Nice Tight Ash » New Ash

Sosa Underground Delphic

Ben — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:47:29 +0000

The Sosa Underground is a new cigar that is part of the new wave of edgy/urban cigar lines that seem to be so popular as of late. Overseen by Arby Sosa, Sosa’s Sales Manager, at the Sosa cigar factory in Little Havana, FL, this cigar has many difference that set it apart from the other brands. The Sosa family reached out to a famous Miami tattoo artist, Jay Barranco, to come up with the Undergrown logo.

This cigar comes in three very different sizes:

Arcane (perfecto) 4 ¾ x 41
Delphic (perfecto) 5 ½ x 41
Dar (robusto) 5 x 50

Using a Habano wrapper from Nicaragua with a binder and filler also from Nicaragua, the cigar did have a nice spice note. That wasn’t all. The cigar show a nice balance of woodiness, nuttiness (is that a word?) with a nice sweetness through out the cigar. The cigar also had a nice buttery mouth feel with the smoke as well make the cigar a joy to smoke. You really can’t beat this cigar for the price.

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Reinado Habanito

Ben — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:30:18 +0000

Several months ago, I reviewed the Reinado torpedo and loved it. At the time, it only came in three sizes, but after the popularity of the lines grew, more and more people called for a smaller size. Not everyone had time for one of the large vitolas, due to either weather or time constraints. Antonio Lam listened to his consumers and made two more sizes: a larger 6 x 60 Emperador and the smaller, petit corona at 4 x 38 called the Habanito. Knowing my affinity for smaller ring gauge cigars, Antonio send me some samples to try out. I’m glad he did. The flavors of this cigar are concentrated greater with the smaller ring gauge and the burn was outstanding. This is a perfect office smoke or for when the weather doesn’t permit something larger (ie, snow with you yankees!). Watch the video for the full review.

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Tatuaje L’Esprit de Vérité Robusto – 2009 Vintage

Ben — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:36:20 +0000

Editor: Due to technical difficulties with blip.tv, this review is airing later than expected. It was supposed to air before my Top Cigars of the Year list. Never the less, here it is.

Pete Johnson has started a pretty interesting concept with cigars that has been used in France for decades. Pete visited one of the first farms the Garcia’s owned and was really impressed with the tobacco they were growing there. He had an idea about making a cigar using only tobacco from this one particular farm and sell futures on the cigars like you can buy futures on Bordeaux wine. Like Bordeaux futures, they are sold in different tiers with time limits on each tier. After the time has expired on each tier, the price goes up. Each year, Tatuaje will release these cigars in a churchill and robusto size with slight changes in the blend depending on the crops. This year, the robusto blend is 50% Habano Nicaragua, 40% Criollo ’98 and 10% Pelo De Oro. This is an amazing concept for a cigar and one I wish would catch on with other companies as well. Pete even put an A. O. C. designation on the back of the cigar band. Only 20,000 of these cigars were made and quickly sold out, although you can still find a few from some retailers. So, how did this cigar turn out? Watch the video and find out.

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Gran Habano STK Zulu Zulu Habano

Ben — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:27:14 +0000

George Rico has release a pretty interesting lancero. Supposedly this is a private blend for just himself, but decided to release it to the public with a little twist. The artwork for the cigar has an image of two child soldiers from Africa on the box and on the paper covering the cigar. The images were painted by famous Miami artist, “The Kid”. The images were created for this cigar to bring awareness to the use of child soldiers in Africa and portions of the proceeds of this cigar will go to Invisible Children which is charity to bring awareness and help to the children soldiers of Africa. This lancero is larger than most, coming in at 7 1/2 x 40. This is an amazing concept for a cigar which I hope sales go through the roof. George has done a wonderful thing here, but does the cigar fit the task? Watch the video and find out.

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Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus

Ben — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:36:40 +0000

Quite a name isn't it? It almost seems like that should be the name of a Roman caesar instead of cigar. Quesada Cigars released this cigar under the Casa Magna line, which won cigar of the year for that lifestyle magazine a few years back, but this cigar has an extremely low production of only 5000 boxes which was released at this year's IPCPR. Blended by Manual Quesada and Nestor Plasencia, the cigar is a Nicaraguan puro with a special sun grown wrapper from Jalapa. So does this cigar live up to that royal name (Transformers?) or do you need to beware the ides of March?

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San Lotano Oval Corona

Shawn — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:29:35 +0000

Vitola: Corona (rounded boxpress; aka "Oval Pressed")

Size: 5×44

Wrapper: Habano 2000 Aged for 4+ years

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and an AJ Fernandez "Secret Blend"

Cost: $6.85

I have had many AJ Fernandez cigars with much luck. From the Man Of Wars to the San Lotano, I've liked many I have picked up. When I heard through the grapvine there was a new "Oval" line coming out I was interested right off the bat. There is much talk about the Oval on Twitter and a few Forum sites, so that made me itch even more to try one. I was not able to find any of the Ovals locally and knew in December, Ben and I were going to Buckhead Cigar Club in Buckhead (Atlanta) GA for a "tweetup", and that Mike carried them there. The Oval was #1 on my buy list while there. Although the tweetup was during the weekend, Ben and I left Thursday to get a headstart on the weekend and the 7 hour (four cigar) trip. I had two of the Ovals while at Buckhead, the Robusto then the Corona and they lived up to everyones praise for them. Clay (@AJFcigars) from AJ Fernandez Cigars even made the trip across the country to Buckhead to come smoke, socialize, and passed out a few San Lotano samples. I decided to give the Oval Corona I bought a review and see how it goes again.

First Looks: The aged Habano wrapper is a dark brown shade that has a few viens. The cigar has a nice feal to it with no hard/soft spots to it. I like the way the Oval press feals in my hand. Its not totally round, nor totally square. The wrapper has a slight hay aroma to it. The foot aroma is similar to the wrapper with added nutmeg. The prelight draw is dead on with woody/hay notes. I was expecting a little tougher draw from a "pressed" cigar, but this draw is great!

First Third: The Oval lights up fast and immediately puts out a thick cloud of smoke. The first few puffs into the smoke I get nice spice and roasted nuts notes. I am not particularly fond of an overly spicy cigar, but this spice is a little more than subtle, but not overbearing at all. Partially into the cigar I realize the Oval press: 1. Feals nicer than a typical boxpress and 2. Creates a nice and even burn. So its not a gimmick as some may think. The Spice subsides nicley once into the smoke, and a nice bit of sweetness shows through the thick plumes of smoke. The spice to sweetness is a total 180 inwhich I am really liking so far. A grayish white ash forms, from the even burn, and hold for about 3/4".

Second Third: The sweetness is still overpowering the spice, but its not an overpowering sweetness. The sweetness tastes much like a chocolate candy bar with wood untertones. I get about half way through and start to realize, I don't like this cigar, I really like this cigar! A little of the spice comes back up onto my pallet towards the end of the second third. Still not a kick in the mouth spice, but its noticable. Its a good contrast with the sweet and spice notes in the smoke that I am liking more and more. The draw is still dead on with this smoke and is producing the same 3/4" white/gray ash as before. I usually have a few touch-ups on boxpress burnlines, but the Oval press has seemed to solve that problem with no issues at all!

Final Third: The smoke is still pretty much the same creamy smooth chocolate sweet notes as before. I taste very subtle taste of black pepper at the end of the cigar. Its the same strength of the previous spice, not overpowering but noticable. The pepper is short lived and overtaken by the sweetened wood notes once again.

Final Thoughts: I had the Robusto and Corona, and as of now, I am partial to the robusto size. I am looking forward to trying the larger ring gauges and lengths. The Robusto seemed to have a more fuller flavor strength than the corona did. Don't get me wrong, the corona was good, but the robusto was slightly better in my eyes. The slightly spicy start that ended up with a chocolatly sweet finish of a medium bodied cigar is a winner in my book. Overall a great smoke, that burns and draws great. With an array of flavors alot of people could enjoy, that each to their own aren't overpowering. I highly recommend you trying a San Lotano Oval soon!

If I had to guess what AJ Fernandez's "secret blend" in the filler is, I would be willing to bet that there is a amount of Sumatra in the mix somewheres.

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Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve

Ben — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:26:58 +0000

Nestor Miranda released this cigar this year at the 2011 IPCPR as the pinnacle of the Nestor Miranda line. Dressed in a beautiful Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper and made in the My Father cigar factory in Nicaragua, only 10000 cigars were made. Available in 10 count boxes for around $110 a box, this cigar runs cheaper than most ultra premiums. The cigar was blended by Jaime Garcia with select tobaccos from Nicaragua. So, is this cigar worthy of being an ultra premium? Watch the video and find out.

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Crowned Heads Four Kicks robusto

Ben — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:30:09 +0000

After the merger of ST Group and Swedish Match, CAO undertook dramatic changes. Most of the employees where let go and the company headquarters was moved from Nashville, TN to Richmond, VA. A few of the employees from the old CAO didn’t want to accept these changes so they left and formed Crowned Heads. Jon Huber, Mike Conder and Michael Trebing decided to make Crowned Heads a company that makes quality, relationships and integrity their foundation. When the Four Kicks was announced by Jon on Twitter, the buzz was deafening. I immediately ordered two boxes from Buckhead Cigars in Atlanta, GA. They both arrived a couple of weeks ago to my delight. Made by Ernesto Perez Carillo, the cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper along with Nicaraguan binder and filler and made at Tabacalera LaAlianza S.A., Santiago, Dominican Republic. So did the cigar live up to the hype or was it four kicks to the teeth? Watch the video and find out.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING! – Viaje Stuffed Turkey

Ben — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 02:55:43 +0000

What better of a cigar to review for Thanksgiving than the new Viaje Stuffed Turkey? It all started as a joke in an interview that the guys at Stogie Review were doing with Andre Farkas. Jerry Cruz mentioned that he needed to have a cigar for Thanksgiving…how about the Stuffed Turkey? Well, Andre liked it and now the joke as become a reality. The 5 x 60 robusto gordo is the 4th in the White Label Project series and the largest cigar of that series to date. A Nicaraguan puro with a criollo wrapper, the cigar comes in at around $10.50. So, is this cigar a beautiful succulent bird or a flaming, dried out piece of poultry leather? Watch the video and find out.

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La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale Club

Ben — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:32:08 +0000

Almost every year, La Gloria Cubana brings out a new cigar in their Artesanos line. This year, they unveiled the Retro Especiale which was inspired by an old humidor found the El Credito factory. According to Michael Giannini, this cigar took 8 years to complete, 2 of which was on the wrapper alone. The wrapper is made of a cross-bred Connecticut wrapper which has a rich golden color to it which reminds me of the Macanudo Cafe wrapper. The cigar also features a dual binder of a Nicaraguan and Mexican tobaccos. The filler consist of Nicaraguan and Dominican ligero with proprietary tobacco from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The MSRP comes in at $7.00 which is right in the middle of what I consider the sweet spot area for cigar pricing. So, how did the Retro Especiale do? Watch the video and find out.

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