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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now this is a very special line made by Padron Cigars to honor their many great years of quality cigar production. It remains a family owned business so you can see where the name comes from. This line is amongst the best cigars ever to come from the Padron factory. Only the top quality tobacco leaves are used here and as with most of their cigars, all the tobacco leaves are exclusively Nicaraguan. On top of that, each leaf is aged a full 10 years before being rolled into one of the limited edition cigars.

Similar to some other limited cigars on the market, these blends are released annually, usually landing in September, and each year brings a new vitola and some different names. The name here, No. 44, commemorates the 44 years of successful cigar manufacturing by the Padron Family. This particular blend/vitola was released in 2008.

I fully plan on taking my time and enjoying this one, as you can see below, the price isn’t exactly cheap. The price, along with Padron name on the band, sets some pretty high expectations as I head outside to light this cigar up. I’m hoping it can live up to my expectations now. Let’s get to it!

Cigar: Padron Family Reserve No. 44 Years
Drink: St. Ambroise 2011 Special Reserve Extra Strong Imperial Stout
Vitola: Box Pressed Torpedo (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $30
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• First thing I noticed when I picked up this cigar was the subtle toothiness on the wrapper, there’s tons of little spots on it and it’s super oily to boot, damn tasty from an outsiders perspective
• The oily wrapper also has a super dark chocolate tone to it that just adds to its appeal
• Now the springiness on this cigar is almost non-existent, it’s a pretty solid box-pressed stick from end to end with no soft spots
• The cigar is a little bumpy but there are almost no veins above a “small” size here and it’s got a very silky feel to it
• The cap actually looks pretty poorly applied considering the special edition here, it’s kind of a crescent shaped tapered cap
• The foot is understandably well packed but despite being such a solid stick it actually feels pretty light in your hands
• After an easy cut, the draw was a little bit tight but not too bad. I didn’t want to cut much of this pricey stick so I’ll work with this

Burn:
• This cigar lit up with ease, within a few seconds the whole foot was glowing evenly with minimal effort
• Through the first inch I’m getting a super tight, razor sharp burn that is going very well so far
• This section is gonna be pretty short, the Padron 44 years is smoking wonderfully without any needs for touch ups at all
• It’s also letting me smoke it slowly and enjoy it without having to take a bunch of extra draws to get it going again

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke from each draw isn’t overly thick but it’s not thin either, I’d say its a nice balance right now
• The first bit of ash is coming along nicely, keeping tight together and fairly clean with only one kind of split on the side
• The resting smoke was fairly light and gave off a sweet cedar type of aroma, very pleasant
• The ash held on strong to an inch before I gently tapped it off into the ashtray
• The ash has a nice light grey color to it with thin black lines creating a nice zebra stripe effect
• The second ash stayed nice and strong and clean up until I tapped it off at about the one inch mark

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper is pretty much aroma-less, can’t pick up anything except for the slight cedar smell of my humidor
• The foot brings some more interesting aromas including cinnamon, a touch of sweetness and bit of coffee too
• Pre-light draw brings just a touch of cedar flavors to my tongue, not much else here though
• Right off the initial draw you get a super flavorful mouthful of cocoa, coffee, baking spices and a wonderful sweetness, what an awesome start!
• Within the first inch the cigar quickly ramps up from an initial mild body to getting near the high end of medium
• The retrohale started off with a light cedar finish and now I’m getting nice spicy bite to go along with it
• As the body builds at this early point, so does the spice. It has changed from being baking spices to more cooking spices in the range of white pepper and even paprika while still keeping the cedar, cocoa and coffee
• As quickly as the body and spicy flavors came, they are now gone and I’m back to the sweet and tasty cocoa, coffee and cedar. So much action in just the first third!
• The coffee and cocoa are dominating right now and it’s so damn tasty, there’s just enough spice and cedar in the background to make it interesting
• I should also note the body came down a bit towards the low end of medium after towing the line of becoming a full bodied stick before
• As I get into the last third, the cedar and spice started taking charge, leaving the sweet cocoa and coffee notes aside
• I also started picking up some tasty almond flavors and an interesting flavor I can only characterize as “red wine”. I’ve never got this before and I’m pairing it with beer so that really caught me off guard!
• Flavor and body picked up a little intensity towards the end but it never got harsh and I enjoyed it right to the nub!

Final Thoughts:
These are obviously super limited cigars and I’m very glad I had a chance to try one. The first thing everyone will look at is the price. It is way up there for sure and I don’t think I could justify a whole box but it was definitely worth having a couple to try. The flavors, construction and burn were all top notch and worthy of the price it carries, especially considering the rare tobacco that goes into it. The Padron family has a huge reputation to live up to so chances are, when you pick up a special edition cigar by them that it’s going to be a good one. Having said that, the Padron Family Reserve 44 years lived up to that legacy for me.

Pairings:
I picked up this brew while on a trip to Ottawa. We crossed over into Quebec where the selection of beers far outweighs what we have here in Ontario, and they are cheaper to boot. At the local stores here I can only find the oatmeal stout by St. Ambroise and I really enjoy it so I figured I’d give this special edition a try. It is a 2011 Special Reserve Extra Strong Imperial Stout. Now what a wonderful brew this turned out to be. It’s got a smooth creamy texture that is so darn tasty. The amount of malt in here is damn near staggering and it’s paired with some awesome coffee flavors and a touch of cocoa. To round out the mix, it is aged in Bourbon barrels and the bourbon flavor definitely shines through, but it’s not overpowering, just a nice hint. It is a strong brew coming in at 9.5% alc./vol. but it paired perfectly with the Padron Family Reserve 44 Years. Other good pairings here would be my port of course or maybe a good strong coffee.

The post Padron Family Reserve No. 44 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

In case you missed any of our other Quick Draws, here are the links and the cigars contained:

• Quick Draw Episode 1 – Gran Habano Connecticut #1 and Cohiba Siglo VI
• Quick Draw Episode 2 – P. Benitez Connecticut and Padron’s Serie 1926 #6

If you haven’t read one of our Quick Draws before, it’s basically a quick review of a cigar we’ve recently had. Perhaps revisiting an old one, trying a new one, something we didn’t intend to review but surprised us, or whatever other reason we can think of. Without any more blabbering, let’s just jump right in!
 
 

Quesada Oktoberfest Bavaria – Daniel

So Quesada seems to have had a pretty stellar year in 2011. Problem for me is that their sticks are super hard to find up here in Canada. There are only a select few retailers willing to ship to me and they obviously don’t get every possible cigar in. Every once in awhile when I vacation in Florida I pick some up or some people south of the border are kind enough to trade with me. This Quesada Oktoberfest came my way by non other than our very own Tony Casas.

Now Tony reviewed this cigar while back in October, see his review of the Quesada Oktoberfest. As you might be able to tell, he thoroughly enjoyed it so I had high expectations going in. Now I gotta say that this is one incredibly oily and super toothy cigar. It definitely has an appeal to it and has some heft to go along with it. No doubt this cigar looks delicious just with your eyes so I was excited to light it up. After lighting it up I was immediately met with a blast of flavors including spice, cedar and a touch of sweetness. A well balanced and tasty start. As the cigar progressed I was met with all kinds of other interesting flavors including cocoa, coffee, nuts and a sort of butter cookie sweetness all wrapped up in a smooth creamy finish. Not to mentioned this thing burned like a champ without the need for any babysitting at all.

Not only did I get the Quesada Oktoberfest cigar, I was also able to track down some Paulaner Oktoberfest beer locally. And the huge beer mug is an awesome conversation piece too! That can you see there filled it up exactly to the brim and I drank every last drop, such a great pairing. So did I like it? Hell yeah! Who wouldn’t like an awesome array of flavors like that! The beer just made everything balance even more bringing in some more interesting flavors to the party. Really glad I managed to put this pairing together, it did not disappoint!
 
 

Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos – Daniel

A while ago I sprung for a half-box of Cohiba Maduro 5 in the Magicos vitola(Robusto) and even posted a review of it here. As you can tell from that review, I really enjoyed that cigar. Problem is, they are a pretty expensive stick to get a hold of, even straight from Cuba. So when I was placing my latest order of Cubans I decided to give the smaller “Secretos” vitola a try, which is a small corona type of size.

I lit up this cigar hoping for more of the smooth creamy chocolate and espresso notes I enjoyed on the Magicos. Unfortunately, the Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos did not live up to my expectations. It started off with a fairly bland tobacco flavors and went downhill from there. I mostly got charred and harsh flavors through the whole experience and it burned really hot. This was a big disappointment, especially at about $7.00 a piece from the cheapest source I could find. $7 for a tiny little short corona is definitely pricey and I would expect a top quality smoke for that kind of pricing.

So does that mean it’s completely written off? Not sure yet. The only saving grace these might have is if they need some age. I think the box date was early 2011, so not even a year old yet. But I’m hesitant to think it can improve that much with some time… but I’ll hold on to them and see what happens in another year or so. If you seeking to buy some of the Cohiba Maduro 5’s though, I would seriously suggest just forking out the little bit extra and getting one of the larger vitolas. I can’t stress how much I REALLY enjoyed the Magicos vitola, so don’t write off the entire line!

The post Quick Draw Episode 3 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prelight: Woah, now this is a dark cigar. In the picture above  it’s even hard to make out where the cigar ends and my black dining room table begins. The wrapper of this cigar is one of the darkest I have ever seen, black and a very dark brown with an almost perfectly consistent color minus the extra darkness around the foot. The wrapper is very old and rustic looking, tooth, and full of thick veins. Hopefully they won’t be any burden as I smoke through this cigar. The wrapper shines like duct tape, reflecting tons of sunlight off the beaten body before leading up do the seamless round double cap. I may be wrong but this cigar really looks like it has had some better days. Well aged maybe? At this point only Brooks knows.

Outside of the cigars visual characteristics Cigar #7’s wrapper pumps out a very rich cedar and an almost sandalwood type aroma. It smells a lot like incense. The foot of the cigar only gives off a very slight leather and muddy type smell. The cigar cut easy and clean using my double bladed Palio cutter, although the wrapper seemed really thick. The cold draw on this cigar is rather interesting. It tastes much like I am eating a gingerbread cookie. Sweet sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of coffee. The draw is a bit tight though but hopefully that opens up as I smoke the cigar.

First Smoke: This cigar was crazy easy to light using only my single flame butane torch. The first surprise was the pepper. I really didn’t pull any signs of pepper form the scent of the cigar, nor from the cold draw, but this cigar threw out a little fit of pepper shortly after lighting up. After the pepper, the cigar gets rolling with nice cedar and strong espresso flavors. There is a bit of that brown sugar I mentioned in there but at this point the strong coffee flavors are dominating the experience. The draw is a little tight, but a whole lot easier than I was expecting. It only takes a view puffs to get a good thick draw from this cigar. The stationary smoke is crazy, giving off massive trails of smoke the entire time this cigar sits in my ashtray.  The burnline on this cigar is crazy and really has a mind of its own burning way deep on one side of the cigar while the other side struggles to keep up.  The ash is interesting too. It starts off very dark grey but then turns into this flaky mess of white and light grey ash with dark spots around the edges. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: I don’t know how it did it, but this cigar has almost completely self-corrected the train-wreck of a burnline into the second third. The main flavor is still the bold espresso, now with a ton of dark chocolate, and only a slight bit of cedar mixed in. The retrohale on this cigar quickly reveals there is still a ton of pepper and spice waiting to take part in this cigar’s experience. Outside of that, the more I smoke this cigar, the more the body builds. Another side note is this is a very dry cigar. What I mean by that is no matter how much water I drink I am still left with this sore dryness left in the back of my throat. Maybe it’s just the dry desert heat, or maybe it is in fact the cigar. Whatever the case may be I felt it was worth mentioning.

Finish: As quickly as the chocolate came, it faded. I am not left with a rich espresso flavor with the cedar, spice, and even the pepper creeping back into the picture. This cigar does have it’s share of change-ups. Maybe it’s just me, but the body of this cigar is ridiculous. It just keeps building and building in attempt to completely blow me off my feet by the end of the cigar. It really packs a punch. Sadly, with only an inch remaining in this cigar some blatant harshness began to find it’s way into the experience. All in all, this cigar took a little over an hour to take down.

Overview: Although this being a very interesting experience, cigar #7 didn’t go without flaw. The harshness, burn, flaky ash, and flavors didn’t wow me as much as I wish they would. My main complaint about the flavors were the pepper and espresso really dampened the nice cedar flavor that was dying to show through. I think if the cedar had more room to grow it would have resulted in a much more tasty, and smoother smoke. I did like the cigar’s ability to rapidly change up, and the full body that just continued to build and build. This isn’t a cigar I would go chasing after, but I wouldn’t mind having a few lying around for those days that I want to reach for something stronger.

So what did I think it was? I’d really have to coin this cigar as a La Flor Dominicana. The flavors matched, as well as the pepper, spice and body. But I am not completely sold on this being a Nicaraguan Puro cigar. The wrapper kicked out tons of flavors but the backing flavors weren’t as bold and straight forward as I come to expect from Nicaraguan tobacco. My second guess would have to be a CAO Maduro. I have had a few very well aged CAO Maduro’s lately, and despite them normally being flat experiences, age does them very well.

And the reveal! This cigar was a Padilla La Terraza Maduro! Yeah I wasn’t expecting that.

Padilla’s La Terraza line is the newest value line released earlier this year. The cigar is a Nicaraguan puro and each of these cigars run about $4.50 for a single, or roughly $80 for a box of twenty. With that in mind, does it change my thoughts on the cigar any? Not entirely. But what it does do is it take this cigar into a totally different spectrum. I was honestly expecting at least an $8 stick. That alone tells you that this is a hell of a cigar for the money! Now that I know the price I really do think this is a cigar I’d like to keep around. It’s the perfect “high volume” everyday cigar. It fits right up there with CAO Traviata, or even the Henry Clay that Brooks threw my way during our last set of blind reviews. Boxworthy? Totally.

The post Blind Review #7 from Smoking Stogie appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.