The KC/DW Review Series

[DeeDubya]

KC and I previously reviewed the La Aurora 1495 and Barrel Aged, both receiving high marks. These robusto's which are on the lower end of the La Aurora line have become one of my favorite daily smokes. At only around $2.65/stick they are a good value and very fine cigar. These are mild yet rich-tasting. Dominican fillers wrapped in a smooth African Cameroon leaf make for a delicious blend of thick, flavorful smoke.

They draw easy and burn with a near perfect ash. The strength doesn't stack or get bitter toward the end, so I usually nub them thinking, wow that was good, too bad I'm finished. Actually, I have never been dissapointed with any of La Aurora's lines, but these are so reasonable yet maintain a high standard of craftsmanship and quality that I feel they are worthy of special mentiion.

Also, I'd like to mention a couple other small details that got my attentiion. The bands seem to be applied differently somehow. They are easy to peel open and are never stuck to the wrapper. I have damaged a few cigars by peeling the band to find it was stuck to the wrapper. Also, I have never had a wrapper to split or a severely crooked burn. Quality and consistancy are high with La Aurora.

On a scale of 1-10 I rate this cigar 8.6.

[DeeDubya]

New Year's Day

My sweet sister bestowed upon me a very much appreciated Christmas gift. Created by Davidoff these Winston Churchill Marrakesh are one of four vitolas produced to honor the legendary Sr. Winston Churchill. Each is dedicated to a particular time or place in his life and love for cigars. Marrakesh was a place that he loved to relax and paint and of course smoke cigars.

The Marrakesh is a handsome cigar, not too smooth and pretty like some Davidoffs but somewhat veiny and toothy. The roll however is very uniform with a perfect cap. They consist of a "secret blend" of 5 diverse Dominican Cuban-seed fillers, bound with a Dominican Yamasa' Cuban-seed binder, and finally wrapped with an Ecuadorian special sun-grown leaf. The roll is medium firm and makes for a very easy pre-light draw. Also, I savored the clean, earthy scents of the wrapper. I like to breathe on the wrapper as one would fog his glasses to clean them and then sniff the length of the cigar. It seems to enhance the aromas.

Having consumed a very hearty Standing Rib Roast, candied yams, black-eyed peas and all the trimmings I was primed and anxious to give one a try. I v-cut, toasted and immediately achieved a perfect coal. I knew with the first puff that this was going to be special. Earthy, rich, thick and creamy best describes it with my limited vocabulary. That special essence of the aging process is most evident. The flavor is full yet mild, spicy and delicious. Although I am not one for exhaling through the nose, this would be a candidate for getting that extra pleasure.

I enjoyed this wonderful cigar for about an hour but could have easily stretched it an extra 30 minutes. All the while the beautiful crisp, light gray ash held firm, tipping it only twice. The flavors grew slightly bolder toward the end but totally without any bitterness. The scrooge that I am, I nubbed it until my fingers were smoking, still enjoying the rewards of a nobleman.

Having only smoked one of the series (Blenheim, Chequers, No. 10, & Marrakesh) I can only commend Davidoff for it alone as a tribute to the great Statesman. However, I will soon sample the remaining vitolas. At $415/box, they are quite pricey and I hope to find a sampler pack with all four. Cheers.

On a scale of 1-10 I rate this cigar 9.3.

[CAJUNBLAZE]

Thanks for all the great reviews. Good reading and adding more to my must try list.

Rich

[King Catfish]

New Year's Day

My sweet sister bestowed upon me a very much appreciated Christmas gift....

(snip)

Nice gift, and nice review. How was your holiday otherwise?

[DeeDubya]

Nice gift, and nice review. How was your holiday otherwise?

KC,
Everythings great here. We've been blessed with mild weather this winter so far excepting that we are in an extreme drought. 2008 was the 5th driest year on record back to the early 1800's. Our normal rainfall is around 32", this year less than 16".
It's a good year for tumbleweeds and goats. The tumbleweeds like it dry and the goats don't give a shit about the weather.

How are things in Hatfield, PA? Did Santa find your house?

Have a safe and prosperous new year.

[DeeDubya]

These have been hibernating in my humi for around 5 months now. I opened a box and have smoked 5. I am impressed enough to bring them to the round table of BOTL's. They look much like a Gispert and do have a soft, leathery, toothy, Cuban like appearance. They are considered to be medium to full-bodied. Introduced in 2002 they seem to be now hard to find. I'm not sure why the unavailability.

They consist of a Nicaraguan filler and binder, are wrapped in a unique cross-bred Habano 2000 and Criollo wrapper and then box pressed. All 5 that I smoked drew and burned exceptionally well. I could detect a nutty (almond), toasty and earthy (aged) essence that made for a very flavorful yet not too robust cigar. The larger 52 ring guage certainly helps them burn a little cooler with clouds of thick rich smoke. Average smoking time for me is about 45min, but I usually smoke in the evenings and sometime tend to rush. One could easily last an hour.

At only $3/stick they are a good deal and worth every penny. We'll see where the price is if they again become available.

One a scale of 1-10 I rate this cigar 8.8.

[mrtr33]

I had my first Savinelli when I met up with Silencei2 just before Christmas a few weeks ago. I asked the shop owner for a strong, full bodied Nicaraguan and that was what he suggested, after I turned down the Padrons and LGC's. Nice smoke. It didn't look like the one on the picture. I want to say it had RyRY on the wrapper. Haven't been able to find it, but haven't looked too hard, either.

[DeeDubya]

Well I now have a new "quick break" cigar that is replacing my beloved Hemingway Short Stories and Oliva Special G's. While the Short Stories will always have a special place in my humidor and I will always keep some on hand, it always seems like a waste to puff down a $5 cigar in 15 minutes. When I have time, I can stretch them out to 20 or 30 minutes and truly enjoy all the earthy flavors. But I'm talking about when I don't have that much time yet still have to have a cigar. Along came the little Nesticos.

The Plasencia Nesticos consist of the same 3yr aged 100% organically grown Nicaraguan tobaccos as their larger cousins. I have several boxes of the larger vitolas and smoke them one on occasion always enjoying the truly natural flavors. It's kinda cool thinking that this may be close to what cigars were like a couple hundred years ago, no pesticides, old world traditional drying and aging and best of all they were puros, as blending, especially with foreign tobaccos was not as prevalent.

The little Nesticos have all the good qualities of their big brothers but of course burn just a little hotter thereby slightly changing the flavors with a little more dry grassiness. Still, they are spicey with a good finish, burn evenly, hold a good ash and are less than half the price of a Short Story and slightly less than a Special G.

[logan37]

As always, great reviews DW.