Isla Del Sol Churchill

First and foremost, before getting into this review I want to state something. This is a value cigar. And with most value cigars it’s very easy to just bomb them in a review, and give them the worst possible recognition. But, I am not going to base this review on the Isla Del Sol’s comparison to other coffee infused cigars. I will base this review on the value of this cigar, and at about $3.50 a stick for a Churchill, in a B&M store, that value is pretty high.

The Good Stuff: As stated before, The Isla Del Sol is a value line cigar, for the coffee enthused cigar smoker. The Isla Del Sol is a complex mix of Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped in a beautiful Sumatra leaf. The Isla Del Sol is then, carefully infused with Sumatran Manheling Bean Coffee and shaped to perfection.

Size: 7 x 50  –  Wrapper: Natural Sumatra  –  Origin: Esteli, Nicaragua

Isla Del Sol Churchill

Prelight: First of all, the churchill, by far, is my least favorite shape. I like the thick, toothy cigars. I’m not a real big fan of the long slender ones, but at this price, I couldn’t resist.  The first thing I noticed was the Dual band. I know it’s a waste of paper, but I think it brings a lot of elegance to the cigar itself. The bottom band which I failed to snap a picture of, just very thin, and located just at the foot of the cigar. It contains the words “Sun Blessed” where as the head of the cigar sports a very large, embossed band with a sun, and the Isla Del Sol branding on it. The cigar is VERY soft, and has very large veins. Usually I don’t care much about veins but these may pose a problem in the burn. One wrapper defect, directly in the center of the body there are two large cracks. I hope that they remain the same size, and don’t grow any.  Outside of those I don’t see any other imperfections.

Isla Del Sol Churchill

First Smoke: Wow, this is one sweet cap. I don’t mind that, one bit, but I can already hear people complaining about it. A few puffs in the sweetness mellows out though. The first tastes are that of raw coffee, cocoa, graham cracker and roasted nuts. I am actually pretty impressed by the taste of this cigar. It’s no where near as potent as the Tabak Especial’s, but its pretty close. Most of the flavor that I am pulling from the Isla Del Sol seems to be concentrated in the wrapper. The filler tobacco isn’t that great tasting, but that was expected. The draw is very week, I have to puff it about 3 times to get the draw I want out of it. I think a lot of that has to do with the shape of the cigar though. The burn is pretty even I must say, but the Isla Del Sol burns a lot faster that I expected. I was actually surprised that I got well over and inch and a half of ash off this cigar before it gave out.

Isla Del Sol Churchill

Halfway There: The Isla Del Sol continues to burn incredibly fast. In the picture above you can see the cracking in the wrapper. It actually gave me little problems at all, I burned straight through them. The weakness of the draw is still really getting to me. I am having to puff the hell out of this cigar to get the smoke I am looking for, and I know this will wreak havoc on the nub when I get there. The taste of the Isla Del Sol has leveled off a bit. The cocoa has worn off and is now being replaced with a raw coffee/pie crust. It’s not that bad at all actually. I have had to touch it up only once or twice, even then it probably wasn’t needed. I am just a pain in the butt when it comes to burns.

Finish: The Isla Del Sol took me only a bit over an hour to get down towards the nub. It had to be the quickest burning cigar I have ever had. I wanted to keep going down to the very head of the cigar, but since I was hitting the cigar like a beast to get the draw I wanted, the nub was pretty toasted, bitter, and harsh. I gave up way earlier that I usually do. One a good note, the flavors remained coffee-consistent throughout the length of the cigar.

Isla Del Sol Churchill

Overview: Again, this cigar is a heck of a value. Would I smoke it again? Yes, totally. Would I buy it again? I would if I catch a few at a B&M, this won’t be a cigar I will go chasing after. Would I recommend it? Probably not, unless its to someone actually looking for a decent priced infused cigar. This is the perfect cigar to have laying in your humidor for those days when you want a quick smoke, but you aren’t sure if you will have the time to finish, or are just looking for something a bit different. I would totally recommend keeping a few on hand for such moments.

The post Isla Del Sol Churchill by Drew Estate Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

This week I will be review Drew Estate’s Java Maduro Robusto.  I have had the pleasure of enjoying these cigars many, many times. Both from order, and purchased from brick and mortar shops.

Drew Estate JAVA

Believe it or not, this was actually one of the first cigars I have ever smoked. And what a way to start.

The first thing you may notice is it’s very unlike the common Drew Estate branding. Instead it looks almost identical to something created by Rocky Patel. I’m not sure on the exact procedure in which these cigars were developed, but I do know this; the super-star tag team of Mr. Patel, and Jonathan Drew result is REMARKABLE in every way possible. Not to mention two of the greatest amenities combined (coffee and cigars).

These guys hit the market sometime in early 2005 and are still available in most B&M stores. With the fall of the great Kahlua cigar (also created by Drew Estate) this cigar along with other coffee infusions (I’ll go into a few of those later) are still just as popular as ever.

The Goods:

Robusto  –  Size: 5.5 x 50  –  Wrapper: Coffee Infused Maduro  –  Country: Nicaragua  –  Box Pressed

JAVA Maduro sports a dark, oily, sweet wrapper wrapped around perfectly aged Nicaraguan long-fillers. As these cigars are aged, they are slowly infused with a rich, mocha flavor giving off an incredibly smooth taste, creamy finish, and extremely pleasant aroma.

Drew Estate’s JAVA also comes in a LATTE. The difference is the Connecticut Ecuador wrapper rather than the standard Connecticut Broad leaf. Its much creamier, but  I personally prefer the boldness of the Maduro wrapper.

Prelight: I’m usually not a huge fan of box-pressed cigars. They just seem a bit uncomfortable and a bit un-conventional. But, this press suits this cigar just perfect. The construction again is immaculate. It’s very rare that Drew Estate lets sloppy cigars leave its institution. There were no visible un-wrapping, and no soft spots. The whole cigar seemed a bit softer than other, but this is a HUGE plus in my book. This means two things to me. 1) they are properly humidified. and 2) expect a bigger draw.

First Smoke: As usual this cigar was cut using a Cuban Crafter’s Perfecto Cutter, and lit with a standard single torch colibri flame. The cigar took on an ever burn right away. I’m not sure if this is because of the construction, or the box-pressing, but if it’s due to the box-press then I take back my dislikes for them. The coffee aroma strikes immediately. I think this is the best smelling cigar I have ever smelled. The cigar produced HUGE draws, with just enough punch. Good in strength, but far from over-bearing.

Halfway There: Towards the end of the smoke the cigar greatly increased in strength. The coffee flavor still survived but was mixed in with a bit more spice, and an almost wood-like flavor at this point. Still great. I’m still amazed at the percision of the burn.

Finish: By the time I hit the nub this cigar was kicking my ass (in a good way).  I didn’t want it to end. Still just as flavorful as the first half of the cigar, but it feels as if its almost doubled in strength.

Overview: My over-view is just a bit biased as this is BY FAR one of my favorite cigars. One of the main reasons why I wanted to do the review was not only spread the word of a great product, but take the time to enjoy one for myself. You don’t need to be into infused cigars to like this one, or even cigars for that matter.

One last thing, Drew Estate offers two other lines of coffee infused cigars. One of which is the Tabak Especial. This is a more raw coffee infused cigar. AMAZING. but not as creamy as the JAVA’s. Quote from Jonathan Drew himself:

the woman just love those TABAKS. Fire em up, and your the hit

The other is the Isla Del Sol. These are a bit more heavy on the cocoa end, and at a price you just can’t beat!

The post Drew Estate – Rocky Patel – Java Maduro Robusto Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.