Review Pass--Reviews

[ReV]

Ok, I've smoked these things; here goes...

#20 (Pairing: Hoegaarden)
Pre-Light: Dark uniform color, small even veins, rich aroma. Firm feel, tightly rolled. The pre-light draw was easy but not loose.
During Smoke: Initial flavor is surprisingly light in contrast to the rich color and aroma of the wrapper pre-light. Burn seems to be fairly even with one minor run. Picks up strength about an inch in, but maintains somewhat mild woodsy flavor. Draw is tighter than what i initially anticipated but remains fairly easy. Flavor has become smoother with medium body and some coffee undertones and some leathery notes. The flavor remains, for the most part, consistent and not all together complex. Developed some slight building spice a few inches in. Ash hung on for three inches. Finish wasn't spectacular, got a little harsh with two inches left even after a purge; but overall was a good cigar with a consistent flavor. I thought it may be a Gurkha at one point in the smoke, but my initial thought was a Torano Exodus Gold. I'll stick with my inital guess that it was a Exodus Gold, so higher end price wise. I gave it a 6/10. Also, i'd like to note that Hoegaarden pairs very well with whatever this stick was. What are these, maybe $6?

#5 (Pairing: Blue Moon)
Pre-Light: Beautiful coloration; rich brown with a few discolorations. Very firm; tightly rolled. Somewhat mild aroma. Evenly spaces small veins with a couple large veins. Overall construction looks good but the wrapper looks a little rough.
Durring Smoke: Initial taste is rich with medium spice. Full flavor with chocolaty notes. Burn is mostly even but a little lopsided. The spice builds somewhat, but the flavor remains consistent and rich throughout. Ash held on for an inch and a half. I gave this cigar a 9/10, and while i enjoyed it alot, my instinct is that it may be a Don Kiki Brown Label, so i'm going to guess it is in the lower price range. Around $3 or $4.


thanks for setting this up, i enjoyed it.

[ReV]

the suspense is killing me...

[ashauler]

Ok, I've smoked these things; here goes...

#20 (Pairing: Hoegaarden)
Pre-Light: Dark uniform color, small even veins, rich aroma. Firm feel, tightly rolled. The pre-light draw was easy but not loose.
During Smoke: Initial flavor is surprisingly light in contrast to the rich color and aroma of the wrapper pre-light. Burn seems to be fairly even with one minor run. Picks up strength about an inch in, but maintains somewhat mild woodsy flavor. Draw is tighter than what i initially anticipated but remains fairly easy. Flavor has become smoother with medium body and some coffee undertones and some leathery notes. The flavor remains, for the most part, consistent and not all together complex. Developed some slight building spice a few inches in. Ash hung on for three inches. Finish wasn't spectacular, got a little harsh with two inches left even after a purge; but overall was a good cigar with a consistent flavor. I thought it may be a Gurkha at one point in the smoke, but my initial thought was a Torano Exodus Gold. I'll stick with my inital guess that it was a Exodus Gold, so higher end price wise. I gave it a 6/10. Also, i'd like to note that Hoegaarden pairs very well with whatever this stick was. What are these, maybe $6?

#5 (Pairing: Blue Moon)
Pre-Light: Beautiful coloration; rich brown with a few discolorations. Very firm; tightly rolled. Somewhat mild aroma. Evenly spaces small veins with a couple large veins. Overall construction looks good but the wrapper looks a little rough.
Durring Smoke: Initial taste is rich with medium spice. Full flavor with chocolaty notes. Burn is mostly even but a little lopsided. The spice builds somewhat, but the flavor remains consistent and rich throughout. Ash held on for an inch and a half. I gave this cigar a 9/10, and while i enjoyed it alot, my instinct is that it may be a Don Kiki Brown Label, so i'm going to guess it is in the lower price range. Around $3 or $4.


thanks for setting this up, i enjoyed it.

Well, we can't have the suspense kill ya now can we. The cigars you smoked were:
#5 Gurkah Legend
#20 RP 1990 Torp

Both of these were from the upper price range.

[ReV]

Well, we can't have the suspense kill ya now can we. The cigars you smoked were:
#5 Gurkah Legend
#20 RP 1990 Torp

Both of these were from the upper price range.

should have seen the RP in retrospect, but the legend... i never even suspected Gurkha on that one.

[ashauler]

should have seen the RP in retrospect, but the legend... i never even suspected Gurkha on that one.

I think the Legend is one of the better Gurkha's. The perfecto is a little better/more interesting, imho. That particular vitola seems to make the changes that I experience in the flavors more pronounced throughout the smoke. Didn't have one left in the humi so I think it was a toro that I stuck in.

[chefchris]

Stick #18 Paired with Dr. Pepper
5.75" x 48

First off this was a beautiful cigar. No visible flaws that I could see and no soft spots. It had a nice dark and oily wrapper. I couldn't wait to smoke it.

Very well constructed cap. Almost blended seamlessly with the wrapper. I cut the cigar with no problem. Did a prelight draw and it made me even more anxious, I could tell this was gonna be nice.

Lit it and sat down. Lots of smoke, which is a big plus for me. I like big obnoxious smoke everywhere.

I detected no spice whatsoever. Looking at this stick made me automatically think that I needed to get a steak in my stomach first before I even dared to smoke it. I almost didn't smoke this because I was afraid it might be too full at 3 in the afternoon. Turns out it was medium bodied .. maybe medium-full to some. Even thought I know it's not true but when I see a dark stick I think spicy and full bodied. What I did get out of this cigar was dark chocolate and lots of coffee. It was a really bold taste. I don't know how to elaborate more than that. It was good and I liked it. Really liked it.

This thing burned like a pro all the way down and the grey ash held on for 2" at a time. Draw was just right.

Took me about 2 hours to smoke this thing. I sat out on the front porch and did a lot of thinking and catching up with my Dad. I really enjoyed this cigar and I don't think I've had it before. If the price is right I would love to have a box of these. I'm guessing this is an $8 and up kinda stick. While smoking it all I could think of was i was smoking a Sopranos. But the sizes didn't add up. Seems like it had about the same flavor profile, though.

I had planned on smoking the other one, but I've been bothered with a sore throat all day. It'll give me something to do tomorrow.

[chefchris]

you'll have to forgive me on this second review. I got hit with a bad cold about 3 days ago and I'm still fighting it off. I'll get the review up as soon as I can breathe again.

[chefchris]

Alright, I'm back in the game!

Cigar Review Number 2!
Cigar #15 - again paired with a Dr. Pepper

Looking at this cigar it's veiny, lumpy and light brown. When I pulled it out of the bag today I knew ... this was a Cuban. The cap was probably one of the worst jobs I've seen on a cigar and definately not triple capped. The leave used for the cap wasn't straight. It had chunks missing out of it so that looking at it vertically it looked more like a city skyline than a plateau horizon. Surpisingly it held on like a champ while cutting it with my Xikar that I finally got back after two months.

Lit up with no problem and started off with a rather tight draw. First mouth full of smoke and I was reassured that this was from Habana. The ash is also very distinctive on these cigars.

Flavor started off very mild. Nothing exciting and no real flavors jumping out. Just that "twang".

Now 2" into this cigar and it begins to come alive. Goodbye, mild. Draw opens up and I get cedar, wood and the most profound leather taste that I've ever experienced from a cigar. Pepper starts sneaking in at this point and builds until the cigar finishes getting more pronounced with every inch. Towards the end my forehead became a little damp. That's how my body reacts to pepper. I sweat eating barbque sauce.

I had no burn problems at all with this smoke and it lasted me about 45 to an hour.
This ended up being an excellent cigar. I really enjoyed this and also wouldn't mind having some of these in the humidor. I smoked it down till I couldn't hold it in my fingers anymore. Where did I put those roach clips?

Now I'm gonna be arrogant and guess that this was a Romeo y Julietta. I'm gonna be obnoxiously arrogant and say that it was a No. 3 Tubos. The reason I believe this cigar originally came in a tube was because of the asthestics of the stick. Like I said it was lumpy and veiny. The construction reminded me of the Fonseca Delicias that I had this morning ... which comes wrapped in tissue.


That being said I'm going to have to go with cigar #18 (first) was the more expensive.

Now hurry up and tell me what I smoked so I can go buy some!

[ashauler]

Stick #18 Paired with Dr. Pepper
5.75" x 48

First off this was a beautiful cigar. No visible flaws that I could see and no soft spots. It had a nice dark and oily wrapper. I couldn't wait to smoke it.

Very well constructed cap. Almost blended seamlessly with the wrapper. I cut the cigar with no problem. Did a prelight draw and it made me even more anxious, I could tell this was gonna be nice.

Lit it and sat down. Lots of smoke, which is a big plus for me. I like big obnoxious smoke everywhere.

I detected no spice whatsoever. Looking at this stick made me automatically think that I needed to get a steak in my stomach first before I even dared to smoke it. I almost didn't smoke this because I was afraid it might be too full at 3 in the afternoon. Turns out it was medium bodied .. maybe medium-full to some. Even thought I know it's not true but when I see a dark stick I think spicy and full bodied. What I did get out of this cigar was dark chocolate and lots of coffee. It was a really bold taste. I don't know how to elaborate more than that. It was good and I liked it. Really liked it.

This thing burned like a pro all the way down and the grey ash held on for 2" at a time. Draw was just right.

Took me about 2 hours to smoke this thing. I sat out on the front porch and did a lot of thinking and catching up with my Dad. I really enjoyed this cigar and I don't think I've had it before. If the price is right I would love to have a box of these. I'm guessing this is an $8 and up kinda stick. While smoking it all I could think of was i was smoking a Sopranos. But the sizes didn't add up. Seems like it had about the same flavor profile, though.

I had planned on smoking the other one, but I've been bothered with a sore throat all day. It'll give me something to do tomorrow.

Alright, I'm back in the game!

Cigar Review Number 2!
Cigar #15 - again paired with a Dr. Pepper

Looking at this cigar it's veiny, lumpy and light brown. When I pulled it out of the bag today I knew ... this was a Cuban. The cap was probably one of the worst jobs I've seen on a cigar and definately not triple capped. The leave used for the cap wasn't straight. It had chunks missing out of it so that looking at it vertically it looked more like a city skyline than a plateau horizon. Surpisingly it held on like a champ while cutting it with my Xikar that I finally got back after two months.

Lit up with no problem and started off with a rather tight draw. First mouth full of smoke and I was reassured that this was from Habana. The ash is also very distinctive on these cigars.

Flavor started off very mild. Nothing exciting and no real flavors jumping out. Just that "twang".

Now 2" into this cigar and it begins to come alive. Goodbye, mild. Draw opens up and I get cedar, wood and the most profound leather taste that I've ever experienced from a cigar. Pepper starts sneaking in at this point and builds until the cigar finishes getting more pronounced with every inch. Towards the end my forehead became a little damp. That's how my body reacts to pepper. I sweat eating barbque sauce.

I had no burn problems at all with this smoke and it lasted me about 45 to an hour.
This ended up being an excellent cigar. I really enjoyed this and also wouldn't mind having some of these in the humidor. I smoked it down till I couldn't hold it in my fingers anymore. Where did I put those roach clips?

Now I'm gonna be arrogant and guess that this was a Romeo y Julietta. I'm gonna be obnoxiously arrogant and say that it was a No. 3 Tubos. The reason I believe this cigar originally came in a tube was because of the asthestics of the stick. Like I said it was lumpy and veiny. The construction reminded me of the Fonseca Delicias that I had this morning ... which comes wrapped in tissue.


That being said I'm going to have to go with cigar #18 (first) was the more expensive.

Now hurry up and tell me what I smoked so I can go buy some!

Well, this is a close one.....both of these are from the less expensive category, but you got the isom right:

#15 JLP Petite Cedros ISOM
#18 CI Legend Orange Label.....Rocky Patel