I found this one buried deep in the humidor this evening as I was searching for a quick smoke. At only four inches long and a 45 ring gauge, it’s certainly a good candidate for a quickie. I got this one in a grab-bag deal from JR Cigars almost a year ago, so it’s had some time to consider its fate. But sooner or later, the man with the cutter comes a-knockin’, and that time is now.

The standard Romeo y Julieta line is sometimes called the “1875,” from the year that they were first manufactured in Cuba. The wrapper is Indonesian TBN, the binder is Dominican Olor, and the filler is Dominican with a bit of Pennsylvania leaf thrown in for good measure. They are manufactured in the Dominican Republic in La Romana.

Altadis is no longer producing this size in the standard line, though it continues to do so in the Reserve Maduro line.

The prelight scent of this little belicoso is quite nice, something along the lines of bittersweet chocolate. The draw is firm and it cuts very cleanly.

The first few puffs are somewhat papery and a little flinty. By the midway point, after about ten minutes, it graduates to a sweet nutty flavor. I’m not the biggest fan of Indonesian wrapper, but the Romeo y Julieta 1875 is blended very well and the slightly bitter attributes of the wrapper are nicely balanced against the sweet nutty flavor of the filler. The aroma is not exceptional by any means, but its mild spiciness is quite enjoyable. It’s also very well constructed. The ash is an attractive solid white.

After twenty minutes the spring has sprung and the deal is done. This line has plenty of fans and is available nearly everywhere, at least in the U.S.  It’s definitely a cigar to try in your favorite size, but the mini belicoso is gone for good I think. It was good while it lasted.

Like any other agricultural product, tobacco crops aren’t completely identical from year to year. The cigar brands that we treasure and smoke are usually consistent from year to year, but that is a testament to the blender’s art and control, and often to huge stockpiles of tobacco as well. The fact of the matter is that small batches of great tobacco often become available on the market and will not be seen again due to the particular conditions and qualities of the crop. It’s fine tobacco, but very limited in quantity.

The idea behind Ernesto Padilla’s Special Edition cigars is to use this great small batch tobacco for limited edition runs of very unique cigars.

The Padilla en Cedro was released sometime in 2005 and is no longer available, to the best of my knowledge. To be honest, when I first purchased a ten pack of these I wasn’t too impressed. They were very tannic, almost bitter. I decided at that time to put them away and let time massage away their tannins in the humidor.

I’m going to guess that this is a Jose “Don Pepin” Garcia production, but I have no proof of this. The cuban-style triple-cap, flat head, and earthy flavor seem to me to point to Don Pepin, but to be honest I’m not sure.

Beneath the cedar sheath of this Cedro resides a Connecticut shade wrapper, a Dominican binder, and filler from Nicaragua, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. The wrapper is dry and very smooth. I found the construction of this cigar to be uniformly excellent, even on the very young ones that I did not care for too much.

The triple cap shears off nicely and the cigar is easily lit. The burn remains steady all the way, building a solid gray ash as it goes.

9 months in the humidor have really made a difference on these Padilla Cedros. From their bitter and tannic youth they have grown into much tastier, but still mellow cigars. These are indeed mild cigars, building to a medium, perhaps, at the end. They have a dusty, earthy flavor which still shows some of that tannin, but towards the middle some dry plain wood flavors appear and at the end they take on a nuttier profile.

Overall I’m pretty pleased with this very unique tasting robusto, and I’m looking forward to more of Padilla’s special editions. You just may see another one profiled here in the very near future…

A few months ago I wrote about the special “Library Editions” distributed by JR Cigars. After thinking about it for a bit (though not too long) I nabbed a box of the Flor de A. Allones entry in this series, entitled “The Old Man and the Sea,” for the following reasons:

1. They were on sale.
2. They are made by Villazon.
3. I have a sentimental spot for Ernest Hemingway, especially The Old Man and the Sea.

The Library Edition cigars are all long coronas, as is this one at 6 1/4 inches by a 45 ring gauge. They’re rough looking cigars, and they look like they’ve spent a good long time in the box. Both the bands and the cellophane are yellowed somewhat. The wrappers are stippled, creating a cereal like texture, and some are slightly flecked. The band slips off easily, as if the cigar has contracted over time. All this suggests that these sticks have aged really well.

Reportedly, the wrapper leaf used here is Ecuador Sumatra. It’s rich with oil and much darker than I have come to expect from ECSU. It looks like it has been fermented like maduro would be. The binder is Connecticut broadleaf, and the filler is a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan leaves. They are made in Honduras by Villazon, the same folks who bring us El Rey del Mundo and Hoyo de Monterrey.

I’ve smoked four or five out of the box so far, and all of them have had great construction. They burn evenly and have a firm draw that yields a nice volume of smoke.

The flavor is typical Honduran — leathery and full bodied with cedary spices. It starts out pretty smooth, but by the middle of the stick it has gathered a peppery bite that grows and grows. By the last third the finish is lengthy and fairly strong. What seems a little unusual, but very nice, is a sweetness that I don’t normally expect from Honduran cigars. It’s a very secondary flavor, but combined with the leathery aroma it really distinguishes this cigar from other Hondurans. It’s also much smoother than I expected. What this A. Allones reminds me of more than anything is the way El Rey del Mundos perform after a couple of years in the humidor — tamed down from their fresh and savage youth, but still very tasty.

This is a full-bodied cigar worthy of your next fishing trip with the old man. Just don’t forget the beer. By the end of one of these spicy Allones, you’ll be hankerin’ for a cold one.

It’s been friggin’ cold out here in the West the past few days — in the 20’s at night, which may not sound that bad to some of you in the great frozen North, but it’s hell on us desert rats. It’s a particular challenge for cigar smoking desert rats who have to step outside for a quick smoke. So it comes down to a short fast smoking petite corona or robusto, or nothing at all. And the last option is not very attractive to me.

So I commenced to dig through the humidor to find a stick that would satisfy these rigorous criteria and came up with this Felipe Gregorio. I’ve had a few of these before, and have found them to be satisfying full bodied cigars. Many years ago they were considered one of the top quality brands, and they still are, but the quality of cigars in general has improved so much in the past few years that ol’ Felipe has more competition these days.

The information from the manufacturer:

“Felipe Gregorio cigars are the full equal of genuine factory Havanas.” Havana seed Nicaraguan filler and binder. It is full bodied with mellow spiciness and earthy flavors, including nuts and herbs.

• Wrapper : Habana 92 Sun Grown
• Binder: Condega
• Filler: Condega, Esteli

• Tabacage 2000

The wrapper on this bad boy is rough and rich looking, dark and somewhat oily. The scent is leathery with lots of barnyard. It clipped cleanly and a prelight pull reveals a nice draw and a bit of spiciness on the tongue.

Once lit this cigar billows with strong woody smoke. This is a very full bodied cigar, from the first puff to the last. The construction is quite solid, resulting in a fairly slow but even burn. The wrapper needed a little help at first, but after a little encouragement from my torch it needed no further assistance.

The Felipe Gregorio robusto is a meaty cigar that displays a lot of what I look for in a full bodied Nicaraguan– the focal taste is very woody with a delicate sweetness, and the followup is quite spicy. It tickles the sinuses and bites a bit at the back of the throat. By the midpoint the bite is almost too much for me. But by this I don’t mean to imply that it’s harsh — the smoke is actually quite smooth, but it’s so full bodied and spicy at this point that it is a little overwhelming on the palate. It’s got a little kick to it too, so it’s certainly an after dinner cigar.

This stick is packed and builds a long solid light gray ash, and much to my chagrin as I sat out in the cold, it burns quite slowly. I bought five of these from Cigarbid for less than two dollars a pop, so I didn’t feel too bad about abandoning it at the two-thirds point after about thirty-five minutes.

It isn’t the most complex cigar, and if you smoke it inside it’s guaranteed to clear the room of non-smokers. But at this price it is most definitely worth your while, if you’re a fan of full bodied cigars with a Nicaraguan flavor profile. Try it, and stay warm this winter!

Technically, this is the J. L. Salazar y Hermanos Reserva Especial Robusto, but amongst friends it just goes by J. L. Salazar. This is a Cuban Crafters cigar that takes its name from one of Kiki Berger’s partners whose family still tills the soil and harvests the leaf in Cuba.

This box pressed robusto is a bit stouter and a little longer than most; at 5 1/2 inches with a 52 ring I thought at first it was a toro. The tobaccos (except the wrapper) are from the Cuban Crafters vega in Nicaragua, Tabacalera Esteli, and are cured through four fermentations and aged for three years. The filler is sungrown “cuban seed Habano,” the binder is a wrapper grade Habana 2000 leaf, and the wrapper itself is Ecuadorian sun grown. Rich stuff here.

The cap on this cigar is a little bit sloppy, and while the cigar is not ugly per se, it isn’t going to make it as a pinup either. On the other hand, this stick has a very nice perfume even before it’s lit. The wrapper smells chocolatey sweet with a cedar edge.

I subjected two samples of the Salazar robusto to the rigorous KOTF testing procedure: to wit, I cut them, lit them, and smoked them to the band. The good news is that these have a very nice flavor and aroma. I would compare them favorably to Rocky Patel’s Vintage line — they’re sweet and cedary, starting up with some chocolate flavors and a hint of cinnamon and then slowly moving into a smoldering forest of woody aromas. Very nice.

The bad news is that they suffer from a tough draw and a burn that requires constant vigilance. The draw is very firm, but each laborious draw results in a good volume of smoke, so despite the work involved it isn’t a lost cause. The uneven burn is another matter. From the first lick of the flame this cigar required touching up. And then some more touching up, and then some more, until my lighter was out of fluid. These were stored at 65% RH for four months, so I don’t think humidity was an issue.

In the final analysis, I am a bit conflicted about the quality of the J. L. Salazar — they’re great tasting medium bodied smokes, but the construction definitely leaves something to be desired. I would try these again though in the hopes that I got a couple of off sticks because the flavor is outstanding. I hope others have had better luck with the construction on these. If so, please leave a comment below. Keep hope alive!