Xikar Defiance Contest Winner….

Xikar Defiance

I want to take the time to thank the 100 people who took their time to leave a comment for the Defiance contest. The cigars and cutter were donated by Xikar and we at acigarsmoker.com thank them for the great prize.

I took all 100 entries and ran a random number generator and the # corresponding to the comment was the winner..

The winner is from the Northwest, USA and she runs her own website called The Rice Bowl. If you have some time check out her site as she writes really well.

Once again, congratulations Flyrice and may you enjoy your cutter and cigars!

Cigar Review: Xikar Defiance Sentry

The Senry

I was recently contacted by Xikar based upon a review I did of the Defiance a few months back. They offered to send me a 5 pack of cigars and a xikar cutter. I told them thank you but I am going to raffle it off for my loyal readers. So if you want to win the 5 cigars and the cutter posted below all you have to do is leave a comment and I will randomly select a winner. The cutoff for this contest is 12 noon (Eastern Time) on February 2nd, 2009. Good luck everyone!

Winner has been selected, thank you for your entries!

Cigar: Xikar Defiance
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 46 (The Sentry/Lonsdale)
Wrapper: Nicaragua Cuban seed shade grown Criollo wrapper aged 4 years
Binder: Nicaragua Cuban seed sun grown Corojo binder
Filler: Nicaragua

Appearance & Construction (18/20): A great looking Criollo leaf adorns this cigar that has minimal veins. The foot reveals some loose packing which I have not witnessed in any of the other sizes. It’s crest style band sports the words In Pures Veritas under the name of the cigar. It’s secondary band has the word Xikar in silver on a black background. The side of the primary band has the words, do not remove. I suggest you remove it for a chuckle :)

Flavor & Notes (28/30): The pre-light draw reveals offers notes of cocoa with a slight caramel which is a nice change compared to what I have been smoking lately. These notes are definitely amongst my favorite. As we work on the first third of the smoke, notes of wood and caramel prevail and are easily definable. The second third of the smoke the notes of caramel remain but in the background as wood becomes the dominant note. The final third of the cigar notes of nuts, wood and touch of caramel are noticeable making this one of my favorite smokes.

Burn/Ash/Draw (23/25): Despite this loosely packed foot, the cigar smokes nice and slow for a lonsdale. It’s ash is a little weak, and is medium in color. The burn line is dark, but it is straight, revealing a well constructed cigar in its wake. The draw is not too loose, and not too tight, goldilocks would be happy with the draw.

Overall (23/25): This lonsdale packs a lot of flavor for a medium bodied smoke. The loose foot turned out to be a mirage as the cigar smoked nice and slow and never disappointed.

Rating: 92
Price: 6.75

Cigar News…

First off I want to welcome everyone who saw my website mentioned in the newest issue of Smoke Magazine. The first issue that I am a panelist in has hit the newsstands. For those of you who are unsure of the issue, it is the one with Tucker Carlson on the cover and my ugly mug is on page 77. The picture is when I shaved the facial hair, which is now back. The next issue will feature a picture of my handlebars.

CAO News: I was informed tonight by Jon Huber of CAO Cigars that the LX2 lancero will be available as a regular release and should start to appear in cigar shops sometime in March. No word yet on the MSRP. For those of you who have yet to have them it one of the best lancero smokes around today.

Oliva News: It has come to my attention that the Oliva V Maduro will be released yearly as a limited edition smoke. No word on when the 2009 release will be, but if they follow the 2008 pattern it will be sometime in the fall. In other Oliva news the Nub Maduro and Nub Miami should be out sometime in the spring with the Miami being a limited release.

SCHIP: The word/abbreviation that cigar smokers has come to hate. I have been informed that the federal tobacco tax will go to 40 cents a stick. While this is a big victory for cigar smokers, it does further put a crack in the dam. Don’t forget how small the first increases in cigarette taxes were before they ballooned to what they are now. Let your congress person know you are appreciative of the hike not being out of control, but it has to stop here!

Contest Time: In the next couple of days I will have a contest where you can win a 5 pack of Defiance and a Xikar cutter compliments of Xikar, Inc. If you have not yet smoked the Defiance from Xikar I suggest you give it a try. It is a great smoke!

On a final note, I will be back on Friday with a review of the Mi Dominicana cigar which I received today compliments of Altadis USA.

Tis The Season Of Giving…

Cigar Reviews will return tomorrow, as I have solved my issue of smoking in the cold weather. For now I want to share with you all an event that a good fried of mine put together and he has brought me on board to help with the project…

The cigar community has been chastised long enough and it is time to make a good name for ourselves. So Pete decided to put together a little herf, and at this herf we will be holding a raffle in which the proceeds will go to buying a gifts for under privileged children.

Some great cigar manufactures have stepped up to the plate and have offered cigars to be raffled off for this great cause and some of the early arrivals will be given a bag of smokes as well.

So if you live near by, stop by and say hello. Ask for me (Barry) and if I am not there ask for Pete and tell him acigarsmoker.com sent you…

Date: Noverber 28th
Time: 1:00pm – whenever the owners kick us out
Location: 2215 Route 112, Medford, NY 11763
Parking: Small lot in front of the store, more parking on side and in back of the store
Directions: Take LIE to exit 64 South. Proceed about 3/4 mile and on your left hand side you’ll see a small park. Immediately after the park is a small shopping center. Goodfella’s in in there.

A special thank you to Steve from CAO, John from Altadis, Jim From Arganese, Xikar, and Goodfella’s Cigars.

Cigar Review: Xikar Defiance

Xikar Defiance

Over the past few months my great country has been split on who to vote for. I have had people ask whose corner I was in but I never once put that on my blog. Now that the election is over, I will not hide the fact I voted for McCain. For me it was a matter of experience. It was that one point that made the choice for me. With that said and done, I think Obama has the potential of being a great president if he stays true to his platform. He is my president, although I did not vote for him. What disturbs me the most about this election is how many people bought into the emails going around calling him a terrorist, or that he was not born in the USA or what have you. The Internet has created a gullible society and I wish our President elect the best for if he does well, then my country does well and that is what matters most to me…

Today’s cigar I won in a bet with the owner of Barrister Cigars. We had a friendly wager of a cigar on who would win the Wolrd Series. This cigar was that payoff.

Cigar: Xikar Defiance
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5 x 50 (The Renegade)
Wrapper: Nicaragua Cuban seed shade grown Criollo wrapper aged 4 years
Binder: Nicaragua Cuban seed sun grown Corojo binder
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium

Pre-Smoke: This cigar has been on my to try list for a while and I wound up with a nice aged cigar to sample. Normally I tend to smoke 2 or 3 of a cigar before reviewing it, but today’s cigar was a 1 shot deal since I cannot find anyone local to me who sells this cigar. The wrapper offered a musky scent which had me a little worried and the foot offered notes of a caramel and figs. Fig notes are one of the notes I go ga-ga over and I was ecstatic to get it off of this cigar. The pre-light draw offered the same notes as the foot.

Smoke: This cigar produced a lot of smoke, that I was thankful to be smoking it outside. It also smoked very slow and this robusto lasted me a solid 90 minutes. The draw was perfect with only the slightest resistance. The first third offered notes of wood and caramel with a slight fig in the background. The 2nd third of the smoke, the wood remained and it offered notes of nuts. At this point I had a phone call that I was on for about 20 minutes and my cigar needed a relight when I was done. The final third of the smoke the fig retuned in the background with notes of wood in the foreground.

Overall: The finish of this cigar was an interesting sweet wood that was so pleasing I can recall it very well 2 days later as I write this review for this exceptional cigar. Xikar has a winner on there hands, as this cigar should finish in my top 10 smokes of the year.

Rating: 92
Price: $6.50 (before local taxes)