Cigar Weekly

Published Friday, March 5, 2004

Aaron Hines (lotus_dude): A very nicely constructed (and hefty) cigar. While I don't generally go for maduros, this one seems promising from its pre-light aroma alone. The throat burn and lip tingle before lighting was cause for concern, though - this usually indicates a very strong cigar.

Randy Oyaski (Coach): Toro measured 6X52/54, Looked great. Nice cap,firm but hard packed towards the cap. Beautiful dark brown/blackish color,looks to be good full bodied smoke. Thinking it was either a Puros Indios or Partagas Black.

David Petrozello (Juan Lopez): An imposing looking cigar with a mottled maduro wrapper. Firm and heavy feel. Pre-light smell of cocoa beans. Some prominent veins in the wrapper, but otherwise a good rolling job.

Ben Hicks (grinnin): Toro 6 1/8 x 50. Slightly mottled fairly dull veiny maduro shade wrapper. Even medium packed bunch, no soft spots. Well rounded smoothly applied cap. Construction was quite good. Burn was perfect, draw was easy and gave tons of smoke. The prelight smell was mild and had a hint of sweet milk chocolate.

Frank Baum (Smoker06): Clean cut with a Xikar Xi, flagged cap, fine tooth wrapper, ever so slight veining, gorgeous wrapper, very slight mottling (did not detract)

Brent H (JoeyBogus): A nice-looking maduro or sun-grown toro-sized cigar sporting a dark-chocolate brown wrapper with a slightly reddish hue, some sheen, and medium-sized veins. Both samples were nicely-rolled and symmetrical and had a pleasant sweet and earthy scent. The burn was mostly-even but meandered enough to merit a required a couple of minor touchups and produced a very minor amount of coning. The burning aroma was absolutely luscious; rich, sweet, and leathery, and the ash was medium-grey in color and of medium-density, holding to about 1.5". One sample had a tolerably-firm draw but the other was so tight that I resorted to using a draw poker.

Smoke Comments

Aaron Hines (lotus_dude): I thought this to be a typical maduro in terms of flavor. Nothing really stood out, and any changes in flavor were subtle. It did not really keep my attention. The aroma is of note, however; it was heavenly and distinct. Too bad the flavor couldn't match it. However, there is nothing bad to be said about the cigar overall. The cigar was never harsh or bitter, and did not burn hot. The metallic taste on the lips will not go over well with some, but I find this to be a characteristic of Honduran tobacco (most notably Villazon products) which is loved by many.

Randy Oyaski (Coach): Rather dry burn taste after exhaling. Started off woodsy the leathery,then the bottom fell out. Definite harshness and burn on tongue. Along with prominent ammonia tastes during the finish.

David Petrozello (Juan Lopez): Very easy draw with large volumes of smoke. Even burn with a white ash that contrasts nicely with the dark wrapper. The exhaled smoke had a cedary, earthy aroma, yet I detected what I can only describe as a chemical-like aroma in the smoke that drifted up directly from the burning ash, which I found to be disagreeable. There were flavors of coffee and cocoa, along with a slight burn in back of throat.

Ben Hicks (grinnin): I enjoy medium strength, full flavored, and full bodied cigars. Based on the look of these cigars, I was expecting a robust flavor, but was quite disappointed. On lighting up they had a pronounced tingle on the tongue, a bit of harshness and a slightly woody flavor. Then the bite mellowed, and I could not detect any significant flavor except for a slight passing woodiness and a bit of a toasty flavor. Mostly though, they were devoid of flavor and aroma. I kept smoking the samples hoping for something to develop, but nothing happened other than a bit of the feeling of nicotine.

Frank Baum (Smoker06): Abundant quantity of aromatic smoke, spicy and leathery taste, spiciness increase as I smoked, lingering finish

Brent H (JoeyBogus): Right out of the gate I noticed some very nice sweetness and toasted marshmallow tastes that soon became overwhelmingly peppery. Towards the middle it seemed to become a tad bit stronger, although still well within in the middle range of the strength spectrum and picked up a nice finish that hinted of coffee and cedar. After the half-way point the tastes started to peter out and were pretty much gone after two-thirds of the cigar had been smoked.

Summary Comments

Aaron Hines (lotus_dude): Not my cup of tea flavor wise, although I did enjoy the aroma thoroughly. I had to try hard to concentrate on the flavors as they really did not keep my attention. There were no downsides though, and that I commend. This would be a great cigar for yard work (depends on the price) or when you crave a cigar but can't devote the concentration you would with a more complex flavor profile.

Randy Oyaski (Coach): First impression before smoking was this stick looks great. Lit well,stayed lit,good smoke,2 distinct tastes... then it all went south. Yes in the beginning there was some harshness on the tongue and throat but after the mid-point the cigars became very ammoniany. Maybe a good resting might erase this problem but for the test it didn't help it's cause.

David Petrozello (Juan Lopez): While I am not used to smoking large cigars, I found this example overall, to be a well made, flavorful cigar, that I would recommend to folks who enjoy a Honduran/Nicaraguan tobacco flavor. Reminds me of a "Genuine Counterfeit Cuban". I had quite a buzz after smoking this bad boy.

Ben Hicks (grinnin): I really dont know if other smokers would enjoy this cigar or not. I endured smoking both of these, hoping the first was a dud, but the second was no better. Based on construction, burn draw etc, they are very consistent smokes, but didnt do a thing for me. There was nothing bad about them, but there was nothing there in terms of flavor. Not recommended.

Frank Baum (Smoker06): my guess is that this is an expensive Dominican cigar and I would expect to pay in the $8-$10 single stick range at my local tobacconists shop. Superb quality, great taste. Wonderful aroma. If I had to guess what line this was, Id say it was a AF Don Carlos.

Brent H (JoeyBogus): My overall impression is this is a pretty good (but not great) cigar. It is well-constructed and packs a rich and distinctly peppery taste profile that may have some promise of greater things to come. I would probably consider buying a 5-pack of these to age for a while but I am not sure whether I would commit to purchasing an entire box of them at this time.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 34.94 out of 50

3 1/2 Stars -- Above Average