Guest Review: CAO Brazilia Box Press
Brian and I met Matt, of Review Cigars, on Saturday while attending the Tatuaje event at the Humidour in Cockeysville, MD. Below you’ll find a sample of how Matt review’s cigars, and I think you’ll agree that he has a interesting persepctive.
CAO Brazilia Box Press- I read somewhere, can’t remember where, that when CAO was developing the Brazilia line, they were warned against using the Brazilian name and national colors. Evidently, there were some old-school cigar-world prejudices against the Brazilian tobacco industry or something like that. Turns out that didn’t affect the cigar smoker’s buying power. Just the opposite; the Brazilia line is one of CAO’s leading sellers and I can’t think of a smoker I know that doesn’t think this is a decent smoke for the money spent.
The Brazilia is a beautiful and unique looking stick. The wrapper is made of a Brazilian tobacco called Matafina. The Matafina is so dark that it almost looks black and shimmers with oil. CAO finished out the Brazilia with Nicaraguan filler and binder. The label is eye-catching, boasting the bright colors of Brazil’s flag. It might be me, but anything related to Brazil makes me think of beautiful beaches and gorgeous women. With that in mind, I reach for the Brazilia often.
Graycliff 1666 Pirate
Today a have for you a stick that seems to show up in every sampler pack ordered from the big online sellers. I accumulated a bunch of these sticks when I was in that on-line buying phase and although I rarely buy on-line anymore, I built up a nice stash of smokes when I did. This lends itself to me having some smokes that have had a bit of time to rest in the humidor.
I have smoked a few of these 1666s when I first received them and a couple recently that I kind of “forgot” about in my humidor. These sticks are now over 2 years old and when I smoked one the other day, I thought it would be interesting to put up a review and talk a bit about how the stick has done with some rest. Without further ado, let’s see how these smokes held up to the extra time…
Don’t forget to get involved in our March Contest.
Gran Habano Azteca Prototype
Today’s review is a little different. This cigar is a prototype cigar for a possible line Gran Habano cigars. Its a medium bodied maduro that they call the Azteca and comes in a 6 x 54 toro size. They asked me to be on a tasting panel to give them feedback on the cigar so they can decide if any tweeks need to be made before they release it. I decided to film my last review sample to give viewers an idea of what is important in prototyping and why its important. I want to thank Gran Habano Cigars for giving me the opportunity.
El Triunfador: Petit Corona vs. Lancero
Over the weekend Brian and I attended a couple Tatuaje events in the DC Baltimore area. During those events we got a chance to talk to Pete Johnson about his cigars, hear a few stories, and smoke a ton of his cigars. One fo these cigars, was the newly blended El Triunfador. Prior to the event I purchased a fiver of the Petit Coronas that we sampled prior to the events. During the course of the events we acquired a few Lanceros, and without giving too much away, we were amazed at the differences between the two vitolas.
So check out the video as we smoke both the Petit Corona and Lancero; you might find our views interesting.
Name: El Triunfador (new blend)
Company: Havana Cellars
Made by: Don Pepin Garcia
Made in: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Comes in: Boxes of 25
Vitola: No. 5 Petit Corona (4 3/8″ X 42) & No. 6 Lancero (7 1/2 X 38)
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Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie
Today Brian and I are firing up the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie. This cigar has actually been in a limited amount of stores for almost a year, but now seems to be creating some buzz. We were able to procure some samples from Drew Estate, the distributor for Joya de Nicaragua, so after smoking through a few it’s time to smoke one more and let you know what we think.
First thing that caught my eye with this cigar is the obvious use of two wrapper leafs. The lighter wrapper, an Ecuadorian Shade, runs the entire length of the cigar. Then a secondary leaf, a Nicaraguan Criollo, tops the cigar from the head down to the band. Secondly, the construction of this cigar appeared to be flawless. Seams were not visible on either wrapper and the cigar was just jam packed full of tobacco. Brian and I had slightly different opinions on the pre-light aroma. Brian picked up on cocoa while I got a bit more of a mocha aroma. Pre-light draw was perfect, but absent of any recognizable flavor.
So watch the video and find out what we thought. Video runs just over 20 minutes, but we had a good time dissecting this cigar… and dealing with a few technical issues.
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Don Pepin Garcia Blue Invicto
We’ve done a lot of Don Pepin’s stuff over the past year but for some reason we never did the blue label. For those veterans of the site, you know that Pepin’s Black label still ranks as my all time favorite smoke. So lets see how this Blue Label compares.
Don’t forget to get involved in our March Contest. We have an absolutely spectacular prize for this one.
Joya De Nicaragua Antano Dark Corojo
This week I review the newest cigar from Joya De Nicaragua, the Antano Dark Corojo. This cigar was released at the 2009 IPCPR show and it made to be even more full bodied and powerful than their famed Antano 1970 line. Its made with 75% Ligero that is actually a special ligero that they make called Ligeron. Usually that much ligero means two things: 1. They are STRONG. 2. They usually don’t burn well as ligero is hard to burn. So, how did this cigar turn out? Watch the video and find out.
Also, don’t forgot about our contest we are running sponsered by Drew Estates for some Drew Estates swag and some Liga Privadas!
March Contest
601 Maduro
Months ago I planned on reviewing both the 601 Blue and Black but, like lot’s of things, I quickly forgot. So when Brian posted his review of the 601 Oscuro a few weeks ago it reminded me that I had planned on reviewing this stick. The 601 comes to us courtesy of Eddie Ortega and Erick Espinonsa, creators of EO Brands (United Tobacco) by way of a partnership with Don Pepin Garcia.
This stick features a dark and oily Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper. The veins are visible on the wrapper, but nearly undetectable by touch. Pre-light aroma yields a robust blend of barnyard and sweetness that really gets my salivary glands working. Like all cigars that come from Pepin, this cigar is beautifully constructed and is topped with a triple cap. I clipped the cap with my Xikar cutter, and took a few pre-light draws. Most notable was the black pepper which hit me right on the tip of my tongue. Once I set fire to the foot, this cigar took on a life of it’s own.
March 2010 Contest
It’s been a while since we’ve had a contest here at Nice Tight Ash, and it’s definitely time to put an end to that! The nice people at Drew Estate are providing a great prize pack.
The Prize
Drew Estate has really put together a nice prize package for the winner. First, a great looking ACID t-shirt. Second, a five pack of the new Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie. And last, but definitely not least, a Liga Privada sampler. The Liga Privadas are big favorites of all the guys here at Nice Tight Ash. It’d be a great prize with just those.
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The Contest
So, what do you have to do to win the contest? We’ve tweaked the rules from our contest last March. Just comment on Nice Tight Ash posts for the month of March 2010 and earn points. All comments need to be submitted by 11:59pm on March 31st, 2010. Every point you earn will get you one entry in a drawing. We’ll select a winner using a random number generator. So, the more points you score, the more chances you get for the prize pack.
Here’s the ways to score:
- Comment on a post – 1 point
- First comment on a post – 2 points
- Comment on all posts during a week – 1 points
- Comment on all posts during the month – 5 points
- If you manage to be the first comment on every post in March – 10 points
Rules
Really simple rules on this one.
- The comments do need to be pertinent to the post, and not just anything to get your points up.
- You must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the United States to enter.
- You must enter a valid email address when submitting your entry. (We can’t stress this one enough. If you don’t give us a valid email address, or at least one you check regularly, we can’t get a hold of you to give you your prize!)
- Once the winner has been determined, we will contact that person via the provided email (see #3), and they have 1 week to claim their prize. If they do not respond in that time, the second place commenter will be awarded the prize.
Jameson Cigars and Rock Stone Coffee
I consider myself a coffee aficionado as much as I enjoy cigars. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know this. My go to coffee is by Black Dog Coffee Company as I’ve known the owner for many years from Cigar Weekly cigar forum. Also, I really enjoy Brian’s blends more than anything else I’ve tasted, especially the Sumatra and Costa Rican blends. Recently, though, Brad Mayo of Jameson Cigars sent me 4 1 lb bags of Rock Stone coffee to sample along with 2 Red Label coronas and 2 Black Label coronas to pair with. Now, I have a pretty high expectation from coffee as I have enjoyed Black Dog for years, so I was curious as to how these coffee compared to my benchmark of Black Dog. Below, I pair each coffee with a Jameson cigar and I pick the cigar based on Brad’s suggestions he gave me as to which pairs well with each type of coffee. Read on to see my thoughts.
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