From Indianhead, makers of American Stogies, comes Dynamite — in corojo and maduro wrappers. At less than two bucks in my B&M they’re so cheap I had to try both.

Taking a page from Rocky Patel’s Edge and Camacho’s El Legendario, Dynamite cigars are presented in rough boxes of 24 sticks. Like those cigars the Dynamite was at one time unbanded, but at some point Indianhead began releasing them with very corny orange bands. The wrappers on these cigars are so nice and shiny that the bands are a distraction, in my opinion, but at least they allow me to tell them apart from the Edges and Legendarios in my humidor.

As you can see, even though these are the same size cigar, they are not the same length. We aren’t dealing with Habanos here. And while the wrappers are quite tasty looking the roll in both cases is quite bumpy. Fortunately this does not affect the overall construction, which happens to be excellent.

Corojo

The Corojo version starts out surprisingly smooth for a cigar named after the world’s premier explosive. It has a mellow, slightly nutty, and very muted flavor. It burns slowly with a good volume of smoke. Sitting out on the back porch, watching the sun go down and hoping for a breeze which I did not get, I sort of wished it would burn faster. No such luck– this baby takes its time.

Like most “bargain” type cigars this one peters out at the midway point; unlike some of those same cigars this one doesn’t turn rank. It remains a very smooth, nutty smoke to the end. The aftertaste builds and becomes a little waxy and unpleasant. This combined with a downturn in flavor resulted in my disposing of it about an inch from the band.

Maduro

The maduro version is a very smooth and mellow cigar. It shares the same fine construction as the corojo, with an easy light and an even burn, but without the same robust volume of smoke. It also seems to burn a little more quickly than the corojo.

The maduro 652 does not have a whole lot of complexity, but at this price I wasn’t expecting it. It isn’t quite as sweet as I’d expected– instead there is a licorice like tang over a base of char. Like the corojo it has a somewhat waxy aftertaste, but not as pronounced. There is no bite at all. It’s one of the smoothest cigars I’ve smoked recently. Not the tastiest, but very suave.

Overall, these are good everyday cigars. Factor in the price, and they’re great everyday cigars. Indianhead has done it again with the Dynamite line, though I might quibble a little with the name (and the band.)

Pick up a few for walking the dog or handing out to fishing buddies.