Life Goes On

Buna Mobile roasting company is a small batch roaster that specializes in roasting for fund raisers. You can find more information about their charities and fundraising on their website .  The tag-line on the Buna Mobile web site reads, "Exotic & Specialty Coffees Delivered Farm-Direct Fresh To YOU!" So, lets see if this statement holds true to the cup. Looking at the bagged coffee you can see that every bean has an oily appearance and there are even oil smears inside the bag. As I opened the sealed bag containing the Truelove-Purple Passion House Blend of Cameroon and Java coffees, the aroma of rich of chocolate and coffee immediately hit my nose. After the coffee was ground it gave off more of a caramel and chocolate aroma. I couldn't wait to get this coffee cupped. Doing a pour over, the ground coffee produced a nice bloom and gave off a slightly nutty aroma. Once the brewing was done the finished coffee was light, crisp and clean with a lightly syrupy fi

The La Musa Melete in its former branding, the Grimilkin from, Emilio cigars , is one of my all time favorite blends in the toro and robusto vitolas. Believe it or not, in 35 years of smoking cigars, this is my first lancero and I am pretty excited to give it a try. Quick Details Cigar Size: 7  x 40 Lancero Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $10.20 Sample for review provided by House Of Emilio With its pig tail cap and its seamless wrapper, construction of this La Musa Melete lancero is top of the line. Checking aromas from the foot there were feint fruity notes to the nose and flavors found testing the free cold draw were a mix of toast, fruit and rich tobacco. There was also a nice lingering, nutty aftertaste from the cold draw. As the burn progressed it left behind a soft medium gray ash, but the highlight of this cigar was the complex flavor mix. Nearly each draw had a different

Most cigar smokers know that with some cigars the best part is the nub. I personally find this true with many maduro wrapped cigars. To avoid burnt fingers I have tried, many times with success, sometimes without, toothpicks, paper clips, tweezers (which doesn't make the wife happy), and many other household items. On my last trip to Cigar Train , the owner Brian tossed me one of these "The Cigar Clip", and asked me to give it a try. Well I've done just that and here's the low down. Quick Details Adjustable for any size cigar Leather pocket pouch Plastic grip Lightweight Ergonomic Does not damage cigar Price:  MSRP $9.99 Sample provided for review by Cigar Train Overall, I think this product works great. The Cigar Clip is strong enough to hold a fresh cigar, but can be adjusted to hold even the softest cigar nub without damaging the wrapper. If I were still a golfer, I'd be using this clip to hold my cigar out on the course. The only negative 

I'm running behind on reviews, but I just had to make time to review this Spectre robusto since it's blended by the master A.J. Fernandez and I love nearly every cigar he blends. I couldn't find much information on this cigar, other than some speculation on other review sites about filler blends and how unique the flavor mix is. What I do know is this; it has a dark maduro wrapper and a "secret blend" of filler tobaccos. After smoking the Spectre, I can say it has one of the most complex flavor mixes I have encountered in 35 years of cigar smoking. Did I like it? Was it good? Read on and find out... Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Maduro Filler: Secret blend Price: $8.00 As I removed this cigar from the cellophane two things jumped right out; how dark the maduro wrapper is and the size of the band. I'm not one for large bands, I will get into that more when I do my post on bands, but it did come right off with no wrapper damag

You know, I always say that every cigar has a story and if it doesn't I'll just make one up! Cigar bands are a huge thing for me. Someday I will devote an entire post explaining why this is. But briefly today, just due to the band design of the Reunión Digestivo Double Robusto I would grab a couple off the shelf to purchase. It's a great design that will stand out well on a shelf, plus it reminds me of the Minas Tirith flag  in the Lord of the Rings movies, and I think that's pretty neat. Besides that bit of fun, the Reunión Digestivo by Bodega Premium Blends is offered in three vitolas: double robusto  –  5 x 54, corona gorda – 5.5 x 46, toro – 6 x 52 for this review I am smoking the double robusto so let's get on to the details. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 54 Double Robusto Wrapper:  Mexico,  San Andres Valley Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Colibri V-Cutter Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $11.00 Sample provided by House of

I'm sure there are hundreds of articles already posted on the topic "how to remove scale from a tea kettle", but this is my quick and easy trick to make my tea kettle shine like new. I've been using the same stove-top stainless steel tea kettle for tea and pour-overs the past two years. About two months ago I noticed there was a thick, ugly, gross looking, layer of light gray scale crusted to the bottom of my kettle. I'm not sure if this had a negative effect on the taste of coffee and tea, but it looked terrible. I want my coffee and tea reviews untainted by bad water so I began searching the web for a cure. After an hour or so of searching are reading, a plan came together. I poured about 2 cups of vinegar into the cold and empty kettle and let it stand for around 30 minutes. After 30 had passed, I filled the kettle with cold water, turned the burner on high and let it boil away for a good ten minutes. Once it was done boiling I poured out the gray bra

March 13, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kyle Hoover and Chris Kelly, the leaders of BlessedLeaf.com, a Christian cigar-based ministry, announce the release of the long anticipated Blessed Leaf Kairos. “This is a project that has been in our hearts for over a year. Our vision was to produce a great cigar with vintage tobaccos and have the proceeds go to ministry and missions efforts.” noted Kyle Hoover. "For this project, we went back to our roots: Nicaraguan tobacco! This is a Nicaraguan puro in the Ezra Zion genre of blending. Since we are doing this for The Lord, it had to be the best work we could possibly do!” added Chris Kelly.  The Blessed Leaf Kairos is a 52 x 6.25 box press. The wrapper is Corojo 99 Rosado. The filler includes ligeros from Esteli and Jalapa. Total production is 4000 cigars of 100 boxes and 5 packs.  The Blessed Leaf Kairos is produced at the Casa Fernandez factory in Miami, Florida. “We chose the name Kairos because of it’s uniqu

CIGAR PACKAGE DESIGN LOOKING TO FILL VOID IN THE CIGAR INDUSTRY (Miami, FL) March 18, 2014 — Can I Have your Attention (CIHYA) Advertising and Branding announces the creation of “ Cigar Package Design. ” Cigar Package Design is making waves in the cigar industry with their branding and design campaigns. Based in Miami Beach, FL, managing partners Humberto Areas and Cleveland Cook created the Cigar Package Design division in response to demand due to their stellar work with the Toraño Family Cigar Company, Dona Flor Cigars, Azan Cigars , and Titan de Bronze Cigar Company . They noticed a void in the industry and have filled the need. As a cigar advertising and design firm, Cigar Package Design spotlights brands from identity and cigar band graphics to complete advertising campaigns. Cigar Package Design is the brainchild of CIHYA’s managing member Humberto Areas .  Humberto, born in Nicaragua got his feet wet in the cigar industry when Willy Herrera’

This is the first cigar blended by Nish Patel that I have smoked that I am aware of.  I picked up this Rocky Patel Xen by Nish Patel at Cigar Train the other day for the drive home but didn't smoke it until the next day. Quick Details Cigar Size: 4  x 54 Short Robusto Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Connecticut Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Secret filler core blend Cutting Method:  Colibri V-Cutter Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $6.99 purchased at Cigar Train This Xen by Nish Patel had very good overall construction. The smooth Connecticut wrapper was put on with seamless care and there were only the finest of veins present. Cold aromas from the foot were a mixture of sweet tea and toast. Once the cap was clipped with my Colibri V-cutter the smooth, free cold draw tasted like sweet tea. After the cigar was toasted and burning the first draws yielded a flavor mixture of mild bodied oak and sugar. As the burn progressed I could taste brown sugar, cream, coffee and a mild sweet

Big things come in small packages! There was a bit of apprehension on my part the other day when I plucked this Nirvana Cameroon Selection by Drew Estate and Royal Gold Cigars out of the box at Cigar Train , a 4 x 44 cigar and a $9.99 price tag, wow. But, I soon found out this cigar was a little stick of dynamite dressed up as a cigar. Read on and find out why... Quick Details Cigar Size: 4  x 44 Silencio Wrapper: Rosado wrapper grown in the Eastern province of Cameroon Binder: San Andreas, Mexico Filler: Nicaraguan, Jalapa and Estelí, Jamastran region of Honduras Cutting Method: Table top V cutter Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $9.99 purchased at Cigar Train Construction of this cigar is well above average, the dual bands blend well with the oily Cameroon wrapper. The wrapper itself is rolled on with no visible seams and you would pretty much have to call the wrapper vein free. Feeling down the body it was firmly packed full length and the foot had aromas of black pepp

There were couple things that surprised me with this cigar. When I slid this stick out of the tube I noticed two things right away, first it had  no band, second it was a what I would call rustic looking with its rough exterior texture. Neither of these things change the way a cigar smokes, it just struck me a odd. Back in the day, I smoked quite a bit of Partagas product and I'm not sure why I don't any more, but this Black Label was a good stick to get me feet wet with again. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6  x 50 Maximo (Toro) Tubo Wrapper:  Connecticut Medio Tiempo Binder: Dominican-grown 'La Vega Especial' Filler: Nicaraguan and Piloto Cubano Ligero Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Price: $9.99 purchased at Cigar Train Once this Partagas Black Label Maximo was free from the tube I did my normal cold testing. I found notes of spiced tea and perhaps a touch of spiced rum from the foot and once the cap was clipped I found about the same flavors from the fr

A few years ago Logan from Cigar Federation  turned me on to these cigars and I've been smoking them ever since. With the arrival of my new humidor two weeks ago I started rearranging my cigar stock and came to the realization there were nearly a box of these La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte robusto cigars tucked away in various humidors.  Quick Details Cigar Size: 5.5  x 54 Robusto Wrapper:  Pennsylvania Broad-leaf Filler: Nicaraguan long-leaf ligeros from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa Construction wise these cigars are pretty nice. They come packed in a dark thick, toothy, oily  Oscuro wrapper with a few small veins and tight but apparent seams. Testing the aromas from the foot, there is a strong woody, chocolate mixture to the nose. Once the head is clipped the free draw contains notes of cocoa and oak. After this medium/full bodied cigar starts burning, the real fun begins. Right from the start this La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte is in my opinion a chocolate bomb.

I have been told the blends have been changed and they haven't been changed. All I can say for sure is, that for one reason or another the two cigars were much different. I'm not sure if I will ever know the truth. ************* This is a pretty unique review for me. It's not often I have two versions of one cigar. It just happened that a few weeks ago while at Cigar Train I picked up the Camacho Triple Maduro in the old version, then last week the new versions arrived in the store so I picked up the new Camacho Triple Maduro with this review in mind. Quick Details: Old New Cigar Size: 4.5 x 50 5 x 50 Wrapper: Maduro San Andres Maduro (Mexico) Binder: Maduro Authentic Corojo Maduro Filler: Maduro Maduro (HN, DR, BR) Pairing: Cravens French Roast Cravens French Roast Price: 8.99 9.99 Old Blend:  Construction wise this was a pretty nice cigar. The dual silver bands   create a nice contrast with the dark maduro wrapper.  The sturdy, toothy wrapper was ro

It's a great feeling when someone asks you to review their cigars, but you know what? It's an even better feeling when someone asks you to review a great cigar! That's the case with this Veritas Torch Habano Toro. Veritas Cigars asked me to review this stick and boy it turn out to be a real winner in my book. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6  x 50 Toro Wrapper: Sun Grown Ecuadorean Habano Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Jalapa and Ometepe Cutting Method:  Colibri V-cutter Paired with: French roast coffee Price: $7.60 Sample provided for review by Veritas Cigars I have been going crazy the last week trying to work this Veritas Torch Habano into my review rotation because I was really excited about giving it a try. Before pulling off the cellophane I had no idea the cigar had a pigtail cap and a closed foot, I like that. Like always the first step for me is to check the foot for aromas. I put the cigar to my nose and inhaled deeply, when the aroma from the foot of this

I have been so impressed with these newly banded cigars from Camacho Cigars that over the next week or so I will be reviewing all the blends that are in stock at Cigar Train here in Spokane. Today, it's the Connecticut Robusto. As a side note, I used this cigar and the Criollo in a coffee-cigar pairing experiment for Cravens Coffee  using their  French roast  blend. Cravens Coffee is a medium sized roasting company also located here in Spokane. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Connecticut Binder: Authentic Corojo Filler: Honduran Generoso & Aleman Ligero Cutting Method: Colibri Slice Price: $7.99 purchased at Cigar Train Take a look at the picture of the Connecticut robusto and you will see one of the reasons these Camacho cigars impress me, construction is nothing but top of the line. There are no seams or veins present in the picture and I didn't Photoshop them out.  Checking the foot for cold aromas I found notes of to

Every trip to Cigar Train , I grab a couple more of these re-banded Camacho Cigars . Because of the bold new packaging I just can't resist these cigars. For this review I chose the Criollo Robusto and it proved to be another great choice. Read on and find out why... Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto Wrapper:  Criollo 98 (4th priming) Binder: Authentic Corojo Filler: Honduran Criollo, Dominican Piloto Cubano Smoking Time: 50 minutes Price: $7.99 purchased at Cigar Train I know, all I can talk about is the great job Camacho did with the new packaging. However that's not what keeps me buying more every time I visit Cigar Train. This cigar has impeccable construction. You can see in the picture this stick has seamless construction and the wrapper is virtually vein free.  Feeling down the body, it's packed firm full length with no hard or soft patches and once you check aromas from the foot, there are nice notes of tea mixed with rich tobacco to the

This silver carbon fiber Colibri slice double guillotine cutter came in a humidor, lighter, cutter and ashtray package from CheapHumidors.com . As time allows I'll review the other products included in the package. Quick Details: 440 stainless steel blades 64 ring gauge Rubber side grips Spring-loaded release Gift box included Two-year Warranty Price: $29.99 CheapHumidors.com Overall this is a pretty nice cutter, it has an attractive overall appearance, it's fairly sharp and the rubber grips on the sides are a nice touch. As I said earlier,  it was part of a set, and it matches well with the Colibri Sapphire single jet lighter that was included.  On the Colibri website this cutter retails for $85.00 and is on sale for  $55.00 at the moment. This makes the $29.99 price tag a real deal. Another plus is the nice gift box that Colibri supplies with the cutter. There was a bit of a learning curve to open this spring loaded cutter one handed due to the way it's d

This Room 101 HN corona is my first Room 101 cigar review. I do have a couple other Room 101  cigars that have been in my humidor the past couple of months that I will review soon. I've heard many good things about Room 101 cigars so I'm excited to give this one a try. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5.2  x 44 (213) Corona Wrapper:  Criollo '98 Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina Filler: Nicaraguan Dominican Navarette Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Price: $7.99 purchased at Cigar Train Construction of this HN corona is spot on. The Criollo '98 wrapper was put on with seamless care, there are only the finest amount of veins and there's a medium amount of tooth present. Feeling down the body of the cigar, it was packed a touch on the softer side of the scale. Checking the cigar for cold aromas I found a nice mix of spicy cedar and toast. Once the end was clipped the free cold draw had the same flavor notes. Once the cigar was toasted and burning the first draws h

Since my first time reading about the 601 La Bomba Warhead I have wanted to get my hands on one. Last week Cigar Train mentioned they were in stock so I ran right over and picked one up. The 601 La Bomba Warhead is a limited edition cigar with only 2,000 boxes of 10 being produced. It is the first cigar in the 601 La Bomba line to be produce with a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper. It has a fuse-like pig tail, it's box-pressed and the band looks like a World War II bomb when it's stretched out flat. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6. 5  x 54 Box-pressed Wrapper:  Connecticut Broadleaf maduro Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Colibri V-Cutter Paired with:  Cravens Coffee French Roast Price: $11.99 purchased at Cigar Train Visual inspection of the 601 La Bomba Warhead reveals a cigar with top-notch construction. The sturdy Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper has a light amount of tooth, is rolled on with seamless skill and only the finest of v

After a great deal of trial and error, I am finally at the point where I can give this Cravens French Roast the review it deserves. Simon Thompson, owner of Cravens Coffee , gave me this French roast coffee sample specifically to pair with cigars. Backing up a step or two, this Cravens French roast is a much darker roast than I am used to drinking so it took some trial and error with grinds and coffee ratios to brew my "perfect cup of coffee". Yesterday I paired this French roast with the 601 Warhead cigar that I was smoking for review and today I am sampling the coffee without the cigar to note the flavor changes. This is what I have found so far... Quick Details Flavor Profile: Caramelized, direct, robust Primary Origin: Costa Rica Monte Crisol Roast: Dark / French Brewing method: Pour over All Cigars purchased from Cigar Train in Spokane WA. To begin, this is the description of the French Roast from Cravens web site, "Central America’s Ticos – as Costa

I have to admit that I have a hard time passing up Gurkha's because of their great band art and in doing so I've discovered some pretty good sticks. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5  x 52 Robusto Wrapper:  Havana Oscuro Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Smoking time: 45 minutes Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $5.99 purchased at Cigar Train I guess the first thing to mention about the Gurkha Trident is the lack of credible information about the cigar. There is nothing about this stick on the Gurkha web site and the big online dealers list the wrapper in one place as Connecticut Broad leaf Maduro, and on the same page as Havana Oscuro. The wrapper itself is pretty dark so I am going with Oscuro on this one. Construction wise, this cigar is sharp. It has a nice band that contrasts well against the dark, oily, seamless Oscuro wrapper. Looking for veins in the wrapper, you have to look close to find any, it's that nice. Testing the foot

This Nomad S-307 Box-Pressed Toro is another sample provided by House of Emilio and is the first stick produced by the  Nomad Cigar Company  I have smoked. I am pleased to say it turned out to be a real winner. Read on to see why. Quick Details Cigar Size: 6  x 50 Toro Box-pressed Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Sumatra Binder: Ecuadorian Habano Filler: Nicaraguan Factory: AJ Fernandez Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Smoking time: 60 minutes Price: $7.95 MSRP. Sample provided by House of Emilio Looking at this Nomad S-307 Box-Pressed Toro I see a nice box-pressed cigar with above average construction. The Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper is oily, it shows only the finest of veins, there is a light amount of tooth and it's put on with near invisible seams. Checking the foot for cold aromas I find notes of tea, black pepper and a slight fruitiness. After clipping off part of the cap, the cold draw is firm, but free, and I can taste rich tobacco, black pe

While at Cigar Train the other day I picked up the La Aurora 1495 No.4 to smoke on the drive home. This is the first La Aurora cigar I have reviewed and probably only the second I have ever smoked. Come to find out, as I was reading about this cigar I learned that Jose Blanco originally blended this cigar and I think that's pretty neat. So let's find out just what I thought about the La Aurora 1495 No. 4. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5.25  x 43 Corona Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Binder: Dominican Corojo Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, Peruvian Cutting Method: In store table top V-cutter Paired with: Diet Pepsi Price: $6.99 at Cigar Train Construction of the 1495 is spot on. It has a nice oily Sumatran wrapper that is nearly vein free that was rolled on with near seamless skill. Feeling down the body it is packed firmly with no overly hard or soft spots. To the nose the foot has an aroma mix of tea, fruit and rich tobacco. After clipping the end the free cold draw had

I've smoked a few sticks from Cult Cigars  in the past and really liked them, so on my last trip to Cigar Train I picked up the Cult Ometepe Grande Robusto to see what it was like. Quick Details Cigar Size: 5.5  x 54 Grande Robusto Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Ometepe, Nicaraguan Filler: Jalapa, Nicaraguan Cutting Method:  Xikar guillotine Paired with: Diet Pepsi Purchased at Cigar Train Cult is another cigar company that I feel does a better than average job on their band artwork and the Cult Ometepe is another good example with it's double band. The red, white and black band really stands out against the seamless Habano wrapper. The wrapper has a nice oily sheen and contained only one fine vein. Feeling down the body it was well packed, firm, but not hard and there were no soft spots to be found.  Checking the foot for cold aromas was a rewarding experience, there were strong floral notes combined with rich tobacco and sweet tea. Once the end was clip