“Smoked Up” No.89

Posted by Shawn

October 29, 2014

The last week or so has been one of the best I have had this year. I spent the better part of the last week in the Mississippi River Delta Swamp. I was with about 14 close friends on our yearly “man trip”. We camp, hunt, fish etc… all in the delta swamp woods. There was a good bit of beer and liquor *cough cough moonshine cough* consumed as well as a number of cigars. It was tough to catch a good pic of most the cigars due to the campfire reeking havoc on the flash on my camera phone. All an all it was a great trip even though we didn’t get much luck in the hunting and fishing area. It was just good to get away from civilization for a while and relax.

Cigar Views

Isla Del Sol Churchill: Yeh, every now and then I will smoke an infused cigar; but not too often. We were sipping on some peach ‘shine and this sugar/flavored tip cigar actually paired well with it. Not too strong of a cigar as the ‘shine over powered it in flavor. Overall not a horrible cigar, but for the point in time, it was pretty interesting.Â

Room 101 Big Payback 550: If there was to be an award for the most economical vs flavor in a cigar, IÂ think this would take the honors. I have had the 660 and it was good too, but the 550 seems to be a hit in my book. For a little under $7 this cigar has tons of flavor that’s not too bold and a solid medium body to it. This is definitely a box worthy cigar for sure.

Ortega Serie D No8: I had thought I had smoked all of these, but found one straggler left in my humidor. I started my vacation with this cigar and it was a great (as usual) cigar. Until I decided to pair it with a cup of coffee like I usually do. I grabbed what I thought to be a K-cup of dark roast, instead it was a K-cup of caramel flavored coffee. I figured “Why not try it?” Well, it wasn’t a good a pairing at all! The coffee flavoring was way too strong and it overpowered the cigar’s flavors tenfold. I will double check next time I grab a K-cup out of the pantry that’s for sure.

La Palina Black Label: This is the newest cigar from La Palina and when my local shop had got in a few boxes of it, I almost lit one up right in the humidor I was so excited. I have had a few other maduro La Palinas and they were pretty good and the Black Label tops them all. This cigar was awesome! Had great flavors of espresso, earth, coffee, slight sweetness here and there. Overall, this was the best cigar I have had in a few weeks. The price is kind of steep, but well worth it for an occasional smoke.

CAO Gold Robusto: I can count on three fingers how many times I have had a CAO Gold. Not that its a bad cigar, just there is lots more cigars with more flavors that appease me more. The construction of this cigar was spot on with great draw, burn and long ashes. I detected notes of a light white pepper, some cream and hints of nuts. A fairy mild bodied cigar with a slightly stronger flavor strength. Its definitely a cigar for a novice cigar smoker or someone who is looking for something fairy mild.

5 Vegas A – AAA: This has always been a favorite in the 5Vegas line for me. The size is just about right for my typical smoking time, the flavors are pretty good and fairly reasonalbly priced. The construction was good with no issues with burn, relights or draw. I got medium to full strength flavors of a nice spice, a nuttiness that had a slight sweetness to it as well as some herbal notes I couldn’t put my finger on.

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