Life Goes On

This Felipe Gregorio Fusion Torpedo is another of the cigars in my daily smokes humidor. Dollar for dollar I think these are a fantastic value, that's why I smoke them. Cigar Size: 6.5  x 52 Torpedo Wrapper: Habano Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Xikar  guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $31.00 box of 20 Right out of the cellophane you can see this is a nice cigar. The toothy Habano wrapper is rolled on with near seamless care and the body is packed firmly full length with no hard or soft areas. The cold aroma is mainly earthy as is flavor from the free cold draw. Once the stick is burning there are flavor notes of nuts and coffee that mix with the earth. The nice burn line leaves behind a soft gray ash that normally holds on to near the half way point, if you try. Most of the time this is a driving cigar so I bump the ash early to avoid a burnt leg and a mess. In the final third a bit more flavor develops with some brown sugar and leather. Overall this is

This is one the five cigars that are in my daily smoking humidor. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Corojo cultivated in 2002 Filler:Nicaragua and Dominican Cutting Method: Xikar guillotine Price: Bundle of 20 - $49.99 This cigar comes wrapped in a Spanish cedar band covering the bottom half of the stick and I am sure that accounts for much of the spicy cedar cold aroma and cold draw. Mixed with the spicy cedar there is a bit of peat and apple to the nose. The vintage 2002 has nice overall construction, I would call it rugged, but it's nice. It starts with a thick, heavy wrapper that shows a medium amount of tooth and oil as well as a few medium sized veins. The even burn produces a tight looking white ash that normally falls around the 1/3 mark. A test of the retro hale produces notes of sour apple that is pretty stout. The flavor mix isn't really complex, but I think it's pretty good and consistent from stick to stick. I found n

Three weeks ago I had never heard of  dissident cigars , let alone smoked either of there two brands. I saw a picture of a Soap Box cigar on Facebook and thought to myself "that looks interesting", so I researched the cigar, then the company and here we are. Today, here I sit reflecting on this fine cigar, thinking about just what to say in this review to really do it justice.  I do know that I was blown away by the flavor and long complex finish of the dissident BLOC B_A. There are some interesting things that should be pointed out about this cigar. You will see from the photo, the band is in the 8-bit video game style of graphics, the band at the foot has "Start Here" printed on it and inside the main band is printed "Continue? Yes, No" with the yes being highlighted. Seeing this made me chuckle a bit and if there really were a button there I would push yes! Oh and I nearly forgot, since the name is BLOC and the graphics are in block style, it is bo

I picked this  Gurkha Cigars  Cellar Reserve Koi  up during one of my weekly trips to Cigar Train to smoke on the way home.     Once the cigar was free from the cellophane, I could see it was a well constructed short and stubby cigar. It was tightly packed from head to foot, the oily wrapper contained only very fine veins and it had a seamless wrapper. Putting the cigar to my nose I could smell notes of spicy cedar and brown sugar. The cold draw spicy and had notes of cedar and brown sugar, with a touch of oak on top. Since this was a perfecto, lighting the cigar was a breeze. The first few draws yielded nearly the same mild flavor mix as the cold draw and left a nice bit of spice lingering on the palate. As the burn moved toward the middle, it left behind a medium gray flaky ash with a wavy burn line, but not to worry, the burn line didn't get bad enough to need correction and it straightened itself out before reaching the nub. There was also a nice amount of oil tha

Just by looking at the wrapper I knew this   H.Upmann Legacy Toro was going to be a great stick. Construction of the cigar from head to foot was flawless, except removing the lower band created a pinhead sized hole the wrapper. The cigar was firmly packed full length, the oily wrapper was put on with near seamless care and contained only the finest of veins. Checking the aroma from the foot there were notes of spicy cedar and brown sugar, to the  nose and these same flavors were found from the cold draw once the end was clipped. After toasting and lighting the cigar I was rewarded with a large mouthful of mild, cedar and brown sugar flavored smoke. As the burn progressed through the first third slight flavors of raisin and oak joined in. This cigar was very slow burning and the sharp burn line left behind a soft light gray ash that fell right at the 1/3 mark. There was also an nice oil line that developed on the wrapper just above the burn. Testing the retro hale I found i

As a fan of Sumatran coffee, I am excited to try this Sumatra Red Badger from Milton Made Coffee . Quick Details Roasting Company: Milton Made Origin: Sumatra; Semi Washed Sumatra Red Badger TP Grade Region: Desa Kerawat – Takengon – Aceh – North  Sumatra Varietals: Ateng, Typica, Djember Elevation: 1350 – 1500  meter Process: Semi-Washed / Wet Hulled Drying Process:  Sun Dried Direct Farm Relationship Brewing method: French Press Pairing: H.Upmann Legacy Cigar I guess those weren't really quick details since there were quite a few.  Looking at the whole Sumatra Red Badger through the bag, most of the beans have a spot or two of oil on the outside. As the bag was opened there were strong notes of coffee and cocoa, these same aromas, but stronger, filled the room once the beans were ground. After the ground beans were immersed in hot water the aromas changed to pleasant mix of cocoa and lemon grass. After steeping and being cupped, there was a nice oil sheen sittin

Currently the 1502 Ruby Perfecto is only available at 1502 lounges and this sample was provided by Global Premium Cigars . Can this new vitola deliver the same great flavors as the robusto? Let's find out. Quick Details Cigar Size:  Perfecto - Box Pressed Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Maduro Binder:  Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi & Milton Made Sumatra Mandheling Coffee Price: Est. $7.00 - Samples provided Global Premium Cigars  a member of House of Emilio Like every other cigar from 1502, construction was top-of-the-line. Feeling down the body there were no soft spots, and the oily, toothy, Ecuadorian maduro wrapper was rolled on near seamlessly creating a very nice looking cigar. I clipped the head and a touch off the foot to test the cold aromas and flavors. From the foot I found notes of cocoa and spicy cedar. Testing the cold draw, it was free and contained flavor notes of cocoa, espresso and

To start out, I would like to thank Kevin Newman from the  Ventura Cigar Company for providing samples to make this a more comprehensive review. After reviewing the Psyko Seven a couple weeks back, Kevin and I had a conversation about the Psyko and the Project805. The end result, Kevin sent me some samples of the Project805 Robusto and a sample of the Andullo tobacco used in the filler blend. Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Corojo Shade Binder: Dominican Olor Filler: Dominican Blend and Andullo Price: $6.80 Sample provided by Ventura Cigar Co. After removing the Project805 from the cellophane the first thing I checked were the cold aromas. From the foot I found notes of tree fruit, toast and leather. Once the initial flavor notes were out of the way I inspected the body. I found the Project805 to be well packed full length with no hard or soft patches and the sturdy Corojo wrapper contained fairly small veins. Once the cigar was clipped, the cold draw again had

Wisdom Coffee Roasting Company This is a sample of Sumatra I just happened upon by chance from a local roasting company here in Spokane, WA I don't get a chance to review much of the local fare, and I am pretty happy to find this coffee. Out of the bag the first thing I noticed was the lack of any exterior oils on the beans, however, this could be due to how it has been stored before it came to me. In the grinder the coarsely ground beans have a nice nutty, mocha aroma, the same aroma was present after the beans and water were added to the press. After steeping and pouring the first cup there was a slight oil sheen at the top and the same aromas of toast and mocha were present. The first sip from the cup was quite rewarding. There was no bitterness or bite present and the coffee had the flavor of slightly sweet fresh bread. I also to found this first cup to be crisp and smooth. Once the second cup was poured I found it to be a bit more on the chewy side, which is alway

This was my third attempt at smoking Gurkha Blue Steel cigar for the review and finally I was able to pull it off. The first two of these I tried smoking were rolled so tight at the shoulder that they were impossible to smoke--short of clipping them off below the shoulder. I've had draw problems with Gurkha's before but these were the worst I have ran into. So let's take a look at the good points about this Blue Steel! Quick Details Cigar Size: 6.5  x 53 Torpedo Wrapper:  Costa Rican maduro wrapper Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Colombian Cutting Method: Vertigo guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $8.99 At first glance this is a great looking cigar. The oily, dark maduro wrapper with fine veins has plenty of tooth, it's rolled on seamlessly and it has floral and cocoa notes to the nose. The cold draw on this cigar was firm but free and had flavors of semi sweet chocolate, toast and earth. Once the cigar was burning it produced loads of slightly n

During a recent trip to Cigar Train, I was scratching my head trying to decide upon something to smoke on the drive home. After a few minutes Casey pointed out the box of Don Thomas Clasico robusto aging away on the shelf. Well it looked good to me so I grabbed one. This is what I discovered during the drive home... Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 1/2  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Honduran Havana-seed Natural Binder: Honduran Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan Cutting Method: Bench cutter, V cut Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $7.99 purchased at Cigar Train After unwrapping and cutting the cigar, I found cold flavor notes from the foot of rich tobacco, cedar and black tea. Testing the draw, it was free and had flavor notes of tobacco and cedar.  Once the cigar was burning the most predominate flavor was earth mixed with a bit of brown sugar. As the razor sharp burn progressed it left behind a firm white ash and other flavors slowly developed into the mix. I found notes of molasses, hay

TORAÑO FAMILY CIGAR CO. ANNOUNCES THE BLENDS FROM THE VAULT TOUR (Miami, FL) January 14, 2014 — Toraño Family Cigar Co ., makers of some of the finest cigars in the world, proudly announce the “Blends from the Vault Tour” . The much anticipated Blends from the Vault tour will kick off its 2014 run on February 5, 2014 at Three J’s Cigar Store in Davie, Fl. in what will be the first of approximately 40 events spread across the nation. The tour will feature the Toraño Family’s highly acclaimed Vault A-008 which received a 92 rating from Cigar Aficionado , the recently released Vault D-042 and , the Limited Edition Vault Gold VLE100, which will only be available at these exclusive events . Charlie Toraño , President of Toraño Family Cigar Company, wished to introduce an extremely limited edition third blend from the storied Toraño Vault series for this special tour. Blends from the Vault originate from the family’s cigar “blend book” which was started by Carlos Toraño, Sr.

The Punch Bareknuckle is another of those cigars that have been on my to smoke list for some time and I finally picked up a couple last week. So here's my take on this cigar. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6.1  x 50 Pita (Toro) Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano Sun-Grown Filler: Honduras and Nicaragua Paired with: Diet Pepsi Cutting method: Xikar double guillotine Price: $9.00 online The first thing I noticed about this cigar once it was unwrapped was the dark oily wrapper. Feeling the body, the cigar was packed firm, but not hard, and the thick wrapper contained only very small veins and a medium amount of tooth. Overall construction Punch Bareknuckle was top of the line. To the nose there were strong notes of coffee and cocoa from the foot and once the end was cut, the free cold draw produced flavors of spicy cedar mixed with chocolate. After the end was toasted and burning the first draw filled my mouth with a large volume medium body of mocha and rich tobacco flavored

Quick Details Model: Xi3 Action: Double Guillotine Warranty: Lifetime Price: $89.99 To begin, I smoke quite a few torpedo's so the Double Guillotine cutters that I have used in the past did a fine job. Problems began when my V cutter and punches all became dull and started damaging wrappers so I switched to the Double Guillotines.  I cut fairly shallow on parejos shaped cigars and lately many of the cigars I have been smoking are rolled pretty tight. These other cutters have been skipping over the filler and just cutting the end cap.  When I pulled this Xikar Xi3 Titanium Spectra Cutter out of the box, the first thing I checked, other than how cool it looked, was the blade sharpness and it was sharp. Actually it was much sharper than any of my other cutters, in fact it is sharp enough to cut where I want to cut a cigar with no problems at. Consequently I have stopped using all my other cutters and use the Xi3 all the time now. There are a couple of othe

The Rouge Tyrant by East India Trading Company is one of those cigars I just had to have because of the cool looking band. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 52 Robusto Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Ecuadorian Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican Cutting Method: Table top cutter V cut Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $6.99 purchased at Cigar Train From a visual point of view the Rogue Tyrant is a great cigar. Inspecting the cigar it had a nice heavy habano wrapper with finer veins than one would expect plus it has seamless construction. Really the only downside to this cigar was its softness. The body was soft from head to foot, so soft in fact I had it nearly smashed flat by the time I smoked it to a nub. I had clipped the end and checked aromas before leaving the store and found cold aroma was a mix of coffee and chocolate, while the free cold draw had notes of earth and spicy cedar. Once the foot was toasted and burning the cigar produced loads of nutty s

Again I am fortunate enough to receive a pre-release sample of the 1502 Nicaragua, from Global Premium Cigars , distributed by House of Emilio . Unlike the other cigars offered by 1502 Cigars, this stick is a Nicaraguan Puro and contains tobaccos from the four principal tobacco regions in Nicaragua: Jalapa, Esteli, Condega and Ometepe Island. Viewing the information about this cigar on the Global Premium Cigars website there is not much information on the specific tobaccos or blends. However, according to Enrique Sanchez "It's the Puro that I created for my son, so that he never forgets his roots, 100% Nicaraguan". That's pretty neat in my opinion! Being a curious type of guy, I asked Leonel Poveda, from Global Premium Cigars, if the 1502 Nicaragua will be released with the same white band as the sample and he replied, "The label will be the white label. This cigar is not a 'Gem' like the other three 1502, this one is the Nica roots, tobacco from th

Back in November I reviewed the   Sam Leccia Black Robusto and it became my #4 cigar for 2013 . As I begin this review I also wondered, is bigger better? Well, let's find out... Quick Details Cigar Size: 6 x 60 Gordo Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Nicaraguan Rosado Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Brazilian, fire roasted Kentucky dark fire Once I'd finished smoking the Sam Leccia Black Gordo , I went back and compared notes with the previous robusto review. I was surprised to find out just how close these two cigars were in regards to flavor, strength and burn. The Black gordo also had top of the line construction. Visual inspection of the cigar showed the wrapper contained only smaller veins and the cold aroma had sweet flavor notes of smoke, nuts and toast. Checking the body of the cigar, it was packed hard, almost rock hard, but once the end was clipped the draw was perfect. Testing the cold draw I found the same flavors mix as the cold aroma plus some

The 1502 Ruby Corona is a pre-release sample sent to me by Global Premium Cigars . I am excited to try this new vitola since the Ruby robusto was my 2013 cigar of the year. Quick Details Cigar Size:  Corona - Box Pressed Origin:  Nicaragua Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Maduro Binder:  Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: Est. under $6.50 - Samples provided by House of Emilio and Global Premium Cigars Visually inspecting the cigar I found the construction to be top notch. The Ecuadorian maduro wrapper was rolled on tightly and contained only a few small veins. Feeling down the body, it was firm with no hard or soft patches. Testing the cold aromas from the body and foot I found notes of chocolate and spicy cedar. Once the end was clipped the very free cold draw yielded just about the same flavor notes. I don't smoke many coronas so I was a bit surprised at how easy this cigar toasted and started burning. Once it was lit the first mouthful of smoke had notes of spicy cedar, li

Cuba Aliados Corojo Piramide This Cuba Aliados Corojo cigar is one of the reasons I first started this site. It is a quality cigar that can be picked up at a good price from several retailers around the web. No it doesn't have a fancy band and it doesn't have knock-your-socks-off-sit-you-back-in-your-chair flavor that makes you says WOW to yourself but it's a quality cigar, with good flavor, a nice looking ash and a great burn. I don't have an unlimited cigar budget, so I look for deals all the time and this cigar fits the bill quite well. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5 1/2 x 64 Piramide #3 Origin: Honduras Wrapper:  Corojo Filler: Benchmark Honduran blend with Dominican Piloto Cutting Method: Xikar guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $3.25 in boxes of 20 - Gifted by Johnny from Milton Made Coffee The Cuba Aliados Corojo Piramide has a good construction with a toothy corojo wrapper. As the cigar burned with a razor sharp burn line it left behind a firm

My Uzi Weighs a Ton - Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Molly: By Drew Estate and Subculture Studios This has been a highly anticipated cigar for me to smoke and review. After a long wait the time is finally here! I couldn't find much blend information on this cigar, however this is what Drew Estate says in their press release ; "There is a lot we have experimented with and all shall be revealed in short order, but for now here is a little quote from Nicholas Melillo, Chief of the Broadleafs, “First off, Kentucky Fire Cured is from a stalk-cut tobacco. The initial firing of KFC is done at low heat between 100 F to 115 F degrees and maintained until the color reaches solid brown. Once color is set temperatures increase to 120F- 130F to completely cure down the midrib of the leaf and darken. Once the midrib is dried the temperature will be reduced and the smoke maximized with saw dust to finish the leaf. When KFC hits your olfactory nerve you know it! ” Quick Details Cigar Size: 5

Psyko Seven Toro: Ventura Cigar Company Last night while at Cigar Train I grabbed a couple Psyko Seven toros on a whim for something to smoke on the drive home. Let me tell you, it was a great decision. I wondered why Ventura Cigar Company named this cigar the Psyko, but buy the time I had finished the cigar I had a couple of my own ideas why. First, it was a crazy good cigar. Second it drove me nearly Psyko trying to determine all the flavors I experienced. The Ventura Cigar web site says, " medicate your mind with the Psyko Seven ". I'm not sure my mind was medicated, but my mind and palate were both stimulated! Quick Details Cigar Size: 6.25  x 48 Toro Wrapper:  Dominican Hybrid Binder: Mexican Sumatra Filler:  Multiple Country Blend From the box, (white on the outside, blood red on the inside), to the double band (the large outer band is prescription pad that has a Rx on it), to the flavor profile, everything about this cigar is a bit unique. The l

Quick Details Cigar Size: 4  x 38 Wrapper:  Connecticut Shade Grown Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method: V Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $4.99 purchased at Cigar Train This is the first cigar I have purchased in any type of stay fresh packaging. The "G Fresh" packing used by Drew Estate seems to have done the job well since the wrapper on the Acid Blondie show no signs of being dry or brittle. When I opened the package it was pretty easy to tell what this cigar had been infused with--or at least what I thought it had been infused with; patchouli oil and lots of it. I never have been a fan of patchouli oil and probably never will be. Initially this was a huge minus for this cigar, but I inspected it, tested the draw, lit it up and smoked it anyway. Feeling down the body of the blondie I found it to be on the soft side, but consistent the entire length. I used the table top cutter at Cigar Train to make a V cut, removing the small pig tail