Cigar Review: Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro

Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro

I’ve had these cigars sitting in my humidors for a while and I kept putting off smoking them. Why I am not sure as it is a cigar that I was very much looking forward to smoking. Perhaps it is that not one local B&M carries them by me and I was worried I would like them too much and not have easy access to them.

Cigar: Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 54 (Sublime / Toro)
Wrapper: Corojo Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Med/Full

Pre-Smoke: This well packed cigar is not as dark as your typical maduro. The corojo maduro wrapper can be a tad misleading to the naked eye. The scent off the wrapper is sweet while the foot offers a wood like spice. The cigar has its fair share of veins but nothing extreme and it features a cuban style triple cap. So far this seems like a maduro is supposed to be.

Smoke: This is definitely a full flavor big smoke producing cigar that on the light you were definitely hit with some well defined notes. The first third offers wood with some spices at the start. As I reached the end of the 1st third one of the most defined mocha notes I ever came across took control of the stick. The 2nd third of this cigar offered the same defined mocha notes with some pepper (yes I went into a sneezing frenzy!) and the wood notes remained as well. The final third of the cigar was a heavyweight bout between the wood and mocha notes each taking turns on the lead of the judges scorecard with the wood winning out in the end. The finish of the cigar was very woody.

Overall: Hands down the best Don Pepin Garcia I ever had. What I really liked about it was that it was a classic maduro in the sense it had a lot of sweetness to it in the mocha notes. I have noticed that recently a maduro cigar is not what they have been historically. A maduro cigar is supposed to be sweet, not necessarily strong. Today a lot of these cigars are strong fro the sake of being strong and offer nothing special. There are a lot of people at my local B&M that smoke these cigars because they like the buzz they are getting from the high nicotine content of the leaf. Perhaps I am being a cigar snob, but I believe these people smoke for the wrong reason. These maduro cigars turn the real smoker off to what a maduro is really meant to be.

Rating: 93
Price: $9.75

Cigar Review: Carlos Torano Casa Torano

Carlos Torano Casa Torano

Just a random thought to start with, right now I am craving apple cider. It is the fall, the leaves are changing colors and I am craving apple cider.

Today’s smoke is from Carlos Torano, and lately I have become a fan of this cigar company. I’ll admit I am a bit of a boutique whore, but every now and then I visit an old reliable and I get hooked on them again. After all it is the everyday brand of cigar that got me hooked on cigars, and a lot of them deserve their praise. Is this particular cigar one of them? Let’s find out shall we?

The Skinny:

Cigar: Carlos Torano Casa Torano
Origin: Honduras
Size: 6.25 x 50
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
Strength: Medium

Pre-Light: The maduro wrapper is very oily and it has the appearance of being dyed to make it look darker. The wrapper is very toothy and the foot offers notes of cocoa and wood. While the prelight draw was that of wood with slight notes of nuts. The cigar while very oily seemed like it was a little brittle to the touch, but I was able to find a few soft spots in the roll.

Smoke: One thing I like about Torano cigars is the quality of the burn. The cigar had a nice tight white ash throughout and the first third was notes of wood with coffee and a slight earth. I didn’t lose my ash til the second third of the cigar which revealed notes of coffee with subtle chocolate and nut notes in the background. The final third was a burnt coffee and some pepper.

Overall: The final third of this cigar knocked off some points for me as it lost some of its luster for me. This cigar reminds me a lot of the Signature line especially in the appearance department. The finish of the cigar was burnt coffee.  The cigar was good, but it just misses in my book. The original Casa Torano is much better, and I will follow up with that review in a few days.

Rating: 87
Price: $88.00 a box of 25

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Cigar Review: H Upmann Reserve Maduro

H Upmann Reserve Maduro

Every month I look forward to my package from Altadis as part of their VIP program to see what cigars they have sent me. This is a good thing as they send me cigars that I have forgotten about because I have become boutique cigar frenzied.

H. Upmann cigars were founded in 1844 by a German banker named Hermann Upmann who was heading the Havana branch for his family’s business. He set forth to create a smoke that would become the envy of Cuba’s finest cigars makers. At least that was his goal.

The H. Upmann Reserve Maduro is the newest of the line and the subject of today’s review.

The Skinny:

Cigar: H Upmann Reserve Maduro
Origin: Dominican Republic
Size: 6 x 54 (Toro)
Wrapper: San Andres Morron (Mexico?)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua

Prelight: The cigar is typical of a mass produced cigar as it is very well rolled, or at least appears so to the naked eye. Upon further inspection this toothy wrapper has some soft spots throughout the cigar from head to foot. Nothing to bad, but in feeling the cigar you are aware they exist. The reserve maduro is a very oily cigar, with notes of sweet tobacco on the foot and on the draw. This is a perfect example of what a maduro cigar should be. Too many people equate maduro with strong, but a maduro cigar historically is supposed to be sweeter.

Smoke: First let me address the negative of this cigar. It has a lot of oils, but it felt like a wet cigar. I am not sure if I am relaying that correctly, but it felt like it was not dried/cured/aged enough and as a result I had to relight it a couple of times. The burn itself was acceptable but keeping it lit was a challenge. On the first 1/3rd of the cigar the sweet tobacco notes remained with a touch of cocoa and coffee in the background.

As I reached the 2nd third of this smoke I was teased with subtle notes of cherry for a little while, but when I had to relight the notes were gone. The coffee notes were much stronger in this third of the smoke and a touch of leather crept in as well.

The final third of the cigar was stronger than the rest of the smoke as notes of leather took over, but in the background remained the coffee that was present from start to finish.

Overall: While I am not a big fan of H. Upmann cigars as in general I feel they are a little too generic. This cigar was no different as nothing really leaped out at me to make it something I would reach for again and again. However, it was a nice change of pace for me on yet another fine fall day.

Rating: 87
Price: $30.00 a 5 pack at various online retailers

Cigar Review: Man O’ War

Man O' War

I held off a long time on ordering the Man O’ War cigar since it seems to be mail order only and let’s face it most cigars that are limited to some of the big mail order houses are pretty awful. But I caved in when cigar.com had a special of 3 cigars for $5.00. Besides the Man O’ War you also got a Don Pepin cigar, and a Camacho cigar. I knew I enjoyed 2 of the 3 so at that price I could not pass it up.

The Skinny:

Cigar: Man O War
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 6.5 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Pre-Smoke: When I took this cigar out of the humidor I sneaked a sniff of the foot and was blown away by the over abundance of mocha. I left it in my shirt pocket as I had sushi for lunch with a couple of friends and at the end of lunch when asked what cigar I had with me today I told my friend to take a sniff. He too was blown away by the strong notes of mocha and my other friend agreed as well. So we left lunch and headed to my smoking spot where a cold breeze was coming off the water. The wrapper of the Man O’ War cigar is very chocolate in color, with some very slight veins. The wrapper and pre-light draw offer mocha notes as well.

Smoke: Mocha. That is what this cigar is all about. It is a note all the way through the cigar. It is the aroma of the smoke and it is the finish. Also during the smoke you pick up some nuts and at the end it does become a little earthy but none of them compare to the mocha that at times can become overwhelming if you are not a fan. I however am. The burn line despite the strong breeze was acceptable. I never needed to touch it up, and I never needed to relight it.

Overall: I wish I did not wait this long to pick up this cigar. I also wish my local B&Ms had the cigar. Although I will add this disclaimer; if I did not like mocha this cigar would have been overkill defined.

Rating: 89
Price: $9.00 a stick or visit cigar.com to get one in a 3 for $5.00 special.

Cigar Review: 5 Vegas Miami

With the New York Jets, my team in the NFL coming out of Miami with a win I decided to pull this stick out of my humidor as a victory cigar. As a fan of Gang Green, I have high hopes this season with the addition of Brett Favre. According to the 5 Vegas website they say the following about the 5 Vegas Miami cigar,

Miami represents the most elusive blend in the celebrated portfolio of 5 Vegas. Carefully handcrafted with a blend of 1st generation Cuban-seed Nicaraguan long-leaf tobaccos that have been patiently aged and expertly fermented, the Miami caters to the most discerning of palates.

Miami features six standard shapes. Five from Nicaragua, and one from America’s little Cuba: Miami, Florida. This vitola, a shaggy-foot toro, is produced in extremely limited quantities by only our top echelon cigar artisans.

The Skinny:

Cigar: 5 Vegas Miami
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 48 (Toro)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Cuban seed Nicaragua & Dominican

Pre-Smoke: Looking at this cigar it a fairly ugly looking stick, or a stick with a lot of character. Do you look at a glass half empty or half full? The cigar had a lot of veins and was very bumpy. The scent of the wrapper was woody, while the scent of the foot was full out pepper. The pre-light draw was that of pepper and earth. Pretty much making these cigars a typical Don Pepin Garcia blend.

Smoke: The cigar is full bodied cigar with notes of pepper, leather and earth. Occasionally I picked up some wood notes as well. The draw on the cigar was tight and became a little annoying after a while. The highlight of this cigar was the burn. If you can envision in your mind what the perfect burn is, that is what the 5 Vegas Miami offered.  The finish was leather.

Overall: I was talking the other day with an owner of a well known tobacco farm in Ecuador and I told him I was getting a little tired of Don Pepin Garcia as all his blends while good are getting a bit repetitive. He informed me that Don Pepin Garcia just obtained a large amount of Ecuadorian grown wrapper for a future blend. This is something I am looking forward to, but more and more I feel like the cigar I am smoking that was blended by DPG is a rerun.

Rating: 87
Price: $8.00

Cigar Review: Old School Originals

I stopped by the beach as usual yesterday before my evening holiday plans and smoked a cigar named after the Boys of Summer. It was a warm day, but with no humidity it was beautiful out. Not a cloud in the sky a perfect end to summer… This cigar was gifted to me from Old School Cigars with each size named after a Brooklyn Dodger from the 50s.

The Skinny:

Cigar: Old School Cigar
Origin: Ecuador
Size: 6 x 60 (Duke Snider aka Toro Grande)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Maduro
Binder: Ecuadorian Criollo ’98
Filler: Ecuadorian Sumatra Ligero, Sumatra & Criollo ’98 Secco, Sumatra Volado

Pre-Smoke: This cigar is hands down one of the oiliest cigars I have ever come across, its wrapper just sweats an insane amount of oil and the nose is of cocoa and wood. The foot is cocoa. This is one toothy looking cigar with a fair amount of veins and bumpiness. The pre-light draw was really easy and offered notes of cocoa with feint cedar notes.

Smoke: I had put off smoking this because in the summer I do not like a cigar that is very strong. I don’t have a need for a cigar to make me sweat when it is already extremely warm outside.  This full bodied cigar was a very rough on the back of the throat cigar. It had notes of pepper, and leather throughout and it was strong for the sake of being strong. The notes did nothing for the cigar as they were just there and never blended together or offered some satisfaction.

Overall: I’ve heard so many people say “I like a strong cigar because of the buzz it gives you.” Well if you are looking for a pseudo-high then this cigar might be for you. If you are a cigar smoker who likes a full bodied cigar with flavor this is not for you. If looks were everything this cigar would score really high, but since it isn’t it fails. Like the Brooklyn Dodgers this cigar is a bum, but not the loveable kind.

Rating: 83
Price: $Gifted

Cigar Review: Victor Sinclair Triple Corojo

The Skinny:

Cigar: Victor Sinclair Triple Corojo
Size: 6 x 50 (Toro)
Wrapper: Corojo Brazil
Binder: Corojo Dominican Republic
Filler: Corojo Nicaragua & Corojo Dominican Republic

From The Victor Sinclair Website:

Master Blender Jose Dominguez has done it again, with our Triple Corojo wrapper, binder, filler cigar. Rich, hearty flavors and a touch of spice makes this cigar not only flavorful, but a Smooth, satisfying smoke.

Pre-Smoke: The first thing I noticed about this stick is how much the cigar label with the VS logo and the purple/gold bands at the foot look like they came out of Victoria’s Secret instead of the my humidor. The cigar itself had a beautiful rosado brown toothy wrapper. It was slightly spongy to the touch with one soft spot near the foot. The wrapper revealed notes of oak, while the foot had similar notes of oak, the dominant scent was that of figs. I used a V-cut on the cigar since my hippotech idiot proof cutter seems to be missing in action. The pre-light draw offered strong notes of figs.

Smoke: I lit this cigar with great anticipation as I have only had notes of figs on a cigar once in the past. That cigar was a fluke and I never was able to find the notes til now. You would think that a triple corojo cigar would be strong, but that was not the case here. While it was a medium to full bodied cigar it was a very flavorful cigar that had notes of oak, figs, and spices throughout the smoke. The finish has a subtle sweetness to it that was enjoyed well after the smoke was finished.

Overall: It has been years since I have a Victor Sinclair and as I smoked this I wondered why I had stayed so far away. The smoke was one of the best I had this year and I am now in the process of trying to obtain more for my humidor.

Rating: 92
Price: $40.00 and up a box at Cigars International

Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonu 2003

Can you believe that summer is over? Granted there are still 25 days or so at the time of this posting, but with Labor Day a few days away the end is here. All in all it hasn’t been a horrible summer, although with Hurricane Gustav threatening New Orleans it could get bad again in terms of gasoline prices if another catastrophe hits. To all my readers from the Bayou I wish you and your family safe passage during the coming days.

As I arrived at the beach this morning, it had a different feel to it from the look of the sand, to the appearance of the water. There is a cold look to it, emptiness. The people going to and from have been reduced as well making the area appear desolate.

My cigar this morning was gifted to me a few months ago, and since I was told it was among the better Tatuaje branded cigars I decided to hold off on it specifically until this weekend.

The Skinny:

Cigar: Tatuaje Cojonu 2003
Origin: Miami
Size: 6.5 x 52 (Toro)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Pre-smoke: Like most cigars from Tatuaje they are exquisitely rolled right down to the triple cap. The double band of today’s stick gave the cigar a Cuban appearance. The cigar itself had a few too many veins, but it was glistening with oils. The wrapper of the cigar revealed some cedar notes, while the foot offered similar wood notes. I cut the cigar with my idiot proof hippotech cutter was shocked to see some very red tobacco up near the cap. It actually had the appearance of paprika which was very strange. The pre-light draw offered notes of wood and spices.

Smoke: The cigar was medium to full bodied and the initial third of the cigar offered notes of pepper, earth and leather. As I approached the second third of the cigar pepper was the dominant note with some subtle coffee and earth notes in the background. The final third was earth and pepper. Despite the gorgeous looking roll, the cigar had some major burn issues that needed to be touched up numerous times.

Overall: Maybe I just have some Pete Johnson overload going on, but I was less than impressed with the Tatuaje Cojonu. While the notes were typical of his smokes it lacked a lot of depth and I was rather bored smoking it about two thirds of the way through.

Rating: 87
Price: $15.00

Cigar Review: Cuvee Blanc

When it comes to doing reviews I am not your typical cigar reviewer. I smoke on average 2 cigars on a good day. So while I was not smoking for reviews I was smoking for the relaxation aspect after work. Last night while smoking I noticed my taste was back and for the most part my allergies have become a thing of the past until the fall actually begins.

Not wanting to smoke a cigar I was looking forward to review I chose today’s smoke just in case I got nothing as I would not care if I wasted this cigar. The Cuvee is made by the same people who produce Cusano cigars which are among my least favorite smokes. For the life of me, I never understand how they get such high rankings.

The Skinny:

Cigar: Cuvee Blanc
Origin: Dominican Republic
Size: 6 x 54 (Toro Gordo)
Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic / Nicaragua

Pre-Light: Like many Cusano cigars the construction of the cigar is near flawless with the exception of a few veins. This paper bag colored wrapper was firm to the touch with no soft spots. The one drawback of the Connecticut wrapper is how fragile it looks and I worry that testing for soft spots will cause it to tear. The scent of the wrapper was non-existent while the foot offered strong molasses notes. I snipped my cigar with my idiot proof hippotech cutter. While the draw was perfect the notes it offered were not. The notes were a faint cedar and a strong musky note, like wet wool.

Smoke: Despite my pre-light draw issues I decided to smoke this and I will explain more in the overall section. The cigar was very mild and had no burn issues whatsoever. However, the cigar was pretty one dimensional with notes of cedar and the musky wet wool. Despite this I made it to the band of the cigar before I chucked it feeling pretty pissed off.

Overall: The musky notes of wet wool seem to be prevalent in almost every DomRey cigar I have ever smoked. From the M1 to the Cuvee and everything in between. This is a quality control issue that is killing their smokes in my eyes. It is as if the cigars are not aged properly or stored properly. I believe DomRey is at fault as I have tried their cigars at different b&m’s in different states, and todays cigar was my final attempt with them.

Rating: 65
Price: $8.00

Review: Cubao #6

I noticed an early buzz about Cubao on the cigarlive.com website and I had to get my hands on them to see if the smoke matched the buzz.  For those who do not know Cubao Cigars are made by EO Bands which is behind the 601 line of cigar. , These cigars come from Don Pepin Garcia’s Nicaraguan factory.

I actually smoked this cigar yesterday afternoon, but did not get to write my review til this morning. It was my second Cubao in 2 days. The first was at the outside tiki bar at the Elks. When I review a cigar I keep notes and translate them into the reviews you read. So continuing my repetitive nature I drove over to the beach and got ready to smoke!

The Skinny:

Cigar: Cubao
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5.5 x 52 (#6)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Pre-Smoke: I was really attracted to this candy colored wrapper that reminded me of a Sugar Daddy in color. The roll while not sloppy, it was not seamless which gave the cigar character and definition. There were almost no veins to speak off and this cigar was begging to be smoked. The scent off the wrapper was a well defined chocolate while at the foot there were notes of caramel and some faint molasses. After giving the cigar a straight cut with my idiot proof hippotech cutter the pre-light draw was of caramel. Touching the cut end to my tongue I was hit with some serious hot pepper… So far so good..

Smoke: After lighting this smoke I was hit with what I will call the trademark of Pepin Garcia. That quick hit of in your face pepper that it seems like all his cigars start off with. This does not make it a bad thing, as the pepper always seems to subside and this was no different with the Cubao. As I closed out the 1st third of the cigar I was treated to notes of caramel with an underlying sweetness.

As the second third began I noticed my burn line was a bit jagged, but nothing to be concerned about. The ash was a very light gray and flaky so to prevent myself from wearing my ash I tapped the cigar and dove into the second third which the notes of caramel continued but were joined by some chocolate and coffee.

I reached my final third about 50 minutes into the smoke and the cigar maintained notes of coffee and some bitter chocolate. I smoked the cigar to the nub and the total smoke time was about 70 minutes.

Overall: I was very apprehensive to try this cigar as I had one 601 and did not like it. I was temped to go back and get another 601 at my local B&M where it was discovered the boxes they had were infested with the Lasioderma serricorne otherwise known as the tobacco beetle and the boxes were discarded. But I broke down and am glad I gave this wonderful cigar a try.

Rating: 90
Price: $7.00