Newbies review of La Gloria Cuban Maduro and CAO Brazilia

Hello to all on the forum. I've been viewing posts here for a few weeks and finally decided to make my first. I hope it's a good one.

This is a newbie's rating of 2 cigars that I really enjoyed. Being a newbie I was hesitant to try a cigar with a darker wrapper but wanted to experiment a bit, and to my delight I found a very good cigar and an excellent one as well. I tried both of these on consecutive evenings while sitting on the back patio enjoying the great weather we've been having here in Arizona. Both were enjoyed with a glass of Guinness Draught (not the extra stout) as well, poured from the can. For some reason this is the only brew I prefer from the can instead of the bottle. For that matter, it's the only brew that I really like. I know some might consider a beer, especially a dark beer, to be a poor mate for a cigar, but my reasoning was that a stronger, fuller bodied cigar would complement the rich, dark, and full bodied beer quite nicely. IMHO it worked out great. Ok, enough chit chat, on to the cigars.

The first is the La Gloria Cuban Maduro. It was the Wavell which means the size was 5 x 50. This is the first maduro I've had in years and only the second ever. I consider myself a newbie because I only had a cigar once in a great while and really didn't know what I was doing, what brands to smoke, or what I was looking for in a cigar. It started out with undertones of cocoa and a slight sweetness, both of which I believe were enhanced by the Guinness. It had a nice slow, even burn with a thick white ash that fell into the ashtray in nice 1" long chunks. Very smooth and mellow with a medium body. I was expecting it to be fuller bodied than it was. About 1/3 the way through it got a bit spicy turning to a bit woodier halfway through with the spiciness being tamed a bit. This was a very good cigar in my opinion and I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The second night I tried a CAO Brazilia in the Gol size, 5 x 56. This was a nice fat cigar that burned slow and was full of flavor. It was rich, smooth, a bit creamy, and spicy right from the start with a hint of sweetness. Again, I think the sweetness was enhanced by the brew. This is one of the rare cigars that I've enjoyed from the very first draw. Usually I need a little "cooling off" period before I can fully appreciate a cigar. Exhaling through the nose brought out a bit of a citrus flavor and about 1/3 the way down there was a bit of a leather flavor. I really can't express how much I enjoyed this cigar. The only bad thing I can say about it is that it didn't burn even, and after about halfway down it started canoeing a bit. Burned to a white ash but wouldn't stay on the cigar like the previous one did, and when ashed it broke to more of a powder in the tray rather than staying in a nice thick chunk. In all honesty I wanted to deduct half a star for the burning and ash, but it was just to damn good. A rock solid 4 stars in my book and I would recommend it to anyone. I'm going to try another to see if the burn is more even and am seriously considering buying a box of these. Truly an excellent cigar in my opinion, especially considering the price of about 6 dollars a stick. I smoked this fatboy down to the nub and enjoyed every last bit.

So there you have it, my experience with darker wrappers and fuller bodied cigars, and I think I've found what I like. To any newbies out there, don't be afraid of the maduros. Fuller bodied and rich flavor do not mean strong or harsh. Neither of these left a sting on my soft palate and both were a really nice smoking experience, and I would recommend the CAO Brazilia to both newbies and experienced smokers alike.