Cigar Thread

gunnut said:

Cigar Aficionado and their ratings can suck it. After smoking some of their highly rated cigars, I don't put a lot of credence in their reviews anymore.

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It's really a matter of taste. I've found that the editors at Cigar Aficionado lean toward complex flavor profiles and medium-full bodies. There are a lot of people that lean in the completely opposite direction.

My wife's boss got me into cigars, but we're polar opposites on taste. He likes natural Connecticut wrappers, Honduran fillers, simple flavor profiles, and mild bodies, and I like maduro wrappers, Nicaraguan or Ecuadoran fillers, complex flavor profiles, and full bodies. If it's a double or triple ligero (top leaves from tobacco plant), it gets bonus points for me. We're the same way on beer - Stella Artois for him and Guinness Extra Stout for me.

I mostly smoke Padrón cigars, but I try to keep a lot of variety around, too. Just like Scotch, different moods and conditions call for different flavors. I'm always looking to try something new.

Well, last night turned out to be a pretty nice night to fire up the outdoor fireplace and enjoy a cigar with some bourbon. The stogie up for review this time is the Rocky Patel Fusion Toro.

Size: 6.5 x 52.

Wrapper: This one has an Ecuadorian sun grown habano wrapper. It's kind of reddish brown in color and doesn't have a whole lot of tooth to it. It's also kind of thin.

Cold Draw: On the cold draw, a sort of "barnyard" flavor jumps out. You know that sweet hay smell that hits you as you walk into a hay loft? That's what the cold draw tastes like to me.

Flavor: Once the cigar heats up a little, the predominant flavors are of wood and leather. There's some black pepper flavor present as well. Every now and then there is a VERY faint sweetness. The cigar is a little oily, but not as oily as I tend to like.

Body: Medium/Full

Strength: This one has a bit of a nicotine punch to it, but nothing massive.

Draw: Nice and loose, just the way I like it.

Burn: The burn line was a bit wavy, but fixed itself when I performed the "put the long side on top" trick to even it out. It never got to the point where I had to correct it with a torch, but it was still annoying. As far as I'm concerned, a guy shouldn't have to pay much attention to a cigar in order to make sure that it burns evenly. To be honest, this seems like a recurring theme with Rocky cigars. I don't think I've ever had one that burned perfectly.

Smoke production: LOTS (and I mean LOTS) of smoke.

Smoke Time: One hour and ten minutes.

Overall Impression: Meh. As much as I try to like Rocky Patel cigars, I'm just not that impressed. The only two I've ever enjoyed are the Vintage 92 and the Sungrown. One thing I'll say about this particular cigar though is that it seemed to REALLY bring out the flavors in my Woodford. I always enjoy some Woodford, but this cigar somehow seemed to give it a "pop."

This afternoon while working, I enjoyed a Camacho Triple Maduro Robusto (5x50). Usually I smoke a Perfecto (6x54 torpedo), but this is what was picked up for me on the last minute cigar run for these gorgeous days.



I normally use a standard guillotine cutter, but I've been experimenting with a punch recently on lower-tar cigars, so I punched it. I used a triple flame torch to toast the foot.

As the name implies, the entire cigar is made from maduro leaves. (Normally, when you buy a "maduro", only the wrapper is maduro.) That makes for a very full-bodied cigar with bold flavor. This is definitely not a cigar for amateurs, and you really need to keep some sort of sugary drink around unless you want a nap immediately afterward. (In my case, I was sipping on a Mountain Dew.)

The first few puffs feel like you've had a brick thrown at the back of your throat, though that's not a bad thing. The flavor will tend to linger there afterward. Those initial few puffs reminded me of leather and burning oak. However, very quickly things smooth out. The smoke becomes creamy - almost feeling like there is a coating being left behind. The flavor quickly settles into espresso, wood, and cocoa, and it stays fairly consistent in composition and strength throughout. The final third adds a slight hint of pepper. The draw is relatively easy, but just hard enough that it doesn't burn to fast.

Smoke time was approximately 1h20m with no need to relight. There were a couple of burn issues, but none that couldn't be fixed with a wet fingertip - so better than average for a sub-$9 stick. It does put out a lot of smoke, but it's a medium-thin smoke.

Seeing as it was the last gorgeous day we're going to have for a little while, I decided to head home early, throw some meat on the grill, and smoke a cigar while sipping a bourbon and coke.

Today's stogie for review is the Obsidian White Noise in 6.5 x 54

Size: 6.5 x 54

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano. This wrapper was kind of a reddish gold and was very veiny. While it's not advertised as a sun grown wrapper, I suspect that it might be due to the thickness, pronounced veins, and oiliness.

Cold Draw: There's very little flavor on the cold draw. It's hard to explain...maybe a slight grassy flavor with a little bit of a cherry sweetness.

Flavor: This one was kind of peculiar. For the first fifteen minutes or so, the only flavor I could pick out was an earthiness with a very faint sweetness that was backed up with a spicy pepper flavor. Honestly, I wonder if it wasn't because of the large ring gauge. After it heated up a little, the pepper backed off and there was a very pleasant blend of cedar, cream, and sweetness.

Body: I read a review about this one that claimed the stick was medium to full bodied, but that wasn't my impression at all. IMO, it was mild to medium.

Strength: This one is probably what most would classify as "just right." There's just enough nicotine kick to enhance a whiskey buzz, but not enough to rise to the level of a kick to the junk.

Draw: For me, the draw was just on the firm side of perfect. Again, I prefer a loose draw, so most people would probably think the draw was just right as well.

Burn: Not bad. Not bad at all. While the burn line wasn't razor sharp, it wasn't nearly as wavy as the Rocky cigars I've tried lately.

Smoke production: This stick produces a decent amount of thin white smoke. It's not a smoke bomb by any means, but that's ok.

Smoke Time: I was a little surprised that I only got an hour and fifteen minutes out of this big of a stick. That being said, it didn't seem to have much heft so it may have been fairly loosely rolled. Being as it is a very cheap stick, that may be something to be expected.

Overall Impression: The white noise is a pleasant surprise. I picked it up with my last big order from Cbid and only gave $2 for it. Given the extremely low price point, I had very low expectations for it. I've been on a "try something new" kick for my last few cigars and I'm glad I picked this one up. It's not on my short list by any means, but for the money it's surprisingly good.

soonerwings said:

Well, last night turned out to be a pretty nice night to fire up the outdoor fireplace and enjoy a cigar with some bourbon. The stogie up for review this time is the Rocky Patel Fusion Toro.

Size: 6.5 x 52.

Wrapper: This one has an Ecuadorian sun grown habano wrapper. It's kind of reddish brown in color and doesn't have a whole lot of tooth to it. It's also kind of thin.

Cold Draw: On the cold draw, a sort of "barnyard" flavor jumps out. You know that sweet hay smell that hits you as you walk into a hay loft? That's what the cold draw tastes like to me.

Flavor: Once the cigar heats up a little, the predominant flavors are of wood and leather. There's some black pepper flavor present as well. Every now and then there is a VERY faint sweetness. The cigar is a little oily, but not as oily as I tend to like.

Body: Medium/Full

Strength: This one has a bit of a nicotine punch to it, but nothing massive.

Draw: Nice and loose, just the way I like it.

Burn: The burn line was a bit wavy, but fixed itself when I performed the "put the long side on top" trick to even it out. It never got to the point where I had to correct it with a torch, but it was still annoying. As far as I'm concerned, a guy shouldn't have to pay much attention to a cigar in order to make sure that it burns evenly. To be honest, this seems like a recurring theme with Rocky cigars. I don't think I've ever had one that burned perfectly.

Smoke production: LOTS (and I mean LOTS) of smoke.

Smoke Time: One hour and ten minutes.

Overall Impression: Meh. As much as I try to like Rocky Patel cigars, I'm just not that impressed. The only two I've ever enjoyed are the Vintage 92 and the Sungrown. One thing I'll say about this particular cigar though is that it seemed to REALLY bring out the flavors in my Woodford. I always enjoy some Woodford, but this cigar somehow seemed to give it a "pop."

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nice, very nice. I might have to try that one.

Ok, I've been a little remiss. I actually smoked this one last weekend but never got around to writing the review. I'll have to do this one from memory, but this stick left a strong enough (favorable) impression on me to minimize the impact of memory fade over time. The stogie for review is the Perdomo Champagne Sungrown in the Corona Extra vitola.

Size: 5.6 x 46

Wrapper: Nicaraguan sun grown. From what I've been able to gather, it's a variant of the Connecticut wrapper that has been sun grown rather than shade grown. The wrapper is a light brown with hints of red in color. As one would expect from a sun grown wrapper, it's fairly veiny with a little bit of tooth. It's nice and oily, as evidenced by a noticeable sheen.

Cold Draw: This is another stogie with what I've called a "barnyard" flavor on the cold draw.

Flavor: At first, there's a peppery spiciness to the cigar with little other flavor. The stogie leaves an oil on the lips that has a nice burn to it. After a few minutes, the peppery spiciness fades and there's a definite cedar flavor coupled with a noticeable sweetness. One other thing, and this is going to sound a little crazy... This cigar also has a SMOKY flavor to it that compliments the cedar and sweetness perfectly. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that ALL cigars have a smoky flavor but not like this. Usually, the smoke from a cigar (to me) tastes earthy, leathery, woody, or nutty. The smoky flavor that I'm talking about here is the sort of flavor that is usually jumps out in smoked meat. This cigar is delicious.

Body: It's a tough call between medium and full on this one. It's either the high end of medium or the low end of full.

Strength: I found this one to be "just right." There's not so little nicotine punch that you don't know you've had a cigar and there's not the "kick to the jimmy" strength that makes you think you see a lighted tunnel populated by your dead relatives that are beckoning you toward the light.

Draw: Just a little on the firm side of perfect. Given my preference for a loose draw, many people will find this one to be in their sweet spot.

Burn: There was just a touch of waviness (really just a little, and not nearly as much as the average Rocky Patel) in the first third of the cigar. After I turned the cigar to put the long side on top, it corrected nicely and had a razor sharp burn for the remainder of the cigar. Very nice.

Smoke Production: This stogie produces a very generous amount of milky white smoke

Smoke Time: Ok, I'm impressed. Despite it's small size (I tend to favor smaller ring gauges because they tend to let the wrapper take center stage) this cigar still gave a solid hour before it was burning too hot for my tastes.

Overall impression: I'm EXTREMELY impressed by this cigar. Given that you can find them for $4-5 per stick (if you buy them by the 5 pack or greater) it's a hell of a deal. This one is joining a few others on my "Everyday smoke" list and will become a staple in my humidor.

I just received an order from Cigars International. I purchased their infused grab bag and a 20ct bundle of Petrus Etiquette Rouge 5.5" x 43.

I smoked a Petrus Etiquette Rouge the other night and was rather impressed. The taste was smooth with an oak presence. The draw was a bit light as the cigar is firm, but I didn't want to loosen the cigar for the first smoke before knowing what it's naturally like. It's a medium body with decent strength. The burn was very even with medium amount of smoke. The burn time is solid for the size at over an hour.

I'm glad I grabbed the bundle and for $17, they're surprisingly good quality. Mind you, I no aficionado and an amateur cigar enthusiast.

Oliva Serie V Melanio Gran Reserva Limitada

Strength: FULL BODY
Size: 6 1/2" x 52
Wrapper: Sumatra

Handmand, very strong full body cigar. Comes in a box of 10. After my second box I find these are 2014 #1 cigar of the year. I'm not going to waste the fun explaining the flavors and aroma of this perfect smoke, just try one yourself. Usually in stock @ Party Moore if you're local.

Goes great with old peaty/smoky scotches and nagging wives.

Glad you mentioned Party Moore store, didn't know it was there and we just drove by there.


I'll hafta ck it out. Thanks

zznickel said:

Glad you mentioned Party Moore store, didn't know it was there

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Same here. It'll be nice to have another option that doesn't require a visit to north OKC.