Life Goes On

As always, I do things differently than most other reviewers. My top 15 of 2013 list is comprised of the top cigars smoked for the first time in the past year, not released. So don't be surprised if something older made the list. Every one of the cigars listed here are fantastic smokes and recommend that everyone give them a try! #1 Cigar 2013 1502 Ruby #2 Rodrigo La Fortaleza Absoluto #3 Ezra Zion Eminece #4 Sam Leccia Black #5 Ezra Zion Tantrum Prensado Pequeno #6 Rodrigo La Fortzleza #7 1502 Black Gold #8 AKA Nth Degree #9 1502 Emerald #10 Herederos De Robaina #11 AKA Respect 2013 # 12 Cuban Stock Chubby #13 Sam Leccia White #14 Emilio Cigars Draig K #15 Man O' War Maduro

I'll sum this cigar up right here, then tell you about the rest as we go, this cigar was delicious! Quick Details Cigar Size: 4.4 x 44 Origin: Nicaragua Wrapper:  Vintage Nicaraguan 99 Corojo Rosado Binder: Nicaraguan 98 Criollo Filler: 5 to 7 year aged Nicaraguan Lligero Construction of the Tantrum was superb. Feeling down the body, it was firm, in fact very firm, with no soft areas. The maduro colored wrapper contained only the finest of veins and was rolled on with nearly invisible seams. Cold aromas from the body and foot were that of toasted tobacco and once the end was clipped the free cold draw had the same rich flavor notes.  I toasted the foot with the first match and then lit it up with the second. The first two draws had a good dose of full bodied bold black pepper but it quickly left and never came back as the strength settled down into the medium range. What I found most interesting about this cigar was that I couldn't pin down a flavor in the f

Since the Sam Leccia Black with dark fire cured tobacco is one of my favorite cigars this year, it's about time that I gave the white a shot too. The buzz going around told me that the Sam Leccia White was much stronger than the black and it also contained a fair amount of pepper in the flavor mix. I am not that fond of pepper so hearing that made me a bit apprehensive to try the white. But once again, I should have know better and smoked the white long ago since this cigar is far from being a pepper bomb. Read on and you will find out what I think of this cigar. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  African sun grown Cameroon Binder: Ecuadorian Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero, Dominican and Pennsylvanian seco Cutting Method: Vertigo guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $7.99 purchased at Cigar Train Overall this was a great cigar with a semi-complex flavor profile of brown sugar, molasses, earth, tobacco and nuts. It had a nice burn and the ash held on

Several weeks ago Kyle Hoover from the Ezra Zion Cigar Company asked  me to review some of their products. I have wanted to try out the Ezra Zion line for some time so I gladly accepted the offer. When the cigars first arrived I was impressed by their appearance. The black and silver double band really stood out against the dark maduro wrapper. Looking at the cigar through the cellophane it was also apparent that the construction of this cigar was top-of-the-line. After letting the cigars acclimate in my humidor for a couple of weeks it's time to give the first stick a go. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 1/4 x 50 Wrapper:  Mexican San Andres Maduro Binder: Double, Cuban Seed Nicaraguan Filler: Grade AA Nicaraguan Tobaccos Aged 5 to 7 Years Price: $11.50 - Sample provided by Ezra Zion Cigar Company After removing the cigar from the cellophane wrapper the high quality construction really showed itself. Visually inspecting the cigar, the Mexican San Andres maduro wrapper w

When my new humidors arrived they worked perfectly except the stock foam filled rectangle humidifiers. The stock models came with stick on magnetic plates that stuck well to the humidifier, but would not stay attached to the Spanish cedar lined interior of the lid for more than ten minutes. This problem sent me on a mission to find a replacement that would not only stay attached to the lid, but one that was filled with beads or gel instead of foam. After several hours of research I decided upon the  Cigar Mechanic  rectangle humidifier that use bi-directional Nano-Beads. The bi-directional humidifier in theory will absorb excess humidity or release moisture as needed to keep the humidity level constant. Quick details: Dimensions: 6 1/2" L x 3 1/2" W x 5/8" H Durable Polystyrene Molded Plastic Stainless Steel Screen Filled with 40 grams of Humidity Beads Tape & Velcro for Easy Attachment Price: $16.99 - $20.99 Once the Cigar Mechanic rectangle humidif

The other night during my weekly visit to Cigar Train , my favorite local cigar store, Brian gave me a sample cigar that he picked up at IPCPR show this year. The cigar just happened to be a Rodrigo La Fortaleza Absoluto. I told Brian that I would make a post about it then next day, thanked him, paid for my other sticks and headed for home. It's rare for me to review a cigar while driving, however, with the first draw from this stick I knew that I had to write a review. Since this review was done while driving I didn't do many of the things that are normally done during my review process, but the vital information is all here. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 1/8 x 43 Origin:  Dominican Republic Wrapper:  Dominican Oscuro Binder:Dominican Republic Filler: Dominican Republic Price: $5.40 You can see in the picture that the Rodrigo La Fortaleza Absoluto has a very nice wrapper with very small veins and top of the line construction. I had clipped the end while in the store a

Back at the end of February 2012, Cuban Stock Cigars approached me about reviewing their line of cigars. Of course I accepted the challenge by first reviewing their Exqisto Limitado and Royal Selection blends, which by the way are top shelf cigars. So here we are on the third blend from their line-up the Cuban Stock Extra. The Cuban Stock factory was established in 1995 and it is located in the Dominican Republic. Cuban Stock Cigars was originally known as Crown David Cigars. They now use the DBA Cuban Stock Cigar Company for better name recognition for their first cigar the “Cuban Stock”. According to Cuban Stock Cigars the Cuban Stock Extra is manufactured using tobaccos grown only in the Dominican Republic from Cuban seeds and “the tobacco is aged for many years in oak wine barrels.” Since I am a huge fan of the first two blends I reviewed, I am anxious to light up this Cuban Stock Extra. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6.25 x 52 Origin: Dominican Republic Wrapper:  Domini

One of my favorite things to do when time allows is pair my favorite cigars with my favorite coffees to see how they change the flavor profiles. Sometimes the pairing will change the flavor nuance of the cigar, sometimes the coffee and sometimes both. When I'm reviewing cigars, diet Pepsi is my drink of choice. By using the same beverage for most cigars the flavor shifts remain constant. For this pairing I picked one of my favorite cigars, the  Sam Leccia Black  and favorite coffees Milton Made Sumatra Mandheling. From the first draw and sip this pairing caught me a bit by surprise. The Sumatra Mandheling when sipped alone had nice mocha flavor notes throughout, but when paired with the Black, it brought out very noticeable notes of toast from the coffee, while at the same time changing the flavor profile of the Black a touch. Over the past few months I have smoked several of the Blacks and it seems one thing is constant, the flavor from the dark fire leaf increases

This is another supermarket whole bean coffee that I ground at home and brewed in my French press. I like the French press because I think you get bolder and richer flavors over using auto drip. I know, a great many coffee purists use the pour over method of brewing and they would probably get a better flavor profile than I do, but I like the press. So lets see how this sample of Kona blend from Cascade Pride turned out. Quick Details Roasting Company: Cascade Pride Description: Kona Blend, mild flavor & medium body, a smooth and sweet taste. Roast: Light Brewing method: French Press Price: $9.00 - 1 pound It's still morning and I have already had three cups of coffee and a diet Pepsi, but I still wanted more coffee.  I really need to review a cigar, but I chose this coffee review instead and Kona has always been one of my favorites. I always check the aroma radiating from coffee while it is still in the bag and Kona blend gave off a nice mix of chocolate and coffee

Earlier in the week I posted an article about removing mold from a humidor. In that article I mentioned that I replaced all the humidification devices that were in with the mold. The main reason the mold problem occurred is the rectangle humidifier that came stock with my humidor would not stick to the lid so I had it resting against a lower partition and it fell over landing on the face trapping air and moisture resulting in mold. In my other humidor I already have a third party replacement rectangle humidifier, but like the stock units it won't stay attached to the lid. I will review that humidifier here in the near future. Quick Details Humi-Care HX10 Rectangle Humidifier Dimensions: 6.5" x 2.5" x .75" Crystals containing propylene glycol Price: $14.95 - $20.00 retail In the past I have read good things about the Humi-Care Rectangle Humidifier so I went on the hunt for this unit. It didn't take long to find one listed in an auction.  I bid on th

11/25/13 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars and  House of Emilio , announces an official  online cigar store  for the House of Emilio brands. “ Cigar Federation  already serves as the online store for our 27 Delaware Cigars retail locations. If we were going to have an “officially endorsed” online home for these special brands, this was the place.” noted Griffith. House of Emilio  currently distributes 9 boutique brands:  Ezra Zion ,  Rodrigo Cigars ,  Nomad Cigars ,  1502 Cigars ,  Guayacan ,  Epicurean Cigars ,  Herederos de Robaina ,  Bodega Cigars , and Griffith’s own  Emilio Cigars . Cigar Federation is owned by Kyle Hoover and Chris Kelly of Ezra Zion Cigar Company. The site is managed by Logan Lawler and Rob Rasmussen. “Being in the House of Emilio family as one of the distributed brands, we are honored to serve our brothers and represent their cigars well.” said Kelly. “The notoriety around these cigars has caused a groundswell of d

Well it finally happened. MOLD! I found thick, green, fuzzy, mold in the bottom of a humidor. So here it is, H ow to Remove Mold From a Humidor . The other day I was checking the humidity in my humidors when I noticed that the humidity had dropped to 60% in my "daily smokes" humidor. I have been doing reviews most of the time whenever I do get the chance to smoke, so I hadn't checked it in a few days. After removing the top tray I could see the humidifier that had been leaning against one of the lower partitions had fallen over (I have not found a humidifier that will stick to the inner lid of a humidor yet). When I picked the humidifier up to refill it, the entire area underneath was growing dark green mold. Instantly I was in panic mode, there were about 50 cigars in this humidor. First things first, I was more worried about the cigars than the humidor. Luckily I had the humidifier in a partition that had no cigars and every stick was still in original cellop

The 1502 Emerald Toro is my third and final review of the three cigars produced by Global Premium Cigars , which by the way, are now included in the House of Emilio line of brands. The 1502 Black Gold and 1502 Ruby were such a pleasure to smoke and review I am very excited to try the 1502 Emerald. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 x 60 Toro Box Pressed Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Corojo Habano Filler: San Andres – Mexico and fields from Estelí and Condega in Nicaragua Price: $7.60 - Sample provided by  Global Premium Cigars Construction of the 1502 Emerald was nothing but top notch. The wrapper contained only a couple very fine veins and was rolled on tightly giving this Habano wrapped cigar a great overall appearance.  Testing the aromas from the body and foot I found a light scent of toast and there was a slight sweetness to the wrapper when testing the cold draw. I found the cold draw free and containing a nice tobacco taste. Checking the body, it was firm the entire leng

I've smoked a couple cigars from CULT Cigars the past few months but didn't have time to review them (they are on the to-do list). So when the guys at Cigar Train  shared with me that other locals have been reporting that these small Blood Red Moon cigars packed a lot of flavor in a small package,I decided that was all the encouragement I needed to pick up a 5 pack and give them for myself. This is my last stick from the 5 pack I purchased so I figured that I had better take notes and do a review this time. Looking at The Blood Red Moon it,s a well made mini perfecto. Feeling down the body I found the Blood Red Moon is packed well and there were no soft spots. The wrapper looks nice and contains only the finest of veins. Clipping off the end I found a firm, but free cold draw with flavor notes of black pepper and fruit. Since this is a mini perfecto toasting the foot and lighting the cigar was a breeze. From the first few draws I tasted flavor notes of earth, oak, to

The 1502 Ruby Robusto is my second review of the three cigars produced by Global Premium Cigars , which is now included in the House of Emilio line of brands. The 1502 Black Gold was such a pleasure to smoke and review I am very excited to try the 1502 Ruby. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5x50 Robusto Box Pressed Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Maduro Binder:  Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: $6.50 - Samples provided by House of Emilio and Global Premium Cigars If you have read any of my previous reviews, you know that maduro wrapped cigars are at the top of my list and this 1502 Ruby has a great looking maduro colored wrapper. Boxed pressed cigars are not really my favorites, but this cigar was put together nicely. There were only fine veins in the wrapper, there were no hard or soft spots in the body and the wrapper was rolled on tight and neat. All of this adds up to one well made, good looking cigar. Testing the cold aromas from the body and foot I found notes

I read quite a few posts where people say, "life is to short to smoke cheap cigars". While that sounds good, I disagree to an extent. My thoughts on this matter are; life is to short to smoke bad cigars! Victor Sinclair produces some, what I think are, great tasting cigars that can be picked up at super low budget prices from time to time. Just because a cigar is low cost doesn't always mean it's cheap. Besides that's what this site is all about. Finding cigars that give you the most bang for your buck. I don't have money to throw away and I bet most of you don't either! This triple Corojo torpedo from Victor Sinclair is another prime example of a high quality, low cost, great tasting cigar. Construction of this triple Corojo cigar was nice. The cigar was firm the entire length and the wrapper contained only few smaller veins. Putting the cigar to my nose I detected faint notes of earth and tobacco from the body and the foot. Once the end was cl

The other day my pour over maker finally arrived so I decided to revisit some of the coffees that had not fared so well in the press.  With this Cascade Pride Sumatra Dark Organic coffee, I gave it a finer grind, dropped my water temperature around 10 degrees and used the pour over  maker. After sampling the brewed coffee, I found that the flavors had not changed much, but the bitterness was gone. I am going to raise the rating on this coffee to 3 out of 5 stars. Original review below: Today nearly all supermarkets carry some type of whole bean coffee. I know, you are thinking who buys good coffee at a supermarket? Well, a great many people think they are buying good coffee because it is whole bean. So lets see how supermarket coffee stacks up to those made by small roasting companies. Quick Details Roasting Company: Cascade Pride Origin: Sumatra; Organic Roast: Dark, Single origin Brewing method: French Press Price: $9.00 - 1 pound When pouring this Sumatra Dark coffee

The Rodrigo La Fortaleza Cinco 5 Toro is the first Rodrigo cigar I have had the opportunity to smoke. Rodrigo Cigars are part of the House of Emilio  cigar line up and I am pretty excited to give the La Fortaleza Cinco 5 a spin. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6 x 55 Toro Origin:  Dominican Republic Wrapper:  Dominican Oscuro Binder:Dominican Republic Filler: Dominican Republic Price: $7.75 The La Fortaleza Cinco is a Dominican Puro with a dark Oscuro wrapper; oscuro wrappers are one of my personal favorites. Looking at the wrapper it looks, thick, meaty and tasty with a small amount of tooth and fairly smalls veins. Putting the cigar to my nose I could sense notes of spicy cedar and earth from the wrapper and the foot. Since this was a pigtail cigar I clipped the end instead of using a punch. The cold draw was firm, but not to tight and I could taste notes of mocha and cedar that lingered on my palate. Once the La Fortaleza Cinco was toasted and burning, the first few draws h

I have been a fan of  Emilio Cigars for some time now because of their high quality and flavorful cigars. Once I had my first look at the 2012 Draig K Limitado I knew it was on my to-smoke list. Why, you ask? Other than what was already said, it was the band. At one time I collected dragons and am still interested in any type of dragon art work. As an added bonus, it has a maduro wrapper and I love maduro. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 x 50 Robusto Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Rare Colombian maduro Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: $9.00 Like I said, the dragon on the band created my initial attraction to this cigar, but I do care how a cigar smokes and tastes. Once the Draig K was out of the cellophane I put it to my nose and found it had a spicy maduro aroma from the wrapper and foot. I punched the end to test the cold draw and found it to be free with flavor notes of dark mocha and spicy cedar. The wrapper contained a couple of small to medium veins with a fair a

While at Cigar Train the other day I picked up a budget stick to smoke on the way home and then didn't smoke until days later. I've seen these Xikar HC maduro cigars advertised but never took the time to pick one up. That was a mistake on my part. Read on and you'll find out why. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 x 52 Robusto Origin:  Honduras Wrapper:  Connecticut Havana Oscuro Filler: Nicaraguan / Dominican Price: $3.99 @ CigarTrain At first glance you can tell the HC maduro is well constructed for a budget cigar. You can see a few medium to small veins in the maduro wrapper but feeling down the length of the cigar it is packed well. I didn't find any overly hard or soft spots. The cold aroma from the foot and body was a faint mix of toast and oak. Once the end was punched the flavors from the cold draw were another story. With the first draw I could taste notes of bold chocolate mocha. The draw was a tad bit tighter than I like but it should smoke just fi

This sample of Dominican Bani coffee  was provided by Milton Made Coffee in Folkston, GA.  Milton Made Coffee specializes in small batch roasting of organic coffees from around the world. Dominican Bani Fair Trade, Organic Certified. Roasted and certified by @BaristaOnDuty 6 oz. bag yields approximately 22 cups. When I opened the bag, as usual the first thing I noticed was the oil seeping from nearly every bean. The second thing of interest was the whole beans had a nice rich mocha aroma rising from the bag. Once the beans were ground the mocha aroma was even more pronounced. As boiling water was added to the ground beans in the press, the aroma from the Dominican Bani changed to more of a toast and mocha combination that reminded me of nice maduro wrapped cigar. On the first sip I was expecting to taste that rich, robust maduro cigar that the coffee's aroma had put in  my mind, but to my surprise that's not what I found. The first sip actually took me a bit off guar

While on my weekly run to my favorite local cigar store, Cigar Train , I found the Fighting Cock robusto in stock. I've seen these advertised in a couple of the catalogs at a pretty good price but had been unwilling to drop $30 on a box of cigars that could be hit or miss so I picked up one stick to try them out. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 x 52 Robuto Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Habano Binder:  Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: $3.99 @ CigarTrain The overall construction of this Fighting Cock cigar was pretty good. There were some medium veins in the wrapper and the cap had a crease that wasn't glued down, but overall it passed. The cold aroma from the foot and wrapper was nice mix of spicy cedar and earth. Examining the cigar's body I found it was packed firmly with no hard or soft spots and once the end cap was punched the draw was a bit tight but it should be work out just fine. Once the Fighting Cock was burning it produced a nice volu

Well since I am reviewing more and more coffee, I wanted to test something as a baseline. The wife and I go through about 4-6 pounds of Folgers classic roast per month in our auto drip coffee maker. She doesn't really like strong coffee so we drink this medium roast day-to-day. We break pretty much all the rules with this coffee; we buy it in 3 pound containers and we keep it in the original container instead of an air-tight canister. Anyway, I decided to see how this Folgers coffee performed in my press to establish a baseline for all my other reviews. This seemed like a good idea at the time and I think did find out what I wanted to know. After measuring out the proper amount of coffee, I filled the press with boiling water. To my surprise the combination of water and coffee did produce some froth at the top and it gave off a nice strong coffee aroma. So I thought to myself "this may turn out OK". Well, I was wrong. After giving the coffee a few minutes to b

In the past my favorite coffees have been Sumatran or Kona blends so when this Sumatra Mandheling coffee arrived from Milton Made Coffee I was pretty excited to throw some in the grinder give it a try. Here is the description provided by Milton Made Coffee : Semi Washed Sumatra Mandheling DP Grade 1 Region: Mandheling North Sumatra Varietals: Ateng, Bergendal and Djember Elevation:1100 – 1300 meter Process: Semi-Washed / Wet Hulled / Sun-dried When the bag was opened could see the oils resting on many of the beans and I was greeted with the deep, rich aroma of coffee and mocha. I grabbed the grinder, poured in the beans and let it rip. Several seconds later that task was done and the ground beans were headed for my French press. The aroma coming from the ground sumatra mandheling coffee was a mix of coffee and toast. I filled the press with boiling water and let it brew while I searched for my Sumatra tiger cup. Yes I know I get a bit odd like that at times, but that's me

While searching the web for information on this Herederos de Robaina cigar  I noticed there are quite a few reviews out there but they all lack the same information; tobacco details. To the best of my knowledge this cigar is manufactured in Nicaragua using all Nicaraguan tobacco.  I do know this cigar is part of the House of Emilio line up. As I mentioned earlier, there a quite a few reviews posted for this cigar, but I believe this one will be a little different than the rest. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you why. This cigar has be aging in my humidor for well over a year and I bet that the pepper other reviews mention has either mellowed or disappeared completely in this stick. Let's take this cigar for a ride and find out if I'm right! Quick Details Cigar Size: 6 x 50 Toro Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Binder:  Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: Estimate: under $10.00. Sample provided by Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars At first glance and with furt

Written by: Pipe Tobacco Place So we've learned some basics about how to properly smoke and care for a tobacco pipe, now let's briefly discuss the tobacco that you will put into it. There are basically three different types of pipe tobacco-aromatic blends, Virginia blends and English blends. These tobaccos exhibit their own characteristics but generally the aromatics are flavored, Virginia blends tend to be sweet and English blends are typically stronger. Choosing the appropriate tobacco is an important part of pipe smoking. Take time to reflect on your mood and choose wisely. Consider the blend by reading the information on the container. What types of tobacco have gone into the blend? Some blends are so complex that they incorporate tobaccos grown on as many as three, sometimes four continents. Look at the blend. How is it cut? Blenders pay close attention to how the different tobaccos will look in the tin. How does the dark leaf look next to a bright yellow strand o

Johnny from Milton Made Coffee sent me a few more samples to review this week. Milton Made Coffee is a small batch roasting company that produces top-of-the-line small batch coffees from organic beans. This selection is the Femenino Chanchamayo, from Peru. The picture below does not really do the beans justice. They are a medium dark roast and many off the beans have spots of oil on them. This batch looks great. Once the bag was open the pre grind aromas were toast, nuts and chocolate. After grinding the nuttiness of the beans became the prominent aroma. By then my water was boiling so I poured beans into the press and filled it with boiling water. The aroma from the steeping coffee was very robust and toast became top aroma. I love great coffee and couldn't wait to get this brew cupped. After waiting a bit over five minutes the coffee was ready so here we go! After the first cup full was poured the first things I noticed were the oils sitting on top of the coffee and

Written by: Pipe Tobacco Place Pipes come in all shapes, sizes and materials but the most popular material for today's pipes is briar. Briar comes from the burl of the White Heath tree, which is a small shrub plant that grows in the dry, rocky areas around the Mediterranean Sea. Briar is the best-suited wood for pipe making because it is tough, porous and almost impossible to burn. The briar is harvested from the ground and taken to mills where skilled woodcutters using circular saws remove the soft and cracked portions of the burl, leaving only the dense, hard, tightly grained center. This is then cut into smaller blocks, called ebauchons. After the ebauchons have been cut they are boiled in water to remove much of the briar's natural sap and resin. It is then dried for several years, allowing the remaining sap and resin to seep out of the wood. This curing and aging process is important to bring out briar's best smoking qualities. It allows the pipe to breath

Not only am I a cigar enthusiast, but I have been smoking pipes for thirty plus year as well. When I heard about this Sam Leccia Black containing a fired cured leaf I was quite excited to try it since I already know what dimensions fired cured can add to pipe tobacco. It took me a while to chase a few of these down, but once I did I knew it was worth the effort! Normally when I smoke a cigar the flavor nuances jump right out, but not with this cigar. I had to smoke several of these Blacks before I could sort out the flavors and I am still not sure how good of a job I did. What I do know though; this in one fine tasting cigar no mater what the flavors you find. Let see what I did come up with... Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 x 52 Robusto Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Nicaraguan Rosado Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Brazilian , fire roasted Kentucky Dark Fire Right from the cellophane I could tell this was a completely different cigar than I was used to smoking. Cons