Thursday, March 29, 2012

Drew Estate Liga Privada Unico Series "A" Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican
Price: Not For Resale

Well this past week has been quite fun. I sincerely thank everyone that has read my reviews, as well as everyone who has helped me along the way. Whether it be sending me cigars, trading cigars, or even searching for cigars for me, I thank you.

As I have done for the last four reviews, this cigar was chosen to represent my past year. The reason I chose this particular cigar was because of its size. This is one of the longest cigars I have ever come across, and the journey through the first year was a long journey. And again, I thank all of you, because without you, none of this would have been possible.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Ave Maria Reconquista Review

Wrapper: Brazilian Habano Oscuro
Filler: A blend of Nicaraguan tobacco from various regions
Price: $20.00

This is cigar is the fourth installment for my anniversary series. And like the other three, there is a reason I chose this particular cigar. When I first started reviewing cigars, one of my favorites was the original Ave Maria line. That cigar was also the cigar the got my dad hooked on enjoying cigars with me. That cigar will always be special to me. Not only did it bring my dad and I closer, but it gave me a regular smoking buddy.

Thankfully I met someone who lives near and frequents the Cigar International Superstore, because without him, I most likely would not have had the ability to review this cigar. Since the original Ave Maria has been a personal favorite of mine for about a year, I could only imagine how this one would compare.

The packaging on this cigar is awesome. This cigar comes is a fancy coffin case. When you open the coffin, it lifts the head of the cigar up so you can grab it easily. The cigar has a very dark brown, oily wrapper. The wrapper is very smooth with just a couple smooth veins. This cigar is very solid all the way through. The torpedo cap is perfectly smooth and come to a nice point. The smell coming off of this cigar has sweet chocolate scent to it.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Padron Serie 1926 No. 2 Maduro Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $16.00 - $17.00

As I continue this series of reviews, its getting harder and harder to choose which one I want to review next. This cigar was a sure thing when I first started thinking of this series. The reason I decided to review this one was because it was a gift from my dad. My dad has been my smoking buddy for about a year now. The first cigar he ever bought me was a Padron 1926, and he also bought this one for me. When he gave it to me, I had to sit it aside for something special. And since he has been helping me everything cigar related this year, I had to review this one for him.

This cigar looks perfect in every way. The dark brown maduro wrapper is very rough looking, but very smooth to the touch. The leaf is dark brown with no veins at all. The cap is a little rough as you can see in the first picture, but one I cut it, it showed the perfectly even pack. This cigar is very solid all the way through from the cap all the way to the foot. There is not one spot that is soft whatsoever. The smell of this cigar is interesting because at first it was very spicy, then it had a slight sweetness to it.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Arturo Fuente Opus X Lost City Double Robusto Review

Wrapper: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: $20.00 - $29.00 (depending where you shop)

This cigar is the second installment of my celebration set of cigars. Each one of these cigars were picked for a reason. This one actually represents my start. Be warned, my puns are quite bad. The reason I chose this particular cigar was because when I first started reviewed I felt... yes... "Lost." I started out not knowing how my style of reviewing would be perceived among the cigar world. And thanks to all of you, I am no longer "Lost" in this wonderful cigar world.

This cigar has a very appealing wrapper. The leaf is a medium shade of brown and is very smooth. There also appears to be a slightly oily coat on it. The cap is consisted of three layers and they all lay perfectly flush. There are a few veins that run throughout the wrapper but none of which are thick enough to worry about.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Viaje C4 Review

Wrapper: 1999 Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $11.00

This week is a pretty big week for me. Today marks the start of the second year of these reviews. It’s hard to imagine that a year ago I was just thinking of something constructive to do, and now I look forward to writing these reviews for all of you. This week I plan on doing five reviews of cigars that are, in my opinion, celebration cigars. The reason I chose to start with this one is because it has been a blast doing these reviews for all of you over the past year.

The wrapper on this cigar is very dark brown with a slight reddish hint to it. This cigar is very interesting because it is flat on the top and bottom, but rounded on the sides. It also features a capped foot. The caps are both perfectly flush and are made up of three layers. This cigar is solid all the way through and gives off a sweet and earthy smell.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro Sublime Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo and Criollo
Price: $11.50

This cigar has been sitting in my humidor for a couple months now. I first picked one up back in December to try out, and thought it was very good then. So I decided to pick up another one and let it rest in my humidor for a couple months to see how it matured.

Since the weather has been so nice lately, I have been able to review bigger cigars instead of just robustos. This one was in my radar when I was searching for something to review.

This cigar features a chocolate brown wrapper with a slight red hint to it. There is not a single thick vein running through the wrapper at all. There is also a nice oily shine to this cigar as well. The cigar is solid all the way through from cap to foot. The cap is perfectly flush and composed of three layers. The aroma coming off of this cigar is very sweet and resembles that of aromatic pipe tobacco.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Man O War Side Project Phalanx Review

Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $9.00

If you recall, last week I took the time to review the Little Devil Side Project and I absolutely loved the cigar. Well my fiancĂ© knew that I liked it because I raved about it after I smoked it. Well out anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks, and she decided to get me a box of another side project for it. Well she knew she couldn’t hold them from me for that long, so she gave them to me a little early. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review this one right away either.

This cigar looks awesome. The chocolate brown wrapper is very oily and smooth. There are actually no veins running through the wrapper at all. As I felt this stick, it was very solid all the way through with not a single soft spot. The cap is made up of two layers that both lay perfectly flush. I gave the cigar a good look over and noticed that it gave off a very strong aroma from the foot that resembled hot pepper and chocolate, very unique.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Padron Family Reserve No. 85 Maduro Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $20.00

When I first started going to Holt's in Northeast Philadelphia, I got to know a lot of the employees there. Most of them seemed to point me towards this particular cigar. One of the employees, Chris, told me that is was one of the best cigars that he ever smoked. Given that he has access to just about any cigar, I had to try this one out. The next time I went, I picked it up, but didn't want to review it right away. I have smoked a couple of these now, but this one is the original one I bought over two months ago.

The wrapper on this cigar instantly drew me in. The dark brown color makes it look like dark chocolate. The box press is perfect with sharp edges. There are a couple of very thin veins that run through this solid cigar. The cap is made up of only of layer of tobacco which lies perfectly flush with the wrapper. There is a very sweet smell, like chocolate, that comes off of this cigar as well. Since this cigar is packed so perfectly and evenly, it cuts very clean and is very easy to light.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Man O War Side Project Little Devil Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Sun Grown
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $7.00

As many of my readers probably know, I am a huge fan of A.J. Fernandez's cigars. When I first experienced the original Man O War several years ago, I was instantly hooked. I was browsing a few websites late last week and noticed that there were a few new blends that came out with the Man O War name on them. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab a box of them. So I chose these "Little Devils" because they were the perfect size for me to enjoy any time of day.

The wrapper on this cigar is a medium to dark shade of brown and is very smooth and oily. The cam is made up of two layers and is topped off with a nice twisted end. There is actually a closed foot on this cigar as well which makes it very easy to light. There are no thick veins running through this cigar. There are a few thin veins, but nothing out of the ordinary. The cigar is pretty solid all the way through with a slightly softer foot. Before I lit this cigar, I noticed that it gave off a strong smell of pepper and chocolate.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill Review

This week has been absolutely beautiful. Between the 70 degree weather and daylight savings, i have been able to review a little bit more. When i got home from work on Monday, I went through my humidors to find something great to smoke and review to celebrate this fantastic weather. This cigar was sitting right on top, calling out to me. I couldn't resist it.

The only flaw I saw in this cigar, was a little chip in the wrapper. But I cant hold that against the cigar because it happened during transit. But, the wrapper is very nice looking. It is a medium shade of brown and ridiculously smooth. There were a few thin veins, but they were nothing for me to worry about. The cigar itself was a little soft, which had me a little uneasy because I was afraid it may burn crooked. The cap on this cigar is perfectly flush and consisted of several layers. It looked like three separate layers made up the cap. As i looked over this stick one last time, i noticed just how strong the sweet and earthy smell was coming off of this stick.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Padilla Miami Edicion Limitada 2010 Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro Oscuro
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.00 - $10.00

A few months ago I purchased a sampler of cigars online. This cigar happened to be one of the ones that I really wanted to try. The reason this one stood out to me was because of how much I enjoyed the original Padilla Miami. I saw this cigar when it first came out, but I never got around to buying it. So when this sampler came along, and included five or so cigars that i really enjoyed, the risk on this cigar was fairly low.

This cigar features a dark chocolate brown wrapper that appears to be flawless from the top. When you flip the cigar over, there is one pretty thick vein that runs the length of the cigar. The wrapper itself if very smooth and oily. The cap on this cigar was made up of two layers, but they weren't perfectly flush with the rest of the cigar. They stood up a little bit. This cigar was solid from cap to foot and gave off a sweet chocolate aroma prior to being lit.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Oliveros Aging Room M356 Mezzo Review

Wrapper: Dominican
  Filler: Dominican
Price: $7.00

A few weeks ago I went on a little adventure with my Dad to find some new cigar shops, just to see what new cigars we could find. Well this one shop we found in New Jersey was literally in the middle of a town I had never been to before. The shop was situated in a way that if you didn’t know it was there, you would miss it. As I walked around their small walk-in humidor, I spotted these cigars. I was asked several times what I thought about this cigar, but I had never seen them. So when I saw these on the shelf I had to give it a shot.

This cigar has a very nice looking wrapper. It is a light to medium shade of brown with a few darker spots throughout it. There were a few thin veins that ran throughout the wrapper, but the wrapper was pretty smooth. The cap was composed of several layers, and they all lay perfectly flush. The stick itself was solid throughout with a slightly softer foot. The smell that was coming off of this cigar was very sweet.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Genuine Counterfeit Pre-Embargo Cuban Edition Limitada 1958 Maximo Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Price: $4.50

Several months ago I was gifted this cigar from a friend. I pretty much forgot about it in my humidor for quite a while. He reminded me about this cigar last week and I felt bad that I hadn’t reviewed it yet. So after I talked to him, I went through my humidor to find it. Once I found this cigar, I put it right on top so I knew it was next in line to be reviewed.

This cigar has a very dark brown wrapper with a couple veins that run through it. There were a couple of small chips in the wrapper, but they were nothing I had to worry about. The cigar was pretty solid overall, but there were a few soft spots throughout it. The cap on this cigar was made up of two layers that both were perfectly flush. The smell that came off of this cigar was sweet and earthy.