Cigar Review: 601 Habano (Red Label)

601 Habano

My site has a lot of reviews for what people would call high end premium cigars. My tastes are expensive but with the downtrend in the economy I find myself smoking cigars that are less expensive. I guess this is a good thing since I got my first piece of hate mail the other days when I reviewed the God Of Fire. I was labeled a cigar snob for the second time in my life.  The first was in a cigar shop when it was mentioned by a friend of mine to the patrons that I run a website which got a response of, “oh you are one of those cigar snobs”. It really bothered me and this email really got to me as well.

There are a lot of great smokes under 8.00 and today we will find out of the 601 Habano fits the billing as one of those cigars.

Cigar: 601 Habano (Red Label)
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Habano (Nicaragua)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Appearance & Construction (18/20): The brand was created by Jose Pepin Garcia along with Erik Espinosa & Eddie Ortega. The cigars are manufactured at the Tabacalera Cubana factor in Esteli, Nicaragua. The cigar first hit the shelves in 2006, The cigar has a tremendous amount of oils that are just seeping through the wrapper. The wrapper itself is toothy, but attractive at the same time. The cap is centered and after cutting the it there appears to be no major veins. At the foot the cigar shows some loose packing.

Flavor & Notes (26/30): The prelight offers notes of molasses on the draw. The foot offers the same molasses but some impressive spice as well. It is quite clear this will be a full body cigar. Upon lighting the cigar, this smoke has the trademark burst of Pepin pepper. My mouth is on fire like I just ate some really spicy food as we get underway.  As the pepper fades there are notes of sweet spices with some massive pepper through the nose. I occasionally forget this and whenever I exhale through the nose I have a sneezing fit. For a couple of pulls in the 2nd third there was some mocha, but other than that this stick is pretty straight forward.

Burn/Ash/Draw (21/25): The burn line started out a little bit rough and for a while I was scared I would have a canoe before long. I held off on correcting it, and sure enough the cigar caught up to itself. It did however remain wavy throughout. The ash held long and tight it’s color was that of an overcast sky. The draw was a little bit too loose and it did smoke a little to fast for my liking.

Overall (22/25): Definitely not a bad smoke, in fact it was quite enjoyable albeit a tad too quick of a smoke (about 45 minutes, and I am a slow smoker). The flavors are a little bit 1 dimensional but sometimes you want to enjoy a smoke for what it is and not go crazy trying to figure that out.

Rating: 87
Price: 6.00

Cigar Review: Conuco

Conuco

When Famous Smoke agreed to become a sponsor of acigarsmoker.com they sent along a nice amount of smokes for review and I assure you sponsor or not, I will continue to give you straight forward reviews on cigars.

When I opened the box from Famous there was not one cigar in the box I ever heard of but being I want to try everything I picked this cigar after letting it sit in my humidor for about a week.

The Conuco cigar is actually a Rocky Patel blended cigar which had me worried because a lot of his mail order only cigars are real duds. So it was with great trepidation that I put this cigar in my shirt pocket and went down to the bay to smoke. Yes I changed my location a little as it is getting colder out and the Bay offers nice views with some protection from the winds..

The Skinny:

Cigar: Conuco (pronounce Koh-noo-Koh)
Origin: Honduras
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Honduras (Habano)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua & Costa Rica
Strength: Mild-Medium

Pre-Smoke: On appearance this is one beautifully constructed cigar. The wrapper is chocolate in color with some veins, but nothing that stands out. The cigar was full of oils, and was firm to the touch with just enough sponge to let you know it was properly humidified. The scent of the wrapper has some wood notes, while on the foot there were some strong caramel notes with just a trace of cocoa.

You can say at this point I was pleasantly surprised and I was looking forward to smoking it. So with my idiot proof cutter in hand, I snipped the cap and after taking a sip of water I checked the pre-light draw which was nice and easy. It offered notes of caramel that were easily identifiable.

Smoke: This cigar smoked nice and slow with absolutely no burn issues whatsoever. The 1st third of the cigar offered notes of nuts with a touch of earth and the occasional coffee. You can say I was definitely enjoying this cigar. The 2nd third of the cigar the coffee notes really came through with the caramel I got on the pre-light. The cigars final third was coffee with notes of cocoa right to the nub. When I was done with my smoke I was left with a nice coffee finish accompanied by a subtle sweetness.

Overall: This is a cigar that proves you do not have to spend a lot of money to find a good cigar. It was enjoyable throughout on all the samples I smoked and they were all consistent in terms of the notes of the cigar. I was so impressed that I plan to order some as soon as I free up some room in my humidor or break down and purchase a furniture piece.

Rating: 91
Price: $15.00 for a 5 pack!

Cigar Review: Carlos Torano Noventa

The other day I was out with a friend of mine at Sushi Samba in the city and we began to talk about of all things, fireflies aka lightening bugs. While I am more than 10 years older then her we both remember there being an abundance of them around when we were little. We reminisced about how we would catch them in cups or in our hands and watch them light up. We also commented on how you never see these bugs anymore. I think of all the bugs one has to deal with in their backyard these were the most welcomed. They were an essential part of the summer, and are nowhere to be found anymore. I found it ironic that Fox News had a story about this on their website last night, if you want to read it you can do so here.

The Skinny:

Cigar: Carlos Torano Noventa
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Habano Nicaragua
Binder: Habano Nicaragua
Filler: Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli, Jalapa and Condega (Nicaraguan Regions)

Pre-Smoke: I actually smoked this cigar 24 hours before posting the review. It was an overcast morning, and the beach on this Labor Day weekend was desolate. There was a strong breeze coming in off the water and it made it very comfortable to smoke. The scent of the wrapper was a very feint caramel while the foot revealed some notes of raisins and vanilla. The wrapper itself was very oily and virtually without veins. This was one classy looking cigar. On the pre-light draw I got notes of cedar and vanilla.

Smoke: Upon lighting this cigar the first drops of rain began to fall and I had to move inside my car to smoke. Luckily the rain was a drizzle so I was able to keep the windows open. The first third of the cigar had notes of cedar and caramel. As the second third began I picked up a few citrus notes that were very quick, a hit and run so to speak. The notes of caramel remained and we joined by some spice in the final third of the cigar.

Overall: I had a very hard time putting it down and smoked it til I burned my lips and fingers. The cigar was very enjoyable, and the best Carlos Torano I ever had. It has some similarities to that of a Padron 1964 but at the same time it’s identity was its own. This was truly a wonderful smoke, albeit a bit pricey.

Rating: 90
Price: 13.00

Cigar Review: Nub Habano 358

The Skinny:

Cigar: Nub Habano 358
Origin: Nicaragua
Length/Ring: 3.75″ x 58
Shape: Nub
Wrapper: Habano

I had a little conversation with the Rocky Patel rep the other day while over at Barrister Cigars during the launch event for the Rocky Patel summer series and they were moved to follow the same game plan that Sam Leccia was following for the Nub. They felt the hype created by the Nub was unmatched by any other cigar in a long time.

Fast forward to the other day when I was sitting around the table at Barrister Cigars and we were discussing the potential staying power of the Nub. Because let’s face it, at first appearance it looks like a novelty. Will the cigar last, I think it has potential, but not at the current hype the cigar is getting. The cigar has a few issues that will have to be addressed, one of which is the wrapper tends to crack or split during smoking from time to time. More so then other cigars.

Pre-Light:
The cigars had some oils visible on the wrapper as well as some glue from the label. There was a lot of glue to be precise, but I sniffed glue in the past, so why not smoke it. The cigar was spongy to the touch, and my humidor has been perfection all summer long with a 68 % humidity and 65-68 degrees. On the pre-light the draw was smooth and had hints of tea and it reminded me of freshly cut grass. Meanwhile to the tongue I managed to get the sense of tea and pepper.

Smoke: What amazaes me about the Nub is the cigar does not get hot this includes smoking it all the way down til you can’t hold it no more. It remains cool to the touch and to the palate. The cigar was full-bodied and I had zero problems with the draw. The taste was true to the scent for the most part. I was able to taste Tea, Grass/Hay/Earthy notes, and some cedar. My one problem is that about half way though I developed a 1/2 inch split in the wrapper.  These production issues have to be fixed in my eyes for the cigar to remain popular.

Overall, I am a big fan of the Nub. For me the cigar isn’t as good as the Cameroon version, but they are very close. For now the Nub has me as something I enjoy smoking. However, I could see my patience running thin if the cracks continue to happen. For now I will just chalk it up to the demand.

Price: $4.75
Rating: 88 (Out of 100)