Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Bolivar Royal Corona Review

This is the second time I have had the pleasure of smoking this cigar. The first time I smoked it I was completely blown away. I remember waking up, making a cup of coffee, and just sitting outside with the nice morning Spring breeze. When I decided this passes weekend to review this cigar, I wanted to recreate the exact relaxation. Except this time, water instead of coffee because it was for review.

This particular cigar is from November 2010.

This cigar is stunningly beautiful. It is nicely box-pressed with perfectly rounded edges. The wrapper leaf is a light to medium shade of brown. The cap on this cigar is made up of three separate layers that all laid perfectly flush.

There were also no veins running through the wrapper that would have any affect on the burn. This cigar is perfectly uniform and solid throughout. There is also a sweet earthy smell coming from this cigar.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Man O War Side Project 52C Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Ligero
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $9.00

Man O War cigars have been a favorite of mine for a while now. A couple months ago, they released the "Side Projects" which are limited edition cigars. Previously I had reviewed the other two side projects. The Phalanx and the Little Devil were both very good cigars.

The only one left was this one, the 52C. It wasn't until recently that I was able to get this cigar, and I couldn't wait to complete my reviews of all the Side Projects.

The firth thing that I noticed with this cigar, is the chisel tip, which is how this cigar got the name. 52C stands for 52 ring gauge chisel tip. The wrapper leaf is the color of milk chocolate. The chisel's cap is a little rough and made up of three layers.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Room 101 LTD OSOK (One Shot One Kill) Trucha Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Honduran Corojo and Dominican Piloto Ligero
Price: $10.00 - $12.00

When I first saw this cigar about a month ago, I was instantly drawn in by its fancy packaging. The huge skull and ornate designs. I originally thought it came in a tube, but after seeing a couple reviews on it, I noticed that it was paper. It took me some time to finally get my hands on this cigar. No shops around me seemed to carry the Room 101 cigars. But through a trade, I was finally able to get this cigar.

Once I slipped this cigar out of its packaging, I saw the flawless wrapper. The Habano leaf was a medium shade of brown and very smooth to the touch. Since it is a perfecto, the cap was wrapped. The wrap was perfectly smooth.

There were a couple thin veins in the wrapper, but nothing out of the ordinary. This cigar is actually pretty solid from cap to foot. There was one area that seemed to be a soft spot, but it wasn't bad. Upon last inspection, I noticed the very sweet smell of this cigar.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

La Fontana Vintage Galileo Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Filler: Honduran
Price: $5.50

It was about three weeks ago when I saw a post on a forum about this cigar. The question asked was if anyone had ever tried this cigar, and if they anyone had any views on it. I replied saying that I would keep my eye out for them, and if I saw them, I would review it. About a week later, I got them in the mail. The person sent me this cigar to try it out and review it. For that, I thank you.

The Connecticut shade wrapper on this cigar is flawless. It is very light brown and very smooth. There were a couple thin veins, but they were so thin that there was no way they could affect the burn pattern. This cigar actually had a flush cap that was composed of four layers.

This cigar has a couple softer spot, but overall this cigar is pretty solid. The foot is slightly softer than the rest of the cigar, which made it pretty easy to light. Also the smell coming from this cigar is very earthy, yet sweet.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Tatuaje Anarchy Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habana 2000
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $10.00

For the past couple months I have been seeing pictures of this cigar popping up on forums and cigar websites. In that time, I have been waiting for them to restock so that I could buy a few. Little did I know that these were a limited release. It wasn't until last week that one of my readers agreed to trade cigars with me so that I could try this one out.

When this cigar is in the cellophane, you do not get to see the sheer beauty of this cigar. When you look at it, it has a very oily, dark brown wrapper. The cigar is very smooth to the touch with only a couple of very thin veins running through it. The cap on this cigar is a pigtail wrap. When I unwrapped it the pigtail, it was approximately six inches long. This stick, from cap to foot is very solid and gives off a sweet and spicy smell.

Friday, May 18, 2012

My Father Cigars Flor De Las Antillas Belicoso Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $7.50

Last week I got an email from Holt's Cigar Company saying that they just received the new cigar from My Father Cigars. I have been hearing about this cigar for a little over a month and was very excited when I learned they were received.

Yesterday I had a little over an hour to go head up and grab some. I smoked one while I was there, and was blown away. When I got home, I relaxed for a little bit, then went out back around 8:00 to review it.

The sun grown wrapper is a medium shade of brown with a couple veins running through it. None of the veins were thick by any means. The cap was perfectly flush and evenly wrapped. This was a very solid box-pressed cigar. Usually box-pressed cigars tend be a bit softer, not this one. I also noticed that this cigar gave off a very sweet smell.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Arturo Fuente Hemingway Between the Lines Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf and Connecticut Shade
Filler: Dominican
Price: $14.00 - $15.00

Over the past fourteen months I have become quite a fan of the Fuente cigars. I have had to opportunity to smoke, enjoy, and review a good amount of them. I have seen this particular cigar a couple times, but never dished out the money to grab one. Well about a month ago, a friend of mine traded me for one. Now I finally had the chance to review a cigar that I have heard nothing but raves about.

The one thing that visually drew me to this cigar was the barber pole wrap. Some times with the barber pole, one leaf is thicker than the other, and you can physically feel the difference. This cigar was perfectly smooth, almost seamless.

The broadleaf wrapper was chocolate brown while the Connecticut shade was more of a caramel color. The cap was made up of two layers, one of each wrapper leaf. This cigar itself was very solid. There was no play when pinching the cigar. There were also no veins throughout the entire wrapper. The last thing I noticed what the smell of the cigar. The broadleaf gave off a sweet smell while the Connecticut gave off an earthy smell.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Padron Serie 1926 80 Years Maduro Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $31.00

This passed Thursday and Friday Holt's Cigar Company hosted Padron events. While I was there I met Jorge and Orlando Padron. After talking to them for some time, I had to grab this cigar to review. Since they actually had a good deal on their cigars, I didn't feel bad grabbing this cigar. For the past several months, the price tag has stopped me from buying it. And I recently got some awesome news about my friend Timo, so I dedicate this review to him as a celebration cigar.

The first thing I noticed about this cigar was how flawless it looks. The wrapper is dark chocolate brown. The cigar is a box=pressed perfecto where both ends become tapered. The cap on this cigar was wrapped tightly and was perfectly smooth and flush. The wrapper leaf also had no veins in it whatsoever leaving the cigar very smooth. Upon last inspection I noticed its consistent solid pack and the very sweet, earthy smell the cigar gave off.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

San Lotano Oval Maduro Churchill Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
Price: ~$10

As you may recall ,the original San Lotano Oval made my "Top 10 of 2011" list. When I learned that one of my favorite cigars was getting a slight tweak and coming out with a maduro wrapper, I had to hunt it down. My one local shop, The Smoking Dog, just got them in so I had to get up there and grab a couple before they were gone. Luckily I managed to snag two Churchills.

This cigar has a very nice looking wrapper. The Ecuadorian Habano Maduro leaf is dark brown and marbled with some darker spots. There are no thick veins running through it, which leads the cigar to be very smooth to the touch. Th cap is made up of two flush layers.

The stick itself is pretty slid throughout, but has a couple softer areas. Upon final inspection, I noticed the smell coming from this cigar was very unique. It had a slightly sugary smell as well as a cinnamon hint to it.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos Short Review

This cigar was sent to me a few months ago in a trade. I wasn't originally going to review this cigar because of its small, cigarillo-like size in length but has a ring gauge similar to a corona. But I recently started to do "quick reviews" on small cigars. You may recall that a little over a week ago, I did a quick review of the Jean Sibelius. This review is formatted in a similar fashion.

This cigar's maduro wrapper is chocolate brown and oily. There is a nice shine to this cigar. There were a couple thin veins running through this cigar as well. The cap was made up of three layers, two were flush and the top layer was a little rough.

There was a little extra glue on this cigar in several spots. Also there was a slight chick in the wrapper at the foot of this cigar. The cigar itself though was very solid and gave off a very sweet smell.

Monday, May 7, 2012

My Father Atlantic 15th Anniversary Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.00

This cigar was sent to me a couple months ago in a trade. I was pretty excited when I saw this cigar in the package because it was new to me. I have had many other My Father cigars, and reviewed a couple of them, but this one is exclusive to Atlantic Cigar Company. When I got home from work on Friday, it was absolutely beautiful outside, and it was just the perfect day to relax and review this cigar.

This cigar looks flawless in ever aspect. It truly is a miracle that I haven't smoked it prior to this. The wrapper is very smooth to the touch and is a medium shade of brown. The cigar itself is box pressed and is capped with three flush layers.

There is also a slight oily shine to this cigar. There are a fer very thin veins running through this cigar. The cigar itself is pretty solid, especially for a box-pressed cigar. The smell coming off of this cigar is reminiscent of sweet chocolate.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9 Toro Tubo Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Ligero Oscuro
Filler: Honduran and Dominican
Price: Unreleased, Estimating $10.00 - $11.00

Back in March when I met Marvin Samel from Drew Estate he handed me this cigar to try. He said it wasn't yet released, so I was instantly excited about it. The No. 9 was the first Liga Privada cigar I ever smoked back when I was in college. I believe it was my sophomore year that I finally found one in my local shop up there. I have recently been on a Liga Privada kick, so I felt the need to review this one now.

Once I look this cigar out of its awesome tube, I noticed just how great the cigar looked. The wrapper was dark brown with several spots on it that were almost black. The shades of brown and black had an almost marble-esque appearance because of the oily shine.

There were a couple very thin veins running through the wrapper leaf. The cap was made up of two layers that both were perfectly flush and blended perfectly with the rest of the wrapper. Like all of the Liga Privadas I have smoked, this one was solid all the way through from cap to foot. Then I noticed a very sweet smell coming off of this cigar.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Man O War Puro Authentico Maduro Review

Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero
Price: $7.00

As many of you have probably learned by now, I am a huge fan of the Man O War cigars. Actually, I just thing that A.J. Fernandez makes great cigars. I was recently offered a trade for this cigar, and I couldn't pass it up.

I reviewed the original Puro Authentico almost a year ago to the day. So I felt it only fitting to review this one right away.

The Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper is dark chocolate in color. This cigar looks absolutely delicious. Started at the double layer cap, that comes to a small twisted end, all the way down to the closed foot.

There were a couple very thin veins, but nothing to worry about. This cigar is perfectly uniform and solid all the way through. After a final look over, I noticed it gave off a very sweet yet peppery smell.