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.

The Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir comes packed with quality Nicaraguan tobacco and wrapped with a Cuban-seed maduro wrapper that’s been aged for at least 14 months followed by an extra 6 months in bourbon barrels. How could you say no to a combination like that??? This Nicaraguan puro sounds super appealing on paper and I hope it translates to awesome when I light it up as well.

One thing to mention about the blend here is that it contains pretty much the exact same filler and binder as the 10th Anniversary Champagne cigar. The difference is of course the dark maduro wrapper it comes with. So you can see why I was excited to give this blend a try!

As I’ve mentioned before, Perdomo has a pretty big reputation to maintain with me. I’ve always had good luck with both construction and flavors when it comes to their sticks so I expect all of their sticks to live up to that same expectation. Now to be honest, the 10th Anniversary Maduro line up wasn’t as much of a success for me as the Champagne was so I’m really hoping the Champagne Noir rounds out the Reserve lines up with a solid and tasty maduro!

Cigar: Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir
Drink: The Macallan Select Oak Scotch
Vitola: Epicure (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $5.60
Burn Time: 2.5 hours

Construction:
• A smooth and silky wrapper adorns the Champagne Noir, with a soft touch and only a few minor veins
• The wrapper has the color of milk chocolate and is fairly consistent from end to end
• The single cap is cleanly applied and has an elegant touch to it
• The foot appears mostly well packed except for one small area that has a little bit of a gap in it
• The whole cigar has a consistent squeeze and spring to it
• Another great sign of Perdomo quality, the band slid off with almost no effort and absolutely no damage to the wrapper at all

Burn:
• The toasting was a little odd, even though it looked lit up, only the edges seemed to catch. But after one quick draw the whole foot was glowing nicely
• Burn has been razor sharp right from the start
• I can’t believe how slow this cigar is burning, it’s crazy
• As I burn through the halfway mark, I’ve had nothing but razor sharp and slow burning, fantastic quality here!
• Did I mention how slow this is burning? I’m going to easily pass 2 hours here!

Smoke & Ash:
• Tons of smoke right from the first draw, fills the air with a fluffy whiteness
• Even the resting smoke is pretty abundant with lots of cedar notes in the air
• The first ash stayed nice and strong with just a bit of flaking
• It lasted past 1 inch and tapped off cleanly into the ashtray
• The full volume of smoke continues right through the whole first half
• Ash is staying nice and clean and strong and easily passing the 1 inch mark every time

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a mostly barnyard/hay type of aroma to it
• The foot brings an interesting fruity tartness along side some baking spices, an interesting combination there
• The pre-light draw has a freshness to it, almost like inhaling mint, along with some sweet cedar and a touch of spices
• The initial draw has a slight pepper kick and some hefty cedar to back it up
• The pepper subsided a little and I’m getting some nice cedar and coffee flavors
• The coffee is making nice full flavored appearance in the middle here
• The retrohale has a nice pepper bite to it, but the finish is smooth cedar and coffee
• The coffee is developing into a nice roasted espresso flavor and adding to it some nice roasted almond flavors
• The flavor started off near medium but it’s easy to see it’s at the border of full now but seems to be holding nicely there
• The whole experience has a sort of creamy undertone to it as well
• The roasted espresso and almond flavors stuck through the the end without any harshness at all

Final Thoughts:
Well it’s easy to see that this cigar did not disappointment at all. There were some hints of the Connecticut version in here but the maduro wrapper definitely brought a different experience to the Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir. The roasted espresso and almond flavors really brought it home nicely in the end and the burn and construction was top quality right through to the end. The pace at which this cigar burned was incredibly slow! Definitely got my money’s worth with the slow burn on these. This is another winner in Perdomo’s inventory for me, give them a try and let us know what you think!

Pairings:
I had first cracked this bottle the week before the wedding and it was and good, so I had been saving it for a special occasion. So this weekend we ended up buying a house so I thought that’s a damn good reason to finish off the last bit of this Macallan Select Oak. It’s so darn smooth that you definitely don’t need ice cubes to drink this one. A touch of smoke, a touch of peat and lots of caramel and fruity notes. Darn good if you like some good ol fashion Scotch! Great pairing for any full bodied cigar and even though the Champagne Noir wasn’t too full bodied, it still complimented the coffee and cedar notes well. A nice stout or strong coffee would have been great here as well.

The post Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

2 Days before I tied the knot I had a great cigar gathering with about 10 friends. Not all of them are big on cigars but there were a few. So I pulled out some mild sticks for the newbies and kept some of the good sticks for those I knew would enjoy them. I happened to grab myself a Cohiba Behike 52 (Which Tony reviewed here) that I had been saving for just this occasion and damn was it ever good. I paired it with a super smooth scotch which I had also been saving, the Macallan Select Oak. I highly recommend both of these! To finish off the night I also enjoyed a Drew Estate Undercrown and a Montecristo No. 2 which are staples in my humidor and still darn good. But hard to compare to the Behike…

The wedding day was mostly a blur and flew by very quickly. I didn’t have time to sneak out for a cigar but I did make sure they were part of the day. I had ordered a bunch of cigars from our friend Paul Maldonado and gave them out to our guests. Each cigar had my wonderful wife’s creative touch as well with a nice ribbon and little label that said “Compliments of the new Mr. and Mrs. T”. The whole day and evening went wonderfully smooth and without any problems at all, a great day for sure!

Now for the fun part, the next morning at 7am we were on our way to the airport! I made sure to pack my travel humidor with a few sticks cause I didn’t want to get stuck without any cigars while I was away. Our first stop was the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. The island itself has some great scenery but apart from the cruiseship port there isn’t many shops that tourists would visit so we stuck to the resort for the most part. Now I’m very glad I brought my own cigars because they were selling Cuban’s for about 4x the retail price, which is even more than they would cost me in Canada!
But you can’t really complain when this is the view you have at your table every morning for breakfast!

So while I was there this is what I had from my Travel humidor. I didn’t pack any Cuban’s because we’d be hitting U.S. soil and I didn’t want to deal with a Customs issue. The first night in Antigua I celebrated with a Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial. I really love this cigar and it comes at such a great price, can’t go wrong with these.

I didn’t have a cigar every night simply because we were having fun doing other things but the resort was very open to letting you smoke pretty much anywhere on the grounds. So I also enjoyed the odd smaller cigar such as a couple Illusione ~mk~ sticks and some little Tatuaje Verocu 5’s that I happened to bring along. The night pictured below consisted of a Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label paired with some Nachos + Cheese and my staple drink for the trip, a Cuba Libre (a.k.a. Rum & Coke). And yes, I had it in a mug because I ran out of glasses in the room! lol

The next cigar I snuck in my travel humidor is one of my recent favorites, the Drew Estate Undercrown. Of course, I have myself some more Rum & Coke here, El Dorado seemed to be the standard of this resort.

That was it for the cigars I snapped pictures of at the resort. The next leg of the trip brought us to San Juan where we would be catching our cruiseship for a tour of the Caribbean. We didn’t have time to shop around San Juan when we got there as we had to head straight to the ship. At this point I was running low on cigars and starting to get worried! lol The first night while we were watching the ship disembark I squeezed in an Illusione ~88~ and I think I only had 1 cigar left now.

The first stop on our tour was the island of St. Thomas which is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This was a really nice island with lots of clean shops and friendly people, definitely a place we’d consider going back to for a longer stay. While my new wife went crazy in all the jewelry stores I kept my eyes peeled for cigars. There were a couple duty free shops that I ended up grabbing some cigars at but the prices were kinda high so I only grabbed a few. I picked up a couple Padron 2000’s that were a little over $8 each and some Arturo Fuente Chateau’s that were in the $10 range. Selection wasn’t that great on this island either…

I have a bunch more to tell but it seems this post is already getting pretty long so be on the look out for part 2 coming up later this week! Let us know if you guys enjoy this type of post and we could chat more about our adventures with cigars whenever we have them!

The post Why I was MIA – Part 1 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now the Tatuaje Reserva Series is an extension of the popular brown label line called La Seleccion de Cazador. A few years ago, Pete Johnson started a limited release cigar called the Cojonu that would be released every 3 years. This is the 2009 edition and as I write this I believe most stores have already started receiving the recently released 2012 edition. One quick note on the year in the name, it’s not related to the tobacco leaf age or anything like that, it’s specifically linked to the year it was released.

The Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 was released on March of 2009 so as I smoke this it has just recently passed its 3 year anniversary. The blend in the Cojonu’s have an increased amount of Ligero over the brown label versions and are touted to be a fairly strong blend so nicotine sensitive cigar enthusiasts may want to tread lightly here. The 2009 edition is rolled at Don Pepin Garcia’s factory located in Miami, Florida, the El Rey de Los Habanos Factory.

There are a total of 4 cigars in the Cojonu line, the Gran Cojonu, Cojonu 2003, Cojonu 2006, Cojonu 2009 and the most recent Cojonu 2012. The Gran Cojonu is the only one of the line that has no band. the other 4 cigars have the standard brown Tatuaje Label and on additional band. The black and gold band is standard for most of the Reserva lines and in our case today it simply says Cojonu 2009. Now let’s get to setting the flame to this cigar!

Cigar: Tatuaje Cojonu 2009
Drink: Quinta Do Noval Black Porto
Vitola: Belicoso (6.75 x 48)
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $13
Burn Time: A little over 1.5 hours

Construction:
• Here we have a fairly rough looking cigar with a milk chocolate colored wrapper and some hints of golden tones
• the veins on this Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 are somewhat medium sized and the wrapper has some interesting toothiness to it
• The cap is finished with a cleanly wrapped single leaf, not perfect but it’s nicely bound
• The cigar is firmer than a baseball bat from end to end, I could probably hurt someone with it, hope that doesn’t affect the draw here
• Despite being super firm, the foot did not appear overly packed which is a good sign i think
• After trimming the tapered cap a bit with my double bladed guillotine cutter I was glad to be welcomed by a draw that felt just about right
• Before even reaching the half-inch mark there was some tar buildup which was tightening up the draw. I may have made too small of a cut so I trimmed a bit more and we’re off to the races again
• The body started picking up shortly after I passed the mid-way point but it’s still within the medium range I’d think
• Some of the spices started coming back too, more of a light white pepper at the moment
• There was a bit too much glue on the secondary black band and it tore the wrapper a bit

Burn:
• The foot of the Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 was actually very stubborn on the toasting, the middle of it refused to light up, I switched up my culinary torch to a more focused single flame torch and that seemed to do the trick
• After the tough start the burn line was a bit wavy but nothing that needed attention
• Seems that within the first inch there were already a couple times where the cigar felt like it was almost burning out and needed me to take a few extra draws
• In the second inch the wave got a bit out of hand so I needed to give it a little touch up
• The cigar continues to feel like it’s going out and requiring extra draws which is really taking away from the experience here
• The last third of the cigar required multiple touch ups to keep it burning properly

Smoke & Ash:
• So far there isn’t a ton of smoke coming off each draw, it’s taking a few attempts to get a decent volume
• There is a fair amount of resting smoke after setting the cigar down each time and it seems somewhat consistent
• The ash through the first inch is sort of starting to “bloom”, not too strong or clean and a lot of flaking all over the place
• The color of the ash is mostly a nice light grey but there are quite a few black accents all over the place
• I tapped off the first ash after about an inch because it looked like it was getting really weak and messy
• The next ash reached the same 1 inch mark, even though this one was a lot cleaner it still lacked strength so I tapped it off to save it from a deadly plunge to the concrete!
• The third went back to being messy and weak, probably due to multiple touch ups and only lasted about an inch

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has almost no aroma to it, just a bit of woodsy notes and some tobacco leaf
• The foot brings more of the woodsy notes and adds to that an interesting sweet cinnamon type of aroma
• The pre-light draw has a bit more cinnamon spice to it along with the woodsy and just a touch of sweetness, maybe even a touch of pepper there on the tongue and lips
• The initial draws jump out with some of the signature Tatuaje/Pepin spices, mainly pepper, followed by the cinnamon and woodsy flavors I was getting on the pre-light inspection
• After the initial spices died down I’m left with nicely balanced blend of espresso, woodsy and sweet cinnamon flavors
• As for the body, I’d say I’m at the low end of medium right now and the retrohale started with a kick but now it’s a smooth coffee finish with no bite
• The espresso flavors have toned down a bit and it’s getting replaced by an interesting dark chocolate flavor that is really mixing nicely with the sweet cinnamon
• All the flavors really mixed together nicely and balanced well in the last third, especially the dark chocolate and espresso notes
• I have to say I’m not getting the huge hit of strength I was expecting from ligero packed cigar but that might be because it’s 3 years old now
• Despite all the touch ups, the flavors are still enjoyable and constantly changing
• There was a slight build up of harshness near the end but nothing overpowering, most likely due to the re-lights I had to perform here
• I put down the cigar a little short due to all the re-lights but the flavors were present and enjoyable right to the end

Final Thoughts:
This is one of those cigars I was really trying to enjoy. It had a lot of the right elements but the whole package together didn’t sing huge praises for me. On the flavor front, there were some very enjoyable notes that kept me on my toes, that’s the part of this cigar I really enjoyed. It was the burn and draw issues that hampered the experience for me here. I did have a few samples before reviewing and it was the same story for the majority of them. So the flavors were awesome but the burn and draw left something to be desired, and at a price point of $13.00 I would have liked the whole package to be neat and tidy. I still think this is a worthwhile cigar to try and I will still seek out the 2012’s but I think Pete has some much better sticks under his belt that I would rather enjoy.

Pairings:
Today’s pairing is yet another new port that I stumbled across at the store. It’s from Portugal, as are most ports, and the winery is called Quinta do Noval. Although it’s name is just “Black”, this bottle is another standard Late Bottled Vintage Porto with some nice labels and marketing to it. There’s actually a embossed bird on the glass near the bottom, not sure if it’s visible in the picture but it’s pretty neat. So this porto is not all marketing, it’s actually got a decent product in the bottle as well. At it’s base is a nice, full-bodied red that seems comparable to a Merlot. On top of that are some excellent dark berry notes and a hefty helping of oak flavors that make up for a delicious treat. At only $17 a bottle, I can’t complain at all here, this was a great but and pairs perfectly with most any cigar. As you can guess, it made a great compliment to the Tatuaje Cojonu 2009. I think a nice scotch or strong espresso would also have gone well here.

The post Tatuaje Reserva Cojonu 2009 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ever since Tony reviewed the Curivari Seleccion Privada awhile back I’ve been dying to get my hands on anything from the Curivari line. Not only that but they seem to have been getting glowing reviews all over the online community. Being from North of the border, it’s always tougher to track down some brands and this was one of them until recently. While at a herf a few weeks ago this cigar was being featured so I grabbed myself a few hoping to squeeze them into a post, and here we are!

Now in case you’re not too familiar with Curivari, here’s a little background info. They are a Nicaraguan company that is quickly making a splash with an inventory of 4 lines, with one line having 3 blends within it. They are very traditional in their growing and harvesting and grow only Cuban seed Crillo and Corojo tobacco. All of their cigars are 100% Nicaraguan Puros and they strive to blend for a classic Cuban profile with excellent balance.

The cigar up for review today is the 1000 Series (or “Thousand Series”) from the Reserva Limitada line. This blend is wrapped with a dark Colorado leaf and comes in 3 sizes, the 2000(Robusto), 3000(Toro) and 4000(Torpedo). I’m sparking this one up on a warm sunny afternoon and hoping the weather holds out since it’s calling for rain.

Cigar: Curivari Reserva Limitada 1000 Series
Drink: Innis & Gunn Highland Cask Oak Aged Beer
Vitola: Reserve 4000 – Torpedo (6.25 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Just about $7
Burn Time: Just under 2 hours

Construction:
• This cigar has a wonderful dark cinnamon brown wrapper
• There are very few veins on this smooth wrapper and it has a nice oily shine to it
• The whole cigar is fairly firm when squeezed but it still has a bit of give and bounce
• The foot looks fairly well packed although there is a small opening
• The cap is finished well but it looks like it was wrapped around the cigar a few times more than was needed, shouldn’t cause any issues though
• The draw is just right after clipping a tiny bit of the tapered end, don’t clip too much though cause you might end up with a very open draw

Burn:
• The toasting was fairly even and easy and took very little time to get it flowing nicely
• The burn line is looking a little wavy but it seems to be staying in good enough shape for now
• The wavy lines start looking like a problem, then they seem to correct themselves, it’s not perfect but at least it’s not requiring any touch ups from me
• After about the first half the burn got nice and sharp, let’s hope it continues this way
• The last third needed a couple touch ups, but nothing major

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke coming from each draw with very little effort
• There is also quite a bit of resting smoke that’s giving off a very nice cedar aroma
• The ash is coming in with some mid-grey tones and some black accents
• The strength of the ash seems a little weak and it’s flaking a bit, I tapped it off at about an inch to avoid it landing in my lap
• The second ash was a lot stronger and lasted a bit past one inch before I tapped it off

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the Curivari Reserva Limitada has very little aroma on it, maybe just a touch of sweetness
• The foot has a much more interesting aroma with touches of sweetness, floral and even a bit of cedary spice
• The pre-light draw brings in a fresh cedar flavor along with the sweet and floral notes from before
• The initial draws brought a delicious deep cedar flavor with some cocoa notes and just a touch of baking spices, a great start for sure!
• As I progress through the first third, the baking spices remain but the cedar is gone, in it’s place is a sort of creaminess that’s accenting to cocoa very nicely
• This cigar continues to keep me on my toes. Added to the mix is some tasty coffee notes and the sweetness has developed into an almost black cherry type of flavor
• The body of this cigar seems to be in the medium range for the most part and the retrohale is kicking out a fair bit of kick with a smooth sweet cedar finish
• As I start into the last third, the flavors are still vast and complex and keep changing up on me. they are developing nicely and balancing together very well
• The final third build up in body a bit, maybe just the higher end of medium and the flavors started to really jump out in your face
• Tons of coffee, that interested sweet black cherry, cedar and a sort of roasted almond finish
• No bitterness right to the end, nubbed this cigar and enjoyed it

Final Thoughts:
I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed each of these that I’ve had the pleasure of smoking. The unique and complex flavor profile kept me on my toes throughout the whole experience. The burn line wasn’t perfect but it didn’t need me to pay any attention to it and went along without problems. Along with the wonderful flavors it also had a very interesting retrohale that started with spices and finished with a sweet cedar smoothness. At a price of just about $7 for the typically more expensive Torpedo vitola, this is a great purchase and well worth it’s cost. The Toro (Reserva 3000) can be had for only $6.30 and is pretty much the same size. I will definitely be adding these to my future shopping lists, I’d love to see how age treats them in a year or so!

Pairings:
Well no big surprise here, another beer from Innis & Gunn. Have I told you all how much I love their brews before? lol. Well this is another special edition that they came out with called the Highland Cask. Instead of aging them in regular oak barrels they actually age them in barrels that previously contained 18 year old Whisky. They also leave it in there for an extended time totally 69 days. It gives it a very nice touch of whisky malts on top of it’s already delicious profile of creamy caramel and toffee. It’s soooo good! haha. Go buy it if you can find it before it’s gone! As for a pairing, it was awesome with the Curivari Reserva Limitada. It had just enough flavor to compliment the cigar without overpowering it or being drowned out. This cigar would also go very well with a nice dark stout, a strong coffee or maybe a nice Belgian Tripel!

The post Curivari Reserva Limitada 1000 Series appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Man O’ War Armada is available exclusively at Cigars.com and Cigarsinternational.com as with the other Man O’ War lines. The other blends in the series include the Ruination, and untitled Man O’ War, the Virtue, and the Puro Authentico. The Armada is the special edition of the Man O’ War line and priced rightly so for that purpose at a hefty $20 per cigar.

Now I have to say how much I love these bands. I think I mentioned this in my Man O’ War Virtue review as well. This particular band has the gold Spartan mask with hints of metallic green in it all splashed on a black background. It really stands out and gives the cigar a “mean” look! lol Maybe there’s a hint of inspiration from the “300” movie here? hehe

The boxes of these cigars are packaged in impressively made chests of 32 cigars that also include a humidifier and a hygrometer. Currently, the Man O’ War Armada is only available in a single vitola, the Toro Grande. There are also two limited edition boxes that come with a few other cigars and include an Armada. These two boxes contain the Armada in a Perfecto and Box-Pressed Robusto Vitola.

The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is extremely rare and all the tobaccos used undergo an extensive fermentation and aging process before being put into any cigar. The fillers in this cigar are ligero from AJ’s farm in Nicaragua, specifically the Esteli and Ometope regions. The Armada is also produced in limited quantities of only 10,000 of this cigar each year. All these key features come together to justify the higher price tag. Now all that is fine and good, but if it doesn’t have a delicious profile and excellent construction to back it up, most people probably won’t buy it right? So let’s see if it has that important last piece to the puzzle.

Cigar: Man O’ War Armada
Drink: Brights Canadian 74 Port
Vitola: Toro Grande (6.5 x 56)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $20 MSRP
Burn Time: A little over 2 hours

Construction:
• Now this is a beefy looking cigar with mean face! The dark brown wrapper glows in the light with a nice oils it has
• The whole cigar is super smooth and evenly constructed, although it does have a few sizeable veins
• It’s also a fairly heavy stick, feels substantial and has no soft spots to be found. Just a tiny bit of spring when squeezed
• The foot of the Man O’ War Armada is finished super clean and looks fully packed
• The cap on this cigar is also damn near seamless and even the exact same color, wonderful construction all around
• The first cut was clean and easy but the filler was so packed near the cap that I barely got any draw
• I went in for a second deeper cut and the result was a little better, but still tight. The amount of filler in this cigar is beyond comparison

Burn:
• The toasting took a bit of time but rounded out nice and even with a perfect glow
• I can tell right away that this cigar is gonna burn SUPER slow, especially with all this filler
• The burn for the first bit was razor sharp and not wavy at all, it continue to burn at a turtles pace
• I’m getting a bit of a wave near the middle of the cigar, hopefully it evens itself out
• Did I mention how slow this thing is burning?!?!
• The wave in the middle corrected itself but I got another one soon after, turned into a pretty long peninsula that needed a correction
• Got another peninsula shortly after correction, just seems one part of the wrapper just stops burning
• It’s still burning super slow by the way

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite what seemed like a tight draw I’m getting super full smoke from every draw, it’s thick and creamy as it coats my palate
• There is a good amount of resting smoke coming off the cigar, not over powering, and it smells almost like the burning wood of a campfire
• The ash on this cigar is strong, clean and an awesome white color with occasional dark grey bands. With all the filler in this I would expect no less
• Although the ash looked amazingly strong, it gently fell into my ashtray after just over an inch
• The other ashes fell off on their own at a similar 1 inch length
• The smoke stayed super thick and creamy right to the end

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a mild coffee and cocoa aroma to it, very pleasant and light
• The foot is a different beast, bringing a full sensory aroma of cedar, floral, earthy and a touch of spice
• The pre-light draw is bursting with spices, I’m getting some pepper, cloves and maybe nutmeg, along with some cedar and earthiness
• Initial impressions are impressive, lol. I’m getting a really full and balanced cigar right off the bat. It’s not in your face but it seems so full flavored
• The flavors on the first few draws are filled with cedar, spices, earthy notes and a super smooth creamy coffee finish
• I have to stress how amazingly balanced this cigar is so early on, and the finish is so smooth and tasty, I really hope it continues
• The body is starting off in the medium range but I have a sense that this is going to be a powerhouse of a cigar (which is why I busted out my trusty port wine!)

• I’m surprised to say the retrohale is very subtle and laid back, almost no kick to it and a smooth/light cedar finish
• Just an inch or so in and the flavors gave me a nice change up. The coffee notes are much more pronounced, most of the spice is settled in although still lingers, and the smooth cedar rounds out the profile nicely
• Did I mention how wonderfully balanced this cigar is?!?!
• I’m getting another tasty change-up just past the halfway mark. Although I feel the body increasing the flavors are getting a touch sweeter and I’m also picking up some vanilla and cocoa notes
• The spice is making rare appearances in more prominent bursts, then settles nicely into the background
• The intensity of the flavors and body is really starting to burst out in the last third, but it’s still balanced amazingly well
• It seems like all the flavors are making a comeback and playing nicely together now, coffee, cedar, earthy, spicy, vanilla-y (lol?), sweetness and a touch of cocoa
• I’m finally getting a bit of a nice bite in the retrohale now but still nothing over powering, still keeping the smooth cedar finish as well
• The body is really shining through into the full range now
• The flavors started to fade a bit in the last inch and I was left with mostly woodsy and leathery notes. Very surprised to get very little harshness on such a full cigar

Final Thoughts:
I’ll admit I had my reservations going into this cigar. I haven’t had too many AJ cigars that wowed me but I also haven’t had any of his newer ones. Also, with a $20 price tag, this cigar set the bar high from the start. I have to say I’m not at all disappointed and it was $20 well spent! The flavors in this cigar were excellent and the balance of them all with incredibly spot on. It kept me on my toes and going back for more to see what flavor would be the dominant one on the next draw. My only real complaint here might be the draw, which was a bit tight even after a few pokes with a toothpick. But the construction on this cigar was something to admire and AJ Fernandez’s skills in the blending department definitely shined through! The price may be out of range for most people to purchase a box but I think it’s definitely worth getting a few to sit in the humidor for a special occasion. Take note that this cigar does have some kick and power behind it, so pick your pairings well and don’t give it to a new cigar smoker as they may not be able to fully enjoy the complexity and balance that this cigar offers. Perhaps this will be a contender on our 2011 list??

Pairings:
I was pretty excited when I found this bottle at my local liquor store. More Port wines are produced in Portugal and it’s fairly uncommon to find them produced by many other wineries. I’ve only come across a small handful that are made in Canada and this one happens to be from one of my favorite wine regions, Niagara, Ontario. The winery is called Brights and this particular bottle is called Canadian 74 Port. I fully plan to visit the winery on my next road trip to the Niagara region and see what else they have. Why you ask? Well, because this port is fantastic! It has a light start with cherry, current and blackberry fruit notes along with a woodsy touch. But the real treat is the finish, when it builds in body and gives you a full heavy red wine flavor, similar to the Merlot wines I’ve come to love from the Niagara region. It’s incredibly tasty and I will definitely be buying more, especially at a super cheap price tag of only $12 even after all the ridiculous liquor taxes here.

But the question is, did it pair well with the Man O’ War Armada? You’re damn right it did! the light fruity start complimented the flavors of the cigar extremely well and the full smooth finish contended the full body of the cigar perfectly. This was a powerful cigar but I find a good port wine really helps counteract any nicotine effects you might feel. I’m not sure there is a better pairing for this cigar but if I had to choose I might pick out a smooth aged scotch or possibly a strong cuban coffee with a couple sugars to combat the nicotine. A full stout might also work well here.

The post Man O’ War Armada appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So today I bring you the AVO 80th Anniversary cigar. The AVO brand was started by a Musician and Composer by the name of Avo Uvezian and was founded in 1988. The brand was met with open arms and soon after in 1995 the AVO brand was bought by Davidoff. Avo Uvezian remained very much a part of the company and still is. The cigars are made in the Dominican Republic in the same factory as Davidoff.

Many years ago, Avo Uvezian began releasing some special limited edition blends to celebrate his birthday. Most recently, the AVO 85th Anniversary was released. Today’s cigar marked Avo’s 80th birthday back in 2006 so it has roughly 5 years of age on it. Each of these limited editions is only released in one size, and the 80th Anniversary size was selected to be a Belicoso. Also make sure to check out Tony’s review of the AVO LE2010.

The cigar is made with a unique blend of 4 leaves in the filler. They are all from the Dominican Republic and consist of select Ligero and Seco grades of Piloto & San Vicente tobaccos. The cigar is finished with a beautiful Ecuadorian Sun-grown wrapper with a very nice shine and feel to it. What I like about this Limited Edition line by Avo is they always seem to produce a good number of cigars. So even though they are limited it’s fairly easy for the average person to grab a few and they aren’t reserved for the hardcore cigar hunters out there.

Cigar: AVO 80th Anniversary
Drink: Duchy Originals Organic Old Ruby Ale
Vitola: Belicoso (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun-Grown
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: About $15
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• The cigar is wrapper with a smooth and oily cinnamon brown tobacco leaf
• As with most tapered heads, the cap is composed of one smooth leaf that wraps around the cigar about 4 times
• The cigar is fairly even in diameter throughout with only a few smaller veins that are visible
• The firmness when squeezed offers very little give, a pretty firm cigar from end to end
• Foot appears very well packed which goes in line with the firmness I feel
• The cap clipped very clean and left me with a good draw
• The bands had a fair bit of glue on them and ended up taking a chuck of the wrapper with them

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and even and seemed to start the cigar off right
• First couple of inches are burning beautifully
• I like the fact that the cigar is staying lit without the need for me to constantly draw on it
• Going into the last third, I’m still super happy with the burn, no problems at all
• The cigar finished up with no issues at all in the burn department

Smoke & Ash:
• The first draw set the pace here with a big mouthful of smoke
• Even the resting smoke is fairly abundant
• The ash is showing to be strong and clean with a mostly white color to it
• Despite it’s strong and clean look, the ash fell off after about an inch
• Second ash had a sky diving accident and decided to take a plunge to the floor, but still held on for about an inch before falling to it’s doom
• All in all, the ash continued to stay nice and clean, just a bit weak

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma on the wrapper is mostly of sweet tobacco and cedar
• The foot offers the same tobacco sweetness aroma but adds to it some strong raw nutmeg
• The pre-light draw has a strong musty wood flavor to it with some more of the raw nutmeg spice
• Initial draws are not too exciting so far, I’m getting more of that mustiness with an interesting bit of bready flavors
• The musty flavors have sort of turned into a peat type of flavor, similar to a peaty scotch, very interesting
• The body of this cigar is in the mild-medium range so far and has a fairly dry finish
• I get more of the musty/peaty notes in the retrohale with a woodsy smooth finish
• The cigar is well balanced and smooth with a woodsy smooth finish
• There is an interesting mixture of spice making an appearance now and then, definitely some pepper and the original nutmeg
• Pushing into the last third, I’m getting some nice roasted nutty flavors mixed in the peaty and woodsy notes
• The body is also slowly creeping up on this cigar, getting to the higher end of the medium range
• The last third of the cigar is still progressing in body
• The flavors here have also intensified here with the peaty and nutty flavors being dominant and balanced nicely with the spice
• I’m also getting an odd cooling feeling after each draw, almost like a menthol but somewhat enjoyable and without the nasty taste, lol
• Smoked this down until my fingers were burning with no harshness at all

Final Thoughts:
This was an interesting cigar to say the least and I’m glad I had the chance to enjoy a few of them. It’s another cigar that I have to say had a very unique flavor profile to me. The strong peaty and musty notes is something I haven’t really had with this intensity before. Simply put, this cigar kept me interested the whole way through. The burn and ash were also superb on this cigar which gave me the chance to just sit back and enjoy the flavors(minus the one sky diving incident). The AVO 80th Anniversary is definitely something worth trying. The price is a bit high so I’m not sure I could justify a box of these, but having a few to try is worth it. It may be a profile you will love and opt for the box anyway. Although these were limited production cigar were released a few years ago I was still able to track some websites and B&M’s carrying them. So grab one and enjoy!

Pairings:
Today’s pairing is a new one I stumbled across the the liquor store the other day. It comes from Oxfordshire in the UK and is made by “Duchy Originals from Waitrose”. The company prides itself on providing various foods grown in sustainable conditions. In line with that belief, this is an Organic Old Ruby Ale. The “Old” in it’s title comes from the fact that it is made using an English barley that was first used in 1905, called “Plumage Archer”. The brew has some nice bright flavors to it, including a fair about of berries, malt and a noticeable hoppy bitterness. It’s a tasty brew and goes very well as a summer drink. It unfortunately was not the best pairing here though as I felt it was a bit light for the AVO 80th Anniversary and was overpowered by the cigar. With the peaty notes I was picking up from this cigar I’d have to say that a peaty scotch would have been an absolute perfect pairing. If not that, then something that can stand up to the bold flavors of this cigar such as a strong coffee or port.

The post AVO 80th Anniversary Limited Edition appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

In celebration of this day I thought it was fitting to dig something special out of my humidor and out of the fridge. The cigar of choice ended up being a fairly rare Cohiba. It is the Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006. It’s a very nice looking Piramide shaped cigar. Apart from it’s normal Cohiba band, it’s also adorned with the standard Cuban limited release band. This second band is gold with raised black lettering and border which says “Edicion Limitada 2006”.

These limited edition Cuban cigars are usually fairly easy to track down when they are initially released but after a few years they become a well sought after cigar to add to any humidor. I was recently lucky enough to track down a few through a friend and I grabbed them to save for special occasions like this.

This Piramide vitola was also the vitola for Cohiba’s 2001 Edicion Limitada. It was met with such great fanfare and reviews that they decided to re-release a similar blend. Each of the leaves within the cigar were aged a minimum of 2 years before being rolled into these rare cigars. 2006 also marked the 5th year that Habanos S.A. began offering limited edition cigars on a regular basis.

Cigar: Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006
Drink: Innis & Gunn Canadian Cask 2010
Vitola: Piramide (6.1 x 52)
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: Originally a little over $30. No idea on current value but it’s much higher!
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• This is a rough and oily looking cigar, the wrapper definitely has signs of bumps and veins
• The color on this cigar is a very dark chocolaty tone and has some nice bloom signs of aging
• The cap is finish with a single piece of tobacco that wraps around the cigar 3 times
• The foot appears to be fairly well packed
• A slight squeeze along the length of these cigars gives a mostly firm feel with some slightly soft and springy spots
• The cut was very clean using my double bladed guillotine and made no mess
• The pre-light draw is a tad tight but we’ll see how it goes

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and slow but perfectly even, had the foot glowing nicely
• Burn line stayed nice and straight through the first couple of inches, glad to see that!
• Immediately after I wrote the previous line I started getting a peninsula on one side that soon required a little encouragement from my lighter
• After that initial touch up a few more were required as the cigar burned, I’m always disappointed when this happens on such limited release cigars

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite the tight draw, I’m getting a nice mouthful of smoke from each puff
• There is only a light amount of resting smoke and seems to come and go, it gives off a nice toasted bread type of aroma
• The Ash is coming along nicely with an interesting deep ripple effect and ashes off a little past 1 inch
• The color on this ash is mostly a medium gray with some dark accents
• Subsequent ashes were a little messier and shorter due to the touch ups
• One of the last ashes managed to hang on for almost 2 inches

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006 is mostly aroma-less, just a slight cedar touch, probably from the humidor
• The foot of the cigar has a nice spice note to it, maybe a mild white pepper, along with some cedar
• Pre-light draw brings more of the white pepper and cedar flavors
• Initial draws have an interesting combination of cedar, chocolate and espresso, great start!
• The retrohale on this cigar is just fantastic, a great array of coffee and chocolate notes hit my sinuses with no bite and a smooth creamy finish
• The coffee and chocolate flavors seemed to dominate through the first half with some minor appearances of white pepper and cedar
• The body on this cigar has been mild through the first half along with a great balance of flavors and a super smooth creamy finish
• Had a little tar buildup, probably due to my small cut on the cap. A little trim fixed that issue
• As I get the half way mark, there is a bit more spice and a bit more body in the cigar, bt the awesome espresso and chocolate mix is still there
• Now I’m getting something interesting, it’s a good mix of spice and chocolate, almost like a chili spice. If you’ve ever had those gourmet chocolates made with chili you’ll get an idea of how this tastes, very unique!
• The body of this cigar has also gone into the high medium range right now but still offers a smooth and creamy finish
• The cigar burned a little hot near the end and the coffee flavors developed back into a nice strong espresso flavor and kept the interesting chili chocolate notes

Final Thoughts:
The flavors on the Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006 were extremely enjoyable right from the start to the finish. They offered some unique touches and kept me on my toes the whole time. There’s no doubt that they did a quality blending job on this cigar. I was obviously disappointed with the number of touch ups it needed but oddly enough it didn’t affect the flavors much at all. I keep all my limited edition and expensive cigars in a smaller humidor that has a perfect 65-67% humidity almost all the time. The smaller area gives me more control over it, but doesn’t seem like that made a difference. As with most limited editions it usually comes down to a matter of cost and if these are worth their dollar value. At the original price of $30 these were a hard pill to swallow and their value has only gone up since then. The closest cigar I can compare this to is Cohiba’s own Maduro 5 line which was very close in flavor profile, possible just with a bit more spice in the Edicion Limitada 2006. But for the cost, I’d rather pay for and enjoy 3 or 4 Maduro 5’s. See my review of the Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos here. Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy this rare piece of cigar history! The chocolate and chili combo was especially unique and enjoyable!

Pairings:
With my special cigar tonight I picked out a special brew and one that fit the Canada Day theme as well. It comes from one of my favorite breweries, Innis & Gunn. The beer is called “Canadian Cask 2010”. This brew was made specifically for Canada Day last year. I bought a few of them last year and had one left that I was saving for this year. I also reviewed it awhile back with the Camacho Liberty 2009. There’s not much I can say about this beer other than it is fantastic. Basically take their already fantastic Oak Aged Beer and add in some light whiskey barrel and rye flavors and you have an even better brew! Each batch is also aged a longer amount of time in the whiskey barrels, 54 days to be exact. The cigar was not over the top strong so it actually paired well with this full flavored beer. I’d also recommend a fine smooth scotch, cognac or port with this cigar. A nice coffee would also pair well here as a non-alcoholic alternative.

The post Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now let me tell you why I’m doing this. My reasons are two fold… The first is completely Tony’s fault. Big surprise right? lol. He’s bragged about this cigar a few times and how much he enjoys it. A few days ago we started chatting about how I’ve never really been impressed by an Alec Bradley cigar, so he tightened the chains on my desk and told me I had to review it, or else! Ok, not really, but he did ask me to give it a chance. Secondly, I was at a little BBQ herf (Hosted by a good BOTL, Lou at Rumours Furniture) today and had another discussion on Alec Bradley. This time it was with one of Lou’s friends named Jarvis. A really nice guy who also started bragging about Alec Bradley…

So, I basically caved in and decided to give this cigar a try. I had a few Prensado cigars but only in this vitola so that’s why I’m reviewing it instead of a new vitola. I won’t go through and re-write all the good stuff about Alec Bradley or the store of this blend. Check out Tony’s review of the Prensado or you can also get more info from my review of the Family Blend and the Vice Press. So without further adieu, I sit here in my backyard on a warm and damp evening while I prepare to clip the cap of this cigar and see where my Alec Bradley bias takes me…

Cigar: Alec Bradley Prensado
Drink: Six Grapes Reserve Tawny Porto
Vitola: Box-Pressed Robusto (5 x 50)
Wrapper: Honduran Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan/Honduran
Price: $9
Burn Time: A little over 1 hour

Construction:
• Very smooth box pressed appearance with a darker milk chocolatey colored wrapper
• There are almost no veins and the ones that are visible are very thin
• The top of the cigar is finished with a smooth triple cap that blends in very well
• The foot of the cigar is very well packed as is the rest of the cigar which is very firm to the touch
• Cutting was firm but clean
• Draw is just about perfect despite the firm feel of the cigar, no problems in this department
• The band was perfectly applied, it didn’t just fall off but still slid off easily

Burn:
• Toasting was easy and lit up fairly quickly to a nice even glow
• A slight touchup was needed at the start but other then that it is burning very well
• As I hit the halfway point, I’m happy to see no burn issues and it’s coming along razor sharp
• A slight burn issue near the last third, but it corrected itself without my intervention
• Cigar burned a bit hot in the last inch but I kept smoking it anyway

Smoke & Ash:
• I was met with lots of smoke right off the bat here, fills your mouth nicely
• The ash first appears to be nice and strong, well constructed and definitely pressed
• The color on the ash is a little dark, venturing from a medium grey to an almost black
• Ash continued nice and strong until about the 1 inch mark when it fell off into the ashtray, I thought it would last longer since it looked so well packed
• All other ashes were about the same 1 inch and kept the clean and strong look to them

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper gives off an interesting sweet aroma, mixing some nice cocoa and coffee notes
• The foot offers more sweet coffee notes and a bit of mild tobacco, as well as a mild spice
• The pre-light draw seems to have lost the sweetness and is replaced mostly by a tobacco flavor, some woodsiness and a bit of peppery spice on my lips
• Initial flavors really pop on this cigar but are not overpowering, I was met with a good helping of leather and cedar alongside a touch of coffee and nutmeg-like spices
• The retrohale on this cigar is giving a nice light bite with a smooth woodsy finish
• This cigar is very well balanced, I’m figuring it’s in the medium to full range but it’s so smooth that it doesn’t feel that way
• As I reach the halfway mark, the spice is picking up a bit with a little more pepper and raw nutmeg
• The coffee and leather notes are also developing nicely and adding some roasted flavor to it
• Getting into the last third, the coffee flavors have sort of tapered off but the woodsy and cedar notes are making a nice appearance
• There’s been a nice creaminess from the start that has persisted and is just getting better as he cigar progresses
• The smoothness continued right to the nub with a great balance the whole way through

Final Thoughts:
Ok, I gotta honestly say that I enjoyed this cigar. I went in with some bias as you can tell from my intro but it seems that once again you can’t judge a book by it’s cover (or it’s brand). It started off with a nice burst of flavor and burned well through most of the cigar. The box-pressed shape was also very comfortable and a perfect size to smoke. The body was into the fuller range but the smoothness and balance made it blend in so nicely. So I must avow that I found an Alec Bradley cigar I enjoyed from start to finish. Now the biggest downside to this cigar was the price. I didn’t look up the price until after I smoked it and I was a little shocked, especially since it’s one of the smaller vitolas in the line. This did not taste like a $9 cigar to me and that disappointed me because it was pretty good on all other accounts… I wouldn’t say this cigar makes me an Alec Bradley convert but it will open my eyes to at least try a few more blends from this brand.

Pairings:
Today we have another new port that I stumbled across at the liquor store recently. It’s called Six Grapes and is considered to be a Reserve Tawny Port which was bottled in 2004. I was pleasantly met with a great mixture of in-you-face fruit mostly dominated by a strong blackberry tartness. The port also had a nice full bodied feel to it and coated the palate very smoothly leaving a nice sweetness on the tongue. The coating of your palate is one of my favorite aspects of pairing port and cigars because it’s like a fresh cleanse after each sip. It paired excellently with the woodsy and spicy notes of the cigar. I would definitely recommend trying it out. This cigar could also pair well with a nice strong coffee, scotch or maybe a dark soda.

The post Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

A little while back I had the chance to review and enjoy one of the My Father Cigars Le Bijou 1922. Today I’m taking on a slightly different cigar, the Cedros Deluxe. Just like the Le Bijou, this cigar is blended by Don Pepin Garcia. The Cedros Deluxe series comes in a few different sizes each with their own unique name. Today’s review will focus on the Corona Gorda size which is called the “Eminentes”. Each cigar in this line also comes wrapper in a cedar sleeve and an additional band near the foot.

Now this is a beautifully presented cigar! The bands on the My Father’s never cease to impress me. They have a cleanly printed matte label with green, red and pink accented by some metallic gold lettering. Even the lettering printed on the cedar sleeve is precise and clear. It’s easy to tell there was a significant amount of attention to detail in the creation of each aspect of this cigar. But enough blabbing from me, let’s hop to it and see how this cigar actually smokes.

Cigar: My Father Cedros Deluxe Eminentes
Drink: Delaforce Reserve Porto
Vitola: Corona Gorda (5.625 x 46)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $7.00-$8.00
Burn Time: A little over 1 hour

Construction:
• After carefully and easily sliding the cedar sleeve off the cigar I was greeted with a beautiful chocolaty brown wrapper that shimmered with a slight oiliness
• There were only a couple small veins visible and the wrapped has an almost velvety feel to it
• The head of the cigar is finished with a smooth and clean triple cap
• The foot appears moderately packed
• The whole cigar had a slight softness to it when squeezed, even and consistent throughout
• The cap clipped cleanly and easily off with my double bladed guillotine cutter
• Initial draw is spot on, just enough resistance

Burn:
• Toasting was easy and quick and left the foot glowing perfectly even
• Burn has been mostly straight through the first third with some minor waviness
• After ashing the first time I noticed a tunnel forming in the center of the cigar, so far it hasn’t affected my burn much and is still burning fairly even
• The tunnel was still there as I got into the last bit of the cigar but it still didn’t affect the burn much with only one small retouch needed the whole time

Smoke & Ash:
• Each draw brings with it a good mouthful of smoke
• The resting smoke is surprisingly minimal and gives off a great cedar aroma
• The ash is a mix of light grey and white areas and is having a small amount of flaking around it
• I tapped off the first ash after about an inch as it started going a little lopsided and looked weak, but it held on tightly until then
• The next ash also lasted over an inch but fell to the floor on the way back to ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• This while cigar smells completely like cedar! Oh wait… let me remove that cedar sleeve..
• Ok, now the cigar still smells like cedar! But added in there is some barnyard and spice aromas
• The foot of the cigar definitely brings more of that hay/barnyard aroma and a bit of spice that tingles the nose
• Pre-light draw brings a lot of cedar to my palate and a nutmeg or clove type of spice
• Initial draws are filled with a smooth and creamy cedar flavor accented by a mild clove and nutmeg spice.
• I’m also picking up a earthy green type of flavor that’s interesting
• Body through the first bit has been mostly mild and offering a creamy and smooth finish
• The cedar picked up it’s intensity as I reached the halfway mark and added in a touch of white pepper and a bit of roasted coffee
• As I hit the last third, the coffee and spices started to build in intensity, the body also picked up a bit to a nice medium
• The retrohale on this cigar has had only a small bite and smooth cedar finish the whole way so far
• The roasted coffee and white pepper notes seemed to take control in the last third with the cedar playing a minor part
• Body got a bit stronger near the end, touching into the full category but I’m still not feeling any nicotine kick on this one

Final Thoughts:
This was a very enjoyable cigar from start to finish. The flavors were always tasty and had some complexity to them but can still be enjoyed by any level of smoker. The various flavors also changed up throughout the cigar adding some interesting and enjoyable dimensions that kept me on my toes. Construction was excellent as well. The price on this line of cigars is fairly comfortable as well, making it easy to pick some up and add to your regular rotation.

Pairings:
Today’s pairing was my final glass from the bottle of Delaforce Reserve Porto. I enjoyed this port with a recent review of the Partagas Benji Menendez Master Series. It’s definitely one of my favorites mainly due to it’s full bodied red wine undertones. On top of that wonderful base, the Delaforce Reserve offers up a mix of blackberry and cherry flavors along with a bit of a smoked oak. I found this cigar paired excellently with this port especially accenting the cedar notes it had. Other good pairings with the My Father Cigars Cedros Deluxe would include a stronger coffee, dark porter, stout, or scotch.

The post My Father Cedros Deluxe Eminentes appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today we also have a special appearance from a great BOTL known as JerseyJay (Jay L.). Jay has recently launched a very unique and interesting cigar blog centering on Cigar Photography. Please check it out over at CigarPhoto.net. He takes some amazing and unique shots of cigars like none other on the web! We also have two photo’s from him included in today’s review. Everyone make sure to check out Jay’s blog and leave him a comment about how great his photos are!

Courtesy of Cigarphoto.net

This cigar was created and released to mark the special 100 year anniversary of the La Aurora factory in Dominican Republic. And in proper form, La Aurora decided to make this a Dominican Puro, meaning all the tobacco contained in this cigar comes only from the Dominican Republic. The 100 year anniversary was celebrated in 2003 and that’s when this cigar was first released. The limited production ran for 3 years and ended with the production of the Lancero vitola. Other vitolas that were available included a No. 4, Robusto, Belicoso and Churchill. Although no longer produced, some resourceful searchers can still find stock of these cigars in some B&Ms and online sites.

One thing I’d like to point out is that although this was a limited release it was also widely available and large number of sticks were produced. This is a unique quality for a special edition cigar as you can see some brands producing limited cigars that are extremely hard to track down and produced in very small quantities. The wrapper was aged a minimum of 4 years, and amazingly the Piloto Cubano and Domican Corojo filler has been aged since 1996!

La Aurora has produced a lot of top quality stick in it’s long history. I’ve said this before but that track record can be both a curse or a blessing. When I pick up a La Aurora stick I’m expecting an excellent smoking experience every time because of their history and my expectations are likely even higher because of the limited and special edition tags attached to this cigar. I’ve had the chance to enjoy these cigars in the past and am choosing to sit down with the Robusto vitola tonight to give you my opinion.

Cigar: La Aurora 100 Anos
Drink: Quinta do Todo Fine Tawny Port
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 50)
Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican Corojo, Piloto Cubano
Price: About $12
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A gorgeously shiny cinnamon brown wrapper surrounds this cigar
• From head to foot, the cigar is evenly round and is fairly firm but still offers a bit of spring
• There are no pronounced veins on the wrapper, only some smaller ones
• The foot appears to be very well packed with evenly colored tobacco
• The triple cap is finished cleanly and evenly
• The band adorns itself with the signature Lion of La Aurora and also has a second band beneath it which individually numbers each cigar produced (See second image from the top)
• The cut was firm but very clean with my double-bladed guillotine
• Draw is spot-on with just enough resistance to make it interesting

Burn:
• Torching proved to be a long affair, have some patience with this cigar to get it toasted evenly
• The burn started off very wavy and one side burned incredibly fast
• The cigar seems to be burning out a bit so I’m having to give it a few extra draws now and then
• Despite a scary start the cigar actually corrected itself amazingly and I’m not needing to draw as many times to keep it lit
• A couple minor touch-ups were needed past the halfway mark but they didn’t affect the flavor as much as I would have expected

Smoke & Ash:
• A big mouthful of smoke right from the first draw
• Resting smoke is apparent but not over-powering and is giving off just a slight burning cedar aroma
• The is ash is fairly clean and compact, so far holding steady into the first inch
• The color is fairly odd with some parts being a bright white and others an almost dark black, likely due to the odd burn at the start
• First ash lasted about 1.5 inches before I tapped it off, despite looking a little weak at that point it still took some effort to tap it off so it’s a nice strong ash

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper aroma gives off an interesting tart-like spice along with a nice cedar
• The aroma on the foot brings nutmeg and cloves to the mix along with a touch of espresso and cedar
• Pre-light draw is dominated by cedar with some nice hints of clove and nutmeg spice
• Initial draws are full of cedar flavors and accented by more spices including nutmeg, cloves and a touch of pepper
• The retrohale is fairly mild so far with no bite and a creamy cedar finish
• Body has been just below medium for the first third but it has been very well balanced with a smooth and creamy finish on each draw
• Getting a touch of leather into the mix at the end of the first 3rd
• I need to stress how well everything is balancing and taking turns being the prominent flavor here
• Despite this cigar being wrapped and filled with Corojo leaves, it’s so smooth and balanced that it’s barely feeling like a medium bodied cigar
• Some earthy and coffee notes are sneaking in near the halfway mark
• As the cigar progresses the body is building a bit more and the coffee and spice notes are developing very nicely
• The spice and body of the Corojo is becoming more apparent in the last third but it’s still well balanced and super smooth
• The espresso and clove flavors developed the most near the nub of the cigar and are balancing nicely with a smooth cedar finish
• Body definitely ramped up near the end, but the smoothness and balance kept it from being overpowering.

Final Thoughts:
This is a cigar that is definitely worthy of celebrating 100 great years of making great cigars. Despite some burn issues here and there the flavors never disappointed and kept changing. From the initial draws straight to the nub the flavors kept changing and keeping each draw interesting. The key that made this cigar so enjoyable with the smooth and balanced profile it provided from start to finish. It clearly had some body but it never came through as over-powering. The price is a little high but when you factor in tobacco that has been aged since 1996 it’s easy to see that it’s more than justifiable and the flavors only proved to make the price worthwhile. I would highly recommend picking up a few of these cigars, if not a whole box to enjoy!

Here’s another great shot by Jay from CigarPhoto.net

Courtesy of Cigarphoto.net

Pairings:
Yes I know, you’ve seen this pairing quite a few times lately. I promise both bottles are now finished and you won’t see it again! lol. As I’ve mentioned in my other reviews including this Port (Monte Pascoal, Miraculous Templar or G.A.R.), it is a fairly fruity and easy drinking pairing that can be enjoyed by anyone, even those new to Port wines. I found the fruity notes to pair very well here although I think a bolder Port would have paired even nicer. I think the higher sugar content in the Port helped fend off any nicotine kick I might have gotten from this cigar. Other pairings here that would serve well include a nice Scotch, strong coffee or a dark porter/stout.

The post La Aurora 100 Anos appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The first thing that struck me about this cigar was it’s odd name. After reading some marketing material you can discover that the name is inspired by a diamond found by the companies president, David Rafaeli, which contained a unique symbol. In the middle of the diamond you can see a replica of the cross logo used by the Templar Knights during the First Crusade in 1099. A pretty interesting story for the name of this company.

The cigars themselves are aimed to be value priced but quality smokes. At this time only 3 vitolas are offered, a Robusto, Toro and Churchill ranging in price from $1.90 to $2.30 MSRP. These are pretty aggressive prices for cigars in this struggling economy. If they hold up as good smokes the price could definitely attract customers. They are available in boxes of 50 and wrapped in either Indonesian Sumatra Natural or Broadleaf Maduro. Today’s review will focus on the Churchill sized Broadleaf Maduro cigar.

At the time of writing this it seems the cigars are currently only available from 2 indirect sources, the Four Season’s hotel and Palm’s Casino in Las Vegas. They have a website available reserved but so far it only has some contact information, it is located at here. The weather here has warmed up again and I’m hovering at a balmy 32F tonight so I get to enjoy my cigar without even needing a pair of gloves! Let’s see how this stick stacks up!

Cigar: Miraculous Templar Cigars Maduro
Drink: Quinta Do Todo Fine Tawny Port
Vitola: Churchill (6.75 x 50)
Wrapper: Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Dominican?
Filler: Domican Cuban-seed long filler
Price: MSRP $2.30 ($115 for a box of $50)
Burn Time: Just short of 2 hours

Construction:
• A rough and uneven wrapper surrounds this cigar with spots of brown and some darker chocolate colors
• There are quite a few medium sized veins to be seen, I’m hoping none cause burn issues
• The not so evenly finished double cap tops off the cigar
• I’m not sure if this was just in our samples or all the cigars, but the cap comes with a punch cut already made, I found this rather odd??
• There is a soft springiness throughout the cigar with some lumpy hard spots here and there
• The filler at the foot extends slightly passed the wrapper and looks to be fairly loosely packed
• The draw started out just perfect but as I hit the 1/3rd mark it tightened up quite a bit
• The cigar began to tar up quite a bit at this point as it often does to me with punch cuts, I went ahead and used my double bladed guillotine to make a straight cut
• The draw improved now and I’m back on track
• The band slid off fairly easily but it’s very apparent that the printing is blurry and undefined

Burn:
• Toasting was very quick but evenly glowed without effort
• The first bit of burnline was fairly wavy but it didn’t stray too far off course and kept burning along well
• Coming up to the halfway mark the burn is still wavy but stays on course fairly well, no touch-ups needed thus far
• Still no burn issues as I pass through the last third, quite impressive for a budget cigar
• No issues right to the end, well done!

Smoke & Ash:
• Right from the start the pre-cut punch gave me a big mouthful of smoke
• The ash has a consistent light grey color, it has quite a few holes in it but is holding strong
• The strong ash held on for about 1.5 inches before gently falling into the ashtray
• The second ash fell off at about one inch as I re-cut the cap of the cigar
• There’s only a bit of resting smoke after taking a draw but then it’s almost non existent, mostly woodsy aromas here

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a sort of musty barnyard and tobacco aroma
• The foot brings more of the barnyard aroma and some earthy notes, a tiny bit of tartness is there too
• The pre-light draw brings almost no flavors at all on this pre-cut cigar
• Initial draws were fairly earthy but the barnyard flavor has thankfully disappeared
• There is a slight tingling on the back of my throat from each draw, not a dryness but a sort of spicy tingle
• Body is starting in the lower medium range with a decent bite on the retrohale and a woodsy finish
• As I get past the first third I’m picking up some light coffee and woodsy notes but it’s still mostly earthy and tobacco flavored
• Near the halfway mark I’m beginning to pick up some slight pepper spice, the coffee and woodsy notes haven’t developed much as of yet
• The bite and woodsy finish on the retrohale remains about the same at this point
• Body ramped up a bit as I got into the last 1.5inches to the low end of full
• The coffee and woodsy notes kept making minor appearances but the peppery spice really developed into the last bit of the cigar
• Cigar got a tad bitter with about an inch left so I put it down, but the flavors in the last bit were definitely more interesting then the rest of the cigar

Final Thoughts:
Before lighting this cigar up, I had quite a few doubts. It’s rough construction, oddly pre-cut cap (and a punch cut to boot!) and some dis-interesting aromas. I was happy to see that this cigar burned exceptionally well and produced thick clouds of smoke. I would definitely advise cutting these more though as the punch got really tarred up and tightened the draw. Although the flavors were nothing spectacular they were fairly decent when you bring the incredibly low price into account and produced a comfortable medium body. A shorter vitola may be the sweet spot here to avoid getting bored of the flavors which are mostly one dimensional but never off putting. These are worth trying, especially if you are on a budget or want some inexpensive everyday smokes that don’t require constant relights or produce other issues. I can see these being a smart purchase if I was at the Casino or hotel and wanted a quick cigar that doesn’t break the bank. (Gotta save the money for the Craps table afterall!!)

Pairings:
I recently paired this Port with my last review of the Monte Pascoal Corona, check out that review to see my full thoughts on this tawny port. Since this cigar was more in the medium range I found that the fruity notes of the port complimented the cigar well. It brought some more flavors to the straightforward profile of the cigar and made the whole experience much more enjoyable. I think a good pairing will be an exception key to whether you enjoy this cigar or not. Other good pairings for this cigar would include a strong coffee, scotch, or a dark stout/porter.

The post Miraculous Templar Cigars Maduro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

We’ve had a few Padron cigars reviewed on the site already. You can read my reviews of the Padron 1926 No. 35 Maduro or Padron 1964 Principe, or check out Tony’s review of the special edition Padron 46 Years. Padron prides itself on releasing only Nicaraguan puros, which means all the leaves contained within the cigars are grown in Nicaragua. Check out one of the above linked reviews for more information about the Padron Cigar company and it’s Cuban heritage and inspiration.

Today’s review comes from the Serie 1926 line and is called the “40 Years”. Although it seems named similar to the yearly special editions (45 Years, 46 Years, etc…) it is actually part of the regular production Serie 1926 line. The cigars name is significant of the year it was added to the line. It has a unique box-pressed

I was lucky enough to find myself a slightly warm day to enjoy this cigar, of course warm to me this winter is still well below freezing, but I’ll take what I can get until spring comes around! As you might be able to tell, I’m already a big fan of Padron cigars, but as with all my reviews, I go into them as unbiased as possible and give it a fair review. This also means that I will have high expectations for this cigar and might work against it in the outcome. Take a read through it and let me know how your thoughts here might compare to mine.

Cigar: Padron Serie 1926 40 Years Natural
Drink: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Vitola: Box-Pressed Torpedo (6.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $25
Burn Time: About 2 hours

Construction:
• A slightly rough yet well made cinnamon brown wrapper with a box-pressed torpedo shape
• No major veins but lots of smaller ones can be seen
• The tapered cap finishes cleanly but it very firm, making me worry about draw issues
• The body of the cigar has a soft spring to it
• As with most Padrons, the wrapper has a very appealing toothiness to it
• The foot appears fairly well packed but does have a couple holes
• The cut was very clean and firm, I did have to cut a fair bit of the taper off to get a decent draw
• This cigar had a crack in the wrapper near the foot, likely due to shipping damage as none of the others I’ve had were like this

Burn:
• Had some trouble getting the foot to light up evenly, starting off with a wavy burn now
• After a few draws the burn line straightened right out nicely
• The crack extended about two inches down the wrapper and definitely affected the burn but it still burned quite well despite that
• A slight peninsula formed just as I passed the end of the crack, a small correction and we’re back in good form
• A few more peninsulas here and there but they mostly corrected themselves
• The cigar burned nice and slowly the whole way through

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke from each draw right from the start of this cigar
• There’s quite a bit of smoke from a resting position as well, giving off a nice cedar aroma
• The ash is not splitting but it does look a bit flaky and weak, we’ll see how it holds up…
• Started to get more flaky as it progressed so I tapped the ash off at about an inch before it fell all over me
• Second ash also fell off after about an inch, seems to be on par with the others I’ve had of this vitola
• Lots of flaking as the cigar burns further along

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper aroma is strong of cedar and tobacco
• The foot has more hints of cedar but also a strong presence of earthy aromas and a touch of spice
• The pre-light draw is more cedar and a lot more spice, leaving a tingling sensation on the lips and tongue
• Initial draws are mostly of a burnt woodsy type flavor with some earthy notes mixed in
• After a few draws the flavor smoothed out to a nice cedar with some hints of white pepper
• The retrohale is very smooth with a little bite and a tasty cedar finish
• As i finish the first third, I’m getting some hints of coffee creeping in as the pepper slowly fades away
• So far the cigar is just about on the edge of mild and medium and very smooth, no dryness either
• The coffee kept developing nicely and the cedar is still around, also getting some cinnamon or nutmeg on the finish now
• Just past the halfway mark, an interesting bready (think fresh dough) and creamy flavor has popped up, it’s very enjoyable and the cigar is balancing out so well
• The bite on the retrohale is just right, not overpowering and still offers a smooth finish of cedar and coffee
• More coffee flavors developing and turning into an espresso like taste, I find this in a lot of Padron’s and it always impresses me
• Straight down to the nub the flavors are still going strong with no harshness at all

Final Thoughts:
As with most Padron’s I’ve enjoyed, this one did not disappoint. Each time I’ve lit up this vitola I’ve been greeted with a variety of flavors and dimensions that kept it interesting the whole way through. Even with a large crack running a good length of the wrapper, the cigar still burned fairly well. Unfortunately, this cigar loses points in the price department. It carries a hefty tag at about $25 and a lot of shops will over price these due to the name, not to mention taxes in some states/countries. It’s definitely something worth trying as this offers a great cigar smoking experience but it’s not something that can be had on a regular basis for most people. Try to grab a few to save for special occasions and you will not be disappointed!

Pairings:
Today’s pairing is one that seems to be a well known brew, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. It comes in a good sized bottle and definitely has lots of character from this UK based brewery. It’s a nice dark stout with lots of head and a smooth finish. You won’t find any bitterness with this brew. The chocolate notes are not as pronounced as the name might suggest but are definitely there and offer a very smooth malty flavor. This brew is an excellent choice for any cigar with hints of coffee or cocoa, I find it really helps those flavors shine. It was no disappointment here as it paired very well and made the coffee notes of the Padron Serie 1926 40 Years really shine. This cigar would also pair quite well with Port, Coffee or a smooth scotch. I also paired this brew with a blind review I did awhile ago of the Perdomo Patriarch Maduro, read that one here.

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