“Smoked Up” No.2
Continuing into my “Smoked Up” series, this is the second edition of my week in review in my cigar world. I found a newly opened cigar shop local nearby town “Cigars El Puros Perfecto” (Ocean Springs, MS) and they have a pretty decent selection of cigars, with a few cigars I don’t see too often locally. They have some new cigars and a bunch of oldies but goodies. So I’ll have a chance to revisit a few smokes from the past. This was a fairly slow smoking week for me, I had a lot going on at work & around the house. These are just a few of the cigars I had with some notes.
Nub Habano SG Studio Tobac Double Perfecto: A very odd bowling pin shaped perfecto. Had ample flavors of a malty chocolate with hints of wood & nuts. After the midpoint, it got more woody & nutty than anything. A slight sweetness poked through on the the undertone. The draw was on the thick side, though the cigar did feel a bit moist, thus the draw suffered. I didn’t get a good toasting on the foot, which resulted in an off burn & a few touch-ups. The Habano line is my favorite of the Nubs & the Studio Tobac is a very nice addition to the line & very welcomed in my eyes. I’d like to get another & let it sit to see if the draw opens more to reveal more flavors. Overall a good smoke that I’ll definitely come to again.
E.P. Carrillo – Inch – 5×62: This is a huge ring gauged cigar! I don’t like anything over a 54rg, and this 62rg is the biggest I have ever smoked. I still don’t like the size, you need a triple flame to really get a good toasting, they feel weird & I just over all don’t like the size. BUT, if the flavors are good, I’ll put up with it, like I did with this cigar. It had a good draw, odd burn but nice flavors. I got some malty peppery notes with a light wood & chocolate mix as well at first. Past half way, some pepper with chocolate undertones. Full flavors and med-full body. I like every EPC Maduro I have ever had & this one is no different. I liked the smoke, just not the size!
Gurkha Spec Ops: One of the few Gurkhas I (somewhat) care for. Its odd to me, you can buy these for $12 in one shop, $8 in another or for $3 on sale online. I got these for the latter about six or more months ago. Right when I got them, they were fairly harsh, but have evened off with some rest. The draw was stiff, but burn was nice. Possibly needed some dry boxing, but did have a hard spot around the band area. Had muted down flavors of malty chocolate, some wood and pepper here & there. Nothing spectacular with this cigar, & pitched it at halfway when the flavors went “blah”. I’ve had a few Spec Ops prior to this that were better, this one just let me down.
Don Pepin Garcia – Cuban Classic Robusto: This was a very well aged (yellowed cello) cigar that started out with your typical DPG pepper blast, then mellowed off nicely. I paired it with some Sumatra coffee w/Milky Way Swirl chocolate mix at halfway point. Then, the flavors got pretty woody with a hint of a burning pine straw note. I think some aging does DPG cigars well for those who like some pepper, but not a blast all the way through. The pepper seemed to have a creamy vanilla & pepper flavor to it which was pleasant. The draw was great and the burn was so-so. This was my first DPG Cuban Classic, I’m going to try a fresh one soon and see how I care for it.
Weekly News Recap:
ESPINOSA PREMIUM CIGARS PRESENTS THE 601 LA BOMBA CHALLENGE
SAG Imports Announces The Quesada Blender’s Sampler (Via Halfwheel)
Cuenca Cigars Introduces “5 Anniversaryâ€Â (Via The Cigar Army)
Room 101 & Smoke Inn Make Bastard Child!
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The INCH sounds appealing, but I can’t bring myself to smoke such a large RG.
My buddy who I recently got into the hobby smokes the Cuban Classic regularly and enjoys it – I might have to give it a try.