Part II: Black Band Project B
This is the second installment of the Black Band Project cigars. Cigar “B” has a milk chocolate brown wrapper with rich earthy pre-light aroma. Watch the video to find out what I think of this cigar.
Part 1: Black Band Project A
The other day my cigars showed up for watching the Black Band Project videos. I figured this would be a great opportunity to do a blind review. In the third and final part I’ll reveal the identity of these cigars.
Bolivar Royal Corona SVF JUN 05
The Bolivar line was first established in 1901 by Jose Rocha as was named after Simon Bolivar. In 1954, the Bolivar line was bought by Cienfuentes y Cia and production was moved to the Partagas factory. One of the most popular vitolas in the line is the Royal Corona which is a robusto measuring 4 7/8†x 50 ring gauge. In 2006, Cigar Aficionado rated it the top cigar of the year. The Bolivar line has always been considered one of the most powerful cigar lines from Habanos SA. This cigar has a box code of SVF JUN 05 which means it was made June 2005, but I’m not aware of what factory uses SVF for their code.
Let’s see how it smokes!
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Monday Fiver- June 22, 2009
A fiver of cigar stories from around the Web.
Cigar Reviews
A few folks from Cigar Weekly participated in a blind review of the (1) Padilla Hybrid.
Jesse over at Cigar Jack reviewed the (2) new Canimao Maduro.
Justin at Las Vegash TV conducted a great interview with Jon Huber of CAO about the (3) Lady Liberty Bike.
Over at the Stogie Review Jerry reviewed the (4) CAO Bratalia (Escaparate). And Brian wrote an excellent review of the (5) Cupido Criollo.
Siglo III
Today I’m smoking a Siglo from Altadis. The Siglo, most commonly associated with Habana Cohibas, is a new line from Altadis that was introduced in late March of 2009. The Siglo III is a lonsdale, measuring in at 6 1/2 x 44 and retails for about $5.50 per stick. The wrapper is a medium brown Ecuadorian Habano. The filler is a mix of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco, while the binder is a Nicaraguan Broadleaf. With a popular name association, such as Siglo, this cigar has a lot to live up to. We’ll see if it meets the challenge.
Cuba Aliados Miami Toro Viejo
The Cuba Aliados Miami is a new cigar blend that Reyes Family Cigars has unveiled this year to much anticipation. Created by Rolando Reyes Sr. and Carlos Diez, this blend is somewhat of a departure from their regular line as it is rolled in Miami in small batches. I asked Frankie Santos of Reyes Cigars what makes the Miami special:
“The Miami has great Cuban cigar rollers, the best rollers on earth, and making something of that caliber, in small batches, the blend and outcome is incredible.â€
The cigar features a Habano wrapper, Dominican binder and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is currently offered in 3 sizes:
- Robusto 5 x 50
- Toro Viejo 6 x 53
- Valentino 7 x 49
Let’s see how it smokes.
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La Flor Dominicana Premium Line
This cigar from La Flor Dominicana is the Grand Maduro No. 6. It’s a boxpressed cigar that sports a dark and oily wrapper. The cigar provides an interesting collection of flavors that left my mouth watering.
Company:Â La Flor Dominicana
Made in:Â Dominican Republic
Made by:Â La Flor Dominicana
Size:Â 5 3/4 x 54 Grand Maduro No. 6
Wrapper:Â Connecticut Maduro
Filler:Â Dominican
Binder:Â Dominican
MSRP:Â $9.00
Cuchillos Cubanos ~46~
Here is another guest review from Dave (@DX_FXN).
The Cuchillos Cubanos is Illusione’s entry into the world of “budget†smokes. Each cigar is a 60/40 blend of long and medium filler and is available in a number of different sizes that come in five packs and retail for UNDER $20 each!
Tobacco Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 4.5†x 46Â
Price: $18 a five pack ($3.60 a stick)
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May Contest Winner
Congratulations to Kirk for winning a 10 stick sampler courtesy of Reyes Family Cigars. Â Kirk’s joke gave us a pretty good chuckle.Â
A guy dies and is sent to Hell. Satan meets him, shows him doors to three rooms, and says he must choose one to spend eternity in. In the first room, people are standing in shit up to their necks. The guy says “no, let me see the next room.†In the second room, people are standing with shit up to their noses. Guy says no again. Finally, Satan opens the door to the third room. People are standing with shit up to their knees, smoking cigars and drinking scotch. The guy says, “I pick this room.†Satan says okay and starts to leave, and the guy wades in and lights up a stick. On the way out Satan yells, “O.K., smoke break’s over. Everyone back on your heads!â€
If you would like to take a look at the other submissions you can check out the contest link. Â Big thanks to everyone that participated in the contest. Â Also, a special thanks goes to Reyes Family Cigars for providing an excellent prize.
Viaje Oro
Produced by Casa Fernandez, the Viaje Oro is a Nicaraguan Puro. It comes draped in a dark and oily Corojo 99 Cafe wrapper. This cigar produces a load of great full-bodied and complex flavors. Although these cigars are full-bodied, I think there is a mellow characteristic to the smoke that will make it more palatable for smokers that prefer lesser bodied smokes.
Company: Viaje
Made in: Nicaragua
Made by: Casa Fernandez
Size: 5 x 52 Fuerza
Wrapper: Nicaragua Corojo 99 Cafe
Filler: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
MSRP: $6.70 each/$134.10 box of 20
If you would like, you can take a look at my first post about the Viaje Oro, which featured my initial thoughts on this cigar after a single sample.
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