Today’s sponsor is non other than Gary Griffith, owner of Deleware Cigars and founder of Emilio Cigars. Now if you aren’t familiar with Emilio Cigars, you need to get up to date. Emilio Cigars made a HUGE splash last year when it dropped it’s first three lines, the AF1, AF2, and Grimalkin. You can read my reviews of the AF1 here and the AF2 here along with Daniel’s take on the Grimalkin here. The AF1 and AF2 are properly named after the madman that teamed up with Gary to create the blends, non other than the infamous AJ Fernandez who is known for blends such as the Man O’ War series, The San Lotano, Ave Maria, Diesel, Rocky Patel Fusion, La Herencia, and so much more. The Grimalkin on the other hand remains a mystery. Interesting enough there have been many rumors that this blend was actually crafted by none other than Don Pepin. Is it really? No one knows.

Anywho, Gary has always been an awesome guy. He is one of the wittiest, smartest, and most genuine guys out there. Strike up a conversation with him, anytime, about anything and you will see what I mean. You can touch base with him through his website, on Twitter, and on Facebook. He’s a pretty likable guy, most of the time.

Gary has always supported the cigar community. He’s a big believer in making a change. It was no surprise that, without hesitation, he jumped on board to support us. Gary has offerrred up a HUGE Emilio Cigars prize pack for one lucky winner. One lucky winner will win 2 Grimalkin coffee Mugs, an Emilio Cigars polo shirt, and a sampler of all of his cigars (10 in total)! How awesome is that?

Now how do you win all this goodness? I’ll make this easy on you. Anyone who knows Gary, knows that he likes to kick people in the nuts, or at least, threaten to kick people in the nuts. Pretty funny stuff. Now I want you, in a comment below, to tell me two things. 1) Who would you like to have Gary kick in the nuts and 2) why?. You get an extra entry if you have him kick Daniel in the Nuts. (totally kidding on that).

Make it fun, make it creative! Again, please be 18 years and over. I will have Gary choose a winner from the comments tomorrow.

And now, to announce Friday’s winner!

Lisa, over at RocketFuelCoffee was presented all your images, and has chosen one lucky winner. Before we get to the winner, why not look at some of our honorable mentions?

Tadd - Showing off his vespa. It's actual size.

Swede - With his hole in one!

Jeff's cup is bigger than his face.

Terrie getting "lit" before getting "lit" on St. Patrick's day

Michael - sporting an awesome mug with his little one!

Jesus's coffee commuter.

Again Corey, as long as it's not the Flyers, you are ok.

And the winner, chosen by Lisa is….

Doogie! Who must have REALLY needed his fix!

Doogie! Email your name, address, phone number, and email to “casasfumando@gmail.com” and we will get this out to ya!

The post Contest Day #5 – Emilio Cigars (and Day #4 Winner!) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

 Diesel’s Uncholy Cocktail has made quite a buzz all over cigartown as of late. Not only does the fact that AJ Fernandez (creator of the Man O’ War series) concocted this elegant stick demand mass attention, but seeing these advertised as low as $2.50 a stick online could capture anyones attention.

I didn’t want to jump all over these sticks for fear of being let down, so I took a backseat and just listened to what a few of my colleagues had to say about it first.  After hearing nothing but great things from both Stogie Review, and Nice Tight Ash I decided to jump on the bandwagon and experience this one for myself.

The Good Stuff: I wasn’t able to pull out a whole lot of interesting information on this cigar outside of the straight backs. As stated before the Diesel was produced by the master mind Abdel “AJ” Fernandez, creator of the most intense of blends including the Man O’ War, Rocky Patel’s Fusion, Padilla Habano, Indian Tabac 10th Anniversary, and Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet. The Diesel is only produced in one vitola, the Torpedo and consists of filler tobaccos from Jalapa, Condega and EsteliNicaragua wrapped with a dark Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper.

Size: 5 x 56  –  Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Medium – Full

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

Prelight: The Diesel’s wrapper is incredibly silky and oily, even to the touch. The wrapper is very toothy and sports a very dark chocolate-like consistency. There was one partial wrap in mine cigar that was about 4 shades lighter than the rest of the cigar, but outside of that the colors were strictly uniform. The Diesel carries a long torpedo shaped cap that tapers off into a thick body. The portion where the head meets the cap of the cigar seemed to be just a tad thicker than the rest of the cigar so I actually had to pull out the ring gauge to find that this was just an optical illusion. Many small veins can be found scattered across the Diesel’s wrapper along with one larger, thick vein running almost the entire length of the cigar. The Diesel is very firm to the touch and only had one minor soft spot towards the cap, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. The Diesel smells very barnyard, and not the least bit enticing. But we all know that doesn’t mean it won’t be a remarkable experience. Most cigars don’t smell good. That’s why we don’t use them as air fresheners. Outside of the barnyard almost manure smell one could pull hay, and soft leather from the foot of this cigar. The foot of the Diesel is garnished with an almost midevil leather looking band with the words “diesel” embossed in it twice around. The band had little glue, and I was able to slide it right off withalmost no effort. The cold draw produced similar hay and leather tastes, with a hint of spice.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

First Smoke: The Diesel lit up extremely easy under my triple flame butane torch. The flavors were extremely abundant and intensely bold. I was able to decipher quite a bit of a cedar taste, with hints of black cherry, leather, coffee and just enough pepper to tickle my lips and the tip of my tongue. The draw itself was a bit tight and surprised me by how much flavor and smoke it produced. The smoke was a thick grey, and smelled off cedar and barnyard. This isn’t something you’d want to light up around a lot of people who aren’t into cigar smoking. The Diesel didn’t produce a lot of stationary smoke at all. The burnline on the diesel was razor thin and started slightly wavy but did a good job correcting itself early in producing a nice, thick, well packed white and light grey ash. I was pretty surprised when my first ash only lasted about 3/4 of an inch before it decided to give way.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

Halfway There: So far so good. The Diesel’s flavors are holding pretty consistently. The pepper has just about dissipated as well as the raw coffee I was pulling from the diesel early on and they have been replaced by a smooth, milky aftertaste. This cigar is producing quite a bit of moisture in my mouthwhich is helping me cope withnot having a drink to pair it with. The nicotine is starting to take its toll on me as well. It’s not flooring me by any means, but after about 30 minutes of smoking once can feel the blood rush to his head once he stands up. I’m impressed with how slow this cigar is burning. I would be at two thirds in on similar vitolas. The burn line is getting a bit off track again as I pass the halfway point, but it seems to be just one problem area about an eighth of an inch wide. I don’t think I will have to touch it up, it’s isolated enough that it should begin to catch up with the rest of the burn.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

Finish: Toward the end of the cigar I began to taste much more of the coffee flavor that I was sure had vanquished earlier into the cigar. The cedar and sweetness of the black cherry are still center stage as well as the smooth aftertaste that developed. Another surprise if the fact that there is no harshness built up what so ever. The cigar is still just as smooth as it was when I first lit it up. I am feeling a bit more of a nicotine kick that expected, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The burn line at this point is razor thin, and dead on without any need to touch it up. In total it took me almost 2 hours to finish this cigar.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

Overview:Diesel? I’ll take it.. for $3 a stick? I’d buy a box, or two, hell even three. This cigar was just as much of a shocker as everyone is saying it is. From its bold flavors and perfect construction to its great body and extreme consistency. This is the perfect cigar for a medium bodied cigar smoker who wants to try something with a bit more punch, but not enough to knock them off their feet. Not only that but I would strongly recommend the Diesel to the most seasoned cigar smoker as and everyday/anyday offering. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and the diesel has its home in my regular rotation.

Diesel - Unholy Cocktail

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