No touch-up was necessary. The strength is definitely full but not pushing me over the edge. Ash is flaky but still holding to ¾ inch.

Final Third

The band has been applied tightly around the cigar, so there is no way I can slide it off. However, the band comes unglued with ease. Another band for the collection! The spice is back in action. Almost a complete return to the start of the cigar.  Once again my lips and mouth have a tingling sensation from the spice. On top of the peppery spice, there is an added layer of cayenne pepper. The cigar remains toasty with earth and leather notes and, as I put the cigar to the close, a tad bit of cocoa is still noticeable on the finish.

Wrap-up

As I mentioned, this cigar packs a punch and is worthy of its slogan “a little baby powerhouse”. I could care less about strength if a cigar doesn’t deliver in the area of flavors and performance, so it is a good thing that this cigar delivered in both. No construction issues were experienced and the burn line was solid, except for the minor burn issue in the middle third that quickly corrected itself. The full, spicy flavors grabbed my attention from the beginning and took me on a wonderful journey. When I first saw the price tag of $9.50 for a petit corona, I was immediately turned off. However, upon smoking the Tantrum, I was extremely impressed and would dish out $9.50 anytime for this stick. I want to give a big “THANK YOU” to Ezra Zion Cigar Company for providing the samples. If you have smoked the Tantrum, let us know your thoughts.

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The Good Stuff: La Barba is a boutique blend that has recently started to slip its way into the hands of the cigar community. I personally heard about it via social media and was immediately drawn to the concept and the design. As stated in many previous posts, I’m a sucker for design and I just loved the simple, elegant, hand drawn razor artwork on the bands of these bad boys. La Barba is founded by best friends Craig Rossi and Tony Bellatto. Those names may sound familiar as Tony is the owner of Havana House cigars and very active on social media. The two bearded men teamed up with another company that has really been making a name for themselves as of late, Wynwood cigars. Wynwood cigars is a new boutique company headed by Robert Caldwell and Christian Eiroa. The Wynwood Cigar Factory, a part of the Fabricas Unidas Family recently opened it’s doors in the Wynwood art district of Miami. That being said, here is a quick introduction to La Barba Cigars as pulled from their website:

We founded La Barba Boutique Cigars in 2010 after many different ideas, cigars and a few too many bourbons.  We wanted to present a product to the marketplace that was not only fun but also focused on the craft of blending and making of something that we are both very passionate about… cigars.

After tossing around a lot of ideas, we decided to name the brand La Barba, which is Spanish for “the beard”. We agreed that we needed something that expressed us, as well as everyone around us. Individuality and the concept of expressing yourself is something that we strongly believe in. And we hope you see that in our cigars.

La Barba embodies the idea of the individual, focusing on the idea that everyone is different, their palates included.  We will offer a dynamic array of small batch, limited edition products as well as a core group of static products. Focusing solely on quality and small production. La Barba keeps the nostalgic, vintage feel and utilizes social media and viral advertising as well as personal interaction as marketing tools.

We believe in the artisanship of the craft of premium cigars and the culture and brotherhood it represents.  Our passion is what drives us to succeed and we will operate this company on the basis of slow, steady profitable growth.  We want to present a unique and unprecedented product as a lifestyle brand. We will focus on being approachable, comfortable, and fun. Family, friends, food, wine, beer and cigars are what we love.  It is what we know and what we do best; this company is founded on our love and passion for those interests.

While some people may coin the concept as a gimmick or even mildly cheesy, I like it. They state above they are best friends, doing something fun. And to be honest, without giving too much away, I think the product speaks for itself. The cigar is composed of Ligero Corojo fillers, Habano Criollo Binder, wrapped in a Corojo wrapper. La Barba is trying to keep their sizes within classic Cuban Styles. They offer La Barba in five formats: Petite Lancero (6 x 38), Corona (5 ¾ x 46). Petite Robusto (4 ½ x 50), Box Pressed Robusto (5 x 50), and Box Pressed Toro (6 x 52). The samples I was given by Tony are actually non-box pressed robustos. These may have just been made for sample purposes only. Many of the boutique brands and companies carry very high price tags since they have to offset more of their costs, but working with Christian the La Barba is able to come in slightly cheaper than I expected with a price tag between $8 – $12 depending on format. La Barba is aiming for a September release.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Habano Criollo
Filler: Ligero Corojo
Strength: Medium/Full
Body: Medium/Full
Price: ~$8
Pairing: Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Wild (Belgian IPA – 8.8% ABV)

Prelight: La Barba starts out with this awesome, rustic looking wrapper. The wrapper is a dark to medium brown but carries lots of natural splotches in the leaf of a darker and much lighter brown. Again, I love it when tobacco really showcases how natural it is and this wrapper does just that. The wrapper is very toothy with some light oils. The construction is a close to flawless as you can get. Each fold is seamless and there are only one or two small, visible veins throughout the body of the cigar. La Barba is capped off with a beautifully round double cap. The band on the cigar, which I love, has a beautiful hand drawn, black and white crest with an old-time straight razor on the front and the words “La Barba” in the black laid in red ink. The cigar is very firm and sports no soft spots at all.

The wrapper screams of natural tobacco, sweet cedar, with just a pinch of spice while the foot of the cigar kicks out just a ton of sweet tobacco aromas. The cap cut very clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really strong, natural tobacco flavor with just a touch of spice and pepper.

First Smoke: La Barba starts out with a whole ton of pepper and spice right off the bat. You can definitely taste the high amount of ligero in this bad boy. After the pepper began to fade a bit the cigar revealed some sweet cedar, natural tobacco, and a really earthy/grainy profile. The draw on this cigar is spot-on pumping out a ton of thick, white smoke with every little puff. The burnline is razor sharp and dead even right from the start leaving behind a very compact, dark and medium grey ash which held on for an inch and a half before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The second third of this La Barba is very similar to the first. The pepper has let up quite a bit to make room for strong spice flavors while the sweet cedar, natural tobacco, and earthiness is still rockin’ hard. One word comes to mind with every puff, creamy. Although the flavors are pretty strong they blend in so well with one another. The retrohale is very sharp with insane amounts of pepper and spice and I won’t find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. The burnline is still sharp, but a few small waves have began to form. Given how much ligero I am assuming is in this blend I am surprised that it’s burning as well as it is. I am not feeling any substantial amount of nicotine as I close out on the second third.

Finish: La Barba has continuously smoothed out over the course of the experience. Crazy though, the pepper has remained in the mix the entire time. While it’s not as strong, its still noticeable and pairs up well with the strong spice. There was a bit of nuttiness as I ventured into the final third as well as the same sweet cedar, natural tobacco, and earthiness that have been along for the entire ride. The cigar took about an hour and a half to take down and remained incredibly smooth and creamy the entire experience, even into the final inch. The burnline is still sharp, and still has a few minor waves, but I never had to touch up or relight the cigar. I am feeling a slight nicotine kick, but nothing too crazy as I put this guy to rest.

Overview: This cigar reminded me a lot of something that I would expect from an Illusione line. Which is great, cause I love me some Illusione so that’s a big compliment. In saying that, La Barba wasn’t an overly complex cigar full of change ups and crazy flavors. In fact, La Barba was the opposite. The cigar was very solid, very consistent and very bold. The flavors held true the entire length of the cigar and rarely fizzled out. While the cigar carried a substantial amount of strength, I never once thought it overpowered the experience thus making it perfect for the novice smoker looking for a premium boutique cigar. The balance, creaminess, and just overall great flavors are enough that any seasoned cigar smoker will appreciate. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see what else Wynwood has up their sleeves.

To Sum it Up: While the cigar may seem a bit pricey, it’s actually right on par with what you can expect from boutique blends nowadays. I think that the experience, flavor, and construction all justify the price point and I can totally see these falling into my rotation on the regular. While a box may be pricey for some, I would still suggest picking one up, and if you can’t then at least get your hands on a five pack as this is something you will want to smoke again. I would imagine Havana House will be the first to start selling them.

Pairing: We all have heard of, and possibly sipped on Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’.  This has to be one of my go to beers as it’s both high in alcohol (7.5% ABV) and it boasts some of the craziest, boldest, smoothest, sweetest flavors that you can get from a wheat/IPA hybrid. Probably one of the best all around beers that you can easily find on shelves. Well Lagunitas likes to ramp it up this time of the year introducing a Belgian yeast from Westmalle Trappist (yes, that Westmalle) that not only ramps up the already bold flavors, but also the alcohol content bringing it up to a rockin’ 8.8% ABV. This beer is like drinking Christmas in the Summer. It starts with some very sweet brown sugar and spice and then finishes with a tart citrus, hop, and caramel. This beer is not only refreshing as hell, but it, while bold in flavor remains incredibly smooth. If it was a bit milder it could easily be an all day session beer. As stated before, while the La Barba didn’t pack a whole ton of different flavors, it did capitalize on what flavors it did have. The caramel, spice, sweet tobacco, and cedar married up perfectly with the existing caramel and spice in the beer as well as added a little depth by piling on the citrus and hoppiness. This was such a great pairing and the awesome mild mid-90’s, sunny weather I enjoyed it in only added to the experience.

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The Good Stuff: CLE stands for Christian Luis Eiroa. Sound familiar? Well it should. Christian and his father owned the infamous Camacho cigars up until the point in which they were acquired by Davidoff in 2008. While Christian remained president over Camacho cigars it wasn’t until this year that he decided to create his own company, CLE Cigars.

The CLE cigars are produced in the Tabacos Ranchos Jamastran factory where Camacho bases it’s operations. The CLE Corojo 2012 was one of two blends released at this years IPCPR show. The other being the Cuarenta. One thing about Christian is his passion for cigars, and the cigar industry as a whole. I can’t remember where I read it but I read a recent quote by the guy concerning CLE cigars where he basically said that he doesn’t know what his future holds, weather it’s in CLE, Camacho, or Davidoff, but the one thing he knows for sure is that his passion will always be dedicated to doing something in the cigar industry.

While the specifics of this blend remain a mystery, I can say that this cigar comes in a Corojo Seed wrapper. What a guess right? I dug around a bit and I read that the cigar contains aged long filler Cuban seed tobacco out of Honduras. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but if I had to guess I would have thrown Honduran in the mix somewhere. The blend comes in 5 sizes: 11/18 (6 x 54), Corona Gorda (5.7 x 46), Robusto (5 x 50), and the Sixty (6 x 60). I picked these up over at Bonita Smoke Shop.

Size: 5.7 x 46
Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: ?
Filler: ?
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: ~$6
Pairing: Chimay Grande Reserve (Blue) Belgian Strong Ale (9.0% ABV)

Prelight: The CLE Corojo is a fine looking cigar. Starting with the beautiful, oily, shiny, consistently medium brown wrapper. This wrapper is carrying some serious oils. The wrapper is very tight, and only displays a few seamless veins throughout it’s slender body. While the wrapper feels a bit on the fragile size, the cigar is very tight, and firm all the way up to the seamless triple cap. The only soft spots were located right around the foot area of the cigar. The Band on this cigar is just awesome. I love simple, elegant bands and that’s exactly what the CLE’s have. Much like Illusione and Tatuaje the CLE has a simple, thin, black band with only the CLE logo in silver ink on the front, and 2012 in red ink in the back. Love it.

The wrapper on the CLE Corojo gives off a VERY pungent earthy, tobacco aroma. You can smell this cigar as soon as you remove it from the cellophane. The foot of the cigar gives off a very oaty, grainy aroma. It almost smells like wheat bread.  The cap cut clean, but gave me a little bit of a fight using my double bladed Palio cutter. Come to think of it, I have had this one for quite some time and It’s been acting a bit dull lately. Maybe it’s time to trade her in. Anyway, the CLE pumps out some very strong bready, earthy tobacco flavors on the cold draw. Much like the aromas I picked up from the wrapper and filler during the prelight.

First Smoke: The CLE Corojo fired up with ease using my single flame torch. Given the amount of black pepper this cigar started out with I am surprised that I didn’t pick up any pepper in the cold draw or prelight. While the pepper was strong enough to tingle my lips and my tongue, it only lasted through the first few draws before fading back and letting the bold tobacco, cedar, and spice flavors take over. While the CLE Corojo didn’t start off with a ton of different flavors, the few it did carry were very strong and meshed very well with one another. The Cedar really helped bring out a nice sweetness in the tobacco as I neared the end of the first third. The draw on this cigar is spot on and the smoke is VERY heavy and thick while the stationary smoke is almost non-existent. The burnline is a bit crazy producing lots of waves but nothing that needed any extra attention from my lighter yet. The Ash left behind is a dark grey and black with lots of flakes. It only held on for an inch before falling into my lap.

Halfway There: The spice in this CLE Corojo has really ramped up into this second third. When I say spice, I mean as in a flavor not to be confused with pepper. I’m not chef but it’s like a mashup of cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe some herby goodness all mixed into a subtle flavor. Alongside the spice the cedar has also ramped up making the CLE Corojo a much sweeter experience while the natural tobacco flavor kept the same and a leather flavor was introduced. The retrohale is really nice and mild coating my nasal passage with a slight cedar and tobacco. Much to my surprise the crazy burnline I experienced in the first third of the cigar has completely corrected itself without any help from me. No nicotine can be felt in this experience up to this point, and with the smoothness and creaminess of the experience I don’t really expect that to change much going into the final third.

Finish: I am starting to pull a neat little zest flavor from the wrapper of this cigar. It’s almost like a sharp, orange peel. Along with that the pepper that greeting me into this CLE Corojo has re-introduced itself into the mix. While the body if this cigar seems to be ramping up, the flavors have remained incredibly smooth, and creamy the entire time.  The sweet tobacco, cedar, and spice have all taken turns being the center of attention into the final third of this cigar. The burnline has been clean ever since the second third and required absolutely no touch-ups or relights the entire experience. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, no hot fingers, and no nicotine the entire time. Pretty impressive.

Overview: Being a strong fan of Camacho I have learned to expect a lot from anything that carries Christian’s name on it. The CLE Corojo 2012 certainly did not let me down. There seems to be phases in the cigar business. The last phase was a ton of stronger, bolder cigars angled towards younger cigar smokers. Then there has been a quick reappearance of the larger ring gauged cigars. And now with a lot of this year’s IPCPR releases there have been an influx of milder, very full bodied cigars. This, in my opinion, really shows how great some tobacco blenders are. The CLE and the recently reviewed Cuenca y Blanco are perfect examples of how great mild cigars can be when they are done right. The CLE Corojo is a mild/medium cigar that packs so much strong, creamy flavors in a perfectly balanced combination that you don’t even realize that it’s not a stronger cigar until you are finished. The cigar starts off with just enough pepper, continues with tons of flavors and finishes smooth and creamy, just the way an experience should. I am anxious to try the other releases in the CLE line now as I am sure that if they are anywhere close to on par as the Corojo, they won’t disappoint.

Pairing: This pairing kind of speaks for itself. Chimay Grande Reserve is probably one of the best, easy to find, decently priced Belgian beers. Brewed at the Bières de Chimay S.A. in Belgium this Belgian style strong ale comes in at a whopping 9.0% ABV. This bottle in particular was part of a handful of Belgian bombers my wife so graciously got me for my birthday (I caught a good one, I know). This beer pairs perfectly with just about any cigar that carries enough flavor to keep up with it. Needless to say the CLE Corojo fit the bill perfectly. I smoked a handful of these cigars so picking out the perfect pairing was no trouble. The deep woodsy, fruity, caramel flavors in the Chimay Blue went perfectly with the smooth, creamy, bold flavors of the CLE. One note was just how perfect the woodsy and fruity (cherry, orange) flavors of the Chimay paired up with the sweet tobacco and cedar flavors in the CLE Corojo. Given the time of year you have to know I have a cabinet full of craft beer and it was an easy decision to pair these two together. The cigar would also go great with a strong porter, a bruin, or dubbel. Specifically one with lots of flavor and strength.

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