Tabacos Baez Serie SF
Welcome to my Black Friday review of a Cheap Ash cigar. The Tabacos Baez Serie SF is a new addition to Tabacos Baez line from Don Pepin Garcia. What makes this cigar different is the fact that it is made up of 70% long filler and 30% short filler. Because of the short filler this cigar is very inexpensive.I was able to acquire these sticks at a local B&M for $3.50, however they can be found even cheaper online. But that’s really no surprise.
Marco V Brazilian Grand Reserve
HAPPY THANKSGIVING NTA Nation! I hope you are all enjoying a day of family and friends, good spirits and a fine cigar or two. While you are sitting back on this great American Holiday, please remember those folks who can get home to see thier families because they are assuring our safety and freedom. If you would like to show your support, get over to our Cigar Donations for the Troops page and send a little something out to brighten the day of a fine Soldier, Marine, Seaman, or Airman this holiday season.
To finish off the Marco V line of smokes, today I have the Brazilian Grand Reserve. The Brazilian is touted as Marco V’s fullest in the line while the Dom Grand Reserve is their mild bodied smoke and the Platinum Grand Reserve is in the medium realm. You may recall my previous reviews and note that I am pretty much in agreement with where they place these sticks. The Brazilian uses the same Maduro Arapiraca wrapper and Dominican binder as the Platinum but tweaks the filler blend a bit adding some tobaccos from Mata Norte, Brazil while removing the Nicaraguan Ligero. As you know by now my preferences fall in the full bodied realm so I was thoroughly looking forward to this stick as I enjoyed the first 2 blends.
My frustrations continue with my new video equipment but the review is all there in a compressed format. I am also throwing in a brief written review after the video if you are looking for more.
Marco V Brazilian Grand Reserve from Nice Tight Ash on Vimeo.
Cigar Review – Cuban Custom Rolled #2
This week, I’m reviewing the second custom rolled cigar that I received from my friend, Steve Howard. This cigar is a corona gorda with a much darker wrapper. This cigar also had an uncut shaggy foot. Will that make lighting the cigar a chore and mess up the burn of the cigar? Watch the video and find out.
First Impressions: Alec Bradley Select Cabinet Reserve
The Seclect Cabinet Reserve (SCR) is a new cigar from Alec Bradley. This cigar features a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco. Some of the same elements used in the popular Tempus line were also used in the SCR. This cigar and available in 5 vitolas, and for this review I’ll be smoking the 5.5 x 60 Gran Robusto. The cigar was nicely constructed with an expertly applied triple cap. Although I don’t generally smoke cigars of this size, I was anxious to fire this cigar up considering how much I have enjoyed the Alec Bradley Tempus.
Sunday Fiver: November 22, 2009
I recently received an e-mail from Partagas concerning their new Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series Majestuoso. Â To kick off the launch of their new Limited Edition cigar, Partagas will be hosting a series of events. Â I have provided an excerpt from the email below with all the pertinent information.
As a fellow cigar lover, we thought you’d like to hear about a bold, limited edition Partagas blend over 160 years in the making: The Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series Majestuoso. The industry is already buzzing with praise for this limited edition Partagas so we’re throwing a party.
We’ve created a small, 5,000 box run of this new cigar, and we’d like you to be among the first to experience it. Join us for a drink as we celebrate Benji Menendez, fine tobacco and a few of your lucky readers on a night that promises to be as provocative as the Majestuoso itself.
The Benji Menendez Social will take place for one night only in each of five cities. You and 50 of your readers can RSVP for each event by entering one of your city-specific passwords at BenjiMenendezSocial.com.  In the spirit of rolling out the red carpet, they will be greeted by a personalized Nice Tight Ash landing page.
Unfortunately I was not able to get this information posted before the first event. However, there are still four dates reamining. The locations, dates and times of these events are listed below.
If you would like to attend one of these events then send an email to Chris. In the subject line please include Benji Menendez and the City you will be attending the event in. I will then reply with the code needed to get all additional information. This offer is only good to the first 50 replies, so please send your code request fast.
Saturday Ashes – November 21, 2009
Just a couple of tidbits from the site.
First, a huge thanks to all the people who have donated smokes for the troops. As usual the cigar community is comming through large. Also, the manufacturers are being very generous towards the raffle prizes. A big thanks goes out to them as well for thier generosity. Check out the post to see who and what has been donated for prizes thus far. If you haven’t seen the post and haven’t donated to the cause, click here and send something in. These men and women battle for us every day. The least we can do a send them a smoke.
Also, look for the begining of the Roberto Cigars blending series to start on Thursday Dec 3. I will smoke 3 blends a week and give details on those 3 sticks in 1 episode. This way the series will be 3 episodes in length and wont drag out for 6 months. Bob sent out the following email to his subscribers documenting the project:
Read the rest of this entry »
CAO Brazilia Gol
Coming at you from Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati, OH, I have my brother in-law in tow at a CAO event where we are reviewing the CAO Brazilia Gol. The event at Jungle Jim’s was a great time with some great deals on CAO stuff. We bought a box of La Traviata and received a great freebie package from Miguel (CAO’s Regional Rep) and Chris from Jungle Jim’s. I highly suggest anyone in the Cincinnati area check out these events at Jungle Jim’s. They have one almost every Thursday and they more than make it worth your time.
As for the cigar…Until the La Traviata, the Brazilia had been my favorite of CAO’s offerings. The 56 ring gauge fat robusto is full bodied and full flavored and makes for a very nice smoking experience. (I know I said 50-52 in the video which is asinine as I am holding this fat ass cigar in my hand at the time but as usual I wasn’t thinking.) Anyway, let’s see if this stick holds up to previous samples that have burned before me and we’ll see how Brent does in his Nice Tight Ash debut.
Don’t forget to support our war fighters and send in a donation. For details, click here.
CAO Brazilia Gol from Nice Tight Ash on Vimeo.
Custom Rolled Cuban Cigar
I recently got a custom rolled cigar using cuban tobacco from a friend of mine, @brooktrouttn, to see what I thought of the cigar. He actually sent me two and this is the first of the batch, torpedo. I judge the cigar to be about 6 1/2″ to 6 1/4″ and about a 50 ring gauge. Next week, I will do the other cigar and give me impressions on that. How did this cigar do? Watch the video and find out.
Holiday Smokes for our Heroes: Sponsored by CAO, Xikar, and Lotus
Alright NTA Nation, as mentioned in our review last Monday, we are looking to make a large donation of stogies to our heroes fighting for us overseas. The men and women who put their home lives on the back burner and their bodily lives on the line everyday for us deserve anything we can offer to make the days go by. Especially at this time when being with family means so much to many people and these fine folks have given up that opportunity to be on the front lines for us. Our troops and their families sacrifice so much so we can enjoy the things we do everyday so even if it is only a short respite from what they are dealing with on a regular basis, we want to provide a means to “get awayâ€, either with friends or alone, and have a smoke to reflect on things aside from the every day rigors they have to endure. We also want them to know how proud we are of them and that we truly appreciate what they are doing. We know that there aren’t enough cigars in the world to show our thanks but every little bit helps.
So here’s the deal…we are asking for donations from you, our loyal readers/watchers. It can be anything you wish but for every premium stick you donate, your name will be entered in a raffle. The more you donate, the more chances you have at the prize. We know that there is no incentive needed to donate for this cause, but this raffle is merely our way of thanking you for your generosity. If you feel like you would prefer to donate your prize as well, then that is your prerogative.
The prizes for the raffle are getting greater everyday as we are receiving donations from manufacturers who are behind this endeavor 100% as they share our value of this worthy cause.
Our Sponsors
The following companies are supporting this effort in a big way. We highly suggest you think about these fine organizations when you are buying cigars, cutters, lighters, and other accessories. We contacted many manufactures and these in particular saw the value in this effort and pledged their support.
CAO International – 1 Box of La Traviata, 3 CAO Ashtrays, Multiple CAO La Traviata Hats
Xikar – Xi2 Bloodstone Cutter
Lotus – Lotus Vertigo Lighter
Donations
To donate, send your packages to:
Brian Magill
PO Box 32
Hollywood, MD 20636
Contest Rules
* Cigars must be received by December 15 to be entered in the raffle although we will send along anything we receive after that date.
** Please include documentation of your smokes (at least the # donated) with your Name and at the very least a valid Email Address so we can contact you. If you want to throw in a phone # or address, that is up to you. Also, send along an email when you send out your sticks so we can keep an eye out for them.
Depending on the number of donations, we may donate to multiple detachments. Once we know for sure where the donations will go, we will let you know. We are hoping to document this endeavor both before shipment and after the items have been received via pictures and video. We are hoping we can get some great shots of our troops enjoying the fine smokes you have donated.
Thanks for being a loyal fan of Nice Tight Ash and we wish you and your family a Safe and Happy Holidays!
Sunday Fiver – November 15, 2009
For the Sunday Fiver this week, I am asking you, “NTA Nation†as Ben has dubbed you, 5 questions that we would really like to know.
- What do you get most out of cigar reviews in general? (includes all sites, blogs, mags, etc.)
- What do you think of the general format of most cigar reviews?
- What would you really like to learn when you watch a review? (What information are you looking for?)
- What is your favorite flavor profile in a cigar and why? If you don’t want to reference a flavor profile, what is your favorite cigar and why?
- What 2-3 cigars would you like to see talked about here on the site?
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You can answer all or some of the questions. It’s entirely up to you. I am not looking for you to do our job for us but I am really interested to see what you guys and gals like and what you want to get out of the reviews on this site. Either leave a comment or send us an email. I will be discussing these questions and answers in a later review.
