Monday, January 30, 2012

Crowned Heads Four Kicks Robusto Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $7.60

The first time I purchased these cigars was completely on suggestion. I was over in Center City and stopped in Holts. While I was there, I met the General Manager and he showed me some of the newer cigars that they got in. He showed me these cigars first. When I picked it up, they looked flawless. So before I left the store to go walk around the city, I grabbed a few of these. Since then, they have been in my regular rotation.

The wrapper is what initially drew me into this cigar. The wrapper is a medium shade of brown and is very smooth. Upon inspecting this one a little further, I noticed there were no thick veins running through the entire wrapper. The cap is also placed perfectly flush on this cigar. All the way through this cigar, I couldn’t find a single soft spot. From cap to foot, the cigar was solid. There was also a very earthy and sweet smell coming off of this cigar.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Toro Gordo Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.00

I have had this cigar in my humidor for a couple months now, and I was just waiting for a nicer day to smoke it because it is a 6 x 60. It is hard to smoke a cigar of this size when it is freezing outside. Luckily the past few days have been flirting around 50 degrees, so I finally had the right day to review this cigar.

The wrapper on this cigar is very dark brown, and very oily. Like most Connecticut broadleaf wrappers, the leaf was very thick. There were a couple very thin veins that ran throughout the wrapper, but they didn’t cause any worry to me. The cap on this cigar was perfectly flush and consisted of three layers. This cigar had a relatively soft foot, while the rest of the cigar was solid. There was also a very unique smell coming from this stick. The smell consisted of sweet, bitter, and earthy tones.


Monday, January 23, 2012

Tatuaje Fausto FT153 Review

 Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.50

As many of you know, the Winter time isn’t the easiest time of year to enjoy a cigar. This is also the reason I haven’t been pumping out reviews like I was last month. I reviewed this cigar while I was relaxing at Holt’s. Right now, I need some cigar shops that have nice lounges where I can relax, and just focus on my cigar.

Over the past couple months, I have been smoking more Tatuaje Cigars because they became more easily available to me. After hearing so much about then, I have been picking a bunch of them up. The Fausto was the first one that I had to try because I have heard several great things about it.

This cigar is one of the most oily cigars I have ever seen. The dark brown wrapper just shines. The construction appears to be flawless. The cap is perfectly flush and smooth. There are just a couple very thin veins that runs through the wrapper but they aren’t bad. The stick itself is very solid all the way through. There is a very nice smell coming off of this cigar, it has a slight sweetness to it.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Illuminati Mondo Nuovo Robusto Review

Wrapper: Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $6.50

As many of you have seen, I reviewed a couple Illuminati cigars before; the Crusade and the Shield. When I received these cigars from Rancho Maduro Cigars, I had previously never smoked any of them. Ken from Rancho Maduro gave me a little background on each and asked me to review each one. Well since I was actually given a nice day to smoke the other day, I figured it was the right time to smoke this cigar.

The Connecticut wrapper is exactly what you want it to be. It was a very light brown shade and one shade all the way around.  The wrapper was very smooth with only a couple thin veins running throughout it. The only flaw with the wrapper was a very small crack at the foot, maybe a quarter of an inch long. This cigar is very solid from cap to foot. The cap appears to be made up of about three layers, all of which lie perfectly flush.  Like most Connecticut shade cigars, there was a slightly sweet earthy aroma to this cigar.


Monday, January 16, 2012

My Father Cedros Deluxe Eminentes Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.50

The past few days have been very cold here in New Jersey. So, my ability to smoke and review a cigar a fairly limited. On Saturday I went over to Holt’s Cigars in Northeast Philadelphia so I could enjoy a cigar in a warm environment. When I arrived, there was a sign on the door saying that it was inventory day, and they would be closing at 3:00. I looked at my watch and noticed it was 2:45. Well after driving over there, I wasn’t going to not buy anything. Well then I started to talk to their General Manager, and invited me back into the Members Lounge where I could relax and do my review. This was greatly appreciated.

The first thing I noticed about this cigar was the cedar sleeve that covers this cigar. Once the cedar is removed, the beautiful medium brown wrapper is exposed. The wrapper is very smooth and oily. There is a perfectly flush triple cap on this cigar as well. There is only one very thing vein running on the underside of this cigar. The cigar looks perfect in every way. The cigar is also very solid with a slightly softer foot which made it very easy to light.


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Padilla Artemis Toro Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $11.00

I first learned about this cigar browsing through one of the many cigar magazines out there. After further research on this cigar, I learned that Padilla has a solid background. I knew that they had some good cigars out there, like the Miami, but haven’t had many of them. When I had the opportunity to pick up a couple of these, I knew I really couldn’t go wrong with it. So I bought three of them. After smoking the first one, I quickly went back to buy three more of them so I would have a decent supply of them.

This cigar looks simply amazing. The most obvious thing is the box press. The press gives this cigar perfectly rounded and even corners. The wrapper is a nice medium brown shade with a slightly red tint to it. The wrapper is very oily and very smooth. There is only one thin vein running along the side of the cigar. When you think about a solid cigar, this cigar is up there. This stick has no soft spots throughout it. The cap consists of two layers, both of which lay perfectly flush.  The smell of this cigar is very sweet as well, almost like aromatic pipe tobacco.


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

AVO Limited Edition 2005 Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown
Filler: Dominican
Price: $12.00

As many of my readers have probably noticed by now, I have never reviewed an AVO. The reason I haven’t is because I haven’t heard much about them, and wasn’t willing to dish out that kind of money for a cigar that could be hit or miss. Well a couple weeks ago, one of my readers asked me if he could send me a couple of AVOs to try out and review. This gave me my opportunity to give this cigar a try, and I have to say, this cigar looks like it is going to be amazing.

The sun grown wrapper looks almost flawless. It is a medium shade of brown with only a couple thin veins. The stick is very solid, which leads me to believe that I am in for a relaxing hour and a half at least. This cigar only has one layer to the cap that sits perfectly flush. There is also a very nice, sweet smell coming off of this cigar. In case you are wondering, these cigars  do not come with a band on them. This cigar also cut and lit with no problems at all.


Friday, January 6, 2012

Arturo Fuente Opus X Forbidden X 13 No. 4 Review

Wrapper: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: $11.50

As many people would say, the Opus is one of the most sought after cigar around. Last week I heard that Holt’s Cigar Shop had got a few boxes of these Forbidden X 13s in. So that Friday, I went over to their Center City location to grab a couple. When I walked in, I was kindly greeted by their General Manager, Anthony. He informed me that they sold out there in no time at all. He then said that their location in Northeast Philadelphia had a few left. So Saturday morning I got up there just after they opened. I asked if they had any left, and they showed me their remainder. There wasn’t much, but I managed to snag a couple of these since they were the only ones left.

The first thing that I honestly noticed about this cigar was the very detailed and ornate bands. The colors just popped out. This cigar features a very nice dark brown wrapper that has a nice oily shine to it. There are no veins running throughout the entire wrapper. There are a couple layers of tobacco that make up the cap on this cigar that are laying perfectly flush. This cigar is very solid as well. There isn’t a single soft spot throughout it. The smell of this cigar is very strong. I was picking notes of spice, oak, and chocolate off of it right away.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Drew Estate Liga Privada Feral Flying Pig Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $15.00

Over my years of smoking cigar, one cigar has stood out because of its accessibility. When I first heard about the Liga Privada, I was in college. After doing some research, I found a cigar shop in town that carried them. Because I was on a college budget, they were a little too expensive for me. When I finally had the money to get one, I did. Years later, at one of my local shops, I saw the T52 Flying Pig, so I got one of those and enjoyed it as well. Last week, I was in Center City Philadelphia when I stopped in Holt’s and was talking to their GM. He showed me the new Feral Flying Pig, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review it.

The maduro wrapper is very dark, almost black in color. It is also very oily and smooth. There are almost no veins running throughout the entire wrapper. This stick is ridiculously solid with not a single spot in it that was soft. One thing that sticks out about this cigar is the cap. It has a very tightly wound pigtail cap that unwinds to about an inch and a half. There is also a very sweet smell coming off of this cigar. I cant exactly pinpoint it, but it is nice. This cigar, because of how tight it was packed, cut very clean and lit easily.



Monday, January 2, 2012

Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006 Piramide Review

When I received this cigar as a gift a few months back, I knew I had to save it for a special day. I also knew that I had to review this cigar. I was planning on reviewing it on Christmas, but time and weather really did not allow it. So when I woke up on New Year’s Day and realized how perfect of a day it was, I had all the reasons I needed to smoke this cigar. I have only heard great things about this cigar, so I was as anxious as I have ever been to light this one up.

The wrapper was a medium to dark shade of brown with a very nice and oily shine to it. There were absolutely no veins running through the wrapper which made the cigar very smooth. The stick was pretty solid all the way through. The torpedo cap was perfectly flush and solid which made the cut perfectly even and clean. There was an earthy sweetness that I smelled on this cigar. I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but there was a definite sweetness.