3 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

7-20-4 Lancero

7 20 4 lancero

Kurt Kendall’s 7-20-4 cigar has a colorful history, one that began in 1874 when R.G. Sullivan began making cigars in Manchester, New Hampshire. Starting with a single cigar roller, the company grew to employ over 1500 people by 1924 and at that time was producing 80 million cigars a year. Sullivan was known as America’s largest manufacturer of “ten cent” cigars. As the company grew, the factory changed locations several times, as did the brand name. Gold Dust Ten Cent Cigars, as they were known, became 7-20-4, derived from the factory’s address: 724 Elm Street.

Sullivan’s factory continued on for many years thereafter, but it finally closed in 1963 as yet another casualty of the U.S.-Cuban trade embargo. The building itself still stands, and has evidently been rehabilitated for use as office space. (But before you sign that lease, know there are rumors that the building is haunted.)

The brand name 7-20-4 was revived when cigar maker Kurt Kendall secured the trademark in 2008. Today 7-20-4 cigars are made in the Tabacos de Oriente factory in Honduras, utilizing leaf from five countries: filler from Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico and Colombia, a Costa Rican binder, and a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper. The cigars are rolled using the entubado method to ensure a consistently even draw. With the recently added lancero, there are now six sizes in production:

  • Corona – 5.625 x 46
  • Churchill – 7 x 48
  • Gran Toro – 6.5 x 56
  • Robusto – 5 x 50
  • Torpedo – 6.125 x 52
  • Lancero – 7.5 x 38

Construction Notes

With its pigtail cap the 7-20-4 lancero does in fact look a bit like a lance. All it lacks is a bell guard and a tiny knight errant. The Brazilian wrapper is a uniform maduro in color, rich in appearance, and a little bit dry. A potential pitfall of the lancero size is a difficult draw, but utilizing the entubado rolling method seems to have eliminated the chance of that happening here. Just one of the three I smoked for review offered more resistance than I prefer, and the other two were perfect. The burn was dead even in each case and the narrow ash held longer than I expected it to.7-20-4 lancero

Overall construction: excellent.

Tasting Notes

The flavors and aroma of this cigar are pleasantly complex, and it wastes no time in presenting them. It introduces itself with pepper on the tongue and palate, in moderation, and the smoke is cool and surprisingly creamy. The foundation flavor is crisp and woody, similar to Illusione’s Original Document blend but without the sharpness. The aroma is rich and syrupy with chocolate and cedar spices.

I was expecting the cigar to exhibit a transition at some point, but it doesn’t change too much, aside from a general darkening from wood to char. Not every smoke needs a second and third act, however. The overall complexity of the 7-20-4 makes up for its lack of evolution, so there’s no room for complaint. Maybe it’s just human nature to ask for improvement when it’s already good to start with. Like raking your kid over the coals for that A- in AP Calculus.

Conclusion

Complexity and smoothness are what I really prize in my favorite smokes, and the 7-20-4 lancero has both. I shy away from lanceros because of the construction problems endemic to the size, but that’s not a concern at all with the 7-20-4. Entubado rolling and quality control have quelled those worries.

The lanceros run in the $8 USD range. Treat yourself for the holidays and pick up a few.

7 20 4 lanceroFinal Score: 90

5 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews, Don Pepin Garcia

Flor de las Antillas Robusto

Flor de las Antillas

New for 2012 from My Family Cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua, is Flor de las Antillas. The “flower” of the Antilles is the island from which the Garcia family hails: Cuba itself. The brand name was in fact an old Havana trademark, and My Family Cigars has resurrected the name and rejuvenated the artwork for this new release.

Flor de las Antillas is a Nicaraguan puro featuring a sun-grown wrapper and several different Cuban-seed tobaccos. The cigar is box pressed and produced in four sizes:

  • Robusto: 5 x 50
  • Belicoso: 5 1/2 x 52
  • Toro: 6 x 52
  • Toro Gordo: 6 1/2 x 56
Construction Notes
The Flor de las Antillas robusto is a pressed cigar with a dry colorado claro wrapper. The cover leaf has a few veins, but it doesn’t look quite as weather-beaten as some sun grown wrappers. The head terminates in a flat triple-wrapped cap, and the draw is effortless. It burns evenly, and the ash it generates is almost as strong as the original cigar.

Overall construction: Superb. (No surprise, coming from My Father.)

Flor de las Antillas 2Tasting Notes

This is a somewhat unusual entry from the Garcias; it’s one of the smoothest and creamiest cigars I can recall from a cigar maker reknowned for big flavors and an explosion of pepper up front. A little bit of pepper creeps up in the sinuses for the first minute or two, but there is no bite on the tongue at all. Some leathery scents emerge which balance nicely with mild cedary spices, but for the most part this is just a very smooth medium-bodied cigar with a creamy smoke texture.

The middle section continues along the same trajectory, with some caramel sweetness added into the mix. This aroma doesn’t seem quite as robust as the Corojo 99 that I love on medium-bodied Garcia cigars like Vegas Cubanas, but it’s a little more complex and similarly balanced with mild spice.

The last third is increasingly peppery, but compared to many of My Father’s full-bodied blends (like Le Bijou, for instance) it’s really quite tame. Most of the spice tingles in the sinuses with only a fleeting nip on the tongue.

Conclusion

La Flor de las Antillas fills a spot in the medium-bodied lineup for My Father Cigars, perhaps to fill vacancies left by blends like El Rey de Los Habanos and El Centurion. It’s a nicely balanced cigar with hints of leather and cedar topped off with some caramel sweetness, and only a shadow of the pepper that is the hallmark of this Nicaraguan family. It’s also priced well. At around $6.00 it’s well within the median price range for premium smokes.

It didn’t blow me into the stratosphere, but smokers who like medium-bodied Nicaraguan blends — like Vegas Cubana or the old Padilla 1948 — should definitely check this one out.
Flor de las Antillas 3
Final Score: 89
4 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Arturo Fuente, Super Premiums

Ashton ESG 22 Year Salute

Ashton’s Estate Sun Grown (ESG) was released in 2005 to salute “20 consecutive years of increased sales and overall growth.”  That sounds a little like the theme of the Dunder Mifflin Christmas party, and the initial reviews of the ESG were nearly as embarrassing. The release of the cigar was highly anticipated for a number of reasons: it’s an Ashton product blended by Carlos Fuente, Jr., and it carries a super-premium price which inflated expectations accordingly. At around $20-25 USD per stick, the ESG could well be expected to take a place alongside Fuente’s Opus X and Diamond Crown’s Maximus cigars. But initial reviews were not kind, and at that price I decided I would give the brand some time to fix what went wrong or to let the aging process repair the flaws of youth.

After some initial delays, the first ESG was released in a churchill format sometime in 2006. The plan was to release an additional size each year after 2005 until Ashton’s 25th anniversary in 2010. The blend components are somewhat mysterious. The wrapper is a leaf grown especially for the ESG on the Chateau de la Fuente farm in the Dominican Republic, and that is all ye know and all ye need know. The origin and type of the binder and filler leaves are not public information.

The production sizes appear to have halted at four rather than the scheduled five, and they are as follows:

20 Year Salute — 6.75 x 49
21 Year Salute — 5.25 x 52
22 Year Salute — 6 x 52  (torpedo)
23 Year Salute — 6.25 x 52

Construction Notes

The 22-Year Salute is a debonair torpedo with a leathery and slightly oily exterior. A few fine veins traverse the reddish wrapper. The head of the cigar terminates in a tightly wrapped point, and the stick appears to be softly box pressed. The draw is excellent, but the burn is a little uneven and the ash flakes at times. I had to apply a corrective flame to this ESG once or twice, but aside from that the construction is what you’d expect from an Ashton super-premium.

Overall construction excellent.

Tasting Notes

The ESG torpedo opens with a mild dose of black pepper and some tartness on the palate. The pepper is not overbearing, but it dominates the first inch of the stick. Despite the spice, the smoke texture is noticeably creamy. Within a few puffs the magic of this cigar becomes apparent: the aroma is extremely complex and totally unique. There are notes of both cedar and flowers on the nose, but neither is overt. The room scent is very nice.

The mid section of the cigar is earthier, with some lightly roasted coffee flavors. The aroma continues to be sweet and slightly floral, but this is accompanied by a dry tannic aftertaste that I don’t care for. The spice diminishes while the cigar gathers strength.

The final section remains smooth and creamy, and the aroma is nothing short of amazing. There are notes of lavender or violet, but it isn’t perfumey at all. It’s floral, but balanced. On the other hand, the tannic aftertaste persists. I’m completely entranced by the scent of this cigar, but after an hour my mouth is parched.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see why the Ashton ESG is in the super-premium category: the Chateau de la Fuente wrapper is extremely subtle and complex. Even though it burns a little erratically, it’s obviously the centerpiece of the cigar. But I can also see why the early reviews were less than laudatory. The cigar is quite dry, and the aftertaste is very tart. Perhaps this could be countered by the right drink; water didn’t work any wonders for me, and I didn’t want to spoil the scent of the smoke with anything stronger. Maybe the ESG is just looking for the right companion.

But at $23 USD I’m a little disappointed. The high price point held me to a single cigar for this review, so it’s possible another test drive would change my mind; another occasion, another drink, another cigar. But at this price, on my budget, one chance is all it will get.

Final Score: 85

4 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

T. L. Johnson Tempio Extreme Box Press

I hadn’t heard of T. L. Johnson Cigars before, but I have heard of one of their brands — Jose Dominguez. In addition to this one, Johnson produces Palma cigars as well as three distinct lines under the T. L. Johnson brand name: the Legend Reserve Reserve 63, and the Signature line in Connecticut and Maduro. The company is located in Colorado, and it looks like their cigars are distributed primarily in-state.

Tempio is, I believe, their newest line, and since it is produced by one of my favorite boutique manufacturers — La Tradicion Cubana — I was itching to give it a go.

Tempio utilizes a Pennsylvania wrapper leaf (like the JML 1902) in conjunction with an habano binder and Dominican filler. The cigar is made in four sizes:

No. 50 (Robusto) — 5 x 50
No. 52 (Torpedo) — 5 1/2 x 52
No. 56 (Toro) — 5 1/4 x 56
No. 54 (Churchill) — 6 3/4 x 54

Construction Notes

If it weren’t for the sloping shoulders and tightly wound pig-tail cap of the Tempio, I’d say this cigar looks like a carpenter’s pencil. A big one. Maybe the right size for Shaq if he adds cabinetry to his career profile. The corners are clean and form tight right angles that relax a little as the cigar burns.

The colorado maduro wrapper is smooth but leathery in appearance. The veins appear to have been pressed into the leaf, so it looks rustic but doesn’t feel that way to the touch. The draw offers the right amount of resistance, and the burn is surprisingly even for a square pressed stick. The ash is a little bit flaky on the perimeter but holds strong.

Overall Construction: Excellent.

Tasting Notes

The Tempio focuses on a cedar flavor throughout the smoke, but it starts up with some unusual scents that are hard to place. There is a peppery spiciness on the tongue that fades pretty quickly, but the most interesting aspect of the first third are the fleeting sweet spicy notes in the aroma. There seems to be something vaguely fruity about the aroma, but not in a light way — it’s a spicy fruitiness that reminds me a little of the scent of mulled wine.

The spice loses some of that interesting sweetness in the mid-section, but it remains sweet in a more conventional way. There is less of a cedar flavor and the smoke becomes a little smoother. The smoke is medium in body, and probably a touch heavier than that in strength. There is a dry papery tartness in the aftertaste.

The last third reintroduces the pepperiness as the flavors begin to char, but even in the last few puffs some sweetness lingers.

Conclusion

I love the complexity of flavors that the Pennsylvania wrapper contributes to the Tempio, and the overall performance of the cigar is very good as well. It’s a balanced with just the right amount of spice, and it’s never boring.  In fact it’s a little bit edgy, which I think gives it some aging potential.

The MSRP on this cigar is about as bold as its flavors — around $11.00. I’d like to see that price drop a bit, but there’s no arguing with the quality of the stick. The biggest challenge will be locating a Tempio for purchase. It looks like there is at least one online vendor, or if you are lucky enough to live in Colorado, check out the T. L. Johnson website for retail locations.

Final Score: 90

3 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

Cuban Stock Royal Selection Toro

One afternoon as I was perusing the shelves in the cigar shop I noticed an unfamiliar brand: Cuban Stock. With all of the “Cuban” appellations assigned to brands on American shelves it’s hard to tell one from another, but it was a nice looking stick. I was expecting to learn that this was a new blend made by an established cigar company, but the clerk at the desk told me that it is an independent brand.

After a little research, I found that “Cuban Stock” is owned by Crown David, which is a name that sounds vaguely familar from a long time ago. It turns out that Crown David changed its working name to take advantage of the product recognition that Cuban Stock, their premier line, has received over the years. I think I prefer “Crown David.” There should be more cigars with Biblical themes.

The Crown David factory was established in 1995 in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The Cuban Stock portfolio includes over a dozen different blends, including the “Chubbys” line, one of the first 60-ring cigars on the market. The Royal Selection employs Dominican binder and filler which has been aged for six years in wine barrels, and it is covered with a leaf from Ecuador. Habano? Sumatra? Who knows, but it looks sun grown and carefully processed.

  • Churchill – 7.25 x 52
  • Torpedo – 6.25 x 52
  • Toro – 6 x 50
  • Robusto – 5 x50
  • RS 660 – 6 x 60
  • Long Perfecto – 7 x 48
  • Short Perfecto – 4.5 x 48

Construction Notes

As I peel off the foot band of this toro I suddenly realize that I may have bitten off more than I can chew when I chose this vitola. This is a slugger of a stogie. The wrapper is a ruddy and attractive colorado maduro with fine veins. The cigar is square pressed, which might make it look even larger than it is, but it fits well in the hand, and is less of a gobstopper than I expected. The roll (or do I say the press?) is solid, and the draw is fine. The cap is functional and shears off nicely.

Unfortunately, the cigar does not produce as much smoke as I had hoped or expected from a cigar of such hefty dimensions. It burns well, but I found myself pulling twice or thrice on occasion to generate a reasonably sized cloud of smoke. This in turn caused the cinder to overheat a little, though that didn’t seem to affect the taste. Nevertheless, I found the cigar a bit laborious to smoke.

Overall Construction: Good

Tasting Notes

The difficulty I had with the smoke volume carried over to the flavor of the cigar, but it didn’t affect the aroma, which is rich and expressive. Leather and cedar are the major components, with hints of pepper and cinnamon appearing at various points.

The smoke is quite smooth, and the flavors are consistent but not terribly interesting. I would expect a cigar this big to offer flavor transitions along the way, but the flavors on the palate are simple and, well, a little boring. A little dry wood, a touch of leather. After 60 minutes of pulling and working this stick, tedium set in. Were it not for the hope that change would arrive at any moment (don’t forget to vote, my fellow Americans) I would have tired of this toro at the half.

Conclusion

At around $6 USD the price for this cigar is reasonable, but if I have the opportunity to smoke the Royal Selection again I will choose a smaller size. The toro is a nice looking cigar with a fantastic aroma, but the flavors were simple and one dimensional. It’s not a bad cigar by any stretch, but I expect more depth from a cigar that takes an hour or more to smoke.

Final Score: 84

10 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

CAO Concert “Roadie”

The CAO cigar brand has changed hands, moved headquarters, and reinvented itself, but the label’s new directors haven’t forgotten where CAO started: Music City, USA. The CAO Concert was blended by Rick Rodriguez as a tribute to Nashville, Tennessee, CAO’s original home town.

The music theme of the Concert brand is apparent in almost every way: the box resembles a Marshall amp, the bands are designed to look like guitar picks from the front, the upper parts of a Fender Strat on the sides, and fretboards meeting in the back. (Wouldn’t a Telecaster have been better for Nashville?) The frontmarks are concert-related, and the cigar was even given a sneak preview release at the Country Music Association’s Music Festival last summer.

I will make an attempt to restrain myself from abusing the music theme in this review. I will not not hammer on harmony or refer to the cigar’s opening act. I will not speak of overtures, or codas, or cadences. Not a note of it, I swear.

The wrapper is an habano rosado leaf grown in Ecuador, the binder is Connecticut broadleaf, and four different leaves from Nicaragua and Honduras comprise the filler. The cigar is made in four sizes, all 5 1/2 inches in length:

  • Solo – 5 1/2 x 50
  • Stage – 5 1/2 x 60
  • Amp – 5 1/2 x 46
  • Roadie – 5 1/2 x 54

Construction Notes

The wrapper on the CAO Concert is dark, glossy, and almost veinless. Unfortunately, it is also very thin and prone to cracking. The head of the cigar is flat with wide shoulders. With a ring gauge of 54 this cigar is built like a fire plug. The draw ranged from easy to firm, and the burn was slow and even.

It’s an attractive cigar until the wrapper starts to crack at the back. The humidity where I live hovers around 10-15%, so desert shock might be the culprit, though that’s rarely a problem with other cigars. Like all of my other cigars, I stored these at 65%, but maybe the Concert requires a more tropical residence.

Overall construction very good, discounting for possible storage errors on my part.

Tasting Notes

The Roadie is a bit wide for my taste, but the flavors are smooth and well balanced. The cigar opens with cedar sweetness and a dusting of cayenne which quickly dissipates, leaving a medium-bodied base of coffee and some soft baking spices — cinnamon, mild clove, or maybe even sandalwood.

The second half of the cigar builds on the coffee base and adds a touch of musk. The aroma grows sharper, a bit spicier, but retains a lot of its sweetness. The Roadie stays balanced throughout, even while it transitions from light and sweet to darker and muskier flavors. It’s medium in body and easy to smoke. I didn’t notice any harshness at all and the cigar didn’t bitter at all until the very end, well after the second encore. (Damn. Almost made it.)

Conclusion

Conscientious and critical cigar smokers rarely get excited about medium-bodied cigars, but this is one that I would urge everyone to try. I was surprised at the complexity of this new CAO blend, and with its smooth demeanor and suave appearance, I highly recommend it. The Roadie is good for almost 90 minutes of tasty smoking, for which the $6.00 entry fee is a pittance.

I hope that the wrapper cracking was an environmental issue that won’t occur to many other smokers, because in every other respect it performed beautifully. The only thing that I would like to see changed is the design of the band. The little Stratocaster tips are easily bent and quickly become annoying. Maybe they’ll take up my suggestion and change it to a Telecaster, so there will be only one tip to tear off. Aside from that small complaint, this is a wang dang doodle of a cigar.

Final Score: 91
7 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Carlos Torano, Cigar Reviews

Torano Loyal Robusto

Cigar marketing is almost always directed at smokers who go for a certain style. The broad categories are well know — there are the mild-to-medium bodied cigars that appeal to a certain group, the heavy-duty ligero bombs that appeal to another group, and then there’s the boutique crowd.  There is some cross-over, and a lot of advertising flim-flam, but achieving real distinction within a certain style can’t be easy for a new brand or line.

The group that Toraño’s Loyal is aimed at is my group: the value crowd. Toraño is an established name with an excellent reputation for producing fine smokes, and most of them are priced quite reasonably. And a nice price point is nearly as compelling as an ad featuring pretty girls in bikinis. (Nearly. I said nearly.)

Toraño’s Loyal blend was introduced in 2011 as a way of “providing outstanding value to cigar lovers.” Most cigars made by Toraño have a high quality-to-price ratio anyway, so I was interested to see what they would come up with when the bottom line was the bottom dollar.

The Loyal is a three-country blend: the core is composed of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos, which are then wrapped up in a Nicaraguan binder, and the cover leaf is a Sumatra-seed leaf from Ecuador. The cigar is available in four sizes:

  • Robusto – 5 x 56
  • Torpedo – 6 1/8 x 52
  • Churchill – 7 x 47
  • BFC – 6 x 60

Construction Notes

The wrapper on the Loyal Robusto is a dark and mottled colorado leaf with considerable tooth. It’s also very thin and prone to cracking, but the two sticks I smoked for the review survived mostly intact despite some fine wrapper splits. The cigar has a flat head and the cap is cleanly finished. The draw is a bit loose, but since that didn’t affect the temperature of the smoke I didn’t count it a serious flaw. The burn, in fact, is even and slow and mostly on the level. The ash is a little flaky due to the thin wrapper, but it’s solid and holds well.

Overall very good construction.

Tasting Notes

The Toraño Loyal Robusto is a smooth and easy smoking cigar. The first half is characterized by caramel and graham cracker flavors, and the fragile wrapper contributes a sweet and complex aroma. There is just a touch of dryness on the palate. The smoke is medium in texture, but fairly mild in strength. The second half brings out more cocoa and coffee flavors while the aroma remains soft and sweet.

There is a gentle transition from the first half to the second of this robusto, but it goes easy on the drama. The subtle complexities of the aroma could easily be overpowered by stronger tasting filler leaves, but that doesn’t happen here. This blend’s primary virtue is balance.

Final Score: 90

Conclusion

Toraño’s Loyal was designed with value in mind, and value it certainly delivers. It’s not exactly a “bargain” cigar, but the MSRP is around $5 USD for the robusto; add two bits for the larger sizes. Value aside, the Loyal is also a fantastic cigar to pair with a cup of coffee.

Lately I’ve been brewing coffees from Washington, Pennsylvania’s 19 Coffee Company. I’ve sampled three different offerings from 19, and they have all been remarkably smooth. Even their Bold blend, which is a rich and full-bodied french roast style coffee, is also as smooth as a china cup. Their Centrals have been extremely well balanced for light-roasted coffees. My wife is especially fond of the Guatemalan Trapichitos, in which she finds a caramel note that she really likes. Any of these coffees would be a great companion for Toraño’s Loyal.

4 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

Gurkha Seduction Robusto

Recently I’ve noticed how often people misuse the word “notoriety.” As in the following, from advertising for a construction company:  “Erecting the steel on each these projects in a safe and efficient manner brought them notoriety on a national level.”  I certainly hope not. Notoriety is specifically negative attention. Notorious construction usually leads to protracted litigation, and that’s not the kind of attention you want to bring to your enterprise.

Which brings me to the subject of Gurkha cigars, a brand of great “notoriety.” Utter the word “Gurkha” in a room of seasoned cigar smokers and inevitably the muffled laughter and condescending remarks will follow. When a company sells a single cigar for $825 (the cognac-infused Gurkha HMR) this is to be expected. But Gurkha as a company has in fact been enormously successful and has continuously increased production. The company recently expanded its corporate headquarters, moving them from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale, and currently produces cigars in five factories in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

If that’s “notoriety,” I guess they’ll take it.

Gurkha’s Seduction blend was released last year, along side the company’s other newcomers, Cellar Reserve and Royal Challenge. Seduction is made at the Cuevas factory in the Dominican Republic, and features an unusual three country blend. The wrapper is a dark Ecuadorian Habano, beneath which is a Dominican Olor binder. The filler is entirely Colombian Corojo.

As is customary with Gurkha, the box and the cigar bands are the brand’s best advertising tool. The Seduction box has a black velvet texture, almost like suede, and is hinged on both sides of the box so it can unfold in the middle. The bronze and parchment-colored bands stand out against the dark shade of the cigars. Four sizes are in production:

  • Robusto 5 x 55
  • Toro 6 x 55
  • Churchill 7 x 55
  • XO 6 x 60

Construction Notes

The Seduction is not a maduro cigar, but the Ecuadorian Habano leaf that covers the cigar is consistently maduro in color. The wrapper is rough and slightly dry, and it smells like an abandoned barn. The roll is solid, and the cap is rounded and cuts cleanly. I’ve smoked a handful of these now and every one has been packed well and has drawn perfectly. The burn is mostly even. A couple cigars have shown rebellious tendencies, but these have been easily corrected.

Overall construction: Excellent.

Tasting Notes

I have smoked a dozen of these robustos over the past 9 months, and I’ve noticed that the flavor spectrum changes over time. When fresh, the cigar is bright and sassy. (I would expect that a cigar named Seduction should always be smoked fresh, and should always be bright and sassy. Otherwise it might be called Dirty Old Man in the Park. And given the cavalier way in which cigars are named these days, I’m expecting to see a DOMP on the shelves any day now.)

But the aged Seduction is a much mellower cigar, opening with rich billows of chocolate and muted cedar. The smoke is aromatic, but too heavy to convey much subtlety. The cigar produces a prodigious amount of smoke and burns slowly. I put the cigar down for about ten minutes to do something in the house and fully expected having to re-light on my return. But the half-smoked Seduction was still smoldering.

There is still a touch of spice in the middle third, but this gradually diminishes until the flavors are more or less leathery with sweet chocolate overtones. There is a fruity note which adds some complexity. The combination of chocolate and jammy fruit makes it a great dessert cigar, especially when paired with a full-bodied coffee like 19 Bold from the 19 Coffee Company. (More on 19 in an upcoming post.)

By the mid-point of the cigar the flavors meld into a pleasant but mundane blend of dry wood and coffee, and from there it’s a casual coast to the finish line.

Conclusion

Gurkha may not have hit the ball out of the park with this one, but it’s a solid double. I really enjoy the fact that this is a full-bodied cigar that is only mild to medium in strength, so it can be smoked at pretty much any time of day. The cigar is also veritable smoke machine. You could probably smoke a gopher out of its hole with this one, except the gopher might steal your cigar.

Going price is around $7.00, and this is a retail exclusive. Try one now, and put one away for a few months.

Final Score: 88

6 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

Illusione Maduro cg:4

It doesn’t seem possible that the Illusione cg:4 could be improved upon, but that’s no excuse for not trying. Last year, Dion Giolito went back into the lab and emerged with a new species. By replacing the inimitable corojo wrapper on the “original document” with a maduro leaf from Mexico’s San Andres valley he has essentially re-engineered the cigar.  But can the younger sibling can escape the shadow of its glorious brother? Maybe… if it can do something that Big Brother cannot.

Like all the other Illusione (with the exception of the Singulare) they are made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras.

The Maduro line does not cover the entire spectrum of sizes, but most of the classic vitolas are covered:

~hl~ lancero 7 1/2 x 40
~88~ robusto 5 x 52
~cg:4~ corona gorda 5 5/8 x 46
~888~ churchill 7 1/2 x 48
~mj12~ toro gordo 6 x 54

Construction Notes

The maduro wrapper on the cg:4 is not much darker than the natural, but the fermentation and aging process results in the leaf appearing much more mottled. The oily texture of the cigar is still quite appealing, but maybe this impression is the result of experience more than aesthetics.

The roll is firm, the cap is picture perfect, and the draw is right in the zone. It burns beautifully (even for a maduro) and leaves a long dirty gray ash. Pretty typical for Illusione.

Overall construction: excellent.

Tasting Notes

The maduro cg:4 starts in much the same way that the natural does: it’s bright and zingy, establishing the flavors that the “original document” made familiar many years ago. The difference with the maduro is the hallmark of San Andres maduro leaf: the distinct flavor and scent of chocolate and dark-roasted coffee.

The core of the cigar is earthy with some cedar notes sneaking in between the coffee and cocoa bean flavors. The sharp acidic and woody flavors with which the cigar opens gradually fade without disappearing altogether. The maduro incarnation of this blend seems to be a little smoother than the natural while remaining in the medium-to-full bodied range.

The last third of the cigar is spicier and comes with a sneaky punch.  It feels like being the last one at the bar. (I know this feeling from reading only the best dimestore detective novels.) It’s last call and the doors are swinging shut. Even the regulars have stumbled out into the misty early morning. Your glass is dry, your wallet is empty, and the bartender is giving you the evil eye. The sweetness of the maduro has made a hasty escape and now it’s time for you to do the same.

Conclusion

The Maduro version of the cg:4 is an immensely satisfying cigar, but the question that always arises is the one that nobody really wants to answer: is it better than the natural? It’s like choosing who is the favorite of your children. You don’t want to do it, but in the deep recesses of your crooked little heart you do it anyway.

I guess for me it’s still the natural. The Maduro is priced the same as the natural, around 8 USD per stick. Not an everyday cigar for me, but not out of reach either. In any case, the price to value ratio is about right. It’s an excellent smoke.

Final Score: 90

9 Comments Posted on by cigarfan Cigar Reviews

Aging Room M356 Presto

Made by Jochi Blanco at Tabacalera La Palma in Tamboril, DR, this Dominican puro has garnered rave reviews and a spot on CA’s “25 Best Cigars of 2011” list. The Aging Room brand is owned by Rafael Nodal, who also owns the Oliveros and Swag brands.

Aging Room cigars are designed to be limited release, small batch blends that utilize high quality tobaccos in short supply. This blend, designated M356, is made with an habano ligero wrapper, but other blends are now in the works — Aging Room Quattro will be a square pressed cigar with an Indonesian wrapper, and Aging Room Havao will have a Connecticut wrapper grown in Ecuador.

Rafael Nodal is a classically trained musician who came to the United States from Cuba during the Mariel boatlift. But Miami at the time was not exactly a bastion of classical music, so Nodal eventually worked his way from the symphony to the cigar business. This should explain the reason for the frontmarks:

  • Major: 6 1/2 x 60
  • Mezzo: 6 x 54
  • Presto: 4 1/2 x 48
  • Rondo: 5 x 50

Construction Notes

The Aging Room Presto is a small robusto with a rough-hewn colorado maduro wrapper. The band has a dated, almost 70s-style typeface, which is both unattractive and perhaps a portent of things to come. Of the two that I bought and smoked for this review, one of them was underfilled and tunnelled badly. The other was firm and had a respectably conservative draw, but it still got quite hot and bitter at the close.

Overall construction: Needs improvement.

Tasting Notes

The wrapper on this cigar is tasty and aromatic. Rich notes of oak and vanilla waft from the foot as the cigar is lit. The base note on the palate is black pepper, which eases up after a half-inch or so, leaving an earthy taste with grassy highlights.

But about half way through the cigar the flavors bottom out and become ashy, and finally they turn bitter. The first cigar that I smoked was clearly defective, so I attributed the acrid flavor to tunnelling. But even though the second cigar burned better, the taste was not vastly improved.

After a few minutes of furrowing my brow and staring quizzically at the cigar did not effect any improvement, I pitched it.

Conclusion

I generally do not review cigars that perform this poorly, but I decided to go ahead with with this one for a couple reasons. The first is that the wrapper on the Aging Room is quite nice, and I would love to try it on a different cigar. The second is that CA reviewed this blend so highly that I was somewhat shocked to have a radically different experience.

It’s possible that I may have drawn from a bad box, and I hesitate to slam a blend after smoking only two representatives of the brand. These limitations aside, I think I am inclined to gratitude for the limited nature of this release.