The Stogie Guys

“Brazilian cigars have never really gained traction with American cigar smokers, something that I can’t understand just thinking about the Brazilian tobacco tradition…” So said Lorenzo Orsi in a December 2008 interview.

Five months before, Orsi introduced Monte Pascoal at the IPCPR Trade Show. This blend, named to honor the mountain that was the first piece of land spotted by Brazil discoverer Pedro Álvares Cabral, is a Brazilian puro.

It is constructed almost entirely from mata fina tobaccos with some mata norte mixed in the filler to provide power. The difference between the two, aside from the region in which they are grown, is mata fina is sungrown in sandy soil and barn-dried to yield a sweet smoke, while mata norte is planted later in the year and dried in the open air to yield a full-bodied taste of coffee and nuts.

To manufacture his creation, Orsi, a native of Italy currently living in São Paulo, bought the Brazilian factory that once produced Caravelas cigars. He then built a cedar aging room, invested in new cigar molds, and refined the system of production while retaining all of the rollers—a nine-month process that no doubt benefited from his expertise as an industrial manager in the steel industry.

Today, Monte Pascoal’s distribution in the U.S. is limited but growing. Found at select tobacconists and occasionally available online, the blend comes in six traditional sizes, two of which have earned ratings at or above 9.0 in Smoke Magazine.

The five inch by 50 ring gauge Robusto sells for $7 apiece and sports a firm feel, a gorgeous triple cap, and a pre-light aroma of cocoa. Handsome, albeit coarse, Monte Pascoal helps dispel the myth that Brazilian cigars are less attractive than their Caribbean counterparts.

The foot of the dark, reddish cigar takes to a wooden match easily to establish an easy light. From there, a dry profile of espresso, walnut, and peat emerges. Rustic and resinous with some sweetness on the finish for complexity.

While this flavor is enjoyable, it’s nothing like the chocolate cake taste I often associate with mata fina tobacco (most notably in the Alonso Menendez, another Brazilian puro). No, the Monte Pascoal has a profile all its own, and one that’s sure to please cigar enthusiasts who are looking for something a little different.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that this review is based off a single sample—a temptation I rarely indulge and one that I don’t plan to make into a habit. But I did test-drive this blend in several sizes, each of which exhibited similar flavors and outstanding combustion qualities. So I can heartily recommend the Monte Pascoal Robusto if you’re ready to delve into Brazilian tobacco. It earns four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Mederos Cigars is a new outfit that debuted at the 2009 IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans. Named for Cuban-born Carlos Mederos, the cigars are rolled in Estelí, Nicaragua, using tobacco from Mederos’ Estelí farm.

Mederos’ story reads like the history of so many cigar makers of Cuban descent. In Cuba, Carlos worked alongside his father and grandfather in a cigar factory but eventually left the island in 1983 to make a better life for his family in the United States. Never forgetting his cigar roots, he ended up purchasing his own farm in Estelí in 2006.

The result of his journey is a Nicaraguan puro that comes in four sizes, all with a ring gauge of 50: Fifty 1 (robusto), Fifty 2 (toro), Fifty 3 (torpedo), and Fifty 4 (double corona). For this review I smoked a few samples of the five-inch robusto size.

It features a corojo wraper from Jalapa, Nicaragua, that is slightly dry in appearance with many small veins. The robusto feels firm to the touch and well-constructed.

Once lit, I find a medium-bodied smoke with distinct sweet cedar flavors and a cinnamon spice. While it”s not overly complex, it does have a sweet-and-spicy characteristic commonly found in a Cameroon-wrapped smoke.

With the exception of the defining flavors growing slightly stronger as the cigar progresses, there is little variation from start to finish. Fortunately, construction is excellent with a stable gray ash and  an easy draw.

Available for around $6, there’s a lot to like about the straight-forward flavors of the Mederos Fifty 1. No, you won’t be blown away by complexity, but you will appreciate its pleasant and balanced profile.

Mr. Mederos should be proud of his first creation, which earns a most respectable rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A victim of the cigar boom that was later bought up and revived by Cigars International, 5 Vegas (pronounced “Cinco Vegas”) has a loyal following for its consistency and value. Several of the brand’s lines, including the maduro-wrapped Series ‘A’ and the Sumatra-wrapped Classic, are considered reliable everyday smokes for cigar enthusiasts far and wide.

A top seller among them is the Gold. This Honduran-made smoke is, according to Cigars International, evidence that “milder cigars still rule…despite the pomp and circumstance surrounding full-bodied, powerhouse cigars these days.”

Packaged in trapezoidal prism-shaped boxes of 20, Gold features a long filler of five-year-old Cuban-seed tobaccos from Nicaragua and Honduras and a Honduran binder. It is draped in a smooth Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper with an ochre hue and few veins

Seven sizes are available, including a box-pressed format called “Double Nickel” and a small smoke called “Nuggets.” Opting for a more traditional vitola, I chose the Torpedo (6 x 54) for this review. It is a predominantly handsome yet listless-looking cigar with a delicate aroma of hay and sharp cap that’s prone to minor tears.

After toasting the foot, the Torpedo shows promise with a flavor of creamy almond and a surprisingly peppery finish. The profile, although a tad salty, is nicely balanced and the resting smoke is subtle and appealing.

Another positive trait that quickly emerges is the Torpedo’s effortless draw. Each puff is noticeably clear, producing rich, voluminous billows of white smoke—likely contributing to the cigar’s relatively quick burn.

Approaching the midway point, the taste settles into one of less pepper and more cream. A caramel-like sweetness is also present, adding a bit of depth to the mild smoke. Then, as the straight burn progresses, the finale is marked by an even milder flavor that makes specific notes difficult to pick up.

On the whole, while I may not agree with the Gold blend’s more enthusiastic reviews, I concur that this an good value—especially for only $65 per box or $18 per five-pack.

The Torpedo works well in the morning, and its excellent construction makes it a prime candidate for the golf course. Impressed but not enthralled, I give the 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Since I reviewed it in May, the Cubano Claro Toro has been a staple in my humidor for its affordable price, unique flavor, and solid construction. Now it seems appropriate to examine another size in this blend: the seven inch by 48 ring gauge Churchill.

It, too, is made by Cuban Crafters from desflorado tobacco, a difficult and finicky leaf that’s often reserved for rare and expensive cigars. The desflorado process requires the buds on tobacco plants to be cut off before they flower to give the leaves a rich, smooth taste. Then, in the case of Cubano Claro, the best leaves are hand selected from the tops of each plant to create the Connecticut desflorado wrapper for this line, a project that was four years in the making.

But don’t let the phrase “Connecticut wrapper” fool you. With a relatively dark complexion and a reddish-yellow hue, this cigar doesn’t look, smell, or feel like a traditional Connecticut leaf. It is highlighted by a clean cap, few noticeable veins or seams, and a pre-light aroma of salty hay.

Like the Toro, which also has a slender physique, the Churchill’s dimensions allow for more of the wrapper—the highlight of the blend—and a little less of the Cuban-seed long-filler from the Cupido tobacco fields to shine through in each puff. This must have been a conscious strategy when the nine Cubano Claro sizes were chosen; the widest vitola is the 50 ring gauge Torpedo.

I sampled five Churchills for this review. This size, which retails for $6.50 apiece when bought by the cedar humidor box of 20, starts with a flourish of onion, olive, and bread after an easy light. Each medium-bodied puff produces ample tufts of cool smoke.

Then, as was the case with the Toro, the midway point is characterized by a creamier taste of nuts and milk chocolate. While the overall profile is slightly subdued here, the Churchill is still flavorful with a well-balanced, somewhat dry profile. Truly a pleasure to smoke.

The cigar’s combustion, all the while, remains outstanding. My samples all included a razor-sharp burn with a shiny mascara, a firm white ash, and an easy draw. These set-it-and-forget-it physical properties enable you to focus on the development of the taste without interruption.

Overall, like many other Cuban Crafters creations, the Cubano Claro Churchill is an excellent value that won’t disappoint. It demonstrates superb aging potential and, for now, earns four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The Davidoff Colorado Claro is a limited edition line using the same blend as the Davidoff Special, but featuring a darker, richer “Colorado Claro” wrapper. While it was originally released way back in 2002, it hasn’t since been available until its re-introduction in late 2009.

For this review I sampled a few Colorado Claros in the Short Perfecto (4.9 x 52) which, at $13 each, is the most affordable size. These are truly very limited smokes, with only 300 boxes of 10 cigars having been made. There are three other sizes of the Colorado Claro, each made in similarly limited numbers: a “Special R” robusto ($16), a “Special T” torpedo ($18), and a “Double R” double corona ($27).

The blend features a unique Colorado Claro Ecuadorian wrapper. It’s a lush brown leaf with nice sheen and, upon close inspection, impressively few veins.

The Short Perfecto starts off with a burst of savory saltiness, which will be the dominant flavor throughout. There is also a underlying core of slightly sweet cedar. As it progresses, it grows from a medium- to a full-bodied smoke with pleasant caramel notes and an aromatic sweetness. It puts off a good deal of smoke, and has Davidoff’s characteristic excellent construction.

The Colorado Claro has a subtle peppery finish, particularly in the second half when the saltiness fades slightly, even though it never goes completely away. Near the end a coffee bean flavor emerges for an exciting and more medium-bodied conclusion.

One of the most remarkable and defining characteristics about this blend are the salty flavors. In so many cigars, saltiness is a sign of a lack of balance—but here that flavor contributes to what makes it such a distinct and enjoyable smoke.

The perfecto shape does an excellent job focusing all those flavors on the palate and helping along the subtle yet striking shifts in the 50-minute smoke. The interesting flavor, combined with superb construction and an approachable price, is what earns this cigar the year’s first rating of five of stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five stogie-rated cigars can be found here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last May, at an event at one of my local tobacconists, I met Rene Castañeda, sales director of Miami Cigar & Company. His outfit distributes such brands as La Aurora, Nestor Miranda Special Selection, Don Lino, León Jimenes, 601, Cubao, and Mi Barrio, among others.

This occasion gave me a rare opportunity to buy and taste a very exclusive La Aurora blend called Escogidos (Spanish for “the chosen ones”). So I naturally bought a handful. Since then, I have been intending to write a review but, finding limited or inaccurate information on the web, I finally decided to contact Castañeda with a few questions.

He told me via email that this select Dominican puro blend was created by La Aurora Sales Director José Blanco in 2005 for those who tour the La Aurora Cigar Factory in Santiago. The factory is the oldest in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1903 by Don Eduardo León Jimenes. So, originally, Escogidos could not be purchased in the U.S.

But in 2007 La Aurora decided to broaden the availability of Escogidos by bringing these cigars to special in-store events like the one where we met, says Castañeda. The blend is only offered in two traditional sizes: Robusto and Belicoso.

I sampled five Belicosos for this review, each of which cost me $10. They feature an oily, reddish corojo wrapper with some tooth and a rugged terrain. Fairly firm to the touch, the pre-light aroma is of molasses and spice and the cold taste reveals a stiff draw.

After toasting the foot and taking a few puffs, a mild- to medium-bodied profile of molasses, peat, and cinnamon emerges. The combination is both complex and balanced. Then, after an inch, the draw opens up and the smoke becomes richer and more voluminous.

Still, I think most cigar enthusiasts will find the Escogidos Belicoso to be a little more subdued than expected. Rather than being disappointed, though, I’m impressed by how well this La Aurora keeps my attention. Maybe it’s the subtlety of the many flavors. Maybe it’s how the resting smoke smells of sweet cedar. Maybe it’s the spice and caramel on the finish.

Whatever the case, this cigar’s superb construction doesn’t hurt. My samples—all of which were smoked at least a month after some time in my humidor—exhibited superior burns and solid, stable ashes. My only complaint is that it can self-extinguish prematurely.

Too bad the Escogidos Belicoso is so difficult to come across. With an outstanding flavor on the mild side of the spectrum and exemplary combustion qualities, this José Blanco creation would otherwise always have a home in my humidor. For now, it’s a great excuse to attend La Aurora events, earning four and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

For years, the Gold blend has been the mild mainstay of CAO’s lineup of otherwise stronger cigars. Tim Ozgener, president of the Nashville-based company, told me in a 2008 interview that he reaches for a CAO Gold Lonsdale in the morning when he wants “a nice, smooth, buttery cigar to accompany my morning coffee.”

But this summer he and his team decided to change things up. At the IPCPR Trade Show, CAO unveiled the new Gold Vintage line—a re-blend that was sparked by a “banner harvest” for what would become the inaugural wrapper.

Each Gold Vintage includes a delicate exterior leaf grown in Ecuador in 2004. This was a year that, according to CAO’s website, “offered the perfect combination of climate, rainfall, and soil” in the South American country. The binder is Nicaraguan and the habano-seed filler is a combination of tobaccos from Jamastran and Estelí. This new blend, manufactured at the CAO Fabrica de Tabacos in Estelí, is offered in two formats: a stubby figurado called “Bouchon” (4.9 x 60) and the Crémant (6 x 52).

I sampled two Crémants for this review. This size features a smooth and seamless golden wrapper, a spongy feel, and soft pre-light notes of dry grass and honey. It’s one of those cigars that gives the impression it’s going to burn well.

And it does. From light to nub, the Crémant is a set-it-and-forget-it stick with excellent construction. The burn is straight with a clean and shiny mascara, the draw is easy, and the ash layers well for a firm hold. No problems there.

I wish, however, the flavor were a bit more exciting, especially for a cigar that sells for roughly $8 apiece or $75 for a box of 10. The profile is light and airy with traces of almond, cream, and oak. Tasty, but lacking in complexity or development. That’s why the Crémant has trouble holding my attention only halfway into the 90-minute smoke.

This criticism, mind you, comes from a cigar enthusiast who regularly fires up mild cigars. While some smokers often confuse quality with strength, mild cigars have always had a special place in my rotation. These include Ybor City Handmades, Davidoff, Don Kiki’s White Label, and Paul Garmirian, among others.

Besides being mild, all of these cigars have one thing in common: that special something that keeps me immersed and coming back for more. It’s my own fault that I can’t really put this feeling into words. What I can say, though, is that the CAO Gold Vintage Crémant, while well-built and smooth, isn’t in the same class. It earns three stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys