The Stogie Guys

I like a cigar with a story. The tale of Black Pearl, launched in 2000, began when founder Doug Wood stumbled across a long forgotten La Perla Habana box label in his travels. Evidently struck by the “romanticism and tradition of the turn-of-the-century Cuban art,” Wood based his cigar company on the stone lithographs he won at auction.

The story of this review isn’t as interesting. Black Pearl is one of those brands I had heard about time and again but, for one reason or another, never got around to trying. I fixed that this weekend by firing up two six inch by 50 ring gauge Rojo Toros.

The Rojo blend, made by La Perla Habana, is a Nicaraguan puro with a carefully applied wrapper, a Colorado-like reddish hue, and a firm feel. The Torpedo was rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado in December 2007 for its rich, cedary flavors and sweet finish.

La Perla sells the Rojo blend as a “smooth and inviting medium- bodied cigar, and an experience you’ll no doubt savor for years to come.” While my encounter with the Toros wasn’t unsatisfactory, I can’t say I completely subscribe to their enthusiasm.

The cigar lights easily to reveal a hearty taste of rustic leather. The draw is smooth and the ash is white, well-layered, and sturdy. The meandering burn, which includes an abnormally large and protruding mascara, straightens into the second third to reveal notes of spice with herbal undertones.

Flavors of clove and tea dominate to the halfway mark until they are overcome by a black coffee bitterness. This adequate yet somewhat lackluster profile dominates the remainder of the 80-minute smoke.

I wouldn’t call the Black Pearl Rojo terribly balanced or complex. It strikes me as the kind of cigar that makes a good companion for the golf course or a barbeque—not an after-dinner joyride that commands your full attention.

But I wouldn’t overlook it either. At $116 per box of 20, the Toros aren’t unreasonably priced. And who knows? Maybe you’ll get caught up in their flavor like Doug Wood was taken with the artwork that inspired them. As for me, I give the Black Pearl Rojo Toro three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

With Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s recent announcement that he plans to start a new business with his family, the Artesano de Miami blend may be his last creation as an employee of the General Cigar Co. We’re sure the famed cigar maker and longtime head of La Gloria Cubana will be missed—especially since his latest concoction is one of his best.

Before it was introduced at the IPCPR Trade Show last July, it allegedly took six years and 50 different blends to complete Artesanos de Miami. Perez-Carrillo then personally selected ten Cuban expatriates to roll the cigar in the El Credito factory in Little Havana, Miami.

His persistence seems to have paid off; for what it’s worth, the blend was honored with the 9th slot in Cigar Aficionado’s Best Cigars of the Year. That ranking, along with a limited production of only 250,000 cigars, is why several retailers are out of stock of the Elegante vitola, CA’s favorite size.

There are four other vitolas in the Artesanos de Miami catalogue, each of which has never been offered by La Gloria Cubana before. With its rustic habano-seed Nicaraguan wrapper and compact format, we were particularly intrigued by the 5 inch by 46 ring gauge Artesanitos.

This blend of an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan longfillers starts with a powerful woodsy spice. After a quarter inch, several of the Artesanitos we sampled followed with a burst of intense bitterness that prevails for two to three minutes. This slight irregularity leads us to believe the cigar has aging potential. Either way, once the bitterness is gone the taste is more balanced with notes of cedar, nut, and spice.

That classic Nicaraguan flavor mellows at the halfway point. It was about here that we agreed the Artesanos de Miami blend is a cigar smoker’s cigar—plenty of nuance and character.

Between the two of us, we burned through almost half a box of Artesanitos for this review. We’re happy to say the combustion qualities are superb and consistent.

At $180 for a box of 25 or $8 for a single, this little darling is no cheap date. As we’ve explained, however, the return on your investment will be substantial—especially in light of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s imminent departure from General. We give the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami Artesanitos four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A & Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We’ve written about Paul Garmirian cigars in the past, but the cigar that is the subject of this review can’t be found in even the limited number of stores that carry PGs. As Paul and Kevork Garmirian told us during our video Cigar Insider, they often make specially aged cigars only available in limited quantities at their headquarters in McLean, Virginia.

By providing the same cigar with varying amounts of aging, PG gives smokers the rare opportunity to truly examine to effects of time.  To encourage this, they sell the latest cigars at the same price as the ones that have been aging in their warehouse for years—around $8 in the case of this Gourmet Series No. 2 circa 1992.

The wrapper on this little 4 and 3/4 inch by 48 ring gauge No. 2 is dry to the touch. The color is a medium Colorado brown, covered in plenty of plume from 16 years of box aging.

And it’s important to note that although the cigar was originally boxed in 1992, the tobacco is certainly a few years older than that, especially the wrapper. In our discussion with Garmirian, he repeatedly told us how his philosophy of cigar making was never to rush the process. Even before rolling the tobacco is a few years old.

After lighting, one is greeted with a predominantly cedar flavor mixed with leather and a woody spice. It quickly becomes clear that there is something else going on in this mild-medium smoke. It is a flavor we couldn’t quite put our finger on, but it seems to have some herbal or floral notes.

Construction is superb during this 35-minute smoke with an even burn, easy draw, and—most notably—an abundant amount of smoke. The aroma is especially pleasant. After the midway point, the flavor profile changes slightly and becomes more mellow. The cedary spice fades only to be replaced with more pronounced leather flavors.

Overall, this is an impressive smoke: a balanced, complex, and subtle cigar that serves as a testament to the wonderful effects of aging.  Though it’s unlikely to be an everyday cigar due to price and scarcity, we would certainly suggest picking one up if you are fortunate enough to visit the PG headquarters in the suburbs of our nation’s capital. The PG Gourmet Series No. 2 (1992) earns a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A & Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

From smoking “dawgs” to R&B music, the unique Zino Platinum website makes clear its cigars are for “fashionable and entertainment-driven smokers who are stylishly aware of their heritage and ethnicity.” Famous even uses the word “phat” to describe this Davidoff offshoot’s unique shapes and sizes.

If I focused solely on advertising, I’d quickly conclude that Platinum cigars aren’t for me. Let’s just say I’m not exactly hip or urban. I’m more interested, however, in how these sticks smoke than to whom they are marketed.

So, scrolling past all the graphics and fluff on the website, I was able to determine that the Scepter blend is composed of a one-year-old Ecuadorian wrapper, a four-year-old Connecticut binder, and filler tobaccos from Peru and the Dominican Republic. The other Platinum line, the heartier Crown Series, is made up of ligero tobacco.

I smoked two Scepter Pudges for this review. Stubby with a few soft spots, this four inch by 50 ring gauge cigar is vein-free (yet moderately wrinkled) with a light and sweet prelight fragrance.

After toasting the foot, I found the first few puffs to be hollow, uninviting, and chemically. The taste quickly takes a turn for the better, though, exhibiting mild flavors of creamy butter and sweet hay.

The smoke, which only lasts for about 35 minutes, is at its best in the middle when undertones of spice creep in to provide a salty dynamic. Balance is the name of the game. All of the tastes add up to produce a gentle, soothing aroma that reminds me of the smell of fresh sawdust.

Anytime you have more ash than un-smoked tobacco left on a cigar, you’re likely enjoying supreme construction. Such is the case here. The burn is as straight as possible with a dark, thick mascara. The ash is concrete and finely layered. And each effortless draw yields plenty of smoke.

All told, despite the funky marketing, this is a nice little morning smoke. But as my colleague pointed out in a Quick Smoke, I don’t think the Zino Platinum Scepter Pudge deserves its lofty $7 price tag. It does deserve three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It wasn’t until I picked up one of these dark, oily sticks that I realized how long it had been since I smoked a maduro. A few years ago, it seemed at least two of every three cigars I lit were maduros.

Maybe all those spicy Pepins and mellow Cameroons I’ve been enjoying have just crowded out most of the rest of the field. If so, I need to reconsider. This maduro reminded me how good they can be.

At five inches and a fat 52 ring gauge, the thick wrapper and a mix of Nicaraguan fillers creates a complex, satisfying smoke. At first, there’s a bit of pepper, but that tends to fade fairly soon, setting up the palate for the taste array to follow. You’ll notice the cocoa and coffee common to maduros, and you’ll also find some wood, leather and nuts. Back in 2007, a guest reviewer did a Quick Smoke on the Toro and was equally enthusiastic, rating it a “Buy.”

I’ve found construction on all the Robustos I’ve smoked to be excellent: good draw, fine burn, lots of smoke, and an extremely tight ash. Another plus is the price, as low as under $4 per stick for a box of 20. About the only complaints I had with the cigar were that the finish can be a bit dry and the two huge bands are overkill.

On the other hand, I did find the Perdomo website less than useful. It’s set up to provide information in PDF files, and every one I downloaded was blank. Maybe that has something to do with my system (a Mac), or maybe it was a temporary glitch. Whatever the reason, it was annoying not to be able to get authoritative information about the cigar easily from Perdomo.

Then again, it’s cigars we smoke, not bits and bytes. And for that the Perdomo Habano Maduro Robusto deserves four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. Cigars for this review were provided by Cigars Direct. You can purchase Perdomo cigars from Cigars Direct here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

After the introduction of the Jameson Cigar Co. last March, and bolstered by a generous web offer of two sticks and a T-shirt for the cost of postage, it seemed like the entire online cigar community was writing about the new cigar outfit. So Jameson’s strategy had worked. The only problem, however, were the mixed reviews of the company’s original blend.

As Jameson President Brad Mayo told me via email, that Sumatra-wrapped line, now called the Red Label, was re-blended “due to several factors, including changes at the factory and problems with the wrapper. It now consists of an all Dominican filler, Honduran binder, and Ecuadorian wrapper.”

While StogieGuys.com has yet to try Jameson’s new Red, today I set my sights on the Black Label, a “rich, complex cigar that delivers bold flavors.” It boats a Brazilian ariparaca leaf that’s dark, textured, and unrefined. Such traits are characteristic of tobacco from South America’s largest nation, including mata fina, one of my all-time favorites.

The five inch by 44 ring gauge Corona sports a reddish hue and dimensions that are perfect for outdoor smoking during the winter months. The three I smoked for this review averaged about 40 minutes from light to nub.

Well-received by cigar website reviewers, the Black Label starts with a rich taste of black coffee and leather. The voluminous smoke that pours from the clear draw has none of the sweet cocoa flavors that I’ve come to expect from mata fina. Instead, this hearty cigar is intense, especially following the addition of peppercorn after the first inch.

From a straight burn that requires no touch-ups to a firm and sandy ash, I also noted excellent physical properties. This is the sort of stick you can light up and simply enjoy without the worry of maintenance.

To heighten that enjoyment, let me recommend you spark this Corona with a sweet, powerful drink. The taste of El Dorado 12 Year Old pairs well because the sugary rum helps offset this cigar’s spice and bitter notes.

Laying down $5 for a Black Label Corona is a good bargain, particularly if you let these young cigars rest awhile. I have a feeling age will improve their balance. For now, with or without the free T-shirt, this tiny powerhouse earns three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I suspect, as a result of the current economic turmoil, many cigar enthusiasts are temporarily experimenting with value sticks as potential substitutes to pricier options. Let me do you a favor by suggesting you not waste any time or money on the affordable Gispert Natural Lonsdale.

Handmade in Honduras, this Altadis stogie sports a Connecticut shade Ecuadorian wrapper with Nicaraguan and Honduran binder and filler tobaccos. Astonishingly, several of the 11 Natural vitolas have rated as highly as 90 in Cigar Aficionado (Gispert has another six Maduro sizes complete with a San Adreas Morrón wrapper.)

Sounds too good to be true, especially since the six and ½ inch by 44 ring gauge Lonsdale sells for only $38-47 per cedar chest of 20. “Heck,” I remember thinking to myself before lighting one up for this review, “if it performs moderately better than George E’s Quick Smoke, this could be a decent recession option.”

I had good reason to be somewhat optimistic. With a well-applied wrapper, tight cross-section, and clean look, this Gispert has the appearance and feel of a cigar three times its price.

I was much less enthusiastic, however, after I toasted the foot and took a few deliberate draws. The uber-mild flavor of grass and sweet milk was almost nonexistent—the sort of creamy taste that can be drowned out completely by beer or wine, let alone rum or whiskey.

After the first inch I was still waiting for something to arrive, but only a light, airy, hollow taste was detectable. With nothing discernable to savor, I felt like I was smoking just for the sake of smoking. I enjoy mild cigars, but there’s a big difference between mild and bland.

Frankly, at the halfway point I wanted to extinguish the cigar and move on to something, anything, else. Never mind that the burn was straight, albeit with a strangely thick, bulging black mascara; decent physical properties don’t add up to much if the cigar tastes like white construction paper.

So, as you might have guessed, I don’t think I’ll be picking up another one of these anytime soon. The Gispert Natural Lonsdale serves as a stark reminder that, when it comes to cigars, you often get what you pay for. Recession or boom, I give it one stogie out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys