The Good Stuff:

Each and every year since 2014 The Crowned Heads have released the “Las Calaveras” which is a cigar created to pay tribute to those who are close to us which we have lost and each year has been special to me as I lost so many great people in my life over the past few years. If you want to catch up, you can reach each of my reviews on each different release below:

• Las Calaveras 2014
• Las Calaveras 2015
• Las Calaveras 2016
• Las Calaveras 2017
• Las Calaveras 2018
• Las Calaveras 2019
• Las Calaveras 2020

Created at the My Father Cigars S.A factory in Nicaragua, this year’s version utilizes an Ecuadorian Sumatran Oscar wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The cigar is offered in 4 sizes: the LC48 (6 x 48), the LC 50 (5 x 50), the LC54 (5 3/4 x 54) and the Petit Lancero (6 1/2 x 40). All of which are offered in boxes of 24 with the exception of the Petit Lancero which is only available in a 4pk sampler which includes one of each format. The Las Calaveras 2021 runs between $10.95 and $12.95 a stick. I purchased mine over from our friends at Cigars International.

• Size: 6 x 48
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatran Oscuro
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $10.95

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2021 starts out with an extremely consistent, milk chocolate brown wrapper. The wrapper itself feels decently thick, dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is a little on the softer side. The wrapper carries some slight tooth and a good amount of oils coat the body. There are some very mild veins and nice tobacco webbing covering the cigar’s long, slender body leading up to it’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the standard band we have come to expect from this release, only this time in yellow containing the year: “EL 2021”, the “Las Calaveras” crest, and “Esteli, Nicaragua” on the front. There is also a gold and black foot band that carries the Crowned Heads logo embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras gives off only some slight cocoa and sweet herbal scents while the foot of the cigar is much more earthy with lots of musk, dirt, spice and moss aromas. the cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great black cherry, cocoa, nutmeg, and musk flavors. Note: There will be no pairing on this review as well. I am on antibiotics and don’t want to mix the two.

First Third:

The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2021 starts off with a very subtle cayenne pepper punch which is only really noticeable on my lips, while the rest of the cigar showcases some great cedar, dark chocolate, black cherry, light coffee and vanilla notes. The draw is great as each puff releases a decent amount of thick, gray smoke which dissipates very quickly while the cigar itself releases almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a little wavy, but not concerning at all and very thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted dark gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2021 and the flavors have balanced out a bit with dark chocolate and cedar at the forefront backed by vanilla, black cherry, cashew, and light coffee. The retrohale is great and brings out an awesome spice and citrus zest that I don’t really pick up during the standard smoking experience. The burnline is now dead even and I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2021 and the only real change up is the black cherry has turned into this nice tart woodiness. Outside of that the dark chocolate and cedar still lead the charge backed by cashew and light coffee over a ton of musk. It took me an hour and a half fo some this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat. I never once had to break out my torch to touchup or relight the cigar and I experienced only a minor bit of nicotine.

Overview:

Not a year passes that I don’t look forward to the release of the Las Calaveras. Not only do I love the blends, but also the meaning behind it as I have lost so many loved ones over the past few years. This year I felt the blend took a little different approach by creating a lighter body experience, yet still delivering some great, complex flavors. While it wasn’t my favorite Las Calaveras blend due mostly to the subjective flavors (I normally gravitate to something a bit more full-body), the cigar still delivered and provided an excellent experience.

The post The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2021 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

You can purchase the Shadow King from our site sponsor Famous Smoke Shop. Make sure to use coupon code “CASASAVINGS” for $15 off orders over $100.

THE FACTS

Price: $6.50
Vitola: Churchill
Size: 7 by 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Honduran
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 50 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

Shadow King by AJ Fernandez wears a beautiful, oily medium brown Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro wrapper that has some marbleization, mostly small veins, and a very fine tooth. The cigar is smooth to the touch and evenly filled from head to foot. 

An aroma of chicken coop, earth and vinegar come across as I bring the wrapper to my nose and the same pungent aroma is found on the foot, accompanied by some cedar and black pepper. The lines on the double cap are straight and, upon cutting the cap, a beautiful draw opens up with a sweet berry flavor, rich cedar, and some cinnamon.

FIRST THIRD

Shadow King Churchill opens up with a mixture of sour wood and pencil shavings, along with some leather and black pepper spice. The medium spice is hitting the back of my throat resulting in a minor itch. The carbon line is thin as the cigar burns evenly and an earth flavor lingers on the finish of the smoke.

MIDDLE THIRD

As I make my way into the second third of this 7 by 50 cigar, the flavors remain similar with the prior third. The flavors are medium in strength and the smoke is smooth in the mouth. As I pass the smoke through my nose, the spice is sharp, but just short of overwhelming. The carbon line has thickened, but the Shadow King continues to burn nice and even. Its at the halfway point that the body and flavors step up a notch.

FINAL THIRD

The sour wood has become the dominant flavor in the Shadow King with the last third underway. The sour wood is followed by a combo of leather and spice. As I near the last few inches, the smoke is now creamy in the mouth and a cocoa sweetness has joined the profile. With the sweetness moving in, the sourness is being pushed to the side and the flavors are balanced. 

WRAP-UP

Shadow King showed a linear profile with not much evolution until I reached the last few inches of the cigar. A consistent profile is not necessarily a bad thing, but, in a Churchill size, it left me wanting for. I really appreciated the cocoa and sweetness in the last couple inches and it was a great end to the cigar and it makes me think that a smaller vitola, like a robusto, may show more complexity. But with that said, the Shadow King Churchill burned effortlessly with a dead even burn and solid ash. AJ Fernandez certainly knows how to make a solid performing cigar. For the price, give it a shot. The next time I do, I will be smoking the robusto.

The post AJ Fernandez – Shadow King, a Famous Smoke Shop Exclusive appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Jeremy Hensley is a bean counter for a non-profit in El Paso, Texas.  He is married to the most understanding  wife (he still can’t figure out how she puts up with his cigar smoking hobby), and blessed with two beautiful children.   When he is not acting like a kid,  he enjoys everything outdoors, especially fishing with his dad in the Great Lakes. Also, he meets the criteria of being a Casa Fumando reviewer: being a hockey fan.  Feel free to contact Jeremy anytime via email (jmhensley13[at]gmail[dot]com). And make sure to follow him on twitter @pdn_jdog

And now… Onto his review of the 1502 Black Gold!

After a few days of smoking in cold weather, I now have a much deeper respect for Daniel T. and the suffering he goes through to get reviews up during the chilly Canadian winters….Kudos.  Following up with last week’s review of the 1502 Ruby, I will be smoking the 1502 Black Gold.  For a little background on the 1502 brand you can see my review of the 1502 Ruby here or visit http://globalpremiumcigars.com.  This is what Global Premium Cigars’ website has to say about the 1502 Black Gold: 

“If you like strong cigars, you’ll definitely love this one. This particular cigar is made to satisfy the discerning smoker who enjoys bold and strong flavors. It has a double binder and long filler from Nicaragua. With its natural Maduro sun-grown tobacco wrapper, nurtured with all the natural elements where it gets its flavor, especially its strength and character.”

The Facts
Price: Samples Provided by Emilio Cigars
Format: Box Pressed Torpedo
Size: 6 ½ by 52
Wrapper: Country Unknown (Maduro Sun-Grown)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Pairing: Water
Smoke Time: 1 hour 27 minutes

* The 1502 Ruby reviewed last week was the torpedo measuring in at 6 ½ by 52, not the 6 by 50 (which is the toro) stated in the review.  My sincerest apologies.

Pre-light

The band on the Black Gold is identical to the Ruby other than the band being primarily black and, of course, containing the words “Black Gold” instead of “Ruby”.  As I remove the cellophane, I am greeted with a very acidic, pungent smell off the wrapper much like vinegar.   Laying behind the scenes are common maduro aromas of barnyard, black pepper, and a chocolatey sweetness. The wrapper is very dark, almost oscuro.  Not only do the oils on the wrapper come to life in the light, they are easily noticed on the touch.  Two prominent veins run down the entire side of the cigar and the wrapper seam is easily noticed.

To the touch, the cigar feels firmly packed, giving just slightly.  Like the 1502 Ruby, the wrapper hangs over the foot of the cigar.  Enrique Sanchez, owner of 1502 Cigars, informed me that they named this style of foot “The Cigar Lock”.  Stay on the lookout for a video explaining why and how it is made.  The foot highlights black tea with a touch of sweetness.  The cold draw brings out rich tobacco notes with a nice spice on the tongue.  Between the cold draw and the aromas off the wrapper,  I am really excited to give this bad boy a try.

First Third

The maduro richness is coming right through with notes of molasses, cocoa, pepper, yeast, and spice that rolls across the entire palette.  Going back to the vinegar off the wrapper, the spice is much like a pickled jalapeno.  Very enjoyable.  As I pass the smoke through my nasal passage, the pepper and woodsy notes are highlighted. However, the spice is a little much for me on the retrohale.  Each 1502 cigar I have smoked has had an almost perfect, if not perfect, draw and this cigar is no different.  The ash held strong for just over an inch before dropping in  the ashtray (that is extremely rare).    As the cigar burns, you can easily see how thick the wrapper is on the 1502 Black Gold, which is perfect for this winter like weather we have been experiencing in the 915.  As I conclude the first third, the flavors and strength are both on the high side of medium.

Middle Third

The flavors really begin to mesh and balance out as I enter into the second third.  My wife gifted me a french press coffee maker a few years back that I am absolutely in love with, and the profile is much like a french pressed Columbian roast.  Dark coffee notes balanced with a chocolate sweetness.  The smoke coats my mouth, leaving an oily texture across my palette.  Flavors have been jumping back in forth from the coffee and sweetness to the pepper and spice hit.  Coming to the end of this third, I have come across a black tea flavor that is very refreshing.  Smoke is creamy and full-bodied providing a depth of flavors.  The burn has stayed wavy up to this point requiring a few  touchups.

Final Third

I made a mighty entrance into the final third by dropping the ash on my lap. Did I mention how extremely rare it is for me to make it into the ashtray?  The filler tobacco is burning much quicker than the wrapper leaf.  The thickness of the sun-grown maduro wrapper leaf could be the contributing factor to this.  I am picking up toasty, bread-like notes.  Also, a flavor I picked up in the middle third, but was unable to identify, has come to the front.  Very car oil like.  The chocolate and spice are hanging in the background with a dusty chocolate on the finish. The cigar has shifted to the next level. The savoriness and richness of the Black Gold is intense. I am loving the oily texture the smoke is leaving in my mouth.  As I put this cigar to a close, I am feeling a nicotine buzz but it is not overwhelming.  The hearty dinner I ate (rib eye and mashed potatoes) has offset the nicotine I would normally be feeling at this point.  The burn line has corrected itself, leaving me with an ash just over an inch and half.

Wrap-up

First off, I want to give a big “Thank You” to Gary Griffith for providing the 1502 samples.  1502 Cigars really has something going for themselves with this stick.   The flavor profile and strength of this cigar was right up my alley.  The sweetness that pulled through made this cigar an excellent dessert right after a great dinner.  The 1502 Black Gold is a rich, savory smoke that I could see myself revisiting often.   The only issue I see is trying to find this cigar in the El Paso area. But hey, you never know.

The post The Casas Fumando Family Grows! (+ 1502 Black Gold Review) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: As I stated, the Añoranza debuted at this year’s IPCPR show in Orlando. The word “Añoranza” means “longing” or “yearning” in Spanish. Miami Cigars clarifies this on their site:

“Often when we smoke, we reflect on times gone by and look back to a period of our lives we miss and wish we could go back to. This is Añoranza.”

There you have it. The Añoranza starts with a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper, bound by Nicaraguan grown binder and filled with Nicaraguan grown leaf. The Añoranza will come in four boxed pressed sizes (Robusto, Toro, Belicoso, and Gran Toro) and will come in boxes of 20 running $6.50 – $8.50 a stick. Barry from Miami Cigar sent me a few of these and I tore right through them. Luckily I was able to find a few more.

Size: Toro 6 x 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $7.50
Pairing: Unibroue Terrible (10.5% ABV)

Prelight: I just love all these box pressed cigars that have been coming out as of late. Miami Cigar’s Añoranza is just another cigar to add to that list. The Añoranza starts out with a beautiful wide box-press wrapped in a very rich, oily, consistently dark brown wrapper. This wrapper is a beauty sporting only a few small veins throughout the body leading up to the round, triple cap. The wrapper on this cigar feels tough as nails and the cigar has very little give as I squeeze the cigar between my fingers. Perfect construction, no soft spots, and an all around pleasure to look at. The Añoranza is polished off with an elegant white, gold, and green band containing the “Añoranza” crest as well as the new, standard, Miami Cigar logo on the back with some neat little “old wallpaper” feeling design. I can dig it.

The wrapper gives off a wonderfully strong, cedar and spice aroma while the foot of the cigar has hints of spice, tobacco, chocolate, and pepper. The cap was very easy to cut using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produced by the Añoranza is very oaty, grainy and natural with lots of cedar tones to it. It’s definitely interesting and I hope some of these natural flavors make their way into the smoking experience.

First Smoke: Right off the bat I was greeted with a nice blast of unexpected black pepper. I did pick up a bit of black pepper during the pre-light, but most of the aromas and flavors were more subtle so I wasn’t expecting so much from the start. It was a nice surprise. After the pepper quickly faded the Añoranza left me with some really strong cedar, strong black cherry, subtle chocolate, and leather with some neat little spice notes. I really wasn’t expecting as much flavor from this cigar as I am getting in this first third. This cigar kicks out a whole ton of thick smoke with every single, little puff. It’s intense. I’m not sure exactly what causes this (outside of great rolling) but this is another trend that I’ve notice in a lot of the cigars I have been smoking lately. The burnline is dead even leaving behind a brilliant trail of thick, compacted, white and dark grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch and a half before falling to it’s death in my ashtray.

Halfway There: The flavors have began to drop out of this Añoranza. It’s not getting dull or anything, but that flavor bomb of a start was the introduction to the smoother, creamier, softer second third. The main flavor is still a strong cedar with some backing cherry along with the chocolate and tobacco with some very subtle spice.  The retrohale is much of the same, but VERY sharp, leading off with the cedar and some strong chocolate notes. The burnline is still perfectly even and razor sharp while I haven’t felt a lick of nicotine as I finish the second third.

Finish: I’m starting to get this very potent brown sugar flavor from this cigar now. It’s strange that it showed up into the final third cause it’s more of an organic flavor, meaning I can actually taste it on my lips and tongue, not just through the smoke in the cigar. It’s interesting. On top of that the already strong cedar has started to ramp up a bit along with the strength in the cigar. The cherry has really settled down and more of the tobacco, sweetness has started to take over. All in all this cigar took about 1.75 hours to smoke down to the nub with absolutely no harshness or heat. I did feel a slight nicotine kick towards the end but I am sure that the stronger beer I was finishing up had something to do with that.

Overview: I spent some time with Barry in Miami a while back and he talked very highly about this cigar. One thing I always admired about him was his honestly so I would be lying if I were to say I hadn’t been excited to finally try this cigar for myself. Did the Añoranza disappoint? Not in the slightest. This was a flavor bomb in the best way possible. Lots of complex flavors, tons of changeups, and an overall smooth and creamy experience with a pleasurable finish. This is one of the best cigars to come out of Miami Cigar for quite some time and given the price point I think this is an ideal box purchase for novice smokers looking for that extra “oomph” and any seasoned cigar smoker. On a side note, it’s been mentioned in the comments section that some of you aren’t a fan of these overly cedar flavored cigars. I totally understand that, it’s all subjective and if that’s the case, this cigar packs a ton. But I for one, am a sucker for a deep, balanced, cedar-lead cigar and this cigar fits that profile to a tee. It’s not overbearing and I hope you don’t get that from this review. Try it yourself, let me know what your thoughts are!

Pairing: Everyone who reads this blog should be familiar with the Canadian brewery Unibroue by now. Daniel and I drink brews by Unibroue quite often, but this may be the first time this beer in particular has showed up in one of my reviews. My wife recently bombed the hell out of me with some awesome beers on my birthday. She knows I liked Belgian so she scooped up plenty of those. And she knew I liked high ABV. Beers, this is where the Terrible came into play. Brewed at the Unibroue brewery in Quebec, this “Dark Ale on Lees” packs a punch coming in at 10.5% ABV. This Belgian style strong ale is particularly interesting with the choice of spices included in the brewing process. Because of this, you are left with a very strong, cherry, grape, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, banana, malty flavored beer. It’s a flavor bomb, and not for the faint of heart. Smoking the Añoranza before I knew what the cigar packed in the flavor department and wanted to find a beer that could produce the same. Needless to say the Terrible was a great match for the Añoranza. The fruity, spicy flavors were a match made in heaven. It was really interesting to see the cigar actually help me pick up some subtle flavors (like banana and vanilla) in the beer, usually it’s the other way around. This cigar would go great with any dark ale, stout, porter or port wine.

The post Miami Cigar – Añoranza appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with the My Father Cigars brand, they are synonymous with awesome cigars. Jaime Garcia decided a long while ago to create a more wallet friendly line to add to the My Father Cigars inventory, and this is how the La Reloba line was born.

Just like most brands from the My Father lines, the La Reloba is a Nicaraguan puro made with high quality and aged tobacco leafs from their various farms. There are 3 wrappers offered in the La Reloba line which are Seleccion Sumatra, Seleccion Habano and Seleccion Mexico(Maduro). I also found some inklings online about a limited release Seleccion Oscura although I only can find them at one online source and they aren’t listed on the My Father Cigars website.

In the line of La Reloba we have 4 sizes which include the Corona, Robusto, Toro and Torpedo. Today’s cigar up for review is the Corona vitola which I’ve had the chance to smoke a few of. I had the Habano on hand but I haven’t had as many of them plus I decided to settle on a slightly milder blend since I was lighting this up just after lunch time.

Cigar: La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra by My Father Cigars
Drink: Unibroue Raftman
Vitola: Corona (5.625 x 46)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Around $4
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra is wrapped with a fairly smooth leaf to the touch but the cigar itself is rather bumpy
• There are quite a few visible veins on the wrapper but none of them are very large, medium sized at most, and don’t look like they will cause any burn issues
• The orangey-chocolate colored wrapper has a nice oily sheen to it and the triple cap is finished with a couple loose edges
• From a little squeezing it’s easy to tell this is a very firm cigar and I hope that doesn’t cause any issues
• The foot looks extremely well packed, tons of leaf in there
• Cutting this cigar with my double bladed guillotine cutter was fairly easy but it caused a huge explosion of little pieces of tobacco

Burn:
• The toasting was very nice, even on this windy day it glowed evenly without much effort
• The initial burn looks promising and is keeping a razor sharp and even line
• The razor sharp burn continues through the first half, no touch ups needed at all and it’s letting me enjoy it nice and slow
• Great burn continued right to the end, nothing much else to report here!

Smoke & Ash:
• For a fairly small cigar this La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra is pumping out a ton of smoke from every draw
• Surprisingly though, the resting smoke is almost non-existent, as if it’s saving it all for me! lol
• The ash has a wonderful light grey, almost white color to it and is very smooth
• Despite being a smaller ring gauge cigar, the ash here is very strong and clean and held on over an inch before I tapped it off
• The crazy winds knocked off my next ash just short of an inch, missed a picture opportunity too
• Also realized the wind blew most of the ash right out of the ashtray!

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper is giving off a barnyard and cedar aroma
• The foot brings a ton more barnyard aroma with almost no cedar, maybe just a touch of spice in there too
• The pre-light draw brings more of the barnyard and woodsy aromas, and maybe a touch of earth now too
• The initial flavors coming from this cigar are all about the woodsiness and spices, I’m getting an interesting punch of cloves along with a mild paprika maybe
• The spice died down a bit and I’m left with a bit of a leathery flavor to go with the cedar notes
• At nearly the halfway mark I’m starting to get some of the baking spice flavors that I find in almost every Sumatra wrapped cigar I have, sort of like some molasses and cinnamon
• The body on this cigar has been mostly in the low medium range and the retro hale has been giving a tiny bite with a smooth cedar finish
• The cedar and baking spices stuck through to the end and made for a nice enjoyable experience right to the nub
• No harshness or bitter buildup right to the finish

Final Thoughts:
This isn’t my first foray into the La Reloba series and it definitely won’t be my last. The La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra was a tasty treat that had a nice array of flavors to keep me interested the whole way through. It wasn’t as complex or dimensional as some of the other My Father Cigars but it was definitely enjoyable and fits nicely into their inventory. The burn was also spot on the whole way through which is always a big plus for me. The price is also very attractive for a quality cigar from the My Father Factory. I also have to admit I was surprised to see such a great burn and draw from this cigar when my initial inspection led to some concerns. Can’t complain at all about this cigar and I definitely will be picking up more in the future!

Pairings:
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. I found that it paired very well with the La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra as it added some flavors to the whole experience without either the cigar or the beer being overbearing on each other. Any medium bodied brew would go well here such as an Amber lager or even a dark ale, a nice coffee would definitely pair nicely here too.

The post La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Courtesy of www.CigarsInternational.com

With Tony away this week I wanted to fill the week with at least two reviews. Seems that time was not on my side though as a co-worker has also been off all week and his workload got dumped on me. Yeay! But have no fear, I did some digging and found this blind review that I never had the chance to post. I think you all know how much I enjoy doing these blind reviews so I’m not sure how this one slipped through the cracks.

As a caution, this was done many moons ago so the pictures admittedly suck and I’m glad to see how much I’ve improved over time! lol. (I can’t believe I used to use the flash, I’m sorry about that! haha) So bear with me on that, I promise some better pictures next week! I’m not sure on the exact date that I wrote this but I believe it was at least a year and a half ago, somewhere in early 2010 or possibly even late 2009. I happened to find it on one of my hard-drives from a crashed laptop. Glad I’m a pack-rat when it comes to electronic junk!

The cigar ended up being a La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte which is one of the growing number of exclusive cigars from Cigars International. It is also another blend from the great AJ Fernandez who has turned out some excellent cigars lately such as the recently reviewed San Lotano Oval and the Man O’ War Armada. Both of which received excellent reviews from us. The cigar being reviewed today is a much older blend and packed with some Ligero long-filler. It’s currently offered in 4 vitolas at very fair prices. Let’s see how it faired in my blind impressions.

Cigar: La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Robusto (5.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $4.20
Burn Time: A little under 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The cigar is wrapped in a very dark chocolate brown wrapper
• Lots of veins but none of them very large and don’t look to pose any potential problems
• Foot is soft and springy but head is fairly firm when squeezed lightly
• No oiliness on this wrapper, it actually appears a bit dry
• Clean triple cap to finish off the top of the cigar
• Foot looks graciously packed and full
• Cutting the cigar with my double bladed guillotine was a little messy, but nothing major
• Draw is good right off the start, I like that!

Burn:
• Toasting was mostly even although there was one dark spot in the center that just wouldn’t catch
• As we progress, the burn has been dead on and razor sharp through the first-half
• Just past half-way got a slight wave in the burn that ended up correcting itself
• Had another peninsula form past the halfway mark that seems to be correcting itself slowly
• The last half of the cigar needed a few more draws to keep lit although the first half was burning nicely
• Burn took a turn for the worst near the last 3rd, hard to keep lit and very wavy

Smoke & Ash:
• Giving off a big mouthful of smoke from each draw
• Resting smoke is almost non-existent and a very light burning tobacco aroma
• Ash is light grey in color with the occasional darker streaks
• The ash is tightly packed and appears strong so far
• Each ash lasted a little short of 1 inch and made an explosion when they hit the ashtray, not sure why but it was definitely messy

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has aromas of cocoa and a barnyard/hay type of scent
• Foot aroma is of cocoa and a touch of spice on the nose, almost a mild pepper
• Pre-light draw is mostly the barnyard/hay type of flavor and a bit of the spice
• Initial draws are nutty, earthy and a touch of spice, it’s also very dry on the back of my throat
• Getting a toasted wood flavor about an inch in
• Retrohale is medium bodied with a barnyard flavor and a very mild kick
• The body has been medium right from the start
• Flavors haven’t changed much up to the half-way mark and its still very dry
• Passing the halfway mark, the only flavor left is burning wood and getting a bitterness here too
• The bland flavor and bitterness stuck through to the end, disappointing considering the first half was very good
• The bitterness got too powerful in the last 1.5 inches, had to put it down…
• I’m pretty sure the poor burn factored into the harsh flavors here since the good burning start had much more enjoyable flavors

Final Thoughts:
I think you can tell from my notes that I wasn’t too impressed by this cigar. It started off pretty decent but unfortunately the flavors didn’t change much and only dwindled away as the cigar progressed. The extreme bitterness at the end was also a big disappointment. I’m not sure if it was just a bad stick from the batch since I haven’t had this cigar before. That’s probably one of the main downsides of a blind review, a single bad stick could ruin your impressions on that cigar for the future. Even with it’s incredibly cheap price I think I’ll be avoiding this cigar in the future unless I get some glowing recommendations from a lot of people.

Pairings:
The brew I chose to pair today is from the local Toronto based brewery called Mill Street. This is their Coffee Porter which as the name implies, is a Coffee flavored Porter (Complicated, right? ;)). I’m a big fan of this brew to pair with cigars, it’s got a full feel to it and the coffee notes pair excellently with cigars. I wrote up a full review on the brew if you are interested, you can find it here. It’s also made locally and I love supporting local business whenever possible. This was probably the highlight of the review for me and I really enjoyed the brew. As I mentioned, it pairs excellently with a variety of cigars including full and mild. It paired well with the La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte and complimented the initial good notes I got from the cigar. I would definitely suggest a strong pairing with this cigar to combat the harshness I got on the end, something like a Porto, Stout of strong coffee would go well.

The post La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte (Blind Review) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Nestor Miranda is the founder of the Miami Cigars and Company and has recently started producing his own blends that come attached to his name. These include the Nestor Miranda Collection 1989, the newer Nestor Miranda Special Selection and the recent Casa Miranda. The Art Deco cigar also carries the Nestor Miranda blend and is currently sold in 3 vitolas, all of which are over 50 ring gauge.

The Art Deco is a joint effort effort between Nestor Miranda & José Pepin Garcia. I think we all know that Don Garcia is no stranger to success in the cigar industry and if he has a hand in the blending, you can usually be guaranteed it will be a quality cigar. The blend consists of 60% Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and 40% Dominican San Vicente, plus Dominican Criollo ’98 & Nicaraguan Habano 2000 binders rolled and triple-capped in dark, shimmering Nicaraguan Corojo ’06.

I actually picked up this cigar as part of a box set which included 4 Nestor Miranda Special Selection Ruky’s (2 Oscuro and 2 Rosado) along with an Art Deco. I’ve also enjoyed a few singles of the Robusto Grande vitola bought separately. I want to mention how awesome I think this band is. It’s so retro and different and the colors really pop. The cigars are also packaged in retro tins with the same neat design. But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover! So I think that’s enough chatter, let’s get onto the review

Cigar: Nestor Miranda Art Deco
Drink: Unibroue Don De Dieu
Vitola: Robusto Grande (5.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo ’06
Binder: Dominican Criollo ’98 & Nicaraguan Habano ’00
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 & Dominican San Vincente
Price: $8.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• This looks to be a wonderfully constructed cigar, very even in diameter with a dark golden brown wrapper
• The whole cigar is very firm when squeezed and has almost no bumps on the wrapper
• The head of the cigar is finished off with an extremely clean triple cap, it’s easy to see some extra care went into making this cigar
• The foot looks to be mostly well packed with a one gap that looks a bit under-filled
• The cut was fairly easy despite the firmness of the cigar
• The draw seems to be a bit more open than I’d typically like but it’s not terrible
• Seems that the draw tightened up a bit near the halfway mark making for a perfect draw each time

Burn:
• The cigar toasting was very easy with a short time frame to get the foot evenly glowing
• The initial burn was a bit wavy but it quickly corrected itself and started burning razor sharp after that
• Through the first half I have no complaints about the burn here, it’s still razor sharp and requires zero attention from me

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke from each draw is fairly full but it’s actually not that thick in density
• The resting smoke here is almost non existent at times, it’s a very friendly cigar to have while non-smokers may be nearby
• The ash is starting off with a nice light gray color and looks to be tight and clean
• I’m getting some awesome striping on the ash and its staying clean and strong
• It lasted nearly 2 inches before making an awesome nosedive into the ashtray. A perfect 10 anyone???
• The next ash only lasted about an inch but it stayed clean and crisp and fell off easily into the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on this cigar gives a strong earthy and barnyard aroma with a touch of cedar
• The aroma on the foot carries through with the earthy and cedar notes but adds in a slightly sweet spice, maybe of raw cinnamon
• The pre-light daw brings an interesting mix of sweet notes on top of the cedar, possibly some dried cherries
• Initial flavors are stong in the cedar department with that slightly dried cherry taste in there, very interesting!
• The cedar has stuck around through the first inch but the initial sweetness has tapered off a bit
• For the most part, the cigar has started off in the low end of the medium range with a small bite on the retrohale
• As I continue along, I’m getting a bit of leather and the initial earthy aromas are making an appearance in the flavor department now
• As I pass the halfway mark, the mix of cedar, leather and earth has me seeking a little something more. It’s not bad or harsh but I feel like there’s something missing since the sweetness disappeared…
• As the cigar continued I started getting a bit of the sweetness returning here and there along with some slight nuttiness
• The body is building ever so slowly in the last third, heading into the high medium range
• Some toasted nutty/almond flavors are making this last third a lot more interesting along with the dried cherry sweetness that keeps rearing it’s head here and there
• The nice final mixture of flavors stuck through to the nub with almost no harshness, a very nice finish

Final Thoughts:
As with all of the Miami Cigar offerings I seem to come into them with high hopes. They’ve had such a great track record recently that I only expect the best. The Nestor Miranda Art Deco is a well balanced cigar with a variety of flavors. The first and last 3rds of the cigar were interesting and kept me on my toes but the middle portion seemed to lack something. The burn was excellent the whole way through and overall construction was top notch. The price is also very reasonable so it’s something I would probably buy again, perhaps in the Coffee Break vitola (4.5 x 50). I think that size may be the sweet spot and keep the interesting flavors going from start to finish. If you like a good medium smoke with an interesting profile these are worth checking out.

Added note: I asked Tony his thoughts here and he’s only smoked the Coffee Break vitola and loved it. I’ve only had the Robusto Grande, so I think my guess that a smaller vitola would make this cigar great is probably a good guess!

Pairings:
So this beer comes with a funny sort of story.  I’ve done a few other reviews with Unibroue brews and always loved them, not to mention they are also Canadian which is a plus in my eyes!  Unfortunately, most of their brews are actually not even available for me to purchase cause of the ridiculous taxes and restrictions in my province. The brewery is only about a 5 hour drive away, but it’s in another province… So, I actually picked this bottle up in Florida. Yes, that’s right. I drove 1600 miles away from the brewery to actually buy it! I guess that speaks to the silliness of our taxes here! lol
Enough of my complaining, let’s move onto the actual beer. I had no idea what to expect from this as I’ve never had it before and the bottle doesn’t really explain what type of beer it is. The name of this beer, “Don De Dieu” literally translates to “Gift from God” so I figured it can’t be that bad!
After doing a bit of research, I found out this is a triple fermented wheat beer that is also unfiltered, giving it a cloudy appearance in the glass. The flavors in this brew are excellent, mixing a little bit of fruit, maybe some vanilla and very smooth malty finish. This is not your average wheat beer though, it packs in 9% ABV and the triple fermentation without filtration makes it feel a lot fuller bodied than you might expect. I found it to be an excellent pairing with the Nestor Miranda Art Deco as it offered up lots of interesting flavors. I think a fine tawny port would also be an excellent pairing here or perhaps keep it simple with a dark soda.

The post Nestor Miranda Art Deco Robusto Grande appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Miami Cigar & Company is a distributor of some fantastic cigars and has given us such names as Leon Jimenes, La Aurora, Nestor Miranda and Don Lino. Make sure to visit their website and read more about their products and the company at: www.MiamiCigarandCompany.com. Not long ago they ventured into creating their own house blend cigar which turned into the Calibre 58 creations.

These new cigars were graciously sent to us from our friends over at Miami Cigar & Company. The Calibre 58 is offered in two sizes and two different wrappers. The sizes they created were non-standard but offer something different to the cigar enthusiast in us. The two shapes are what resembles a Short Churchill and a Short Torpedo, both measuring in with a 58 ring gauge. The wrappers offered for the Calibre 58 are a Nicaraguan Rosado and Oscuro.

Up for review today is the Short Churchill version of the Calibre 58 wrapped in the Nicaraguan Rosado wrapper. There’s a couple things to note about this cigar. Firstly, this is a Nicaraguan Puro, which means all the tobacco leaves used come from the country of Nicaragua. Secondly, this is a pre-release version which means that future releases could see some differences such as the addition of bands or slight changes in the blend.

Cigar: Miami Cigar & Company Calibre 58
Drink: Quinta de Infantado Tawny Port (2004)
Vitola: Short Churchill (4 x 58)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Around $5-6
Burn Time: 1 Hour

Construction:
• Very even diameter throughout the length of the cigar
• A couple prominent veins but none seem big enough to cause any burn problems
• Fairly firm from end to end with just a tiny bit of spring
• Very cleanly applied triple cap
• The foot appears to be very well packed
• The large ring gauge just fit barely into by double blade cutter but it did cut nice and clean, you might need scissors or a punch cutter if your guillotine style doesn’t fit large ring gauges
• A small crack formed near the head but it never caused any problems

Burn:
• Toasting took a fairly long amount of time but it did toast up nice and evenly with no dark spots
• Burning very slowly, needs a few extra draws to stay lit but nothing overwhelming
• Burn has been fairly even through the first inch although it did require one minor touch up
• Almost went out near the halfway point, needing a little more attention now
• Some more touch-ups as the cigar burns, I seem to have this problem a lot with large ring gauge cigar, possibly because I smoke them very slowly when reviewing

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke right off the first draw
• Moderate amount of resting smoke giving off a nice woodsy aroma
• Ash appears extremely strong in the first inch of the cigar with no flaking
• First ash fell off at about 1.5 inches, it probably could have held on longer if it wasn’t for some touch-ups

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is mostly cedar with some hints of earthiness
• The foot brings more cedar and a sweet nutmeg type spice
• Pre-light draw has more cedar and some pepper mixed in with the nutmeg spice
• Initial draws bring flavors or toasted wood and some peppery spice
• Retrohale starting off with lots of cedar and a smooth spicy finish, just a small bit of kick
• About 1 inch in some of the nutmeg spice is making a more prominent appearance and the pepper has settled down, just getting minor hints of it here and there
• Some added earthiness is joining the flavor mix, they all seem to be well balanced so far
• Passing the halfway mark there is some creaminess being added to the mix and despite the touchups there has been little to no harshness
• Body started off a bit mild and has slowly made it’s way up to medium
• The creaminess also added itself to the finish of the retrohale, nice and smooth and the bite has gotten a little more aggressive
• Body definitely picking up as I approach the last inch, also feeling a bit of nicotine kick, surprising for this short vitola cigar
• Used a toothpick near the end to maximize nubbing since there was very little harshness

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this cigar and I think most people would. It had some peppery spice at the start and end but not a very in-your-face type of pepper that usually turns me away. It was fairly balanced throughout and had a fair bit of dimensionality considering it’s shorter length. It does kick into full gear near the end so novice smokers may need to be careful here. A good drink is key here, something with some sugar in it will help reduce to nicotine kick you get. The burn required some touchups but it was never major, just make sure to keep some constant draws and it should burn no problem. For the price it’s worth picking up a few of these and trying them out. I’m curious to see if they change the blend at all on the official release but I’ll try another one when they come out regardless.

Pairings:
I finished off my last bottle of Quinta de Infantado Tawny Port with this cigar. You can read more about this port from this review of the Tatuaje Verocu Red Tubo. This paired very well with this cigar. I find that the sugar in port helps reduce any nicotine kick in stronger cigars. The oaky flavors also matched nicely with the cedar/woodsy notes and the spicy notes in this cigar. A good porter/stout, sweet tea or a dark soda would also pair nicely here.

The post Miami Cigar & Company – Calibre 58 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

These cigars were a special gift to me, and came in plenty. So Expect quite a few reviews popping up pretty fast.

Drew Estate - Liga Privada No. 9 Belicoso Oscuro

The Good Stuff: Drew Estate’s Liga Privada No. 9 or “Private League” is one of Drew Estate’s rarest cigars, if not the rarest. La Liga Privada was created for the sole purpose of Drew Estate’s President’s personal smoking pleasure. Basically the creation of these cigars stemmed from 10 starting blends. From those 10 blends 4 unique blends were expanded for a total of 40 blends. Each blend was sampled but none were approved until the 9th starting blend (32 cigars later) resulting in the “No. 9” in “Liga Privada No. 9”.  Liga Privada No. 9 consists of 7 different cuban-seed aged tobaccos from 7 different farms from 7 different regions including The Jamastran Valley in Honduras, and Esteli Nicaragua. The wrapper is a dark, Connecticut Broadleaf with a Brazilian Mata Fina binder. As all of Drew Estate’s cigars, these are handmade. It is said that only the best “cigar roller” in the factory rolls these special cigars.

Size: 6 x 52 Belicoso  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf  –  Filler: Hoduran and Dominican

Prelight: Liga Privada No. 9 sports a very, very dark, oily wrapper. Another flawless constructed cigar (would you expect any less?). There are absolutely no visible soft spots and only small veins. The cap is very “torpedoesque” but a lot stubbier. The cigar itself is very tightly packed which made me question it’s draw potential. The cigar is very earthly/cedar scented. The banding has to be my favorite I have seen come out of Drew Estate. A silver lion embossed on a simple white matte band with light silver Drew Estate branding hidden behind the words “Liga Privada No. 9” – handwritten.

First Smoke: As always, I will be using my Cuban Crafters “Perfecto” dual blade cutter, and a standard single flame colibri butane torch. The first few smokes were very light, and flavorful. The taste was that of cedar, strong/complex tobacco, and sweet spices (nutmeg?),  with an almost maple aftertaste. The flavors are very consistent, and just right. After a few puffs the cigar became increasingly strong. One of the first things I noticed was there were no bad tobacco aftertaste present after each draw. The draw itself wasn’t too big, but quite thick. Due to the strength of this cigar a bigger draw would have been a bit over-powering. I got a good inch and a half of ash before the first break.

Halfway there: One amazing thing about this cigar was the consistency. Halfway through the cigar and the taste and draws are as if I had just began smoking it. The main difference is the strength. The further down you smoke, the stronger this cigar becomes. The burn is perfect as well as the wrapper at this point. The draw is still really tight, maybe a bit tighter than I’d like. By this point I am already feeling a big light headed. Its been a long while since a single cigar hit me this hard. Maybe this is why the cigar was wrapped so tight?!

Finish: Again, I took this cigar all the way down to the nub. I would have gone further but it had to hit this cigar exceptionally hard due to the tight wrapping and it began taking its toll through heat on my lips. The finish was as expected; incredibly strong. This is one of the stronger cigars I have smoked. I actually threw in the towel earlier than I wanted to due to the heat and strength. By the time the cigar finished the wrapper was still in mint condition, as well as the almost perfect burn.

Overview: I feel incredibly lucky to get my hands on one of these bad boys. Again, I am an aromatic smoker, but this is one hell of a cigar. It’s key points have to be the incredibly smooth smoke, great aftertaste, and perfect sweetness. Will I have it again? I really hope so! Would I recommend it? You’d be stupid not to pay top dollar if you can find one of these on the shelf.

The post Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9 Belicoso Oscuro Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.