Well I still happened to have one of the blends he put together for that trip while at the Joya de Nicaragua factory and I’m putting on the chopping block for today’s review! Tony has another Drew Estate trip coming up tomorrow so I figured that would be an excellent segway. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a full report once he gets back.

There’s not much else to report here, Tony’s posts above give a great explanation of the factory and the process they followed to put these blends together. The wrapper on this guy is the same as the Joya De Nicaragua Dark Corojo (Of course Tony would go for the most powerful wrapper in the house! lol). As for the rest of the leaves, I don’t have the details but we know the cigar is a 100% Nicaraguan Puro, Tony may add some more details about this later on.

So without further adieu, let’s dive in to see what this special and SUPER rare limited edition cigar has in store for me…

Cigar: Joya de Nicaragua Anthony Casas LE 2012
Drink: Coffee
Vitola: Corona Gordo (5.75 x 46)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nigaraguan
Price: Priceless!
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The top of the cigar is finish with a nice and clean double cap
• At the bottom, we have a well packed foot with just a small hole near the middle
• The wrapper is seriously toothy and has some decent medium sized veins
• Cut was easy and I made it very small but still ended up with a perfectly drawing cigar
• From cap to foot, the whole cigar was quite firm with just a bit of give when I squeezed it

Burn:
• Toasting was even, easy and pretty fast leaving me with a nicely glowing foot
• It seemed that right off the bat the wrapper stopped burning and the cigar started tunneling a bit, I decided to give it a quick touch-up to help it along for now
• After my little correction we look to be off to a good start as the cigar starts to burn razor sharp
• A few more touchups were needed near the halfway mark as the burn started to go a little slanted
• Touchups continue through the rest of the cigar, and they are really affecting the flavors
• For a corona vitola, this cigar is burning super slow

Smoke & Ash:
• A good amount of smoke is coming from each easy draw, it’s not super dense but I’d say just about right
• So far the ash is looking to be a nice light grey color with some darker accents
• The resting smoke is pretty prominent and steady, pumping out a nice campfire aroma
• First ash tapped off around 3/4 of an inch, it was starting to look wobbly but still seemed clean and even
• The next couple of ashes were about the same length but they seem to be getting a little more flaky, possibly because of the touch-ups I’ve needed to do
• The cigar continues to pump out a ton of smoke right down to the end

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is giving off a sort of sweet cedar aroma to it
• From the foot , I’m getting more of that nice sweet cedar with a touch of cocoa
• Pre-light draw gave me an interesting burst of cinnamon flavors that was very tasty and unexpected
• Initial draws bring more of that sweet cedar and a touch of the cinnamon notes, very nice
• Before evening burning through the first inch I’m getting a bunch of spice starting to kick in, lots of pepper here now
• A bit of dryness on the back of my throat as I pass the first 3rd here
• The burn started to get a little wild around the half-way mark so the cigar has needed a few touchups here and there which has affected the flavor quite a bit
• Retrohale definitely has some bite to it and a dry finish
• Body has been mostly in the medium range but it’s definitely picking up a bit in the last half
• In the last half, i’m left with mostly a dry spice type of flavor and some burnt notes due to the touchups i’ve been doing
• Not much change up in flavors to the end but the burnt notes have continued due to the touch ups

Final Thoughts:
The pre-light aromas and the first half of this cigar were really quite tasty and exciting. Unfortunately they didn’t last the whole way through but overall it was quite a nice experience, especially with that cinnamon burst at the beginning. Tony is definitely well on his way to becoming a world class torecdor! Will be exciting to see what he comes up with on his next venture.

Pairings:
Just plain coffee today, I lit this one up a bit earlier in the day so the Scotch and Port bottles just were not appealing quite yet. I know it’s 5 o’clock somewhere but I’ll wait till my own timezone hits 5 today! The coffee did make for an excellent pairing though, especially with the cinnamon notes at the beginning. With the build up in spices and body, I would have really liked to have a sweeter pairing at that point. But coffee really is an awesome all-around pairing to have with a nice cigar.

The post Joya De Nicaragua Anthony Casas 2012 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The full name of this cigar is the Montecristo Epic Premium Selection ’07 and it was released about announced about a year ago in June 2012. Tony also did a full review on it not too long ago, read his thoughts over here. I’ve had the chance to light up a few of these so I thought I’d take the time to jot down some of my own notes on it as well and share it with our fine readers.

Now I’ve been a long-time critic of Altadis’ cigars in general but the last few newer releases have started to sway my opinion to the better side. The dark Ecuadorian Habano wrapper on this cigar does help it’s case, it is super oily and toothy and looks awesome. The aroma of the Montecristo Epic gives a nice cedar note on the nose and just a touch of spice in there. It’s topped off with a super clean cap and a well packed foot.

Lighting the cigar was a breeze and I had a nice glowing foot in no time at all. Smoke production on this bad-boy was also pretty hefty, pumping out some pretty big plumes through a nice and even draw. The flavors started out pretty exciting and interesting with lots of cedar backed by some peppery spices and a sort of dark fruity note. As the smoking continued, the fruity and spicy notes seemed to fade away and I was left with the cedar and some new instances of leathery notes.

I had a few burn issues I needed to tackle but none were major and didn’t ruin the experience much. Body stayed at around medium and the retrohale started off with a nice bite to it but ended up being mostly bland near the end with a bit of a cedar finish. As I stroll into the last 3rd I’m getting some espresso notes sneaking in here and the body is definitely jumping into the full range. I was able to get the Montecristo Epic down to a good sized nub before I put it down.

I’d have to say that the Montecristo Epic started out with a lot of promise and excitement but it slowly faded away into a decent, but not overly-impressive finish. I didn’t get the extreme tartness that Tony mentioned in his review and I wonder if the extra age had something to do with that. I ended up pairing it with a Mill Street Brewery Tankhouse Ale which is a tasty and malty American Pale Ale. I think I should have gone with something a little more bold to pair with this cigar though, perhaps some port or nice scotch. While the Montecristo Epic is one of the better cigars in Altadis Montecristo line-up, it wasn’t quite up my alley. But I do think there is a large group of people this will appeal to so give it a try and let us know what you think!

The post Quick Draw Episode 16 – Montecristo Epic Premium Selection ’07 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

On the chopping block is the Habano wrapped version of the Espinosa Cigars La Zona. If the Espinosa name sounds familiar it’s probably because you heard about it from the EO Brands cigar label where Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega worked together to create some very popular lines. Espinosa Cigars is Erik fairly new project and the La Zona line is one of his first few blends.

The La Zona line currently comes in two flavors, a Connecticut and the Habano, they are also only available in two sizes, Super Toro and Robusto. The only noticeable difference between the two blends is a slightly different color on the bands. The Connecticut had a sort of lime green touch to it while the Habano is a bit more of a subtle brownish green.

The price on these cigars comes in well below $5 a stick. If you opt for the massive 80 count boxes, the price per stick can drop to nearly $3 each making this a very affordable stick to have in the humidor. Fans of Nicaraguan tobacco will also be happy to hear that the La Zona’s are Nicaraguan Puros and are also manufactured right in Esteli.

Despite a ton of snow we’ve been having, the weather is actually warming up a bit. I think Mother Nature in a bit confused… But I’ll take advantage of that as I enjoy some good cigars. So let’s just right in and see if the La Zona Habano is worth stocking up on in the Humidor.

Cigar: Espinosa Cigars La Zona Habano
Drink: Coffee
Vitola: Super Toro (6.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $4
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The medium brown color of the wrapper is accented with some golden touches
• Almost no veins on this slightly dry looking wrapper
• It also has a somewhat rough texture and lots of toothiness to it, just missing the oily spots
• I did notice a sort of green water spot right around the middle of the cigar
• After a small and easy cut, the draw is super open, pretty surprising since it’s such a long cigar
• There is a definite softness from cap to foot here, lots of give when I squeeze it a bit
• The foot looks to be decently packed and the cap is finished very cleanly

Burn:
• Toasting took a bit of time but it lit up nice and evenly
• Burn line has been a tad wavy but pretty good for the most part through the first third
• Through the first half, I had one minor touch up for a peninsula that was forming
• The La Zona Habano is burning at a good pace, not too fast and not too slow either
• A couple more touch ups as I get near the end, none were major issues, probably jsut me wanted to be a perfectionist! lol

Smoke & Ash:
• There is a fair bit of smoke off the start but a slightly open draw is making it tough
• The resting smoke is pretty minimal
• Ash is looking to be pretty clean and somewhat strong
• First ash got tapped off at about the one inch mark since it looked to be getting a bit wobbly
• A fair bit of smoke from each draw but it does take a few tries to get it all out
• The remaining ashes all stuck around the 1 inch mark pretty consistently
• Other than the dark spots from touch ups, the ash had a light and dark grey color to it

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a deep cedar aroma to it with a touch of spice
• On the foot, I’m getting the same cedar and more spice to it, tickled my nose quite a bit
• Pre-light draw had a ton more cedar but much less spice here, a touch of sweetness here as well
• Initial flavors brought out more of the cedar but not as much spice right off the bat
• I found a touch of spice in the aftertaste and main flavors mostly dominated by some leather and woodsy notes
• I’m picking up some hints of creaminess but they don’t seem to be sticking around too long
• Body started off in the medium range and has been sticking there through the first half of the cigar
• The retrohale has a nice little spice bite to it and a bit more on the finish, with just a touch of creaminess in there
• I got a few coffee notes and a bit more creaminess towards the last half which kept it interesting
• No real harshness or bitterness right to the nub, allowing me to enjoy the whole cigar

Final Thoughts:
I have to say that both the Habano and Connecticut version of the La Zona cigar were a satisfying smoke. They are also quite different in their own regards. The Connecticut brought a surprising amount of spice to the table while the Habano had a more creamy and woodsy approach. For a $3 price tag, you are definitely getting your money’s worth on these cigars. Other than a couple minor touch ups, the whole burn was pretty darn good and the flavors were just enough to keep things interesting. I’d definitely consider buying a few more of each and for the price, you don’t feel bad to hand over a tasty and flavorful stick to a novice smoker either.

Pairings:
I went with plain old coffee for today’s review and it actually worked out really well. I don’t tend to pair with coffee quite enough and I’m not sure why, it definitely makes for a great pairing. Especially in the morning or early afternoon. I think a nice amber ale, maybe something oaked would make an awesome pairing here. Or possibly a light scotch as well.

The post Espinosa Cigars La Zona Habano appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now today we have a new blend from La Aurora called the Fernando Leon Family Reserva. Fernando León Asensio was the “Father” of La Aurora and passed away in 2009. This particular blend was actually made for personal consumption and reserved for friends and family only. To commemorate his father, Guillermo Leon decided to push out this special blend for the masses to enjoy.

The cigar comes wrapped in a very similar band to what the Guillermo Leon Signature had, only with a different color scheme. The lion logo still adorns the top middle of the band and instead of Guillermo’s signature, we have Fernando’s signature in gold print across the middle of the band.

The Fernando Leon Family Reserve comes in the same classic sizes as the Guillermo Leon. A Corona, Corona Gorda, Robusto, Belicoso and Gran Toro. For today’s review I’m picking up the Corona Gorda vitola, which is also becoming one of my favorites of all the vitolas lately. It turned out to be a warm(warm to me at least, it’s still only like 35F) afternoon with only a little bit of wind. So let’s get to it and see how this new cigar stands up!

Cigar: Fernando Leon Family Reserve
Drink: Wellington Breweries Imperial Russian Stout
Vitola: Corona Gorda (6 x 47)
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Peruvian, Brazilian, Dominican
Price: About $8
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Fernando Leon Family Reserve has a rough, but soft, wrapper with a touch of toothiness to it
• There is a definite softness when squeezed from head to foot, pretty consistent the whole way through
• Looks to be a triple cap that is finished extremely smooth and well, blends right into the wrapper
• The foot has some small gaps, so it’s not too tightly packed
• Golden brown is the color of the wrapper, with some shiny hints of oil
• The cut was very easy and smooth leaving me with a perfectly sliced cap
• Draw was just perfect with enough resistance but not with too much

Yes, that is a big pile of snow! lol

Burn:
• Toasting was nice, even and slow with only the foot catching and leaving me with a nice amber to start off with
• No burn issues through the first third, razor sharp and thin burnline, just the way I like it!
• It’s also burning at a nice slow pace, allowing me to enjoy it slowly without burning out
• At about the half-way mark I hit a tunnel that ended up requiring a touch-up, now we’re off to the races again
• After that touch-up, we had smooth sailing right to the end, a very well constructed cigar!

Smoke & Ash:
• Right from the start I’m getting a nice mouthful of billowy smoke with very little effort
• The ash is nothing spectacular here, it’s a light grey and dark grey mix, it is nice and clean and string though
• The first ash made it to about an inch before I tapped it off
• The next couple of ashes both fell off at about a half-inch even though there were looking strong
• Smoke continues to be very full with very little effort on the draw
• The ashes continued looking strong but always seemed to fall unexpectedly or really shatter in the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper is giving off a sweet woodsy sort of aroma
• A little more boldness on the foot where the aroma is adding a bunch of spices like nutmeg
• Pre-light draw was a big kick of cedar with some touches of spice
• First few draws started with a small spice kick but that quickly disappeared
• I’m now left with a smooth and creamy cedar flavor backed by some light coffee notes
• Through the first third, the body seems to be in the medium range and I’m also getting some accents of nutty notes
• The retro-hale is giving me a nice little bite with a smooth creamy finish, nice touch
• Through the first half, the cedar and coffee notes are prime with a smooth creaminess to round it all out
• As I get into the last third, the coffee is ramping up a bit but sadly the nice creaminess has toned down a notch
• I’m also getting a little more of the early spices as we sneak into the last bit here
• The last inch or so turned into a bit of charred wood type of flavors, not off putting, but not as exciting as it was before
• The Fernando Leon finished with lots of wood and spice flavors and I was able to nub it happily

Final Thoughts:
I was a huge fan of the Guillermo Leon Signature so I was pretty excited when there was another cigar added to Guillermo’s lines. Now I can’t help but compare the Fernando Leon Family Reserve to the Signature and I feel it fell a little short. That’s not to say this was a bad cigar, it was actually quite tasty(minus the last part which got boring). I just felt that the Signature brought all the flavors together a little better and made it enjoyable from start to finish. I would probably pick up more of these up again in the future but if the Fernando Leon Family Reserve was right beside the Guillermo Leon Signature, I’d go with the signature every time. Maybe I’ll pick out some different vitolas as well to see if that changes the profile much. Either way I’m happy to see more additions the La Aurora line-up and I hope to see more coming up as well

Pairings:
Today’s beer is actually a pretty rare find for me up here. Most of the local breweries tend to stick to typical stouts and dark ales and rarely venture outside of that territory. Welling Breweries took a step outside the comfort zone and came out with an Imperial Russian Stout. This brew clocks in at 8% alc./vol. and has a dark and thick consistency with a very thick head as well. The flavors bring lots of coffee and cocoa notes, but one interesting thing was that I was actually picking up some citrus notes. That made for a very interesting brew and paired quite well with the spice that the Fernando Leon had to offer. I’d like to try this cigar with a nice strong coffee as well, maybe with a little cinnamon sprinkled in there!

The post Fernando Leon Family Reserve appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The La Zona cigar comes from Espinosa Cigars. Erik Espinosa was the “E” behind the EO brands label that gave us the popular 601 line. He’s gone ahead and started his own line just as his counterpart Eddie Ortega did. The La Zona comes from the factory in Esteli Nicaragua and is intended to be a value cigar with premium flavors. There are two wrappers, the Connecticut in a brighter lime green band and the Habano which has a darker green/brownish band. They also only come in 2 vitolas, Robusto and Super Toro.

Today’s cigar was the Connecticut variety in Robusto vitola and I have to admit that I would NEVER have guessed it was a Connecticut just from smoking it. This cigar started with a huge punch of pepper and spices that really surprised me. The pepper and spices also continued through most of the cigar. Where the Connecticut shone through was with the smooth creaminess, especially on the retrohale.

This cigar was pretty unique in that most connies don’t try this, they tend to stay in the mild range so the contrast was interesting to what I was expecting. The spice tapered off a bit towards the middle but they were still there. To compliment them I got a nice mix of cedar. The construction was awesome the whole way through even though I was walking in some slightly windy weather and it was a chilly 25F or so. I also have some Habano’s to try and see how they smoke. For a cost of just under $4 this was a pretty tasty and interesting cigar that kept me on my toes so keep an eye out and give them a try if you find them.

The post Quick Draw Episode 11 – Espinosa Cigars La Zona Connecticut appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today I’m reaching into my humidor for a another gifted cigar coming from a great BOTL and supporter of Casas Fumando, good ol’ Lou B.! Lou lives about 45min away from me and often invites me and my wife over to the Black Dog Cigar Lounge for a beer and some good BBQ. Last time we were there, Lou was kind enough to gift me this Rocky Patel Sun Grown and asked me to jot down my thoughts on it.

I did some digging through my notes and found that I actually have had this cigar a few times before but it had been a while. I won’t spoil the review by telling what my notes said by they pretty much lined up with what I found in this cigar. Now I honestly haven’t had a great track record with most Rocky Patel sticks but there are some that I really enjoy. They have such a vast profile that chances are there will be some you love, and some you don’t. For example, I absolutely loved their special Winter release from 2009.

So the Sun Grown blend is pretty highly regarded in many popular magazines so it has some big shoes to fill here. The band here is the standard Rocky Patel band with a secondary band jsut below that simply says “Sun Grown”. Both are a pretty bright orangey-red type of color with lots of gold accents and edging.

On doing some research I found that the wrapper on this cigar is aged a full 5 years which is nice and long. The binder and filler are also aged for a hefty 7 years, making for a nicely aged cigar fresh out of the box. So lets see how this classic Rocky Patel stacks up today!

Cigar: Rocky Patel Sun Grown
Drink: Offley 10 Year Tawny Porto
Vitola: Torpedo (6.25 x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Brazilian, Nicaraguan & Dominican
Price: A bit over $8
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• The Rocky Patel Sun Grown comes with a smooth and light colored wrapper
• The veins are pretty small here, not many to be worried about
• The tapered cap blends seamlessly into the rest of the cigar with one leaf
• Near the cap and head the cigar is pretty firm but these is a bit of a soft spot in the middle when squeezes
• Looking at the foot, it appears decently filled but they may have cut it a bit long as you can see a few different lengths in the filler
• The cut was nice and clean leaving a smooth edge without a mess
• Draw was just about perfect, lots of airflow without being too open

Burn:
• Toasting was super easy, the foot lit up very quickly and glowed very evenly
• The burn through the first bit is spot on and even
• The Rocky Patel Sun Grown is burning a bit fast through the first bit, lets hope it slows down a bit
• The burn has been razor sharp through the first half and just after the halfway point I ran into a bit of a wave, we’ll see how it handles it now
• Well that little wave turned out to be nothing and the Rocky Patel Sun Grown is back on track with a razor sharp burn
• After an almost perfect burn, the cigar only needed one small touchup as I head into the nub section

Smoke & Ash:
• The initial ash is showing some nice light grey colors and the zebra striping I like to see on a well made cigar
• There is tons of smoke right off the bat with minimal effort on the draw
• The ash is also staying nice and clean and strong, no flaking or mess here
• The resting smoke here is pretty evident and is giving off a woodsy sort of aroma
• First ash tumbled into the ashtray after about an inch
• Surprisingly, the resting smoke changed and I started picking up a sweet aroma, very interesting
• Seems the 1 inch ash is holding strong so far through two more drops into the ashtray, still clean and strong

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a nice woodsy aroma to it with just a touch of a peppery spice
• The foot gives off an almost meaty type of note, something I haven’t picked up from a cigar in awhile
• The pre-light draw gave me more woodsy notes and still some of that meaty type of flavor I was picking up
• With the first few draws, the woodsy flavors are staying and added to that is some spice and earthy notes, definitely lots of flavor here early on
• The spice settled down and took a backseat to the earthy notes, lots of dirt flavor and a bit of dried foliage along with the wood that it sticking around
• Through the first half, the body has been sticking to the medium range and I’m getting a nice cedar finish on the retrohale after a bit of a spicy bite
• It seems the spices are slowly making a comeback and I’m even getting a touch of licorice in the mix here
• Into the last third and the spices and woodsy flavors are definitely kicking it up a notch, the licorice and earthy notes are still hanging around in the background too
• Lots of flavor in the last bit and no harshness to scare anyone away, a very tasty and spicy finish

Final Thoughts:
Now when Lou gave me this cigar I honestly wasn’t expecting too much but after checking my notes on previous meetings with this stick, I had some hope. And my hope was not left out to dry. The Rocky Patel Sun Grown offered a bunch of flavors and enough change-up to keep it interesting the whole way through. The construction was also excellent giving me a great draw and only one small touch-up the whole way through. My gripe here would be the price, at over $8 these are in a category with some very good cigars. Despite that, I will probably pick these up again as I did enjoy it, so make sure to give it a try if you can.

Pairings:
This tasty port has a bit more aging on it than most of the Ports I buy, and with it comes a slightly higher price tag. The Offley 10 Year Tawny Porto comes it at just about $30, most of the LBV are under $20 so it’s not too much of a difference. In terms of flavor, the extra time in the barrels is easily visible here, there is so much oak flavor to enjoy. Along with the oak, is a good helping of dark berries and a little bit more acidity than I’ve found on most other Ports. It made for a good pairing with the Rocky Patel Sun Grown and could have even stood up to some stronger cigars. Another good pairing with this cigar would have been a nice Stout. I didn’t have any left otherwise I would have grabbed that. Coffee would go nicely here too!

The post Rocky Patel Sun Grown appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now I have to apologize for a HUGE fail on my part… I had taken a bunch of pictures and absent mindedly deleted them from the camera before I moved them to my computer! What a super fail! So not too many pictures today, sorry!

“What the heck is the Vallejuelo?” some of you might ask. It seems that a lot of people simply haven’t come across this cigar before but it’s actually got quite a big following for two reasons. It’s commonly held as a well manufactured medium body cigar, and secondly, it comes in at a very fair price of just around $4 if you buy by the box.

The Vallejuelo brand comes from a factory called Intercigar in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The owner, Maurice Antonius Koks, comes from Holland where his roots there were also in the Tobacco industry. He is also the blender of the Vallejuelo. This cigar has got quite a lot of hype as one of the best budget cigars so I’m excited to see what it offers me. So let’s dive right in and see if the Vallejuelo stacks up to the hype people have created for it.

Cigar: Vallejuelo
Drink: Innis & Gunn Highland Cask
Vitola: Robusto Gordo (5 x 54)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Nicaragua and Dominican Republic
Price: $4.00 – $4.50
Burn Time: Just over an hour

Construction:
• The milky brown wrapper on this cigar has a wonderful oily sheen to it
• There are some veins here and there with one major one down the back but it doesn’t look to be a problem
• The single cap has a very clean finish to it, very well constructed
• The Vallejuelo is fairly firm and consistent from end to end, there is only a touch of spring to it
• Glancing at the foot you can easily see why it’s firm, this thing is packed to gills with tons of leaves
• The cut was easy and even but I’m left with a pretty tight draw, let’s hope it opens up a bit here

Burn:
• The toasting was a good at first but the burn quickly climbed the edge of the wrapper and charred it a bit before the foot was glowing. I find this happens often with delicate wrappers, sometimes affecting the first few puffs a bit but nothing major
• The burn got off to a nice even start and is going well through the first third
• The burn is staying nice and straight through to the halfway mark, no corrections needed and it’s smoking nice and slowly too
• Spot on burn straight through to the finish, no corrections needed at all!

Smoke & Ash:
• Since the draw is a bit tight it is taking a few attempts to get a good amount of smoke flowing here
• There’s a bit of resting smoke when I put the cigar down, slow but consistent
• The ash on this cigar looks super strong and firm, probably due to the serious packed in filler
• The color is mostly darker tones of grey with some lighter ones but no clean or neat zebra striping here today
• The ash held strong until I tapped it off at around the 1 inch mark, no flaking at all
• Ash stayed strong and lean with easy 1 inch pieces every time right to the end

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has an almost nutty aroma to it, a first for me I think
• I got a bit of a tingling sensation from smelling the foot, definitely some spices in there, perhaps a bit of white pepper and still some nutty notes
• The pre-light draw brings more white pepper spice but now it’s backed with some woodsy and licorice type notes
• The initial draws have a bit of a charred flavor, probably due to the awkward toasting but I still am picking up some cedar and licorice notes
• The charred flavors quickly disappeared and I’m left with a sort of roasted woody and almond type of flavor with some licorice to back it up
• The licorice flavor is really shining through around the halfway mark and adding a bit of sweetness to the mix as well, very nice
• The pepper has died down and the flavors are balancing nicely
• The Vallejuelo has been in the mild category so far with only a soft sweet finish on the retrohale thats quite enjoyable
• The body is picking up a bit into the medium range as I pass the halfway mark and some of the white pepper spice is making a comeback
• The cigar picked up surprisingly strong in the last third. Body jumped into the fuller range and the pepper and woodsy flavors made a strong comeback
• The sweet licorice notes are mostly gone now which is disappointing because they were really good
• A nice medium finish to this cigar with just a touch of harshness, I still nubbed it!

Final Thoughts:
All in all this was an interesting cigar. It had a lot of change ups and some distinct flavors. I would have liked the sweet licorice to stick around more but I really enjoyed it when it was there. The burn was top notch and was also nice and slow which are big bonuses for me. I think I’ll want to seek out some other vitolas to see how the blend changes, maybe a corona size or so? I think this could really shine in a smaller ring gauge. Definitely worth picking some up and giving them a try if you haven’t had one before. A big thanks to Jeff for hooking me up with this and letting me try a brand a might not otherwise have picked up!

Pairings:
Yet another brew from one of my favorite breweries, Innis & Gunn. It’s another limited batch called the Highland Cask and I stumbled on it in the beer store earlier this year. This interesting batch is aged for 69 days in barrels that once contained 16 year old Scotch. Now that’s pretty cool if you ask me! It comes in another fancy box with a cool story and has a Best Before date of December 2012 so I’m guessing there won’t be too many more left on store shelves now. It’s got more of the awesome oaky, malty and toffee notes I’ve come to love from Innis & Gunn but also adds a layer of Scotch type of flavoring. It’s quite subtle and not in your face so don’t be afraid to try this even if you aren’t a Scotch lover. It definitely paired well with the Vallejuelo and another choice pairing would have been coffee here, I think that would have made a very interesting.

The post Vallejuelo Robusto Gordo appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Ok, I know it’s not that new but it is the newest shape for the line! lol. I hadn’t been able to find this shape until recently and I’m a big fan of torpedos, especially the box pressed kind. So when I saw them I had to grab a few to see how they help up to the other vitolas. I did post up a review of the Toro vitola awhile back so give it a read here.

So first things first, this is a gorgeous looking cigar as is all the Le Bijou line. It’s got a shiny oily wrapper that has an awesome deep dark chocolate color to it. There is definitely some toothiness to this wrapper which makes it very appealing. The box press process seems to have hardened the cigar up a bit as well, making it much firmer when squeezed. As always, I absolutely love the My Father bands, they are printed so crisp, clean and have some wonderful colors and artwork to them. Definitely some of the best bands in the industry. The main difference in the dress up of this cigar is the addition of an orange ribbon at the foot. It’s not much but it does add a nice touch to this vitola.

After a clean, short cut I’m off to toasting the foot, which lights up evenly and easily. The draw is nice and open and I get a nice full draw of smoke right from the start. The signature pepper kick backed by spices, coffee and chocolate are all there. Through the first bit, the pepper takes a back seat while the coffee, cocoa and a bit of cedar take the front lines. Burn line stays solid through most of this cigar although it needed one touch up near the end. I pick up a change around the halfway mark where I got some cloves and a touch of earthiness to the mix.

The body has hung around the medium range but it’s definitely ramping up a bit as we burn through the last half. Around this time I noticed a bit of tar buildup on the top of the cigar. I try not to clip too much off my torpedos so this seems to be a common problem for me with almost all cigars in this shape. A quick clip taking off just a sliver fixes the problem and we’re off to the races again. The cigar finishes nice and strong with the spice and pepper making a reappearance which the added notes of coffee and sweet cocoa.

In short, all I really have to say here is this is another awesome Le Bijou 1922 packed into a slightly different shape. I really enjoyed it and will be seeking out some more in the future. If you liked any of the other vitolas from this line then give this one a try. I really like the shape and feel of this cigar so it earns a few bonus points for me on that front.

The post Quick Draw Episode 8 – My Father Le Bijou 1922 Box-Pressed Torpedo appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now there isn’t a whole lot of info out there about the ELO #3 so I’ll do my best here. If anyone has any more accurate or additional info, feel free to add it in the comments and I’ll be glad to append it to the review! From what I found while researching, this cigar comes exclusively from New Havana Cigars and is an “encore” release of a popular cigar they had previously sold in 2008.

It seems the cigars were sold at record speeds as do many of the limited releases from Tatuaje and especially from New Havana Cigars. As with many cigars from Pete Johnson of Tatuaje, this is a Nicaraguan puro and is rolled at the My Father Cigars factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. At the moment only New Havana Cigars is selling the ELO series from what I understand but it is possible that the retailers could expand, depending on demand and supply of course.

Now this next part is pure speculation but there may be some truth here. Apparently, the ELO series, which runs with numbers 1 thru 5, are overruns of some other popular Tatuaje cigars. And just to clarify, an overrun is not a 2nd, it’s basically just extra stock without any imperfections. From some reading, it seems this ELO #3 is the counterpart to the Tatuaje Verocu #2. Reading that and looking at some pictures of the Verocu 2 seems to be pretty accurate, but who knows.

So remember, a lot of this info is just stuff I found randomly and not from any official sources, so I’m not sure how accurate it is. Feel free to share any more info on his cigar if you have it, I’d love to learn more about it! Now I won’t do any more speculation or yapping, let’s just get straight to the review!

Cigar: Tatuaje ELO #3 2011
Drink: Muskoka Brewery Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout
Vitola: Robusto (5.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $6.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Tatuaje ELO #3 2011 has a pretty rough and beefy wrapper on it
• Despite having quite a few decent sized veins the oily sheen of this cigar definitely makes it attractive to look at
• The triple cap topping off this cigar is very smooth and well applied, so I can’t complain there
• Now the foot of the cigar looks like it has it’s fair share of filler leaves in there, very packed
• Surprisingly though, there is a nice give and spring to this cigar when squeezed
• The more I look at these veins the more they worry me, I’m hoping they don’t cause any burn issues here…
• The cut with my double bladed guillotine cutter made a huge mess and little pieces of tobacco leaves went everywhere
• The pre-light draw seems a bit tight but we’ll see how it goes
• The draw actually turned out to be ok, it is a bit tight but it’s not affecting the experience so far

Burn:
• The toasting was slow and steady and although there were some problematic spots it all lit up fairly evenly in the end
• The burn through the first inch of so has been razor sharp and super slow, so far so good!
• The burn continues to be stellar and slow through the whole first half, I’m actually very surprised because I saw a few good sized veins
• I had one little peninsula form in the last third of the cigar but it actually corrected itself, all in all this was a superbly burning cigar!

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke coming from this cigar is plentiful but it seems a little thin, not a bad thing just something to note
• The resting smoke is fairly minimal but it does give off a nice woodsy aroma
• The ash on this ELO #3 2011 is a very nice whitish color with accents of black striping here and there
• The ash lasted easily past an inch with a strong and clean looking structure before I tapped it off into the ashtray
• Loving the strong and clean ash on this cigar, another easy passing of the 1 inch mark on the second ash

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper of this cigar has surprisingly little aroma, maybe just a touch of woodsiness to it
• The foot is similarly lacking in aroma but I did detect a touch of floral notes in there, kind of surprised cause I’m used to getting a lot of spice from Tatuaje cigars
• The woodsy and floral flavors are still there on the pre-light draw but now I’m definitely picking up the trademark Tatuaje peppery spice that I’m used to, tingling my lips and tongue
• The first few draws had a very charred taste, might have been due to the extended toasting but I’m glad they went away fairly quickly
• The next array of flavors seems to be a musty woodsy type of flavor with a side order of mild spices and just a dash of leather
• The retrohale on the Tatuaje ELO #3 2011 has just a small bite and a smooth creamy cedar finish
• The body is resting at a comfortable mild-medium right now
• Now I’m not sure if it’s partly the beer here but I’m getting a nice thick rich flavor on this cigar, like a dark chocolate or roasted espresso, really enjoying it
• The flavors continue to get richer as the cigar burns, the spice has mostly disappeared and I’m left with a nice woodsiness backed by those delicious espresso and dark chocolate
• The body started to kick up into the full category in the last third but it still maintained a smooth creamy finish and lots of rich flavors
• The strength of this cigar seemed to sneak up a bit on me at the end, I got a little bit of a nicotine kick but not much. Might be due to smoking this earlier in the day and having only a small lunch
• The flavors diminished a bit as I hit the nub but they didn’t get harsh, just sort of washed out, still enjoyed it up until my fingers were burning

Final Thoughts:
Now this was a darn tasty smoke. I’ve had a bit of an up and down experience with Tatuaje lately but I always come back because when Pete Johnson does it right, he does it really right! The perfect burn, the awesome ash and the great array of rich flavors made for a superb smoking experience. The slow burn also gave me plenty of time to enjoy the cigar without the need to babysit it. I have to say that this blend definitely carried some similarities to the Verocu line, especially the Verocu Tubo since I smoked it not too long ago. So maybe there is some truth to that info… If you can track down a few of these I would definitely recommend you give them a try.

Pairings:
Today’s pairing is definitely an interesting one. It comes from a brewery about an hour North of me in what we call “Cottage Country”. It’s from Muskoka brewery and it is called their Winter Beard which is a Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout. Now I took a bit of a risk here since I actually haven’t even tried this brew before today and I’m glad to say it worked out rather well. I was a bit scared that the cranberry flavor would be overpowering but it’s actually barely discernible at all. You can get a touch of sweetness but it’s not a super fruity flavor at all. Even the double chocolate is fairly balanced. Once thing to note is that this is probably one of the thickest beers I’ve ever drank. It poured out like well aged port but it surprisingly had very little head (foam) to it. I found the richness of the beer to be a perfect match for the richness of the cigar, they both played to each others strengths and made for a great overall experience.

The post Tatuaje ELO #3 2011 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Le Hoyo part of this cigars name is actually a series created by Hoyo de Monterray which also includes the Le Hoyo Du Roi, Du Depute, Du Gourmet, Du Maire and Du Prince. Each name also represents a slightly different vitola but something unique to this series is that no cigar is larger than a 42 ring gauge which is fairly odd to see in todays cigar world where everyone seems to be making a 6×60 or something similar. In fact, the whole Hoyo de Monterray line up does not even pass the 50 ring gauge mark.

The Le Hoyo des Dieux is actually one of the larger vitolas measuing 5.5 inches and a 42 ring gauge. Only the Du Gourmet is comparable at 6.8×33. I picked this box as my purchase for 2 reasons. Firstly, it came with great recomendations from a few BOTL’s and my secondly, my research showed it was claimed as the best option from the Le Hoyo series.

I won’t get into too many details of the brand history but it is an interesting read, as is most Cuban brands. Basically, a Spanish immigrant to Cuba started his career working the fields and eventually began his own cigar line which gained a loyal following. We’ve also touched upon a few other Hoyo De Monterray reviews including the Regalos Edicion Limitada 2007 and the Epicure Especial. Be sure to check out those 2 reviews for more info on the brand.

We’ve had some pretty crazy weather up here, going from somewhat warm to incredibly cold. In fact, we already hit -13F just this week… that was a bitterly cold day! But between the bad days there’s been some good smoking days I’ve been taking advantage of. So let’s see how the Hoyo de Monterray Le Hoyo des Dieux stands up in todays review!

Cigar: Hoyo de Monterray Le Hoyo des Dieux
Drink: Quinta Da Romaneira 2004 Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port
Vitola: Grand Corona (5.5 x 42)
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: About $7.00
Burn Time: Just over an hour

Construction:
• The Hoyo de Monterray is a surprisingly consistent looking cigar, all the sticks in the box I purchased were remarkably similar. I point this out because I find some Cuban cigar boxes to have a wide variety of oddly constructed cigars sometimes
• The wrapper on this cigar screams cedar just by looking at it, it has a light brown almost woodsy looking appearance to it
• The are some medium sized veins here and there but for the most part these cigars are smooth and well constructed
• Each cigar had a nice firmness to them with just a little bit of give when squeezed
• The triple cap atop each of the Le Hoyo des Dieux is finished cleanly and appears very well applied
• Filler in the foot looks very bountiful as well, cleanly cut and evenly colored
• The draw on the Des Dieux is just about perfect, getting a nice stream of smoke from it with little effort

Burn:
• Toasting was very even and easy, the whole foot was glowing with very little effort
• The draw is going nice and sharp with only a slight wave to it
• Some times it seems as though the cigar has gone out but two quick draws seems to bring it back to life easily
• The wave got a little out of control and needed a small correction, after ashing it looks like the cause was a small hole in the filler. Not a big tunnel or anything but a big of a gap between the leaves
• The next ash revealed another small hole that was affecting the burn, this one looks more like a tunnel so I’m hoping it doesn’t extend too far…

Smoke & Ash:
• Each draw is bring a perfect mouthful of smoke with very little effort
• The resting smoke it fairly heavy right after a draw but quickly dies down to a very light line of smoke that gives off a sweet cedar aroma
• The ash is starting off with a nice light grey color to it and is looking clean and strong
• I was surprised to see the ash on this thinner cigar easily pass 1 inch and made it to about 1.5 inches before I tapped it off, very clean, strong and even
• I find myself taking a few extra draws as I get to the halfway mark to get more smoke and the resting smoke has died down too

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the Hoyo de Monterray Le Hoyo des Dieux gives off a nice cedar aroma with a small spice kick
• The foot also gives off a nice sweet cedary spice aroma with a sort of creamy touch
• Pre-light draw brings lots of cedary and woodsy goodness with a light spice undertone to it
• Initial few draws bring more of that cedary smoothness and an undertone of light gingerbread spices, very nice start
• The body right from the start is undeniably mild but very flavorful
• The retrohale on the other hand has no bite and only a faint cedar finish, but at least it’s smooth
• There is quite a bit of earthiness sneaking into the flavor profile within the first inch or so
• The body of the cigar seems to have picked up somewhat at only 2 inches, it easily jumped into a more medium range and the flavors are a lot more intense and enjoyable
• The gingerbread-type of spices are creating a neat little kick on the retrohale and the creamy cedar finish has stepped up a notch too, very nice
• Cedar, spice and earthiness still dominate the flavor profile but it’s picked up a bit in intensity
• I’m also picking up a slightly bready type of flavor which is going very nicely with the spices
• The cigar continued on with the flavors balancing nicely and taking turns being the prominent one
• There was almost no strength or harsh buildup to the end, it stayed a smooth and flavorful medium right to the nub

Final Thoughts:
Despite a couple draw and burn issues, I actually enjoyed this cigar quite a bit. The flavors were spot-on and not diverse, they kept my interest the whole way through. I think the vitola was a perfect fit since I may have gotten a bit bored if this were a larger torpedo or churchill. At a price that isn’t too scary these are also fairly high on the cost-to-flavor ratio. The finish on this cigar was also very flavorful and it burned right to the end with no negative side effects at all. I’m curious to see what some aging will do to this cigar but they are already very tasty as is. I will definitely be looking to keep some of these in my humidor. Not only were they tasty but I actually liked this vitola a lot too!

Pairings:
Today’s Port pairing comes from a random grab at the local store. I’ve never really seen this bottle before and I like to try new ones so I grabbed it. The winery is called Quinta da Romaneira and this is their 2004 Unfilitered Late Bottle Vintage Porto. Now I should note that I’m not exactly sure where the “unfiltered” part comes in here, the Port is surprisingly clear and clean with almost no sediment from the glasses I’ve had so far. This particular port fell short of my expectations, it almost tasted watered down. Closer to a glass of light red wine than a finely fermented port, and especially not one worthy of a 7-year aged sticker on the bottle. There are some nice light fruity notes and a decent merlot after-taste but it’s not my type of port. If you’re just venturing into port I’d say it’s a good starter bottle as it might bridge the gap between a light wine and a strong port. It’s not all bad though because it actually paired well with the flavors of the Le Hoyo des Dieux since they weren’t overpowering or super spicy. They both complimented each other quite well. I think this Hoyo De Monterray cigar would pair very nicely with a hot cup of coffee or possibly an oak aged beer to pair with the cedar flavors.

The post Hoyo de Monterray Le Hoyo des Dieux (Cuban) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Ramon Allones brand isn’t too popular, but the Specially Selected seems to have garnered a fairly faithful offering. The brand actually began way back in 1837 by it’s two founders, Ramón and Antonio Allones. After a variety of ownership changes the company was eventually purchased by the Cifuentes company who also owns the Partagas brand. Manufacturing for all Ramon Allones cigars also comes from the same Partagas factory in Cuba.

The brand used to have a much larger vitola selection but since 2001, when Altadis bought a heft portion of the company, a lot of the sizes have been discontinued. The Ramon Allones brand is also heralded as one of the first Cuban cigar manufacturers to use full colored emblems on their boxes and possibly one of the first to produce the infamous 8-9-8 style of packaging.

As of current research, Ramon Allones is currently selling cigars in 4 vitolas along with an occasional Regional Release or Special Edition to round out the line. The particular cigar I will be smoking today comes from a box with a fairly recent date of May 2011. It will be interesting so see how this cigar performs early in the aging process since the recomended age time for this cigar is roughly 3 years.

Cigar: Ramon Allones Specially Selected
Drink: Innis & Gunn Spiced Rum Finish Oak Aged Beer
Vitola: Robusto (4.8 x 50)
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: About $7.00 in Cuba
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• Each of the cigars in this box had a consistent soft box pressed shape to them
• The Ramon Allones Specially Selected also has very few larger veins
• The triple cap atop this cigar looks clean and well applied
• Although fairly firm, the cigar has a nice little spring to it when squeezed
• The foot looks to be very well packed
• The cap cut off cleanly leaving just a little mess in the ashtray
• The band unfortunately had a little too much glue on it and took some of the wrapper with it when removed
• The draw was good but I somehow got a huge tar buildup on the cap so I had to clip it a little further at around the half way point of the cigar

Burn:
• Toasting was a bit uneven and long but it evened out with a little extra effort
• At first the Specially Selected was burning nice and even but then one side started burning much faster than the other so I was left with a huge wave that needed correction
• I actually find this to be a pretty common problem on a lot of my Cubans for some reason
• After that one minor burn issue the cigar has been progressing well without any need for corrections
• I like how the RASS is staying lit easily without the need for constant babysitting

Smoke & Ash:
• Each draw brings a little less smoke than I’d like
• Surprisingly though, the resting smoke is off the charts at times
• The ash is a disappointing looking dark grey and black, not very attractive at all
• It does have some strength to it though, the ash is clean and lasts about an inch or so before I tap it off
• The second ash lasted another inch with the same consistency, the colors weren’t so dark this time possibly because I didn’t need to touch it up at all

Tasting Notes:
• Pre-light draw was all about the cedar, lots of fresh cedar aroma coming off this cigar
• Initial draws brought more of the fresh cedar flavors and a bit of earthiness
• There also a touch of the signature saltiness on my tongue
• The body overall has started fairly mild and there is no bite on the retrohale at all
• The whole experience has a nice cedar finish to it, even on the retrohale
• As the cigar progresses I’m getting a creaminess being added to the mix that is balancing well with the cedar and earthy notes
• One unique note I’m picking up here and there is a licorice type of flavor, very interesting and it would be nice to see it develop a bit more
• The licorice is dancing around with the cedar and I’m getting some mild spices peeking in here and there
• Just past the halfway mark I noticed a decent tar buildup on the cap, lucky for me I caught it before I touched it with my tongue, so a quick clip and I was good to go.
• The rest of the cigar proceeded tastefully but I really wish that licorice flavor would have jumped out a bit more

Final Thoughts:
The Ramon Allones Specially Selected turned out to be a nice mild to medium classic Cuban cigar. I don’t think it does anything new or special but it’s one of the more affordable Cubans you can find and they seem to be constructed consistently well from the ones I’ve had a chance to enjoy. The cedar and earthy flavors are enjoyable and the hint of licorice and spice brought an interesting layer to the mix that kept my attention. I did get some tar on some of the ones I smoked but it wasn’t anything terrible, one quick clip kept it at bay. I can see myself possibly getting some more of these in the future but I’d be curious to see how they age first, maybe I’ll revisit them in a year or so and see how things have changed. Good to know they are tasty and not overpowering while fairly fresh, so grab a few to try if you can.

Pairings:
Another Innis & Gunn you say? Of course! These guys make some awesome beers and I keep finding more new ones to try. Today’s choice is called the “Spiced Rum Finish” and came as part of the Winter Sampler pack. I’ve never had this particular brew before so I was curious to see how it turned out given my awesome track record with this brewery. Well, what an interesting beer this turned out to be. At it’s core, you can tell the classic Original Oak Aged style is there but it has an extra punch. Each sip gives just a tiny little spicy kick of raw cinnamon or cloves, maybe even a touch of pepper. Very unique that’s for sure and damn tasty if I say so myself. Very disappointed to see that it’s only available in the holiday pack cause I would easily vouch for a case if it were available to me. This paired perfectly with the mild to medium bodied Ramon Allones Specially Selected and would pair very well with other medium bodied cigars. Other suggested pairings for this cigar would be coffee or other lighter amber brews, maybe even a Tripel.

The post Ramon Allones Specially Selected (Cuban) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today’s review comes courtesy of Lou B. who you can find in the comments section every now and then. I met Lou at a herf a little while back and he’s been holding some awesome Cigar-B-Cue’s where we eat, smoke, drink and talk. At the last little gathering, Lou handed me a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 and said that I had to try it and squeeze in a review if possible. We chatted a little about how my history with most Rocky Patel sticks is a little shaky but I would give it a shot.

So here I am today about to light up this cigar. I have had a few Vintage 1990’s a while ago but it’s been a rather long time so other than a few notes I made for myself I don’t have much to go on. I actually decided to ignore my old notes and go at this one blindly!

The Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 is the oldest cigar in his vintage line. This particular blend is made with Maduro Broadleaf wrapper dating back to 1990. So the wrapper on these cigars is near 12 Years old and apparently the filler is at least 5 years old before being rolled. That makes for a very well aged cigar right out of the box so let’s hope it has the smoothness you would expect on such a well aged smoke.

It seems that the Vintage 1990 line is also available in a wide variety of vitolas that come boxed in quantities of 20. I even stumbled upon some being sold as bundles so you can save a few dollars there too. The vitola Lou gifted me with happens to be their Churchill which also has a box-pressed look to it. The cigar also seems a lot smaller than the claimed 48 ring gauge, possibly due to the pressing. I’d say this cigar is almost around 42 or 44 ring gauge from a quick glance.

Now this cigar also has quite the reputation which can sometimes hinder a cigar. It’s been given a 92 rating by Cigar Aficionado and even been named to the Top 25 Cigars of the year twice. So this sets the bar fairly high when you read something like that before lighting up. But regardless of that, I’m going into this review with a clear mind and hoping for a good smoke. This one’s for you Lou!

Cigar: Rocky Patel Vintage 1990
Drink: Innis & Gunn Winter Beer 2011
Vitola: Churchill (7 x 48)
Wrapper: Honduran Maduro Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican/Nicaraguan
Price: About $8.00
Burn Time: Just short of 2 hours

Construction:
• The wrapper on this cigar is velvety smooth and has the color of milk chocolate bar, it’s actually quite appealing to look at
• There are some veins and seams running along it’s length but none of them look large enough to pose any problems
• The vitola on this cigar is pretty interesting, but despite that the single cap looks to be expertly applied and clean
• The foot follows in the same ‘footsteps’ (cheesy pun, I know…lol) and is very well packed
• That also links into the fairly firm feel of the whole cigar, there is a tiny give when squeezed but not much, I think I’ll blame that on the box pressing process
• The cap clipped off nice and easy but left me with a bit of a tight draw, hoping that doesn’t continue and it opens up soon
• Glad to report that the draw opened up nicely within the first inch

Burn:
• The toasting was easy and fairly even, getting me off to a good start easily
• I usually get some funky burn lines on box pressed cigars but through the first couple inches this one is flawless
• Not much to report here, as I get to the halfway mark I’m still moving along flawlessly
• Still more nothing to report, lol. No wavy lines, no canoes, no tunnels, just the way I like it!

Smoke & Ash:
• There is a ton of resting smoke coming off this cigar, could be a little too much if I were in an enclosed room
• Even with a tight draw, I’m still picking up a fairly good amount of smoke from each puff
• The ash on this cigar is a nice even tone of light gray and is keeping itself fairly clean and tight
• Got to just about an inch before the ash fell off
• Next ash got to about an inch again before I tapped it off cause it was looking ready to fall
• Seemed to get a pretty consistent 1 inch ash on these that stayed clean

Tasting Notes:
• Running the cigar under my nose gives an easily noticeable aroma of coffee, but mostly of cedar. It’s light and pleasant, not overpowering
• The foot does away with the coffee but does carry the aroma of cedar and maybe a little bit of greenery
• I get the same greenery and cedar flavor as I take a pre-light draw after clipping the cap. Also an odd liquor type of flavor, almost like infused but you can tell it isn’t, interesting to see if that will carry into the smoking experience
• Initial flavors are mostly woodsy and earthy notes, maybe with a hint of coffee in there
• The coffee flavors are developing a bit as the cigar burns, still very mellow but they are there, maybe with a bit of cocoa too
• The start of this cigar as been fairly mild for the most part, maybe just approaching medium and the retrohale has almost no bite but gives a smooth cedar and coffee finish
• The liquor flavor I was getting is making slight appearances here and there, I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but it’s keeping the experience interesting. It’s sort of sweet and mixed with the coffee flavors I guess my closest comparison would be Kahlua or something similar
• The whole cigar seems to be quite well balanced to me, I’m getting a good variety of flavors that keep changing up on me and keeping me interested, none of them are overpowering the others
• The array of flavors has stayed the same through to the last third but the fact that they keep taking turns being the dominant one has kept me interested and enjoying the whole cigar so far
• Flavors got a little more intense near the nub, but no harshness or bitterness so I got to enjoy it to the very end

Final Thoughts:
So I have to admit I came into this cigar with some hesitation due to my past experiences with Rocky Patel sticks. I’ve had a few good ones, but most were not in my flavor profile. Even with Lou’s claims of how much he enjoyed this I was a little worried. I’m happy to report that I enjoyed this cigar! I wouldn’t put it into my top 10 but I would keep it on regular rotation as a reliable mild/medium bodied stick if I can find it on sale or maybe in the bundles. It had an interesting set of flavors that were very well balanced and it burned superbly. I don’t really have anything negative to say. If there was one critique I could make it’s that the flavors were not very pronounced. They were there, but you really had to sit and concentrate to pick up on them. Maybe this is due to their extended aging? I’m not too sure… You could easily enjoy it’s smoothness without paying attention, but if the flavor were a little more intense, this might have been a top 10 contender for me.

Pairings:
It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of the Innis & Gunn Brewery and everything I’ve tried from them to date. Their Oak Aged Beers are simply the best I’ve been able to find so far with a sweet caramely smoothness. Every year they also come out with a Winter Seasonal, and as I mentioned in my last review, I’m a bit of a sucker for Winter Seasonals. So I had to get this, their Winter Beer 2011! The crappy part is that it’s only available in a Sampler pack here. Although I really enjoy their other beers in the sampler, it comes with a glass. I think I’m up to 5 or 6 Innis & Gunn glasses now because I keep buying the sampler packs they have for their seasonal beers… lol. But enough about my ranting, this beer keeps to my expectations for this brewery and brings a TON of flavor to the table. Along with the classic Oaky notes, you can pick up some citrus, vanilla, toffee and the signature caramel smoothness. All of their beers seem to pair best with a good mild or medium bodied cigar, so it fit very well in with the Rocky Patel Vintage 1990. Other good pairing would be a similar beer like a blonde or amber, and possibly a nice cup of coffee.

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The Good Stuff: I was one of the very many people intrigued as rumors began to fly about a possible Liga Privada in “A” format. Not that I am an “A” kinda guy, but that’s a huge departure from anything currently in the Liga Privada line. Not to mention that I am an open Liga Privada Fan Boy. That won’t make this review biased though, trust me. After about a years worth of rumors Jonathan Drew confirmed that they would in fact be making an “A” sized Liga Privada, and began to hype it up with some Jonathan Drew style tweets and Facebook posts.

I just had to put the "A" next to a Dirty Rat for size comparison. And for laughs.

As time went on, we discovered this wasn’t a real release, but instead a special type of product. What I mean by that is, Drew Estate actually created the Liga Privada “A” as a special promotional product.  The “A” is actually a tweaked T-52 blend. More than likely they needed to refine the blend and mellow it out a bit to fit the format. I’m glad too, I don’t think I could handle a straight up 9 inch T-52. These cigars will not be available to purchase, instead, they will be given out at certain Liga Privada events due in part to the limited amount of T52 leaf as well as Drew Estate wanting something special as a thanks to it’s customers. Plus, in my opinion, I don’t think the format is easy to sell. I was actually on Smoke Inn’s radio show “Kiss my Ash Radio” this passed weekend with Erik Espinosa from EO Brands and he made mention that he was actually present some time ago when he and Jonathan Drew opened the first box of Liga Privada Unicos “A”. That being said, I think it’s safe to say these will be readily available at Liga Privada Events.

I don’t smoke “A” sized cigars often at all. But there is a reason for it. “A” sized cigars were created to honor celebrations. This is a special treat sort of size, to be smoked to celebrate special occasions. With good reason too, they are normally 9” long and usually take around 3 hours to smoke.  That being said, lets get started!

Size: 9 ¼” x 47  –  Wrapper:  Connecticut Stalk Cut Habano  –  Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina  –  Filler: Nicaraguan/Honduran/Dominican – keep in mind this is just an assumption, knowing that it’s a tweaked T-52 blend.

Prelight: This is a GIGANTIC cigar. It almost feels too heavy to hold and wants to fall from my hand when I hold it near the head of the cigar. That goes with all “A” sized cigars I guess. They aren’t the most practical cigar, but they aren’t trying to be. Once you get passed the size of this cigar you are greeted with the beautiful T52 style wrapper that we have all grown to love. The wrapper is incredibly oily with medium to dark browns and oranges mixed in. The construction is perfect with only a very few larger veins. Usually veins of that size would run the entire body of a robusto sized cigar. I just though it was funny that the Liga Privada Unicos “A” had 2 longer veins stacked one after another, and they still only ran about half the body of the cigar.  Anyways, the wrapper and the entire cigar in general is very solid and durable. There aren’t any soft spots on the entire cigar. The cap is very similar to the pig tailed, rounded cap that the Dirty Rat carries, only twice the size. And the band is identical to the  Unicos Series bands that all the Liga Privada carries, blue and gold with a gigantic “A” on them.

The body of the cigar gives off a nice, strong cedar and sweet tobacco aroma while the foot of the cigar gives off nothing more than a very subtle spice. The cap clipped extremely easy and clean using my Liga Privada Double Bladed cutter. The cold draw was interesting, instead of greeting me with a nice pepper I was expecting, The “A” let loose this crazy strong cedar and sweetness which got me interested in just how “tweaked” this blend really is.

First Smoke: Right away the Liga Privada Unicos “A” kicked out the flavors I expect from the T-52. Cedar, spice, sweet tobacco, and cocoa. One thing was still missing, the pepper. In all honesty I’m glad too, a 9 inch pepper-bomb just doesn’t seem like it would sit too well with me. Despite the distance in which the smoke must travel, the draw was perfect and plentiful. It only took me my normal 2 puffs to get a mouthful of thick, white smoke. The burnline is a bit wavy and thick, but nothing too concerning, white the stationary smoke, as with most Liga Privada blends, is crazy. This cigar is spewing out tons and tons of thick, cedar scented smoke as it sits in my ashtray. The ash left behind is somewhat flaky, and really dark grey with spots of lighter grey. It only held on for about two thirds of an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The sweetness has really started to pick up into the second third of this Liga Privada Unicos “A”. By this point, I’d be finishing a robusto format cigar, but this cigar is still keeping my attention by adding a ton of spice and the sweetness I mentioned to the already sweet mashup of cocoa, and cedar. The burnline has completely corrected itself and is burning dead even now. The retrohale is BADASS coating with an absolute blast of cedar each time I do it. I am feeling a very slight nicotine kick after the second third, but no where near what I was expecting form a Liga Privada blend.

Finish: Switching it up again, I started to get this nice, subtle floral flavor during the last third of Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Unicos “A”.  The sweetness has mellowed out quite a bit, and I am left with a really smooth cedar, cocoa, coffee and floral mixture. Surprisingly for the size I’m really not picking up much more than a really slight nicotine kick. The burnline has been perfect since the second third, and I haven’t had to relight, or even touch up this cigar once. All in all it took a few minutes shy of 3 hours to take down this beast of a cigar. It’s crazy how the final picture looks similar to the length of a “First Smoke” robusto picture. This thing is huge.

Overview: I have a short attention span. Very. I blame the internet and technology for that. That being said, I never really got bored while smoking this Liga Privada Unicos “A”. It had just enough change ups to keep my attention, but at the same time was smooth and seamless enough not to overpower me with each jump. I think finding balance in a cigar as big as this, and keeping the cigar’s complexity has the be an incredibly difficult task for the blender, and Drew Estate did a hell of a job with it. The cigar wasn’t as powerful as the other blends in the Liga Privada Line, with good reason. I don’t think I could handle a 3 hour T-52 It would leave my crying on the floor. Although this isn’t a cigar I’d smoke often, I really enjoyed it a lot. And in terms of the format, it’s not made to be consumed often. As stated, it’s a celebratory cigar. And I really think it’s a great addition to my humidor when I want something special and have a few hours to burn, pun intended.

Pairing: I said it many times, and will say it again, Winter is the season for beer. With all the awesome porters, stouts, and Christmas ales it’s a wonder why I’m not trashed from morning to dawn. St. Bernardus isn’t a stranger to this blog. In fact, it’s one of my favorite breweries out there. This Christmas season Abbey Ale hits the mark on all accounts. It’s strong (10% ABV), sweet, flavorful, and well balanced with fruity, malty flavors and just a hit of spice. Needless to say it went perfectly with the Liga Privada Unicos “A”. At about $13 a bottle, it’s not something you can drink everyday, but when you find it, pick it up. It pairs great with any full bodied, full flavored cigar.

The post Drew Estate – Liga Privada Unicos “A” appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today we have a fairly limited cigar up for review that I actually don’t think got all that much Press. It comes from the B&M Exclusive line by Pete Johnson of Tatuaje. If you haven’t stumbled across any of these before, you can find one of the previous ones reviewed here on Casas Fumando, it was the Tatuaje Barclay Rex 100th Anniversary. Pete Johnson continues this line with the Tatuaje TAA Exclusive 2011.

The TAA in the name actually stands for the “Tobacconists Association of America” and unlike his previous B&M Exclusive releases, you will actually be able to find these in more than just 1 store. The total distribution went out to 40+ TAA retailers across the United States of America. There was also a larger production turned around for this cigar with numbers totaling up at 30,000 cigars. This worked out to 1,500 boxes of 20 cigars per box, and if you had a retailer in your area, they would have sold between $10 and $11 per cigar.

As with most exclusives from Tatuaje and Pete Johnson, they don’t last too long on shelves and are already fairly scarce in most areas. One thing that made them a bit of a draw to Tatuaje fans is that Pete hinted the blend was similar to that of the Pork Tenderloin and the Brex. Both of those were limited releases from Tatuaje that were difficult to track down. Pete also decided to change up the shape of this cigar a little bit. You can find that it is a slightly rectangular box-pressed shape and the 5.675 x 54 vitola is also non-standard. I actually found the vitola here to be a good balance between a Toro and Robusto.

The cigar itself comes wrapped in an interesting Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. Now the wrapper alone doesn’t make the cigar, but both Tony and I both seem to have a great appreciation for a lot of Broadleaf cigars so I’m hoping this continues the trend. It’s terribly cold out here today but I’ve got my propane heater to keep me warm from the outside and a nice tall bottle of beer to keep me warm on the inside. So let’s see what the Tatuaje TAA Exclusive 2011 has in store for me!

Cigar: Tatuaje TAA Exclusive 2011
Drink: Wychwood Brewery Bah Humbug Christmas Cheer
Vitola: Box-Pressed Toro/Robusto hybrid (5.625 x 54)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $10
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Tatuaje TAA is actually a tad rough looking on first glance with a few medium to large sized veins and some uneven areas in the diameter
• The wrapper looks like a tasty chocolate bar with a bit of toothiness and I’m actually getting some sort of glitter type effect on it, could just be my lighting (I later realized the glitter was likely caused by the temperature being so cold that the humidity droplets were icing over…)
• The cigar sports a closed foot and a box pressed shape, the triple cap ties up the presentation nicely
• There is a bit of inconsistency with regards to firmness on the cigar too with some areas being soft and springy while others are very firm
• The cap clipped away fairly cleanly with my double-bladed guillotine cutter, I’m met with a bit of an open draw here that concerns me
• The draw remains very open which is disappointing

Burn:
• I actually peeled away the closed foot pieces to reveal a nice clean foot for my toasting since I’ve had terrible luck in the past with closed feet
• This resulted in a nice and evenly toasted foot and kicked me off to a great start
• A bit of a wave started after the toasting, we’ll see how it progresses
• The wave is progressing to be worse and will definitely require some touch-up soon
• The cigar almost went out and needed a fairly hefty touch-up, but we’re chugging along again now
• The draw seemed to get a bit tighter after my relight/touch-up and the burn has been a little more consistent, although still a tad wavy

Smoke & Ash:
• There is an absolute insane amount of smoke coming from each draw of this cigar, I could make smoke signals rivalling campfires with this cigar!
• Surprisingly, there isn’t much resting smoke coming off the cigar, just a moderate amount giving off a burning wood aroma
• The ash appears nice and clean so far with a light grey color tone
• First ash lasted just about an inch before falling off into the ashtray
• Second ash seemed to keep with the 1 inch mark as it’s standard

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has very little aroma, maybe just a bit of sweet tobacco
• Since the foot is closed, there isn’t much variance on the aroma but I do get a little bit of spice there
• The pre-light draw brings more sweet tobacco and spices, both in greater intensities now
• The initial draws offer an interesting mix of spices dominated by a white pepper type of flavor, mixed in there is also some cedar woodsiness that balances it all out
• The array of spices keeps changing as I smoke the Tatuaje TAA, there’s a variety of cloves, nutmeg and raw cinnamon along with the white pepper
• The initial sweetness I detected is pretty much gone but the cedar flavors seem to be balancing out the profile for now
• There is a very small bite on the retrohale and the finish is a nice smooth cedar flavor
• The body seems a little hard ot place right now, but I’ll say we’re near medium so far, I suspect that will increase soon though
• As I approach the half way mark I can’t say I’m getting much else in the flavor department, still spices and cedar
• It’s not a bad profile but I’m hoping it changes up a bit soon to keep me interested
• The balance of the cedar seems to be fading away and I’m getting more into a bland tobacco flavor paired with some mixed spices
• The Tatuaje TAA never really passed the medium threshold, stayed in the range until the end with only a slight buildup
• I really wish that initial sweetness made a presentation here, it would really bring a nice dimension to this cigar…
• Flavors going into the last 1.5 inches are really fading away, mostly getting a burnt woodsiness and some leathery flavors
• Had to put the cigar down a bit early as the flavors started getting harsh

Final Thoughts:
The Tatuaje showed some promise initially and I was enjoying the flavor profile from the start. Unfortunately, that profile didn’t change much as the cigar progressed and actually got a little bland shortly after the halfway mark. I also had a few issues with the burn and an extremely open draw. I think the cigar had some potential and maybe needed a little more rest time in the humidor, I’m not too sure. I’ve come to expect a higher calibre of cigars from Pete Johnson’s B&M exclusive lines and I don’t think this one lived up to the expectations I had. I’d definitely want to try another couple after they’ve had time to rest though and see how age treats them.

Pairings:
As we all know, Christmas is just around the corner and that means by favorite time of year in the brewery world! Christmas and Winter ales are probably my favorite seasonal brews and there’s always cool gift packs available too. You may recognize the Wychwood Brewery name from their famous Hobgoblin ruby ale which I’ve enjoyed in my review of Illusione 888 Slam and it’s own review here. This offering is called “Bah Humbug Christmas Cheer” and is one of theie seasonal ales. I actually found the flavors to be very similar to the Hobgoblin and not as “heavy” as you might expect. It’s basically got that smooth ruby ale character with an added touch of spices common in winter seasonal ales, such as cinnamon. I found it to be a very tasty pairing to the Tatuaje TAA since it offered a change of pace from the cigars profile and kept the whole experience a little more interesting.

The post Tatuaje TAA Exclusive 2011 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

If you are a follower of ours on Twitter or Facebook, you will have seen recently that Tony is off slacking again. That’s right, again! lol. Ok maybe not. He’s actually on a trip to the Dominican Republic and visiting lots of people, cigar factories, and even some tobacco fields. I’m sure he’ll have lots to tell everyone when he gets back. In the meantime, keep up with what he’s doing by following him on Twitter or following the Casas Fumando Facebook Page.

So I’m still stuck at home and while Tony is probably burning up in the Dominican, and I’m pretty much freezing over here. Terrible forecast for the week full of rain and near freezing temps, winter is almost here! The summer flew by… So for no particular reason I made a mess in my humidor searching for my next review and what I came up with was my very last Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial from 2010.

Now Oliva should be a name most people know by now, they’ve been around for a long time and have a great reputation of turning over quality cigars year after year. They haven’t been much in the past for really branching out with drastic ideas but rather have been that “staple” cigar brand that you could always fall back on. Their 4 main lines are the Serie G, Serie O, Serie V and the Connecticut Reserve. Of their 4 lines mentioned, the Serie V is the fullest on the body scale.

If you have been keeping up with the cigar news, you would actually see that Oliva is starting to bring a lot more variety to their lines. They’ve had the Master Blend series for awhile now and are also hitting a few winners with the Studio Tobac project. Tony actually just recently posted a review of the cigar made by a joint venture of Studio Tobac and Padilla, appropriately named the Padilla – Studio Tobac Figurado. As you can see from his thoughts, Oliva is on the right track with their new project.

Oliva’s core lines don’t usually change much but a few years ago they decided to bring out a special edition of their Serie V. It was to be wrapped with a Maduro leaf, limited in production quantities and restricted to a single vitola. It’s full name is the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial and usually a year is appended to that. In the case of today’s review it is the 2010 to mark the year it was released. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to distinguish some of the various years.

With regards to the 2009 and 2010, you will find 2 main differences, firstly, the 2010 is a slightly larger ring gauge than the 2009 even though it maintains the same vitola. Also, the 2010 is wrapped in a nice dark San Andreas wrapper versus the previous years Broadleaf wrappers. Looking a little forward to 2011, the vitola is changing to a 6×50 Toro and should actually be hitting shelves very soon. It also has the same San Andreas wrapper. The production for the 2011 is also the same as the 2010 I’m reviewing today which is 5000 boxes of 10 cigars.

With a price point of $10.70/cigar they aren’t that steep but aren’t cheap either. It seems to strike a nice balance of a slightly high end or limited production stick. I’m also told that the 2011 version is dropping the MSRP to $9 which is a welcome change. Each of the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial cigars are packed with a Ligero longfiller from the Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua which is well known for producing tasty and quality leaves.

The band on this cigar is fairly unassuming and doesn’t venture far from the standard Oliva lines. It adds “Maduro” on one side and “Especial” on the other but I’m disappointed that it doesn’t include a year. Not a huge deal but it would be a nice touch. I’m sitting down to enjoy this cigar on a fairly chilly evening here. The cigar also has a fair bit of age on it so that will affect the flavors. I have smoked a few of these before so I’ll make a quick comparison to then and now in the summary. Enjoy!

Cigar: Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2010
Drink: Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2005
Vitola: Torpedo (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: MSRP $10.70
Burn Time: A little over 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Oliva Serie V Maduro is surrounded by a dark chocolate brown wrapper that has a rough look to it and an oily finish
• The exposed edges of the wrapper jump off the cigar a bit, especially near the cap which is extremely firm to the touch, this worries me
• The rest of the cigar has a nice little spring and give to it when squeezed
• The foot of the cigar appears to be very well packed with almost no room left in there at all
• I started with a small cut which clipped off fairly easily but I was met with a pretty tight draw
• I cut just a bit more and got a good draw, we’ll start here with a little more than a half inch clipped off the cap

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and slow but it kept even and glowed nicely
• Unfortunately, the cigar started off with a pretty drastic canoe despite what seemed to be an even toasting, needed to be touched up fairly early on
• Another little touchup after about 2 inches as the cigar tried canoeing on me again
• The cigar requires a small touch up pretty much every inch or so, luckily it’s not ruining the flavors
• The last 2.5 inches of the cigar REALLY slowed down the burn, making the cigar last that extra special bit longer

Smoke & Ash:
• There is a good amount of smoke coming from each draw
• Even while resting the cigar is producing a decent amount of smoke
• The ash is coming out to be a wonderful white color when it’s burning properly, my touchups are turning the ash black in some spots
• Even though the ash was looking clean, neat and strong, it still fell off into the ashtray after just about an inch

Tasting Notes:
• I was surprised to notice that the wrapper had barely any aroma to it, maybe just a touch of hay and that’s all
• The foot is also not too strong of an aroma, just a slightly more concentrated hay-type of aroma with just a little touch of a peppery spice
• The pre-light draw is also pretty bland here with only hints of hay again, I really hope the full experience will be more than this
• The initial draws were much more enjoyable with some roasted dark chocolate almond type of flavor and a hint of spices, maybe some coffee tucked in there too
• The chocolate almond flavors dwindled down a bit and I’m left with mostly coffee, spices and now some cedar. It’s still good but the start was much more enjoyable, let’s hope it returns!
• The body started off in the low end of medium and the cigar has a soft bite on the retrohale with an interesting cedary/peppery finish
• The coffee notes are really developing nicely and I’m also getting some nice warm earthy notes in the mix
• All the flavors are balancing well and the cedar finish is a nice touch
• As the 2010 Oliva Serie V Maduro progressed into the last third the body is slowly building and I’m on the edge of full now
• The spices have remained fairly soft so far and the retrohale reflects that with a soft bite and retains the smooth cedar finish
• The last bit of the cigar was still enjoyable until my fingers were burning, a nice buildup of coffee, light spices and cedar rounded out the final flavors

Final Thoughts:
Overall this was a pretty good smoke that I enjoyed. I feel that it never really did recreate that initial awesome roasted almond flavor. The beginning of the cigar was great and the remainder was good. Nothing about it was really bad, my only complaint would be the burn issues. Thankfully they didn’t negatively affect the flavors but it did take away from the whole experience a bit. I think the cigar could have earned itself a few more points with a bit more age as it already has. The ones I smoked earlier this year were not as good as this one. So my suggestion, grab a few and let them sit a few more months and they should be excellent. If those roasted almond flavors can linger a bit longer this would have been a fantastic cigar. The little bit of body buildup at the end was a nice touch for me as well. The price is a little high at just over $10 but I’m excited to see what the upcoming 2011 release brings since it will have the same wrapper and be $1.70 cheaper!

Pairings:
Tonight’s pairing is a new Port wine that I picked up at the liquor store the other day. It’s from Dow’s Winery which comes from the Symington Family Estates in Portugal. The 2005 Late Bottled Vintage Tawny Port has a fairly light and fruity feel on the palate with some deep notes like a touch of chocolate and woodsiness. It’s probably not the best Port I’ve had but it’s not bad in it’s own right either. It paired excellently with the flavors of the 2010 Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial. Other than Port I think this cigar would pair wonderfully with a heft stout, a strong or chocolate flavored coffee or even a nice scotch.

The post Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2010 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.