The Good Stuff:

Many of us remembered when My Father Cigars stormed into the market releasing the original Don Pepin blend which has stood the test of time. To commemorate 20 years of that debut blend My Father cigars is releasing the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition. Rolled at the My Father Cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua the 20th Anniversary features a Nicaraguan Habano 2000 wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler which includes the rare Pelo de Oro tobacco. The rareness of the tobacco comes from how difficult it is to grow the tobacco without contracting mold which could easy take out masses of crops. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/2 x 52 format which comes packaged in boxes of 20 with only 5,000 boxes being produces. The US market will see 3,900 of those boxes while 1,100 will be sent to the international markets. The cigar runs $40 a stick or $800 a box. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cuenca cigars.

• Size: 6 1/2 x 52
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano 2000
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan (including Pelo do Oro)
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $40

Prelight:

The wrapper on the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition is a very consistent milk-chocolate brown with a neat orange tint to it. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy with a large amount of oils coating it. The wrapper feels thick and dense while the cigar is packed perfectly with no soft spots to be found. There are a few small veins in an otherwise smooth wrapper which is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s double-wrapped cap. The cigar features a huge, extravagant gold, blue, and red band that looks very fittingly like a royalty version of the original Don Pepin label. It states “Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary” in the same script that the original used along with the My Father crest on the front, 2003 – 2023, and “Limited Edition”. There is also a blue ribbon foot band which has “DPG 2023” printed in gold ink across the front.

The Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition, wrapper gives off some soft cinnamon over light spice while the foot of the cigar is much more spice and pepper forward with notes of earthiness underneath. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of oak, pepper, and a ton of earthy flavors.

First Third:

The Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition starts out with a subtle blast of black pepper which faded quickly after the first few puffs allowing the cigar to release bold notes of honey, vanilla, and cedar over lighter notes of graham cracker, pecan, and raspberry. But not the raspberry fruit, the fake raspberry tea flavor. Odd connection, I know. The draw is as perfect as the construction. Each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke which dissipates quickly while the cigar releases a good amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted light and dark gray ash white held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition and that raspberry tea flavor has become much more intense and is now leading the charge backed by vanilla, honey, and a nice mixture of oak and spices. It’s a very enjoyable flavor profile and the retrohale adds a bit of body as it brings the spice and pepper to the forefront of the profile. I close out the second third with no signs of nicotine.

Finish:

Wow, the strength in the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition really ramps up here in the final third. The flavors are now lead by a strong spice that has been mostly tame up until this point backed by vanilla and honey, as well as that raspberry tea with lighter notes of oak and herbs. It took me almost two hours to smoke this bad body down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat or sap. The cigar did leave me with a little bit of a nicotine kick however.

Overview:

While not as power-packed in terms of strength as the original, the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition is a much more complex and flavor-packed version of the cigar. The delicate mixture of flavors is decadent, and extremely enjoyable while the cigar performed like a star from start to finish. While I normally don’t gripe about costs, this cigar is very pricey and while I loved it, the price keeps it out of contention for something that would fall into my regular rotation. Which it should. This isn’t a cigar for casual smoking. This is a celebratory cigar created to go alongside any of your accomplishments and celebrations and does a great job at doing so.

The post My Father Cigars – Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Featured at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, the Mao Limited Edition 2016 carries a premium price tag and will run you between $16 and $18 per stick. Three sizes are currently produced to include the No. 10 (5 by 50), No. 11 (7 by 50), and No. 12 (6 by 57). Production is limited to 1,800 10-count boxes per -size.

THE FACTS

Price: $16.00
Vitola: No. 10 (Robusto)
Size: 5 by 50
Wrapper: Connecticut 
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Columbian
Smoke Time:

PRE-LIGHT

The medium tan Connecticut wrapper leaf has a couple of medium veins that are easily seen and some scattered bumps. There are no soft spots as I examine the cigar. From head to foot, the cigar is evenly filled. 

The wrapper aroma is very sweet and rich with a big caramel aroma. The foot aroma is milder with prunes, some woodsy notes, and some of that same sweetness. A snug draw is revealed after I clip through the double cap. The cold draw is rich with notes of cedar, cinnamon, and prune. A second, deeper cut opens up a freer draw.

FIRST THIRD

The Macanudo Mao No. 10 quickly starts off with a rich, medium profile with notes of pencil shavings, black pepper, and an exotic fruit flavor. The pepper is fuller than expected and a warmth is felt in the back of my throat. The flavors and spice quickly calm as the tropical fruitiness takes center stage with the pencil shavings still peaking through and a darker coffee note joining in. There is thick burn-line as the cigar burns mostly even forming a light gray ash i. The first ash held easily past an inch.

MIDDLE THIRD

Pulling into the second third of the cigar, the draw has opened up considerably. Rich, dark flavors of earth and coffee are pushing back the pencil shavings and fruit sweetness. The pepper has stepped up its game and is sharp as it passes through the sinuses. A jagged burn is resulting a flaky looking ash, but it is nowhere near a place of requiring any kind of attention. 

FINAL THIRD

There is not a whole lot of progression in the Macanudo Mao N0. 10 as it burns its way into the final third. The tropical fruitiness is mild at this point, along with the earlier wood flavor. However, the spice has picked up and is keeping my attention. A major crack has formed that runs nearly an inch. It does not seem to be impacting the smoke production or flavors.

WRAP-UP

Overall, the Macanudo Mao No. 10 was a pleasant cigar that offered bigger flavors and fuller body than the appearance, or the brand,  lets onto. The first two-thirds of the cigar showed a decent amount of complexity with the tropical sweetness, medium to full spice, and some evolution in the other flavors. The cigar fizzled out a bit in the last third, but there was enough spice that kept my palate engaged in the experience. The tight draw at the start and the large crack at the end are not ideal for a $16 cigar. But I do have to mention that no such issues existed in the other sample smoked for review. It actually smoked rather perfectly. With all of that said, even with how much I enjoyed the Macanudo Mao, I would be hard-pressed to smoke it again with the $16 price tag.

The post General Cigar Co. – Macanudo Mao No. 10 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Said to be a spur of the moment decision, the Four Kicks Mule Kick Limited Edition 2012 may be Crowned Heads most sought after cigar to-date. With only 500 10-count boxes produced, it was hard to get your paws on this stick when it was released in 2012. I can only imagine how many or should I say how few remain out there today. The Mule Kick features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that is darker than the wrapper on original Four Kicks line. The cigar carries the same Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos as the regular line, with some added ligero to add a bit more punch. Produced at E.P. Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic, the Mule Kick was rolled in a single vitola, a 5 7/8 by 52 Toro.

Tony reviewed the Four Kicks Mule Kick in a Quick Draw format back in 2013. You can find the review HERE.

THE FACTS

Price: $8.95
Vitola: Toro
Size: 5 ⅞ by 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 50 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Four Kicks Mule Kick is dressed in a medium brown wrapper that has some thin, light, lifted veins webbing down the leaf and scattered bumps. For a cigar that has been resting for four years, there is still a fair amount of oils on the stick that glisten in the light and can easily be felt on my finger tips. Over the last several years of smoking E.P. Carrillo lines and other cigars manufactured by E.P.C, I have noticed that they are not rolled as firm as most cigars I come across. But that is not the case with this one. The Mule Kick is rock solid from head to foot with no soft spot to be found.

There is a faint pungency and wet earth aroma on the wrapper. Some soft, sweet woodsy notes are found on the foot of the cigar with just a hint of spice. A cut through the cap opens up a draw with a hair more resistance than preferred. The cold draw is rich with notes of cedar, a fruitiness, and chili powder.

FIRST THIRD

Once lit, there is absolutely no problem with the draw. Each small pull brings forth a mouthfull of smoke. The flavors are rather mild with flavors of campfire, earth, and a black pepper spice. A black coffee flavors shows up on the finish, but quickly dissipates. While the intensity of the flavors have clearly calmed, the flavors are balanced. The burn is nearly perfect as a light gray ash is formed holding to three fourths of an inch.

MIDDLE THIRD

Moving into the second third of the Four Kicks Mule Kick by Crowned Heads, the flavors have stepped up a notch. A sweet wood, brown cigar, and dark fruit hit the front of my palate, followed by the earlier flavors of campfire, earth, and spice. The coffee lingers on my palate now for some time as palate feels somewhat dry. The retro-hale is a must for this well aged stick. The main profile is rather tame, but as the smoke is moved through my sinuses, it brings out a great depth in the flavors.

FINAL THIRD

Once again, the flavors shift up bringing the Mule  Kick to a solid medium. The profile is now rich as a toasted bread arrives. The earth flavor has a leg up on the other flavors and is now more diesel-like. As I close out this hard to find stick, a cocoa is now on the finish and a new citrus quality is adding in a little edge to the cigar.

WRAP-UP

My good friend Anthony Cantelmo of FTB Cigars stumbled across a couple of boxes of the Mule Kick in May 2013 during his travels in Kansas. And man, am I glad he reached out to me to see if I would be interested. The Four Kicks Mule Kick Limited Edition 2012 has certainly evolved since I cracked open the box in the summer of 2013. Opening with a light first third, the cigar gradually progressed to a solid medium flavored cigar that was balanced and satisfying. The retro-hale is a must and, even with its age, the Nicaraguan internals shined as a pepper spice held through the entire cigar. The performance was perfect as the cigar produced a copious amount of smoke, burned evenly, and formed a pleasant looking ash. With five sticks left, I hope to stretch the last half of the box out for the next handful of years. Heck, if Casas Fumando is still around in five or so years maybe I will even do another review!

The post Crowned Heads – Four Kicks Mule Kick Limited Edition 2012 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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.

The post Camacho Double Shock Limited Edition 2014 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Cuatro Cinco is one of the first, if not the first limited edition cigar to come out of the Joya de Nicaragua factory. The cigar commemorates 45 years of cigar manufacturing for the company. The Joya de Nicaragua site carries a great explanation about the cigar, blend, and details behind the creation:

Esteli, Nicaragua- 1968 was the year when it all started: the first Premium Nicaraguan cigar was hand-rolled in Estelí under the Joya de Nicaragua seal. With it, the Nicaraguan cigar industry was born and a new era for Premium hand-rolled cigars began. JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A is proud to honor this achievement with Cuatro Cinco, a Limited Edition cigar.

Cuatro Cinco has been especially crafted to commemorate four and half decades of history of Joya de Nicaragua, its people and the city of Estelí, where it all started. Cuatro Cinco is an authentic Nicaraguan puro, hand rolled in Estelí with tobaccos grown in the region and in Jalapa, with a special 5 year-old ligero that the factory had been saving in its bodegas for this special occasion. As if time wasn’t enough, the filler tobaccos have been specially aged in oak barrels for more than a year to give them distinctive and sophisticated notes, and the silky smooth wrapper and binder are Nicaraguan grown in the Jalapa valley.

“We are very excited about Cuatro Cinco, for this is one of the few Limited Editions we have produced. With this cigar we are capturing the true Nicaraguan Spirit, rich in the tradition that embodies our cigars and that defines us as the archetypal Nicaraguan cigar maker, because before Joya, there was no Nicaraguan cigar. While this cigar promotes our heritage, it is also a celebration of the future and the many years we still have ahead of us. It’s been 45 years already, and we are just getting started!” stated Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman of JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A.

Leonel Raudez, General Manager and Head of Production of Joya remarks: “this is also a tribute to the people of Joya, the ones that went and the ones that are still with us, even after 45 years. We Estelianos are proud of contributing to make Nicaraguan tobacco among the best in the world, and to celebrate that, we have made one of the most exceptional cigars we have rolled, using our finest local tobaccos and rolled by a selected few of our talented tabaqueros. The profile of this cigar is nothing like what we’ve produced, although the richness and complexity of the Nicaraguan grown tobaccos still predominates”.

Cuatro Cinco will be available in a single vitola: a 6 x 54 semi-box pressed in 10-count boxes. As a Limited Edition, only 4,500 boxes of Cuatro Cinco are being produced each one numbered to guarantee exclusivity. The initial batch will start shipping in the first week of November 2013 to special Joya customers in the United States and around the world.

That pretty much sums it up. I’ve always been a huge favor of JdN. The blends, the tradition, and the flawless construction we have grown to expect from the company always makes for a treat. Thanks goes out to our friends and Drew Estate for shooting a few samples of these my way. Let’s dive in.

Size: 6 x 54
Wrapper: Jalapa Nicaraguan
Binder: Jalapa Nicaraguan
Filler: Jalapa and Esteli Nicaraguan
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Price: $13.00
Pairing: Ommegang Adoration (Belgian Strong Dark Ale 10% ABV)

Prelight: The Cuatro Cinco carries such a beautiful wrapper. The wrapper is a medium brown/dark brown/orange calico looking thing. It really shows off the character of the leaf with the color patches as well as some dark webbing and only the smallest of veins. The wrapper is silky smooth to the touch, but quite thin and fragile. Each of the samples I received had a tiny bit of wrapper damage around the foot. Nothing worrisome in the least. The cigar is packed very firm with a soft-box-press technique that is almost unnoticeable.  It makes for a really comfortable feel in both the hand and the mouth though. The Cuatro Cinco is polished off with a round double cap and a beautiful black, white, and gold band with the Joya De Nicaragua logo, a “Cuatro Cinco” crest as well as the words “Edicion Limitada” and “1968 – 2013” and a sketched print of hands rolling a cigar on the back. The whole presentation is just killer, I love it.

The wrapper gives off a bit of natural tobacco and spice while the foot of the cigar screams of strong spice aromas with a bit of earthiness mixed in. The cap took a bit of extra pressure from my Palio to clip through, but the cut was clean. The cold draw was really flavorful kicking out  a great deal of spice, sweetness, and berry notes.

First Smoke: Joya de Nicaragua’s Cuatro Cinco started out with some soft black pepper which caught me off guard as I was expecting there to be much, much more. The pepper faded pretty quickly and I was left with a very strong natural tobacco flavor with some spice, leather, and a nice black cherry flavor.  The draw is incredible. Each tiny, little puff pumps out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke. The cigar pours out a whole mess of stationary smoke as well as it sits in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit jagged, but not concerning while the ash left behind is very compact, and bright white in color. It held on for a little over an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: As I enter the second third of the Cuatro Cinco a really strange acidic flavor started to come off the wrapper and onto my lips. It’s not off-putting, just not something I have ever experienced before. Along with the acidic flavor there is also a slight citrus zest I am picking up from the wrapper as well. All that is secondary to the strong natural tobacco, black cherry, and earthy flavors. The sweetness has since dropped out of the mix. The draw is still spot on and the burnline has completely corrected itself and is now burning dead even. The retrohale is very sharp and although I can’t pick up any more pepper in my draws it’s clearly evident and up front in the retrohale. I am feeling a bit of the nicotine as I close out the second third of the Cuatro Cinco, but nothing too heavy.

Note: As I peeled off the band on the Cuatro Cinco I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a complex double band. The bottom band being a beautiful, elegant gold band with a beautiful pattern of small Joya De Nicaragua Logos, and the cover band being the black portion with a nice old, black and white photo of the Joya De Nicaragua Rolling floor with the words “Handmade by Nicaraguans, joyacigars.com” on the inside:

Finish:  Wow, the body of the Cuatro Cinco really ramps up in the final third and this is where the cigar really starts to shine. While the spice has been pretty modest in the experience it takes front and center in the final third with strong cinnamon, and nutmeg notes mixing in with some strong cedar, berry, all laid over the natural tobacco and earthy notes. The cigar has been great, but the final third is fantastic and really puts it over the top. The burnline had it’s share of inconsistencies, but I never had to pull out my lighter so I’m not complaining. The cigar finished very strong, and very smooth leaving me with a bit of a nicotine kick.

Overview: Joya de Nicaraguan is celebrating it’s 45^th milestone right. The Cuatro Cinco is a great cigar that really showcases Nicaraguan tobacco as only Joya de Nicaragua can. I loved the construction, flavors, burn, and pretty much everything about the experience. The mix-ups in the flavor profile really kept me on my toes and got me really invested in the experience. The final third just brought the cigar to a whole new level. While the price is a bit steep for some, I could justify spending $13 on this cigar all day considering the experience it delivered. I wish it wasn’t limited, and in my case very hard to find. But the cigar is very box-worthy (I think I will be seeking a box of these out very soon) and something that I think just about anyone would enjoy.

Pairing: Ommegang’s Adoration has quickly become my winter go-to beer. Brewed at the famous Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York this Belgian Style Strong Dark ale comes in at a whopping 10% ABV. IF that wasn’t enough, I can find four packs of these fairly easy locally for about $10 a pop. $2.50 a bottle is unbelievable for the amount of alcohol and flavor you get from these bad boys. Ommegang is one of the very few American Breweries that I feel do Belgian style ales well. And they do them VERY well. The Adoration is a winter beer, staying true to form it leads in with a ton of spice, sweetness, orange peel, cinnamon, and caramel while finishing sharp with a bit of alcohol and a lot of fruit left on my palate. You can see why this made a damn good pairing with the Cuatro Cinco. Be careful though, this beer carries so much flavor it’s easy to pair with a cigar that it would overpower and wash out the cigar experience. Make sure whatever cigar you smoke with the Adoration has a good amount of body or all you will taste is the beer.

The post Joya de Nicaragua – Cuatro Cinco – Cigar Review 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.

The post Ezra Zion Cigar Company – Tantrum Edicion Limitada appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now, unless you’ve been under a rock lately, you have probably heard of the Avo line of Limited Edition cigars that are released each year to commemorate Avo Uvezian’s birthday. We’ve covered a bunch of these starting with the 80th from 2006, the LE09 Companero (83rd), the LE10 (84th) and LE12 La Trompeta (86th). Click on any of those to see their reviews.

Now thanks to our good friend Martin I get to bring you our review of the AVO LE11, 85th Annirversary! Martin was kind enough to send this all the way up north through Tony and I finally had some time to sit down, enjoy and take notes for everyone.I’ve had a couple of these before but never jotted down a full review so I figured it was time to do that.

As you might guess, the AVO 85th is to celebrate Avo’s 85th birthday and like most of the limited editions, it was restricted to only 10,000 total cigars world-wide. If you managed to be lucky enough to get a box of these, you would have a beautiful lacquered box with a giant gold “85th” printed on the front, very classy!

The Avo Limiteds have always been excellent so that leaves a lot of expectations for this cigar to live up to. I’m sitting outside today to enjoy this cigar and am really looking forward to it, so lets jump on in and see what it has to offer.

Cigar: AVO 85th Anniversary
Drink: Sleeman Honey Brown Lager
Vitola: Diademas (6.625 x 50)
Wrapper: Sun Grown Dominican
Binder: Peruvian
Filler: San Vicente and Piloto
Price: Gifted by Martin (About $18)
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The two ends of the AVO 85th are tapered to almost the exact same ring gauge and the center of the cigar is perfectly even from end to end
• The cap is completed cleanly with one leaf and it blends seamlessly into the rest of the cigar
• You can’t see much of the foot due to it’s tapered nature but it looks to be very tightly packed from what I can see
• There is a soft springiness through the whole cigar
• I’m finding a few medium sized veins but nothing that looks to be a problem on this velvety smooth wrapper
• The draw is very nice even with the packed tapered foot which surprised me

Burn:
• The tiny foot on this AVO 85th lit up with ease and was evenly toasted in only a few seconds
• I usually run into a bunch of burn problems with a tapered foot like this but it seems to have burned through that section with no problems and stayed even
• I’ve had two minor touch ups as I hit the halfway point but otherwise the cigar has been burning at a nice pace and fairly straight
• A couple more minor touchups as the cigar continues to burn but nothing major to report otherwise

Smoke & Ash:
• Even with the two tapered ends I’m still getting a nice volume of smoke from each draw without needing to draw multiple times
• The ash was looking nice and clean but the tapered piece must have been a bit weaker, it fell off at about a half inch
• The next ash made it up to an inch before I tapped it off, it did look pretty fragile and flaky though
• Color of the ash is mostly light grey although there is a brownish/yellowish type of color in there too
• The ash continued to look a bit weak throughout so I kept tapping it off pretty early to avoid any messes

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper is giving off a soft subtle sweetness in it’s aroma
• The foot is the same subtle sweetness with an added touch of cedar
• Pre-light draw on this Avo 85th brought a bunch more cedar and a bit more sweetness, add to that some light baking spices now
• Initial draws are fairly mild and starting off with some light spice and cedar flavors
• The spices are developing nicely, like nutmeg and cinnamon, nothing too strong
• Retrohale has a tiny tiny bite to it a smooth cedar finish
• The flavor is still smooth and I’m getting some creaminess sneaking in there around the halfway mark
• Starting to get a bit of a leathery taste now and the cedar is fading out a bit, spices are also shifting over to some peppery notes
• Body has picked up a bit but we’re still in the medium range here
• The The spice really picked up near the last third now, lots more pepper sneaking in
• The Avo 85th finished smooth and tastefully with a slight spice kick and cedar

Final Thoughts:
Well I have to say once again that the Avo Limited Edition did not disappoint. The 85th turned out to be another tasty experience that I would go back to try again anytime and recommend it to all. The Avo’s have a way of bringing in lots of complex flavors into a well balanced experience and it never turns out to be muddled. Just smooth creamy flavors. I would have been slightly happier with no touch-ups but they were pretty minor so I can’t knock back too many points for that. The price here will tend to scare away a few customers but that’s the case for pretty much all LE’s. If you feel like spoiling yourself and see an Avo 85th on the shelf at your local shop, just pick it up and enjoy!

Pairings:
Today I went with a simple pairing, mainly because I ran out of other stuff and it was too early in the day to jump into some Port. It is a Sleeman Honey Brown Lager. I won’t dive too far into this beer, but it does have a darn interesting history dating back to 1834 including some bootlegging and smuggling across the border. It was shut down for a long time but eventually restarted using original recipes in 1988. Sapporo Brewery of Japan bought them in 2006. The Honey Brown lagers are simple and classic with clean and crisp flavors including touches of citrus. It’s not a craft brew by any means but it’s good to have a couple in the fridge, I think I like the history of the company more though ;). As for the pairing, the beer was a little overpowered by the flavors in the Avo 85th and I think a tasty Port would have made for the perfect pairing. Coffee would have worked nicely too but it was too damn hot out here!

The post Avo LE11 85th Anniversary appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

This is the “third release” from The Crowned Heads. I use the term “third release” loosely since it is in fact based on the standard issue Four Kicks (read my review of that one here). If you read that review you could see how much I just loved the blend. Again, John Huber + Ernesto Perez Carrillo = match made in heaven. Both dudes are geniuses when it comes down to the cigar industry. Anywho, The Mule Kick is basically the Four Kicks on crack. It starts with a  Ecuador Habano wrapper originally intended for the Four Kicks, but was deemed too dark to fit the blend. Start with that wrapper, stuff it with all the same Nicaraguan goodies from the Four Kicks, and then toss some extra, strong ligero and you have yourself a Mule Kick. This is the first limited run created by the crowned heads. It only comes in one size (5 7/8 x 52), comes in boxes of 10 and runs $8.95 a box. The only sad part about the project is there was only 500 boxes released.

Simply put, without making you read much further, this cigar blew me away. I am a huge fan of the Four Kicks, and being a full-bodied smoker, the added Ligero made this cigar reach new heights with me. The flavor profile was almost identical to the Four Kicks. Lots of cedar, brown sugar, musky tobacco with a very sweet overtone. There wasn’t much change up in the cigar although the sweetness and strength really stepped up into the final third. One thing I did notice was, even though the cigar was stronger, it finished much smoother and creamier than I remember the Four Kicks finishing. I never had a problem with the cigar staying lit, or burning crooked. In fact, the ash and burnline on this cigar was as good as it gets.

All in all this has to be my favorite blend The Crowned Heads has produced to date. Again, I LOVED the Four Kicks and without being modest, I think the Mule Kick knocked the pants off that blend. The price point is spot-on in my opinion and you’d be a fool not to pick these up if you see them. On a side note, I started out this pairing with water since I had never smoked the cigar before. I had a good idea what I was getting myself into as I’ve smoked quite a few Four Kicks in my day. Halfway through I decided I knew the cigar well enough to pair it, and the pairing was sensational! I have yet to find a cigar that had enough strength, body, and pronounced flavors to pair with the incredibly strong, incredibly flavorful, incredibly potent Vertical EPIC 12.12.12 by Stone. That beer is a beast! It’s a Belgian Strong Ale registering 9.0% on the ABV scale and it’s not for the faint of heart. At first sip this beer SCREAMS vanilla, spice, cloves, and ginger. It’s a flavor bomb and man did it pair great with the spice, cedar, and sugar from the Four Kicks Mule Kick.

The post Quick Draw Episode 12 – Crowned Heads – Four Kicks Mule Kick appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

As for me, life has been pretty busy and it will surely continue to be that way until the big wedding day coming up in September. I did manage to sneak away last week and put together a review of the Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared. Try saying that 10 times fast! haha.

Now Viaje is a brand I don’t really get to see a lot of North of the border in Canada. Due to their mostly limited production they also have a fairly limited distribution and they also seem to be well sought after, making them even harder to come by. The few I have gotten come from trades or bombs, just like this one did. Today’s Viaje is part of their Oro line up and is the limited edition version, so it’s even more limited production so I’m happy to have a chance to review this one for everybody.

There isn’t a ton of info on the Viaje brand or this particular cigar but I’ll do my best to give a little bit of background. The brand owner is Andre Farkas and he naturally portrays the brand as a boutique cigar company which specializes in small batch cigars. The actual name Viaje is a Spanish word that translates to ‘Journey’ and Andre currently has 7 lines under the Viaje flag. The Oro lines is produced at the Raices Cubanas factory and comes wrapped with a Corojo99 leaf and a double binder.

Now if you can get your hands on a few of these, they’ve all been pretty darn tasty from the small samplings I’ve had so far. They are all Nicaraguan puros, so if you are a Nicaraguan fan, you will be at home here. So let’s jump on in and see if the Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared lives up to the reputation that I’ve come to expect from the brand so far.

Cigar: Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared
Drink: Unibroue Raftman
Vitola: Double Torpedo (5.25 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo 99
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $9
Burn Time: A little over an hour

Construction:
• The Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada is an interesting looking figurado shaped cigar with a very dark brown wrapper that has a few golden highlights
• The wrapper definitely has some toothiness to it and isn’t afraid to show off a little bit of oilyness
• The cap of the cigar is finished cleanly with a single leaf that blends away into the wrapper
• There is definitely a soft springiness to this cigar, more so near the foot, I’m hoping it doesn’t translate into an open draw
• The foot itself is almost closed, with maybe just a quarter inch visible so I can’t really tell if it’s well packed or not
• A couple medium sized veins show through on the wrapper but they are fairly short and don’t look like they will be a problem
• The stick I have has a small crack in the wrapper near the band, probably from shipment, hopefully it doesn’t cause any problems

Burn:
• The foot is so small on this cigar so toasting was obviously super easy, now let’s see if it works out to be a nice burn too
• I always tend to have a lot of burn issues at the start of tapered cigars like this but this one seems to be starting off pretty well
• Through the first inch the burn is a bit wavy but it seems to be staying within a decent range and not requiring touchups
• The waves got the better of the burn and I needed to give it a quick touch up near the halfway mark

Smoke & Ash:
• Even from the tiny tapered foot at the start this cigar started producing massive amounts of smoke from each and every draw
• The resting smoke was consistent but not overpowering, just a nice light line steadily emerging from the foot
• The initial ash is nothing pretty, it seems pretty uneven and dark grey or black in most spots
• I tapped it off after about an inch since it looked like it was gonna fall anyway
• The ash also has no smooth burn lines to it, weird to see that it’s all just chunks here and there
• The next ash lasted a bit longer than an inch but it was still fairly weak and pretty much exploded when hitting the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma on the wrapper is fairly light with only a little bit of woodsy aromas shining through
• The foot is very small so the aromas were pretty much the same as the wrapper here
• The pre-light draw carries more of the woodiness through but this time it’s much more noticeable and comes with a bit of clove and fresh vegetal notes as well
• The initial flavors are very similar to the pre-light with a lot of woodiness and vegetal flavors, plus a bit more of the clove spices
• The spices started to pick up as I head past the 1 inch mark, lots of interesting peppers, nutmeg and a bit of saltiness I usually only find in cubans
• As with a lot of sharply tapered cigars, I tend to get a bit of the oils coming out of the cap that make it a little bitter. Cutting it a bit more usually resolves this problem
• I’m getting a bit of leather in the mix now and the wood flavors have become more toasted now
• For the most part, the whole cigar has been in the medium bodied range and it’s had a nice bite on the retrohale with a smooth woodsy and clove finish
• Just past the half-way mark I’m getting a nice espresso flavor mixing in with the spices and woodsiness, this is getting better and better!
• All the flavors really started to gain some intensity near the end and balance out amazingly
• A nice tasty and flavorful finish without any harshness to worry about, bravo!

Final Thoughts:
I haven’t had too many Viaje’s in my days, mostly because they don’t reach Canada in distribution and of course they are fairly limited. But all-in-all I quite enjoyed this one! The ash may not have been pretty but we’re not here for good looks, we’re here for flavors and the Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared did not miss the mark there at all. Tons of interesting flavors that kept changing made me wonder what the next draw was going to bring me, I love having that in any cigar. There were a couple issues on the burn but nothing major that I would knock this cigar for. The price is a bit up there at the $9 mark but even at that price I’d say it’s worth trying a few of these. That is, if you can find them cause they are pretty much all gone from what I can tell.

Pairings:
I’m not gonna re-invent the wheel here, I already did a good write up on the Unibroue Raftman when I paired it with the La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra. Here’s the rundown from my last post:

Next to the Scottish brewery of Innis & Gunn that I paired last week, another of my favorite breweries is none other than Canada’s own Unibroue. This place is based out of Quebec and has a HUGE inventory of brews with a ton of different and unique beers that are a rare find. Today’s brew is called Raftman and I only found a case of these while actually in Quebec, I’ve never seen it in any other stores so far. Now this brew was very interesting as the label says it is brewed with Whisky Malts so I just had to pick it up and give it a try. Well I’m glad I did cause this is one tasty brew and yet again another winner from Unibroue. It’s a fairly light amber beer but it packs in a ton of flavor. The whisky malts are very obvious as they give a classic touch of whisky, as if you just put a little whisky inside a good beer. Along with that it also has a delicious malty finish and some notes of sweetness as well.

As for the pairing, I found it made an awesome compliment for the Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared. The unique and interesting flavors on the cigar made for an awesome experience to go with the beer. Other good selections could have been a nice Porto, or a flavored coffee seems like an interesting idea here.

The post Viaje Oro Edicion Limitada Perfecto Squared appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So today’s is review is brought to us by Komodata, one of our many awesome readers, who was kind enough to send me a 2008 Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial. Thanks so much Komodata! Really appreciate the chance to get to enjoy a nice cigar like this.

So this blend was launched by Oliva on October 15, 2008 to follow up on the success of their 2007 limited edition release. There were a couple differences in the release though. Firstly, the name was slightly changed from the original “Oliva Serie V Liga Especial” and the ring gauge was knocked down a bit to 54 but the length was extended to 6.5.

Now the original plan on this 2008 Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial was actually to make it to make it a 54 ring gauge. As the story goes, this vitola it was too strong and overpowering so they actually took out some filler and ligero to make it a 52 ring gauge. All-in-all, 50,000 sticks were made and distributed to approximately 250 retailers, most of those were US but some were sent across the ocean to a few select European retailers. They are pretty hard to come by now a days but there are still a few aging in some lucky people’s humidors. So without further adieu, let’s see how this cigar stacks up!

Cigar: 2008 Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial
Drink: Mill Street Brewery 2011 Barley Wine
Vitola: Torpedo (6.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa Valley Ligero and long filler
Price: Original MSRP $6.75 (Gifted by Komodata)
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• This is a tough looking cigar with a deep dark chocolate brown wrapper, with just some subtle hints of gold here and there
• The is finished nicely with just a few visible lines and the foot looks to be very tightly packed, tons of leaves inside this stick
• Despite looking to be over packed, the cigar has a nice spring when squeezed and is consistent from cap to foot
• The smooth and toothy wrapper has almost no visible veins, very nice looking leaf
• The cut was strong and tough to cut but it came off cleanly with my double bladed guillotine cutter
• I kept the cut short for now and the draw seems to be a bit tight, if it stays that way I may need to clip off a bit more
• I decided to clip off a bit more after the draw didn’t improve through the first third

Burn:
• The toasting on this cigar was super easy, it lit up evenly with very little effort
• The burn has started out nice and sharp and is moving very slowly, let’s hope it stays this way
• Burn continues to be razor sharp and even through the first third
• The burn has been awesome all the way through to the last third now, not even a tiny touch up required here at all
• It’s also burning nice and slow and is giving me time to enjoy it slowly
• The last 3rd of this cigar seemed to slow down on the burn even most, staying completely even but allowing me to prolong the smoking experience
• There was one small touch up required near the very end, most people might have put the cigar down at that point but I wanted to keep going! haha

Smoke & Ash:
• As I mentioned before, the draw is a bit tight right now so there isn’t a ton of smoke but there is still a fair amount to not warrant chopping off more leaf for the moment
• Resting smoke is practically non-existent, just a little bit right after I take a draw then it’s like it practically turns off
• The ash has a ton of striping and is alternating colors between light and dark grey
• So far, the ash is holding strong past an inch and it has no flaking or signs of weakness
• I had to tap the ash off shortly passed the inch mark since it’s pretty windy and it was gonna end up in my lap soon… lol
• After the little bit of extra clipping the smoke volume increased a tad, but not much
• Ash continued to be strong, even and clean throughout the whole experience
• Smoke volume increased a bit more at the halfway mark, making for a nice full billow from each draw

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper of the Oliva V Maduro 2008 has mostly an aroma of barnyard scents and a bit of earthiness
• The foot carries the same aroma but tosses in a fresh cedar and grassiness to the mix
• The pre-light draw brings in more of that cedar flavor and maybe just a touch of sweetness
• Initial flavors are interesting, very deep and dark roasted wood and espresso with some hints of clove or nutmeg
• The espresso/coffee flavor is developing nicely already in this first third, very tasty
• Body so far is in the medium range and the retrohale has no bite, but it does have a smooth coffee finish that is darn tasty
• I am getting a bit of dryness on the back of my throat but the creamy finish seems to be balancing that out
• All the flavors are playing nicely together so far with the roasted coffee and cedar notes being the most dominant
• There’s also an interesting aftertaste that I can only describe as something like fresh cut hay (Not to say I eat hay, but it tastes like what fresh cut hay smells like, lol)
• There is some interesting complexity to this cigar if you sit and pay attention to the flavors, some subtle notes I’m picking up in the background include a bit of meaty flavors, a bit of vegetal notes, and even some roasted nuts of some kind.
• The roasted nut flavor is really starting to shine through as I get into the last third and all the flavors are intensifying nicely, also picking up a bit of licorice flavors here and there
• The body continues to stay in the medium range and the huge burst of flavors from each draw is just delicious
• The body did pick up a bit in the last third, maybe to the low end of full, but not overpowering
• The flavors continued to intensify and surprise me to the very end with hardly any bitterness at all, I enjoyed this cigar down to the very nub and even busted out the toothpick to get maximum enjoyment!

Final Thoughts:
I think the sheer number of flavors I mentioned in my tasting notes is a good indication of how complex and enjoyable this 2008 Oliva V Maduro cigar was. It kept me on my toes the whole way through and teased me to pay extra attention so all the subtle notes as well as the ones that were obvious and super tasty. Everything kept in great balance and the smooth creamy finish was a perfect touch to end each draw. Some people had warned me this would be a full bodied smoke but I think it stayed in the medium range for the most part and I didn’t even have a big dinner before smoking this. The age of this particular stick may have contributed to a little loss in body but the flavors were still in full swing. These are obviously super rare to come by these days but if you manage to track one down I’d highly suggest fighting to give it a try, it’s a great experience to add to your cigar journal.

Pairings:
So this was one of my first forays into Barley Wine and I decided to chose a local brewery, Mill Street, based out of Toronto. This happens to be from their 2011 batch. It comes in an awesome bottle which I think is some kind of ceramic or something, along with a nice swing top cap. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I knew it had some high alcohol content(11.5%) so I saved it for a time when I could enjoy it at night. Well to my surprise I was met with what I can best describe as a stout on steroids! It’s so thick and creamy with dark notes of roasted malts and roasted coffee. The creamy finish really sells this brew and I enjoyed the heck out of it(as Tony would say )! I can definitely say it was an awesome pairing to go with the Oliva V Maduro, the roasted coffee and malt notes matched with the cigar perfectly. Other great pairings would include a stout, port, scotch or a strong coffee.

The post 2008 Oliva Serve V Maduro Especial appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The OSOK is the latest release from room101, created by Camacho. Room101 is a brand masterminded by fashion/jewelry aficionado extraordinaire Matt Booth. Not only is Matt one of the more unique people in the cigar community, but during a recent trip to the Dominican Republic with a handful of fellow bloggers we were each talking about who the nicest, most down to Earth people in the industry are and his name was mentioned by just about every single one of us there.

On the tail-end of last year’s Namakubi and Connecticut releases, Matt decided to release a small-run, brick and mortar exclusive blend, the One Shot, One Kill. I’m not positive how many boxes were released in the limited edition release, but I know that there aren’t many left out there. We were lucky enough to find this box at Smoke Inn, but I don’t know how many, if any at all they still have left.

The OSOK starts out with Honduran Corojo and Dominican Piloto Ligero fillers, bound by a Honduran Corojo binder and a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The Cigar comes in 3 sizes, all of which are figurados, the Chingon (8 – 60×44), the Filero (4.5 – 52×42), and the Trucha (6.5 – 30x50x19) come in boxes of 10 and run from $8 – $12 a stick.

 Size: 6.5 – 30x50x19  –  Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano  –  Binder: Honduran Corojo  –  Filler: Honduran Corojo/Dominican Piloto Ligero

Prelight: I don’t know if unwrapping the OSOK is fun, or more of a curse. There is a lot of room for error, but luckily I was able to cleanly remove the Chinese fingertrap looking outer wrap (which looked something like a cool Asian, sugar skull, bandana theme, to reveal another layer of tissue paper which easily came right off. After “undressing” the cigar I am finally greeted with a simple, black and silver Oval band with the “O.S.O.K.” logo, “Room101LTD” and “Exclusivo Para La Familia 101” underneath. I love the artwork on the packaging, although the band looks somewhat similar to some of the Zino bands.

The cigar itself is a beautiful dark, rich, oily chocolate brown with a nice toothyness and over a few smaller veins running through the cigar. As most Figurado’s the foot of the cigar starts out at a small point as the body widens up before tapering up to a very pointy double cap. The wrapper feels really tough and durable as the cigar actually weighs a lot less than I thought it would. It’s light and very comfortable in hand.

The wrapper gives off only a very light cedar and floral aroma while the foot of the OSOK boasts of strong cedar and spice. The cap cut clean and quite easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The OSOK produced a nice, super sweet, cedar infused cold draw with just  a touch of spice. I’ve always applauded Camacho’s thick cedar flavored tobacco and I hope this one carries matching characteristics.

First Smoke: It takes a little bit, but the foot of the Room101 OSOK finally get’s lit using my single flame butane torch. I’m always skeptical on how well figurados will burn. Expecting the OSOK to start off with some powerful cedar flavors, I was surprised when I was greeted with a much deeper, dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted nut flavor with just a hint of spice. The draw started out really tight, but after the foot finally toasted up the OSOK began to produce massive clouds of thick, white smoke with every little puff. The cigar gives off a decent amount of amazingly cedar-scented stationary smoke. Startling enough, the burnline is dead even right off the bat, producing a semi-flaky, dark grey and black ash which flowered up a little on the tip. The ash held on for an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: There’s the cedar! Into the second third of this Room101 OSOK, the cedar has finally jumped up to what I expected. I know a lot of readers don’t like the strong cedar cigars, but I absolutely LOVE it when done well. And Camacho tops the list of perfectly balanced, cedar-heavy cigars. Outside of that, the coffee and chocolate are still in there, just very mild along with the spice that’s only really evident in the aftertaste. The retrohale, needless to say, is awesome and primes with a massively strong cedar flavor/aroma. I am not feeling any nicotine from this cigar yet, and it’s still burning dead even with a razor-sharp burnline.

Finish: Along with the spice, the body and chocolate started to really ramp up into the final third of this Room101 OSOK. Even with the strong and bold flavors this cigar has remained smooth, yet complex throughout. I am only feeling a very slight nicotine kick as I took this 2 hour cigar down to the nub. No harshness, no heat, just smooth and enjoyable. Even though its dry and winder here in the desert, I had no dry mouth either which is always a huge plus.

Overview: Camacho has always created quality smokes in my opinion. I didn’t know what to think about the Room101 when it first debuted. From my experience with Matt Booth’s bends, they are really hit or miss. Either they are decent cigars, or just amazing blends. Even through all the hype that surround these cigars, there have been a few blends that surpassed the hype as exceptional cigars, and the OSOK is one of them. I went into this smoke a bit apprehensive as there is a lot of marketing, design, and hype put into this limited edition run. I am happy to say the OSOK lived up to it in every possible way. The cigar is outstanding, from the flavors, to the construction, and yes, even the crazy thought and design that went into these. This cigar may be a bit pricey, but know that you are paying for a quality, enjoyable smoke and not the packaging. The $10 price tag is well worth is for any seasoned smoked as well as the novice looking for a premium experience.  If you can find them, spring for a box, you won’t regret it.

Pairing: Going out on a limb here, I wouldn’t recommend this pairing for the faint of beer-heart. New Belgium La Folie is a yearly limited-run series. It’s a Flanders-style reddish brown sour ale. That’s right, another sour. And probably one of the most sour beers I have ever had. Each sip make’s my lips pucker up with hints of cinnamon, orange, cheery, apple, barley and hops. La Folie is brewed once a year at the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. Coming in at 6% ABV this beer made a perfect non-traditional pairing with the Room101 OSOK. While the OSOK is smooth and flavorful the sourness from the La Folie really pushed some crazy citrus flavors through the experience and added a whole new dimension to an already complex cigar. If you haven’t had a sour ale before, do not start with this one. You will hate it. If you are on the fence when it comes to sour ales, don’t try this one. But if you like Flanders/sours then La Folie is the epitome of a perfect sour ale. At $14 a bottle and aged for 1-3 years in French oak barrels, it’s not for the weary.

The post Room101 – O.S.O.K. (One Shot, One Kill) Trucha appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Avo Uvezian is the mastermind behind the AVO brand is also a very talented Jazz pianist. He was born into a family of musicians but he paved a different road for his family’s future when he began making cigars. It’s no secret that he has blended some very tasty sticks and for the last few years he has been blending a limited edition cigar to be released on his birthday.

Not long ago I reviewed the AVO 80th Anniversary which was released in 2006 to commemorate Avo’s 80th birthday. Tony also reviewed the AVO Limited Edition 2010 not long ago. Today’s cigar is called the Compañero and was released in 2009 to mark Avo’s 83rd birthday. On the cigar, you will find the classic and classy AVO logo with the name “Avo Uvezian” on one side and “LE09” written on the the other. Below this band is another dark burgundy band with the “Compañero” name written on it.

The blend in the AVO Limited Editions change a bit each year and the Compañero is no different. This year the cigar comes wrapped with an Ecuadorian leaf and bound with Dominican leaf. The interesting part of the blend is the filler which is made up of a couple types of Ligero and some Peruvian Seco tobacco.

I’m interested to see how this blend will play out. On paper it seems a bit strong but with at least 2 years of age on it I’m hoping it smoothed out. Let’s get onto the review and find out.

Cigar: AVO Compañero Limited Edition 2009
Drink: The Singleton of Glendullan 12 Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Vitola: Toro (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Cuban Seed Ecuadorian
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Criollo Ligero, Piloto Ligero, San Vicente Ligero, Peruvian Seco
Price: About $15
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The AVO Companero is an oil and dark looking cigar that sports a slightly toothy wrapper with a goldish-brown glow
• There are some veins running down the side of the cigar but most are fairly small and don’t really pose any issues
• The top of the cigar is cleanly finished with an expertly applied single cap while the foot shows signs of a well packed long-filler cigar
• For the most part, the cigar is very firm to the touch with only a very minor give when squeezed
• I made the cut super shallow and just basically trimmed off the cap without cutting into the filler, left me with an easy and perfect draw
• I “may” have accidentally “dropped” the cigar right before lighting it up… I’ll take that into account for any burn issues

Burn:
• Toasting was easy and even, it left me with a nicely glowing foot
• Despite some cracks on the wrapper near the foot due to my dropping it, the cigar is burning beautifully through the first couple of inches
• The cigar burned through the cracked wrapper like it wasn’t even there and I’m still going strong with a razor sharp burn!
• Ran into a few more wrapper issues caused by my drop, they still didn’t affect the burn much but I really regret dropping it!
• My super fail of a drop had more consequences than I had hoped for, the wrapper pretty much came off at the end but it’s totally my fault, do NOT take this as the regular burn for this cigar. Other Companero’s I’ve had burned without any issues.

Smoke & Ash:
• The AVO Companero is producing a heft amount of smoke from each draw, it’s thick and billowy to boot
• At a resting position, the cigar is producing a comfortable amount of smoke, nothing overpowering and it has a nice burning cedar aroma
• The ash is starting off a bit flaky but that’s probably my fault…
• The color of the ash is a very nice and consistent light grey
• Even with a bit of flaking, the ash lasted just past an inch before I gently tapped it off
• Now that I’m passed the cracked wrapper the ash is staying clean and tight
• The next ash fell off after about an inch jsut before I was going to take a picture… bad luck for me tonight! lol

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper of the cigars is hardly aromatic at all, it’s only a little bit woodsy and that’s it
• The foot on the other hand shows clear indications of spices, earthiness and a fresh cedar aroma
• The pre-light draw is very earthy and woodsy, with more of the fresh cedar from the foot
• Initial draws are filled with more earthy notes and little bit of the fresh peat flavor I’ve come to appreciate from most AVO cigars
• Some of the spice I picked up earlier is making a subtle appearance within the first inch, it’s just on the tip of my tongue making for an interesting touch to the profile
• The body of the AVO Companero is a smooth medium so far, well balanced and with a nice little bite on the retrohale
• The finish is also very tasting, coating my nasal passages with a fresh cedar touch
• I have to emphasize the “fresh” part of the cedar flavor, it’s not like a seasoned humidor smells but more like the aroma of a fresh, brand new humidor or freshly cut cedar plank, very pleasant!
• The woodsy and earthy notes are mixing so nicely and taking turns being prominent
• Along with those, the peat and freshness of the cedar add a very interesting and enjoyable flavor that I can’t get enough of
• Just past the halfway mark, the spices are coming in a little stronger and mixing perfectly with the fresh cedar and peat flavors, this cigar keeps getting better!
• The body has stayed more or less in the medium range and it’s still maintaining a very smooth retrohale
• Despite the wrapper pretty much falling off the cigar, I still managed to enjoy the last bit of spice, cedar and peat right to the end

Final Thoughts:
Right from the start, the AVO Companero was bringing me a bright and flavorful profile that instantly caught my attention. Each of the tastes were very full flavored and easily discernible making for a very enjoyable smoke. Even with my fat-fingered fall to the floor and some wrapper cracks, this cigar burned perfectly. I’m also very surprised to say the wrapper falling off didn’t change the cigars flavor too much and I was still able to enjoy it. That’s a sign of a well balanced cigar in my eyes, the flavor was not “all in the wrapper” as some people might think. This showed me that the cigar had a very good balance of wrapper, binder and filler. I’d actually even say this experience made me appreciate the blending that went into this cigar even more than I normally would have!

Pairings:
I’ve only ever come across the peat flavors in the AVO cigars so I knew heading into this review that I had to pair it with a nice Scotch. So I looked into what I had and decided to finish off this bottle of The Singleton 12 year Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Well, I was right! The smokey and peat flavors of the Scotch paired perfectly with the fresh cedar and matching peat flavors on the cigar. I would definitely recommend having a nice scotch with this cigar, so give it a try next time you pick up this cigar or pretty much anything in the AVO lineup.

The post AVO Companero LE09 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Late Harvest might sound familiar to any wine aficionados we have around here. In the wine world, some grapes are harvested later in the season to produce a slightly different type of wine typically called a Late Harvest. It’s even a popular method of making Ice Wine which is a very interesting dessert wine especially common to the Niagara region wineries up here in Ontario.

Contrary to what the name actually seems to mean, the Late Harvest cigar from Viaje is not actually produced with tobacco leaves harvested later in the season. It’s trademark is actually that the filler being used is sourced from the last priming’s of the tobacco plant. These last priming’s are left on the plant slightly longer and are also exposed to the sun longer, this produces a darker, thicker, oilier and stronger leaf. The blend is said to have about 90% of it’s filler from these last priming’s.

To put the limited blend into perspective, the Late Harvest is made in 125 boxes of 35 cigars each making a grand total of 4375 cigars(if my math is right). The Late Harvest was debuted at IPCPR 2011 and it seems like Andre is planning to make a yearly release of it, although the yield could change from year-to-year. The production factory of these cigars is located in Honduras, the popular Racines Cubanas factory which is part of Casa Fernandez Cigar company.

My one gripe here is that there’s no indication on the band of the production year. Although I know this one is a 2011 release since it’s brand new, I would have liked to see an indication for future years to compare with and keep track of when aging. I guess we’ll have to be vigilant and make note of them if you’re not buying a box. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets see if these cigars are worth aging and worth trying out next year…

Cigar: Viaje Late Harvest
Drink: Wychwood Brewery Wychcraft Blonde Beer
Vitola: Toro (6 x 48)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $9.00
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Viaje Late Harvest is a bit of a rough looking cigar with a few medium sized veins running up and down along with some bumps here and there
• The wrapper presents with a medium cinnamon brown colour with some dark speckles here and there, it’s also fairly coarse
• The top of the cigar is finished with tight little pigtail on top of a triple cap that looks clean and well applied
• A little squeeze produces almost no give, the Viaje Late Harvest is fairly firm from foot to cap
• With a quick glance at the foot it’s easy to see this is a well filled cigar with almost no gaps to be seen
• Clipping off the cap with my double bladed guillotine cutter was fairly easy and left a nice clean cut

Burn:
• The foot of the cigar lit up very quickly and easily while toasting
• The initial burn has an interesting zig-zag pattern… let’s hope it tightens up
• Zig zag seemed to calm down and although it’s a bit wavy we’re off to a better start now
• A couple small corrections were needed in the first half but they were very minor and did not affect the flavor of the cigar
• A couple other small touch-ups through the cigar but nothing major, it burned very well for the most part

Smoke & Ash:
• The Viaje Late Harvest is producing a good amount of smoke from each draw, it’s not super-thick and billowy but it’s not light either
• Resting smoke is also fairly moderate, nothing over the top but it is notable
• The ash is looking to be a pretty dark tone of grey as I smoke through the cigar
• I’m also getting some flaking so I don’t think the ash is going to last too long
• It started to look really weak at about an inch so I tapped it off into the ashtray
• As I hit the halfway mark it seems the thickness of the smoke has been slowly increasing, getting a nice billowy thickness now

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper of the Viaje Late Harvest has a fairly strong barnyard aroma to it, smells like it’s fresh from a farm!
• The foot, on the other hand, is strong with earthy and woodsy aromas followed by just a touch of peppery spice
• Pre-light draw brings an interesting mix of fresh cedar, earthiness and a touch of sweetness
• Initial draws bring more of the woodsy and earthy flavors I caught onto earlier, with a touch of very mild spices
• After a few draws there is a kick of pepper to this cigar, you can feel it on the back of your throat as well
• The Viaje Late Harvest is starting off in the mile-medium bodied range and the retrohale is giving a nice little bite with a smooth cedar finish
• The strong pepper faded as quickly as it appeared and I’m back to a nicely balanced cedar and earthy flavor profile
• There is a touch of tart sweetness that I’m picking up now and again although it’s not too strong right now
• The woodsy flavors are developing nicely and I’m getting a nice bready flavor coming in all wrapped up with a smooth and creamy finish
• The bite on the retrohale is pretty much gone now but it’s still giving me a smooth creamy cedar finish that I’m really enjoying
• As I creep into the final third, some of the spices are starting to make a comeback. It’s not the strong pepper like before but rather a more mild white pepper profile
• The Viaje Late Harvest finished on a smooth medium note with no harshness at all, I enjoyed it’s creamy finish and sweet tart cedar flavors right to the nub

Final Thoughts:
This was an interesting and unique cigar and I’m glad I was able to give it a try. As I mentioned, my access to Viaje cigars is pretty limited so it’s always a treat when I get a few sent to me in a package and this one was not a disappointment. It had an interesting variety of flavors that were very well balanced along with a smooth creamy finish to round it all out. The burn had a couple small touch ups but nothing worth complaining about. Considering the type of filler used here I was expecting a much stronger cigar but I ended up with a smooth medium bodied stick that I really enjoyed. The price on these is also fairly reasonable considering the limited production runs they are offered in. If you can track down some of these they are definitely worth a try. I’m curious to see if they change much from year-to-year…

Pairings:
Today I have another offering from Wychwood Breweries. Just recently, I tried out their winter ale called “Bah Humbug” with the Tatuaje TAA and I’ve also done a full review of their buby beer called Hobgoblin. This particular brew is their Blonde beer called Wychcraft. It clocks in at a light 4.5% alc./vol. and is triple hopped and filtered. It made for a perfect midday beer with lots of citrusy and malty flavors to it. An interesting combination since most blondes don’t carry too much of the malts with them, but I guess that’s where the triple hopped process makes a difference. I found that the Wychwood Breweries Wychcraft paried quite well with the Viaje Late Harvest. The cirtusy sweetness of the beer complimented that tart sweetness that sometimes made an appearance in the cigar and neither of them over-powered the other. I’d recomend sticking with a lighter pairing similar to the Wychcraft with the Viaje Late Harvest, choice such as a thick stout or strong coffee might drown out the cigars flavors.

The post Viaje Late Harvest 2011 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Yesterday I took advantage of the fact that all my clients would be off celebrating. I decided to stay home and light up a good cigar with a tall glass of beer and enjoy the slightly warmer weather. I decided to sit down with this years Monster release from Tatuaje, dubbed the Wolfman. If you didn’t know, Pete Johnson has been releasing a Halloween themed cigar each year for the past few years and it’s called the Monster Series.

Last year, Tatuaje released “The Face” which we reviewed here. Before that you would have seen the Boris, Frank or Drac. Each one is inspired by a horror creature from a story or film. This years Wolfman release is no different, named after the infamous werewolf. The cigars came packed in a limited selection of dress boxes with 13 cigars as well as a slightly larger release of 10-count plain boxes. They were sold out very quickly across the country so I’m glad I was able to snag a few to get a review in.

The Wolfman comes in with a shaggy foot to keep inline with the character of the cigar. Pete wanted to give it a sort of “ugly” unfinished look to match the theme. Other than the shaggy foot, the cigar looks to be of excellent construction. The band on this cigar also has one new thing from the older Monster Series sticks. On the sides of the band you can see “MONSTER” and “HALLOWEEN” written beside the normal Tatuaje name. Normally, there was nothing else on the bands aside from the brand.

Now I know I’m coming in a little late to the game with this review but it did take quite a bit of digging and asking around to get these cigars. Especially up here to Canada where they aren’t sold and very few B&M’s are even willing to ship to. Tony’s local shops also don’t seem to get these in so we were both in a bit of a bind trying to track a few down. Alas, determination leads to success and I got them. So here I am, sitting down and getting ready to light this cigar and write down my thoughts for your reading pleasure.

Cigar: Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series 2011
Drink: Trafalgar Ales & Meads – Smoked Oatmeal Stout
Vitola: Box-Pressed Torpedo (7.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Sumatran
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $13
Burn Time: a little under 2 hours

Construction:
• The Tatuaje Wolfman is a nice looking cigar with a chestnut brown wrapper
• The wrapper is slightly rough with some veins running through it but none look to be large or worrisome
• The whole cigar actually feels a little soft when squeezed
• The cap is finished with extreme care and blends into the cigar with ease, the foot is left uncovered and shaggy but still looks to be fairly well packed
• Cap cut cleanly and easily and left me with an easy draw, make sure not to cut too much off this cigar or it will be very open
• As soon as I finished burning past the unfinished foot the draw got super-tight so I needed to cut the cap a bit more and now we’re all happy

Burn:
• Toasting seems fairly easy and even and took a good 30 seconds or so to get the foot glowing, I was expecting a messy toasting with the unfinished foot but it wasn’t messy at all
• Burn got off to a wonky start on one side that needed a quick correction early on
• After that correction, things have been burning a lot smoother with a nice sharp and even line
• Another small correction as I pass the halfway mark, nothing major and didn’t affect the flavors

Smoke & Ash:
• There’s a ton of smoke from each draw as I’ve come to expect from pretty much all of Pete Johnson’s cigar, he really knows how to nail the thick billowy smoke
• The ash from the unfinished foot was super weak and fell off quickly, before I even had a chance to snap a picture
• Seems that suicidal ash is the trend today, lost the first two ash to the floor after about an inch each, sigh…
• The ash seems to be fairly weak and a little bit messy with a light grey color to it
• Considering there is so much smoke on the draw, the isn’t much resting smoke to be found on the cigar and it’s giving off a nice cedar aroma

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma off the wrapper is slightly sweet with a peppery touch
• The foot adds a hefty helping of cedar added to the sweet and spicy notes
• Pre-light draw brought more of the cedar to the mix, quite a nice flavor
• Initial draws after lighting were mixed mostly of cedar and a spicy pepper undertone, no sweetness at this point
• The pepper seems to be staying as a soft undertone but now I’m getting some other more interesting spices in the mix, mainly like a nutmeg or clove type of flavor
• I’m also picking up on some leathery and earthy notes on this cigar, lots of flavors going on here
• The cedar flavors continue to dominate and I think I’m getting some coffee notes in the mix now too but that might be the stout I’m pairing with
• The body of the cigar has been a nice comfortable medium since the start, a good well balanced smoke so far
• The retrohale brings with it a slight peppery bite and smooth cedar finish
• A little past the halfway mark I’m starting to pick up a little bit of that initial sweetness, let’s hope it develops a little more
• The sweetness didn’t really develop any further and faded soon after, but the coffee and cedar really grew together into a nice mix
• All the flavors slowly ramped up near the 2 inches but the body stayed in a nice smooth medium range
• No harsh or bitterness right to the nub, enjoyed every last cedar and coffee filled draw

Final Thoughts:
I think Pete Johnson has another winner in the ever popular Monster Series of cigars from Tatuaje. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s his best ever but these are tasty right out of the box and they seem to have some aging potential as well. Other than a couple minor touch-ups the cigar burned fairly well and offered a lot of complexity to the palate that kept me interested the whole way through. And that is sometimes a hard task when the cigar is this length of vitola, I tend to have a short attention span, lol! The Wolfman was quite balanced and smooth through the whole experience and I enjoyed it from start to finish. They are getting harder and harder to come by each year (especially for a Canadian!) so I’m glad I was able to grab a few. If you manage to find some, definitely pick a couple up for a special occasion!

Pairings:
Today’s brew comes from a local brewery called Trafalgar Ales & Meads which is located about 45min from where I live in a place called Oakville, Ontario. I don’t actually see many other brews from these guys but I have picked up this brew a few times. It’s called the Smoked Oatmeal Stout. The first time I saw this I thought it was going to have a heavy smoked flavor like a scotch or something, but that’s not the case at all. It’s actually a fairly light stout but it’s got the most head out of any beer I’ve seen before. I mean if you shake this bottle even a tiny bit, it’s going to explode when you crack it open. And pouring it takes like 30min to let the foam settle, it’s ridiculous but worth it. The flavors you get are chocolate, coffee and a malty deliciousness that mix together so well. The array of flavors also makes for an excellent pairing for nearly any medium to full cigar, it would easily overpower a mild stick though. I think a nice Tawny Port would have gone excellently with the Wolfman or possibly even a strong coffee or black tea.

The post Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series #4 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Padilla Artemis was amongst the crazy amount of cigars released at this year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas. I’m openly a Padilla fan. Ernesto is one of the people in the cigar business who constantly hit it out of the park with just about every blend they make. The Artemis is handmade in Honduras at the Raices Cubana factory using Cuban-seed Nicaraguan fillers and binder, wrapped with Cuban seed, Nicaraguan grown, Criollo/Corojo I’ve read that these will be a limited release, but I haven’t really seen any official word on that.  The Artemis will be available in four sizes, all boxed pressed: Robusto – 5 x 54”, Toro – 6 x 54”, Torpedo – 6.2 x 54, and the Double Torpedo – 6.7 x 56 and range $10 – $13 a stick.

 Size: 6 x 54  –  Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo/Corojo  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan

Prelight: The Padilla Artemis is a beautiful boxed pressed format cigar. I’ve always come to expect great construction from anything that carries the Padilla name. The wrapper is this silky smooth, and sports this crazy calico color palate. It goes from medium to dark brown, parts of incredibly dark brown, and even spots of orange before coming to a perfect, round, triple wrapped cap. The band carries a gold and brown Padilla lion crest, followed by a brownish orange “Padilla” Shield as well as a smaller, orange, secondary band with the words “Padilla Artemis” embossed on it. The cigar feels incredibly firm, and gives very little when I squeeze on it, but the wrapper feels really thin and delicate so I didn’t want to handle the cigar too recklessly. The only soft spots I found were right around the foot of cigar.

The wrapper of this cigar smells like old shoe and burned paper. It’s not very welcoming at all, but as I said before, some of the worst smelling cigars end up being the best tasting. The foot of the cigar gives off some nice sweet tobacco and spice aromas.  The Artemis cut clean using my double bladed cutter. The cold draw was really interesting. I got some of the sweet tobacco flavor as well as a little of the spice, but then there was this strange cardboard flavor. I took a few more draws just to make sure that was the flavor I was picking up before writing it down, and sure enough it was in there. Let’s hope it’s just a cold draw glitch.

First Smoke: The Artemis light up with ease using my single flame butane torch. I am glad to report, there was no cardboard flavor in the first few puffs. What did surprise me though was the amount of pepper this cigar started out with. The Artemis came out with both pepper guns blazing only to defuse the pepper completely a minute later. The pepper was replaced with some nice tobacco flavors, soft hints of spice, and some really ripe earthy/grassy flavors. The draw on this cigar is excellent pumping out tons of thin smoke while leaving behind a perfectly even and sharp burnline. The ash however, isn’t as pretty. It’s a very flaky medium grey with some darker areas. The ash held on for an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: Into the second third of Padilla’s Artemis and the flavors really haven’t changed up much. There was the introduction of some very slight cedar, but that also came with a pairing of what tasted like some charred paper. Outside of that the tobacco and grassy/earthy flavors have remained the same. The Artemis does however give off some mean-cedar smelling stationary smoke as well as a hell of a sweet cedar priming on the retrohale. The burnline is still absolutely perfect and at this point I am not feeling anything in the nicotine department.

Finish: A little bit of clove sneaked into the flavor mix in the final third of this Artemis, but not much else. It’s still this grassy/tobacco/burned paper mixture and holding solid at that. The burnline has been awesome in this cigar though, perfect from start to finish with absolutely no touch-ups or relights. I am feeling just a very slighting bit of nicotine, even into the final third of the cigar. All in all it took about an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I had to put it down a little earlier then usual though due to the fact that it burned extremely hot into the final inch.

Overview: Is it wrong to say that the only thing I really liked about this cigar was the size? Ok, that’s not entirely true. It’s not a terrible cigar, I guess I have just learned to expect a little more from premier companies such as Padilla. The cigar fell flat for me, it was quite bland, and really lacked complexity. Nothing really stood out. Minus the construction, which was absolutely perfect. That being said I think this cigar would be alright if it carried a price tag half, or even a quarter of what it does now. Needless to say I probably won’t be buying anymore of these in the near future. Don’t let that stop you though, keep in mind this is just one man’s opinion. Read my tasting notes, maybe it might appeal to you.

Pairing: The pairing I chose actually brought some life into the cigar. This week I decided on Samuel Adams’ Chocolate Bock. I haven’t seen these for sale by themselves yet this year, but I wouldn’t doubt it if they started appearing. This was part of the annual holiday pack which Sam Adams puts together (and I am sure to purchase) every single year. This beer weighs in at 5.8% ABV and is brewed, along with all the other Sam Adams beers, in the Boston Beer Companies brewery in Boston. The chocolate bock, as it says, is a nice double bock with a hint of chocolate. And when I say “hint” of chocolate I really mean a whole crapload of chocolate. It’s not overpowering though. The chocolate blends in perfectly with the nutty, caramel, malt flavors of the double bock. This beer tastes a whole lot like Mackeson Triple stout, which I absolutely love, but cannot find anymore. Needless to say, this beer gave a little bit, much needed dimension to the Padilla Artemis.

The post Padilla Artemis Toro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.