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.

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The Good Stuff: La Casita Criolla or “The Creole Cottage” is the first, or one of the very few cigars that are actually constructed from 100% Connecticut Broadleaf. Pete Johnson goes into a bit more detail on the tobacco used for this cigar:

“Okay guys. To clear this up. Not all broadleaf is dark. The wrapper will be but the binders and fillers are made up of broadleaf tobacco also. When Jaime (Garcia) buys broadleaf, he buys in hopes to get good dark juicy wrapper, some medium color wrapper like La Riqueza and good binder but the other leaf that doesn’t make those grades is sorted by size and texture for filler. Again not every leaf will look like the wrapper. It’s all 100% USA Conn. Broadleaf. Jaime also buys all primings of broadleaf. Seco, Viso and Ligero. This is also how we are able to sort the filler to do the blend on the cigar.”

So yes, that’s right. 100% Broadleaf. I know that Broadleaf is expensive, and isn’t the easiest to come by so if anyone was able to create a cigar comprised of nothing but this leaf, it had to come from the My Father factory. The Garcias use more broadleaf than any other cigar manufacturer. And anyone that reads this blog knows that I am sucker for Broadleaf. Let’s hope this cigar doesn’t disappoint. The La Casita Criolla line will come in three different sizes, HCB – 5 1/8 x 42, HCBC – 5 5/8 x 46, and the HCBF – 6 1/2 x 48 and will be sold in the $7 range. That’s right, I was expecting a much higher price tag.

Size: HCBC 5 5/8” x 46  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf  –  Binder/Filler: Broadleaf  –  Body: Medium

Prelight: What a vintage looking cigar, from the band down to the wrapper’s appearance. Although quite consistent in color the Casita Criolla sports a very rustic, almost beaten looking appearance. The construction is spot-on and the wrapper is a nice dark brown with lots of smaller darker spots around the ripples in the leaf. There are lots of very small veins throughout the slender body leading up to a nice round triple cap. The cigar is actually very first and puts up a ton of resistance when compressed with no soft spots at all.  The band is interesting and a departure form what we normally expect Pete to come up with. It’s very vintage looking with an almost old days, sewn on looking placement of the “La Casita Criolla” logo. As you rotate the cigar around you can see Pete’s embroidered logo as well as “Tatuaje Cigars Estelí” just before coming to a small sketch of a nice little cottage. Right away I get this crazy pungent smell from the Broadleaf wrapper.  It’s very barnyardesque with some nice chocolate and spice notes. The foot is almost just as stinky as the wrapper of the cigar bearing almost identical aromas.  The cap was easily clipped using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw was a lot smoother than I had originally expected pumping out some inviting spice and coffee notes with just a hint of pepper.

First Smoke: Wow, the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla starts off as what I would call the epitome of smooth. Right away I am greeting with some very nice woodsy, cocoa, espresso notes that tend to transition into a bit of spice after a while. No pepper at all, but a whole ton of sweetness. The draw on this Casita Criolla is super effortless pumping out huge clouds of thick smoke with every little draw. The cigar doesn’t give off much stationary smoke, but the smell is pungent! Be prepared, this probably isn’t something you’d want to smoke around people who aren’t really into cigar smoke (or could work in your favor by keeping them away). The burnline is pretty thick but produces a very nicely compacted, light grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The dark chocolate and sharp espresso flavors are really taking over this cigar, along with a nice creamy fruit hint here and there mixed in with some subtle spice. The Casita Criolla started out really smooth and has managed to become even more-so into the second third. Even the retrohale on this cigar is creamy and smooth coating with a nice creamed coffee style flavor. I’m really not feeling any nicotine, but this cigar is burning a little quicker than I expected. The burnline is still dead even.

Finish: Into the final third of the Casita Criolla and the spice that has been nothing but an aftertaste has really start to shine through. The cocoa and espresso are still the there in force, with a more creamier, milky flavor starting to creep in with still a dash of sweetness. This cigar took only a little over an hour to finish, requiring no touch-ups or relights. I started to feel a little nicotine at the tail end of the experience, but not really enough to call this cigar anything stronger than medium.

Overview: It may be a little early to call it, but I think Tatuaje’s La Casita Criolla has a VERY good chance in making it’s way towards the top of our “Top 10 Cigars of 2011” list. The flavors are smooth and powerful with only slight changeups where needed to keep me on my toes, the construction on these cigars are perfect, and the price point is actually cheaper then I expected knowing that these are composed 100% of Connecticut Broadleaf.

Pairing: Despite what most people think, Fat Tire was actually New Belgium’s second beer. The first being their award winning Abbey. Since then New Belgium has actually created a stronger, more premium Abbey with limited releases through their “Lips of Faith” collection. They call this their “Grand Cru Abbey Ale” and it’s exactly what I decided to pair this Tatuaje La Casita Criolla with. Abbey is a traditional strong, dark ale perfected by Belgium Trappist Monks, and in my opinion, one of the best brew styles available. With a malty flavor with nice Banana, Caramel, and Lemon hints its hard to believe that he beer boasts a 9.5% ABV. The sweet, creamy style of the beer blended perfectly with the smoothness of this cigar. It really made for a perfect pairing, even if it does leave you a bit loopy afterwards. I think this cigar would go well with any stout, porter, or brown ale as well as Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.

The post Tatuaje – La Casita Criolla appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Macanudo 1968 is a “different” type of release from what Macanudo smokers would usually expect. Coined with the slogan “Rich, Dark, and Unexpected” the 1968 was released in 2008 to celebrate the 40 years that Ramón Cifuentes has been blending for the company (and possibly 100 years of Macanudo?). According to General Cigar the Macanudo 1968 contains tobacco “grown by General Cigar or cultivated for the company under an agreement of exclusivity…aged in tercios and charcoaled wooden barrels to further enrich its flavor”. The blend features Dominican and Nicaraguan filler,  with a Connecticut Habano Binder, wrapper with Honduran San Agustin leaf. These cigars run about $8 -$9 a stick, but General cigar recently announced that it will be slashing the prices of the 1968. Expect a savings of about $3.50 a stick, but only at Brick and Mortar stores.

Size: 5 x 50  –  Wrapper: Honduran San Agustin leaf  –  Binder: Connecticut Habano  –  Filler: Dominican/Nicaraguan

Prelight: The Macanudo 1968 starts off with this old, rustic looking dark brown/orangish with dark spotted wrapper. The construction is ideal, only containing a few larger veins leading up to a kind of pointy, round, double cap. The band is a really nice, common cigar crest with the Macanudo company logo. The only difference is the band is a nice black and gold color with slight red accents (which looks really nice on the darker wrapper), and a gold “1968” printed just below the crest. The cigar is firm for the most part, but the foot is pretty squishy.

The wrapper gives off this really strange, beef jerky type aroma. No joke. This thing smells like a thick stick of Jack Links. The foot of the cigar releases a really strong tobacco, and chocolate aroma. The cigar cut easy and clean using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw is interesting. Its VERY natural tasting with a ton of grass, and wheat bread type flavors. Maybe I am just hungry, but this cigar is throwing me quite a few curve balls.

First Smoke: It’s kind of strange but the meaty flavor I picked up in the aroma of the wrapper kind of came through into the taste of the first third of this Macanudo 1968. It’s a slight beef type flavor, but it’s there along side a bit of leather, a bit of cedar, and just some really nice natural tobacco type flavors. I was really expecting a loose draw on this cigar since it didn’t feel like it was packed very tight at all, but the draw is great, easily filling my mouth with a nice amount of thick smoke. The burnline is kinda thick, and started off with a few slight waves, but nothing too concerning. The ash left behind is a nice, semi-compacted white and grey ash with just a few flakes coming off of it. The ash held on for about an inch before giving away.

Halfway There: Halfway though this Macanudo 1968 and it really hasn’t changed up too much. The flavors are still slightly meaty with cedar and earthy natural tones, but the seemed to have really simmered down. It’s still an enjoyable smoke but it is leaving me craving more dimension early in. Hopefully the final third adds to the flavor profile.  The 1968’s retrohale is really nice though. Very light, coating my nasal passage with a nice, light cedar prime. I am feeling no nicotine at all from this cigar and the burnline is dead even and fully corrected at this point.

Finish: What a huge ramp up in body! It’s not a full bodied cigar but I really got a nice little kick into the final third of this 1968.  The flavors did in fact increase a bit too. Nothing to write home about, but the cedar became much stronger as well as a little bit of pepper sneaking in to compliment the Macanudo’s already existent natural flavors. This cigar took about a little over an hour to take down. There was just a very slight bit of harshness built up into the final inch, but nothing too off-putting.

Overview: I didn’t really know what to expect the first time I smoked a Macanudo 1968. For sure I didn’t expect the cigar to have beef jerky-like flavors. What I did expect was a decent smoke at a good price and that is exactly what I got. There wasn’t really anything too terribly wrong with this cigar, just as well there wasn’t anything really spectacular. A bit one dimensional, but at the price point, you really can’t ask for more. Smooth, subtle, and well balanced. Perfect for the average and novice cigar smoker, or just an all around everyday smoke. One thing is for sure, this cigar is a venture from what one usually thinks of when they think Macanudo. Hopefully we can expect more cigars like this from the company in the near future.

Pairing: As the summer heat thickens, I have decided to pair more cigars with nice, light, summer ales. This selection is one of New Belgium’s latest editions, Somersault. Somersault is a well balanced, light blonde ale peaking at 5.2% ABV. Somersault is a citrus explosion and is probably one of the smoothest beer I have ever had. I could probably drink 100 of these back to back. The cigar paired well with the Somersault’s sweet, fruity composition and the cedar tastes blended in perfectly. This cigar would go perfect with water, tea, or apple juice. Beer? Either a nice ale, or a really bitter beer to help add to the flavor.

And now… For the contest.

General Cigar has been kind enough to offer up a full box of Macanudo 1968 Trompetas for our lucky readers! That’s right. And we are going to make this contest another easy one to enter.

Recently Daniel and I decided to take Casas Fumando on facebook. All you need to do to enter is follow this link (http://www.facebook.com/casasfumando) and “Like” our page! Already like it? They you are already entered!

We will be updating the Facebook Page constantly with our reviews, news, and even what we have been smoking on the side.

I understand a lot of you people aren’t on facebook, so we are going to add a second entry for anyone who leaves a comment on this contest post. Simply post what your FIRST cigar was! Tell us about it! We all have skeletons in the closet. You will get two entries for liking us on Facebook and one for commenting on this post.

We will run this contest until Wednesday June 22^nd. At that time a winner will be chosen at random and shipped this box of cigars. 18 and over please, and you Canadians?!?! We don’t hate. Enter and I will happily ship to you! Cheers, and hopefully you’ll spend some Facebook time with us!

The post Win a Box of Macanudo 1968 / Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Abdel J. Fernandez has been a big name in the cigar industry as of late. Mostly because of his Manowar, Diesel, and Ave Maria blends, but it looks like he is starting to get away from the vendor exclusive market and distribute cigars on his own. The San Lotano line is one of the first one of these blends that the consumer will be able to find in their common brick and mortar shops.

The Good Stuff: The San Lotano line is being produced in Esteli, Nicaragua and comes in three different blends. The Habano, the Connecticut, and the Maduro. I smoked through all three, in different sizes as well and I have to say that I enjoyed the Maduro the most. A neat side note is that so many people I spoke with were blown away by the Habano. This just shows A. J.’s skill, and reach to the subjectivity of cigar smokers today. This is something that can make or break any manufacturer. Not to mention you can now find them on twitter (@AJFCigars), and they are actually very active, informational, and just a blast to talk with.

Size:  6 x 52 (Box Pressed)-  Wrapper: Mexican Maduro  –  Binder (dual): Honduran and Dominican  –  Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan  – Body: Medium

Prelight: The San Lotano Maduro is a beautiful, box-pressed, toro cigar. The wrapper is the wonderful, deep, dark, brown so dark that it is almost black. The wrapper has a nice little gleam to it too making this cigar look like nothing more than a chunk of dark chocolate with some cigar bands on it. The thick, and EXTREMELY firm body carries minor, very small veins, and no soft spots leading up to the rounded off double-cap. The band on the entire San Lotano line is black, with a gold, orange, and green crest holding the “San Lotano” name as well as a gold banner with “By A.J. Fernandez” and some small circular pictures showing tobacco production. There is also a secondary black and gold embossed band that simply states “Maduro”.

The San Lotano Maduro gives off this massive chocolate and mossy smell. The foot carries the same aroma only its amplified by ten. The cap was very easy to clip using my double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really strong chocolate taste, with a bunch of spice and a little leather off the tail end.

First Smoke: Just as the prelight, and cold draw characteristics suggested this San Lotano Maduro starts out with a crap load of dark chocolate and spice. After the spice settles a bit the San Lotano shows its true colors with a much more bolder, chocolate, coffee, and leather flavor with just a little bit of fruit. This cigar really doesn’t give off much, if any stationary smoke, however the draw was thick and plentiful.  The burnline is phenomenal, dead on and razor sharp leaving behind a nice semi-compacted trail of light and medium grey ash. Which held on for about an inch and a half before giving way.

Halfway There: The flavors really mellowed out into the second third of this San Lotano Maduro.  Which really caught me off guard as the first third finished off with the crazy spice build up. The flavors are still chocolate dominant with a smooth woodsy backing and hints of fruit. They just aren’t as powerful as they were. The retrohale however is rocking with just a ton of spice and chocolate. The burnline is still just perfect and I am only feeling very slight nicotine teases at this point.

Finish: Although the final third of this San Lotano Maduro finished a lot milder than I would have liked, the flavors did really ramp back up towards the end. The main flavor all the way through was the chocolate. In the final third more of the cedar and tobacco flavors snuck it carrying a bit more of that fruit along with it. The cigar had just a slight amount of harshness into the nub, but nothing off-putting. I felt no nicotine, and the cigar took about and hour and forty five minutes to take down.

Overview: I honestly love the new stuff AJ has been coming out with, this maduro was no exception. My only gripe is the size. A smaller, stouter vitola would make this a perfect everyday cigar. I just haven’t been going for the larger sticks lately. Even though the weather in El Paso is suited for it, I just favor the robusto/coronas. This cigar is perfectly priced, and something I would definitely recommend to any cigar smoker from the novice to the everyday guy (or gal).

Pairing: This pairing is no surprise if you follow us here at Casas Fumando. New Belgium’s 1554 is the ideal candidate to pair with absolutely any maduro cigar. The cigar is your standard Brussels’ style black ale. Thick, and dark with a strong chocolate, nut, and roasted malt flavor. I was actually going to pair this cigar with another stout but a 1554 happen to catch my eye when I was going through the fridge. You just can’t beat the pairing.

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