“Smoked Up” No.52

Posted by Shawn

January 7, 2014

2013 is a thing of the past. I hope 2014 will be as eventful, yet relaxed. My New Years Eve was fairly uneventful. I hung out with the neighbors and their family, shot fireworks and drank a copious amount of bourbon. Wanted to get in a cigar, but the weather was pretty wet and damp, so I didn’t attempt it.

I released my 2013 Cigar(s) of the Year list last week.Â DoingÂ so,Â realized it was pretty hard recollecting what cigars I smoked and didn’t. This year I am going back to writing them all down and giving them a slight grade (1-5)Â in a spiral bound notebook or possible Word page on my laptop. This year, I will try to smoke as many new cigars as I can. Reading a few other “Top Cigar Lists” I realized I missed out on some other nice smokes.

I also wrote up a editorial on the 2013 Year End Wrap Up. It has a few thoughts of some of the things I noticed in 2013 in the cigar world.

Drew Estate Unico Serie Dirty Rat: I had an order in for a box of these for a DE event at a local shop. They never made it in, butÂ a box showed up recently and I was able to get a few from it… This is one of my favorite DE cigars. Although they are hard to come by, they are well worth the wait to get any. Starts out with a slightly spicy and leathery flavor that comes from a great draw. A little later on, I got a nice sweetness in a dark chocolate flavor that opposed a cedar note in the mix. Then the smoke flipped and presented a smoothnessÂ in the smoke with a leathery flavor. Another thing I noticed, this cigarÂ produced a massive amount of smoke from such a smallish size!Â I think the smoothness, leather & cedarÂ in the last two thirds is the main reason why I love this cigar so much.Â

Sotolongo Cigars Hechicera (4.5×50): I have been seeing these cigars a pretty good bit on various forms of social media the last few months. I finally came across them at Cordova Cigars in Pensacola, FL and grabbed a few. I couldn’t wait long and had to spark one up. I got a nice mellow black pepper and a smooth leathery note that followed it. It stayed fairly consistent, although the black pepper did ramp up in strength some; but never was too “bitey”. Turned out to be a solid medium bodied smoke that didn’t disappoint, nor thrill me. But for the money, it was a pretty good smoke.

Espinosa La Zona Habano: The brother to my 2012 Cigar of the Year is the Habano La Zona. This is a lighter colored habano cigar than I and many are used to. Saying that, it gives off lighter notes than a more fuller habano would give off. I punched the head and gave off a nice draw with some resistance.Â Had someÂ nice creamy woodsy notes with a hint of a spice to it. Around halfway, the flavors got fairly flat and not as strong and almostÂ a disappointment.Â A mild flavors strength with a strong mild or weak medium body to it. This would be a decent smoke for someone looking to get out of Connecticuts and into some different flavors.

La Aurora Preferidos Cameroon RobustoÂ (2006):Â Â I was gifted this great smoke by a friend and shop owner. He informed me this was from 2006 and was back when the Cameroon was the only wrapper available for the Preferidos. ThisÂ smokeÂ had real nice smooth caramel, light black pepper, a subtle sweetness and nice hints of chocolate. All from a nice draw, excellent burn and ash. I braved the 35* weather for a smoke one morning and this wasÂ the cigar. I am glad it turned out as well as it did. Was worth braving the cold with a cup of coffee.