The Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

Yesterday being Halloween and all, I decided to light up a Halloween-themed cigar: the Pudgy Monsters sampler version of Tatuaje’s Mummy (5.75 x 47). (As an aside, I should point out that although the holiday-themed limited edition cigars were novel and fun when they started, they’ve definitely gotten a little out of control.) The Nicaraguan puro features an attractive sun-grown criollo leaf which extends to a closed foot. The cigar has lots of woodsy notes, cocoa, and just a bit of cinnamon spice, resulting in a medium to full body. A slightly uneven burn self corrected relatively quickly and otherwise construction and combustion was flawless. Between the size and the flavors, this remains one of my favorite cigars from the Pudgy Monsters collection.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Drew Estate extended its My Uzi Weighs a Ton (MUWAT) brand in 2013 with the addition of Kentucky Fire Cured (KFC). A project over two years in the making, KFC is crafted at the Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua using, as Jonathan Drew puts it, “dark fire-cured” tobaccos from a proprietary seed called KY190, Burley. The leaves are cured in a barn under fires of hickory and maple. Just a Friend (6 x 52) is one of seven vitolas. It retails for about $9 and, as you’d expect, exhibits a tremendously unique profile of barbeque sauce, chewy meat, hickory, leather, sweet tobacco, and peat. Though, notably, the taste is more toned-down than the pre-light aromas might lead you to believe. But this is still as close to a love-it-or-hate-it blend as you can get. And my palate doesn’t seem well-suited to the distinctive MUWAT KFC taste.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

When my colleague reviewed the Neanderthal SGP this past week, it reminded me I had a Neanderthal I’ve been meaning to fire up. I’ve smoked the original HN size before, but not this new petit corona size, which comes only (for now) as part of the El Catador de Las Petite Coronas box, which has two each of RoMa Craft Tobac’s five blends, each in a little (4 x 46) size for $62.50. Much like the larger sizes I’ve smoked, the HoxD trades away nuance and subtlety for power, which manifests itself as damp earth, charred oak, and black pepper. Even more so than the larger sizes, this cigar tastes raw and coarse, which is probably the point. But it’s a little too much in such a small, concentrated size.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

I visited the Portsmouth location of Federal Cigar earlier this week. Federal, which has four locations in New Hampshire, is known for exclusive offerings from a variety of cigar makers. The Headley Grange Snaredrum, for example, is an exclusive size of the Crowned Heads blend. It’s a “corona especiales” (6 x 38) with the original Headley Grange recipe: Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper around Nicaraguan tobaccos. Only 3,000 Snaredrums were made, and they can be bought online for $9.25 (or, for some reason, $11 at the Portsmouth cigar bar). I found the Snaredrum to be a nice combination of honey, graham, spice, and oak with excellent construction. The fast-burning cigar has a short finish, though, and the profile leaves my palate a little dry. So I’m not fully convinced it’s worth the cost.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

Over the summer I renewed my Cigar Rights of America membership by buying a ten-cigar sampler that included this special Tatuaje Black Toro. Since the size can only be purchased as part of the CRA sampler, I hadn’t smoked one since I reviewed one six years ago. The cigar features the same flavors I’ve come to expect from the Black Label  line, including leather, bread, and subtle spice. But it’s a good bit stronger than the recent Petit Lancero and Corona Gorda sizes I’ve smoked. Although not my favorite size for this blend, it’s still an excellent, well-made cigar and, especially since you have to join Cigar Rights of America to get one, it is easy to recommend.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

The Belicoso (6 x 52) from Drew Estate’s T52 line never disappoints. A hallmark of consistency, this cigar delivers superb construction with a rich, ultra-oily profile of leather, coffee, black pepper, cocoa, and that trademark Liga Privada sweet creamy grassiness (many of you know what I’m talking about; the ability to accurately describe the sensation escapes me). While it may not be inexpensive—keep in mind the stalk-cut “American Habano” Connecticut wrapper is costly to produce—I think you’ll agree you need to treat yourself to a T52 every now and then.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This is the crazy season of bourbon. Super-hard-to-find, rare, limited editions are being released in very small quantities, and buyers are going to ridiculous lengths to get them. Some want to drink them, others are looking to profit off a secondary market where a rare bottle purchased one day can sell for many times the retail price a few days later.

Here’s an example: Two days ago a bottle of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon I had ordered arrived at my local liquor store. But because it was listed in their online inventory, by the time I had picked it up the store manager said he had received dozens of calls for the bottle. Just two years ago I bought three bottles for the same price with no fuss at all and I could have (and probably should have) bought many more.

Wild Turkey Master’s Keep bourbon is certainly a product of that craziness. The 17 year Wild Turkey is the oldest ever released by Wild Turkey, and Wild Turkey knows that such a rare bourbon can command a price; in this case, $150 for a 750 ml. bottle. Albeit rare, that high price (even in this overheated bourbon market) has meant that a month after the release you can still find Master’s Keep on some shelves if you want one.

The story of how this bourbon came to be is a complicated one. Long story short, after being distilled in 1996, the barrels spent only a short period of time in Wild Turkey’s warehouses before they were moved to brick warehouses nearby. In 2003, they were moved again to different brick warehouse before finally being moved back into traditional wood and metal Wild Turkey rickhouses in 2010.

The time in brick warehouses, where bourbon tends to age more slowly, has had a considerable impact on the bourbon. For one thing, rather that increasing in proof over time, Master’s Keep decreased in proof over time, to 43.4% ABV (86.8-proof).

The result is a bourbon with a truly fantastic nose. It’s a rich combination of mulling spices, apple, pear, tree sap, and pie crust. On the plate there is caramel, clove spice, burnt sugar, and oak. The finish features lots of dry oak.

It’s a unique and delicate bourbon that deserves an equally subtle cigar. A few recommendations: Illusione Singulare LE 2014 Anunnaki, Paul Garmirian Gourmet, and the Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda.

Ultimately, however, when it comes to price I have trouble spending $150 on Master’s Keep. It’s not that it isn’t good. It is. And it’s surely unique and tasty. But anticlimactically, the nose is the aspect of the bourbon that stands out the most. I would highly recommend trying to find some in a bar before shelling out for a full bottle.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys