Cigar Weekly

Villazon and General asked cigar smokers to help select the blend. The wrapper is Cameroon. The binder is Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf, the same tobacco used as wrapper on Excalibur's Maduro cigars. The filler is a blend of the Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos.

General Cigar markets the Excalibur 1066, which is manufactured by Honduras American Tabaco, S.A. in Cofradia, Honduras.

Cigar Weekly reviews are blind taste tests conducted by our readers. Reviewers are sent three samples with all identifying marks removed. Reviewers are chosen randomly from the list of everyone that has signed the Cigar Weekly Guest Book. Their comments are below.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Arthur Van Houten (avh): This is a nice looking box-pressed double corona with a natural brown wrapper. It's firm without being hard, with an earthy pre-smoke aroma. Based solely on its appearance I didn't have any expectations for how it would smoke.

Donald R. Hayden (Grumpy): This was a beautiful box pressed cigar with a smooth thinly veined reddish-brown wrapper which had an oily sheen.This was a well made cigar,that was firmly bunched with no soft spots. The only detractor was the rather rough cap.The pre-smoke draw was flawless.

Eric Alan Lee (SirBodsworth): Very well made cuadrado's. Beautiful construction and an absolutely wonderful pre-light aroma. (One of the best I've ever experienced!) Smooth wrapper with a firm, well packed bunch.

Erik Strom (flop shot): This cigar was a very nice looking cigar. Box-pressed with a very smooth wrapper. One of the cigars seemed a little soft in spots, but nothing major. The cigars burned evenly all the time, however the ash fell off rather quickly. Lucky to get an inch or more.

J. Eric Thompson (JET): This was a good looking stick. Very smooth wrapper and with a slight box press look.

Jim Kennedy (sideburn): When I received this cigar I thought I was going to be in cigar heaven when I smoked it! What a beautiful looking cigar with a nice tight square pressed body, an oily chocolate brown wrapper, round cap and a sweet aroma that begged me to light it!I clipped the cap and drew on it before I lit it to taste a very fragrant and sweet taste. Upon lighting I found it to have a tight draw and the ash was a dark grey and flaky and it had an un-even burn.The aroma was fantastic! The taste was sweet.

Neil Flancbaum (Sagiter): The cigar is good looking box press and held promise on this front. The wrapper was a nice natural brown that felt smooth and somewhat silky. It was a nice double cap felt well constructed and firmly bunched. The first cigar had three runners that corrected through the cigar. The coal was always coned The ash was gray and very flaky. The draw was easy but the cigar never produced the quantity of smoke I enjoy. The aroma was biting and unpleasant. The cigar was light and did not burn at all.

Smoke Comments

Arthur Van Houten (avh): This cigar lit easily, and for the first half inch was very mild. After that the smoke became very creamy, a taste of good tobacco with just an illusion of cinnamon. A third of the way in the flavor got preceptibly stronger and spicier, but retained the velvety texture ("chewy" came to mind more than once). The draw was near perfect, and the smoke stayed cool throughout, with no burn or harshness. The final third was more peppery yet still smooth. Very little (not unpleasant) aftertaste.

Donald R. Hayden (Grumpy): The cigar lit easily and burned evenly. It had a flaky gray ash.The wrapper split about 3/4 of the way down but did not pose any great problem.This cigar provided ample amounts of medium bodied smoke with each draw. It had a light spice with a sweet aftertaste(nutmeg?)The spice increased slightly 1/2 way down, but didn't develop much more than that. I detected what I can only describe as a "plastic" taste at that point.This was not a rich cigar. It was rather one dimensional.

Eric Alan Lee (SirBodsworth): Somewhat of a letdown after experiencing the promises of the pre-light aroma. A Mild smoke with an enjoyable, decently well-rounded flavor profile, it picked up some body as the smoke progressed. A perfect cigar for the curious or casual cigar smoker - a quality experience.

Erik Strom (flop shot): The even burn was about where the good points ended for me. The draw was not quite right and the volume of smoke was lacking. The taste seemed flat. A hint of sweetness was the dominating flavor, when present. No strength in the cigars I tested.

J. Eric Thompson (JET): Started out with a very poor burn that needed constant attention throughout the first half just to keep it lit. Draw was fairly tight and flavor one dimensional until the end when it picked up some taste.

Jim Kennedy (sideburn): As I smoked it the sweetness became overwhelming and my lips and tongue were saturated with this sweet taste! There was also a slight burning in the back of my throat. The aroma was very nice, a lot better than the taste. I kept on smoking it hoping it would come around but it never did. It just got worse, the sweetness was just too much for me and now there was a twang on my lips and tongue! It has a mild to medium body.

Neil Flancbaum (Sagiter): Nothing here at all. The cigar was unfortunately weak, half dimensional (if this is possible), bland and thin. I really couldn't discern any flavor at all. It wasn't sweet, bitter, salty, earthy, leathery or anything. It was smoke with no substance I could discern.

Summary Comments

Arthur Van Houten (avh): Overall I found this to be an enjoyable cigar; mostly medium strength, growing stronger for the final third but never overwhelming or harsh. The burn throughout was even, the ash growing to an inch or inch and a half before losing it. The smoke, to my wife, had a sweet citrusy, aroma, but this never surfaced in the taste. I'd call it a "professional" cigar: well rolled, good tobacco, very good flavor. I would buy this one, and would be glad to share with friends.

Donald R. Hayden (Grumpy): In the end, this cigar doesn't live up to its appearance. It possesses nothing that would vault it ahead of other average cigars.The best attributes about this sample were the appearance, construction and burn. In my opinion they far outweighed the flavor/taste.I wouldn't turn this cigar down if presented to me, but I'm not rushing out to buy a box.

Eric Alan Lee (SirBodsworth): Overall, a very enjoyable, mild cigar. If the price of these sticks is in the $2-3 range, they will go into my collection for Mild Moods and to give to non-veteran herfers. These pretty cigars are a winner if the price is right!

Erik Strom (flop shot): I was expecting more from the appearance. The construction was pretty good and this would be a good cigar for those prefering milder smokes. I just thought it was non-eventful and I probably wouldn't buy these.

J. Eric Thompson (JET): Sorry, not for me. The good looks did not live up to the ultimate test of smoking. While I wouldn't put this stick in the "dog rocket" category, it would not take up space in my humidor.

Jim Kennedy (sideburn): I really wanted to like this cigar. It looked and smelled so good before I lit it and had such a wonderful aroma after lighting it but the sweet taste was all there was to it along with the bite to the throat. Both samples were the same with one being so tight that I almost sucked my ears inside-out! This cigar would be good with a milkshake or a bowl of Ben and Jerry's to compliment the sweetness and to cool off the throat.

Neil Flancbaum (Sagiter): I made every effort to smoke both of these cigars. I smoked the first one up to the point where I thought the band would be on a Double Corona. I smoked the second cigar 1/4 of the way down until I could take no more. This is one lackluster cigar. No body at all. No flavor and nothing memorable. I guess this would really fall into the dog rocket category for me as I really found that it had no redeemable value once lit. As far as I'm concerned you guys owe me another cigar.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 29.5 out of 50

3 Stars -- Average