The Stogie Guys

For about a year I’ve been dipping periodically into a colorful box of Old Henry Coronas. I liked them from the start, performing something like a Pepin light with less spice than his powerhouse blends and a little more leather.

It’s been several months since I lit one up, though, and when I did I got a surprise. A pleasant surprise. A year of aging has rounded the edges of this Nicaraguan puro and turned a good smoke into a considerably better one.

That shouldn’t be surprising. When Patrick A gave the Old Henry Robusto three stogies in an October review, he commented that it seemed like a stick that would benefit from some age. I believe he was correct.

On the other hand, even though a year isn’t very long to age a cigar, I’m wondering whether these aren’t near their peak. My reasoning: If they mellow noticeably in a year, will they go too far in another 12 months or so?

Maybe not, but I don’t think I’ll wait to find out, at least for all of them. I probably have ten or so left, and I plan to smoke them a little more rapidly in 2009 than I did in 2008. Of course, who knows whether my good intentions will hold up.

I’ve also tried the Robusto and prefer the somewhat longer (5.5 inches) and thinner (44 ring gauge) Corona. For my taste, it’s a bit smoother and more satisfying. When Patrick S did a Quick Smoke on the Robusto he rated it a “Buy.”

If you keep your eyes open, Old Henry can also be a pretty good buy. As a Holt’s house brand, it’s often specially priced and offered with some bonus or other. The latest catalog lists 25 Coronas at $99.95 with a five-pack of other Pepin cigars. I believe I paid about $10 less and got a five-pack and a couple of coffee mugs.

Right now, I give this cigar four out of five stogies. And I’m wondering what I’ll think as the year progresses. Will they continue to improve, stay about the same, or begin to slide? I’ll let you know.

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

–George E

photo credit: Wikipedia

I wanted to like this cigar. It’s from a small producer in Estelí, Nicaragua, and Luis Martinez offers sticks at reasonable prices and frequently promotes good deals. This is the kind of company you can pull for.

Unfortunately, my experience with an eight-stick sampler pack ($25 including shipping and sales tax) left me unimpressed. Construction and burn were fine. The draw was consistently good. Even the faint pre-light aroma of nuts and mint was pleasant.

Taste was the downfall. Smoking through the sampler, I noticed little difference among the various vitolas. The beginning was harsh and biting, and throughout there was a dry, musty taste—and aftertaste—that I associate with Mexican tobacco.

My assumption was heightened by the fact that while the company identifies the wrapper (Ecuadorian sungrown) and binder (Honduran Cuban-seed), it refers to the filler only as a mix from Central America.

In the second third, the Silver Selection tended to smooth out a little and there was even a little pepper here and there. Even at its best, though, the cigars were not my cup of tea.

For just a shade over $3 a stick, you won’t be risking much if you want to check them out. I believe there’s even a no-risk special deal with a travel humidor. Rating this one wasn’t easy, but in the end I can give it only two and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This is undoubtedly a popular stick among cigar enthusiasts. While researching the two Belicosos I recently smoked, I came across a slew of positive reviews from the online cigar community—and, perhaps less importantly, an 87 for the Serie JJ Maduro in Cigar Aficionado.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say I went into this Nicaraguan puro with high hopes. It’s best to start cigar reviews with a clean slate and no preconceptions; the mind, however, can’t easily trick itself. Maybe that’s why I found the 5.7 inch by 52 ring gauge Belicoso pleasurable but slightly disappointing.

This popular blend is the result of the combined efforts of José Don Pepin Garcia and his son Jaime (hence the “JJ”). Also known as the White Label, the Serie JJ Maduro has a clean broadleaf maduro corojo wrapper and attractive, cream-colored double bands. Careful observers may notice some black patches scattered about the already dark wrapper leaf.

After clipping away the rounded point with my double guillotine, I noticed a clear prelight draw and a hearty aroma of clove and dark chocolate. The smoke starts in the traditional Pepin way with full flavors of dry wood, leather, and black pepper spice. No surprise there. As the taste mellows to a more creamy profile after the midway point, the spice fades and a maduro sweetness creeps in before a reprise of pepper completes the journey.

Pepin reportedly has these cigars handmade in Miami to maintain quality control. I found that odd, especially since my two Belicosos required constant torch touch-ups to maintain an even burn and stay lit. The ash is also on the flaky side.

I must conclude, therefore, in spite of its physical flaws, this cigar’s popularity is due to its striking array of full, transforming flavors. Fair enough. But I was expecting a little more from a cigar that commands a price of about $215 per box of 24 or $50 per 5-pack. Conflicted, I give the Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ Maduro Belicoso three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Cigars and wine are often paired, seen as complementary expressions of high style, good taste, and sophistication. So it’s no surprise when a cigar maker, in this case Cusano, goes one step further and appropriates a wine term.

“Cuvée,” with its French origins, is often used by vintners to designate a special lot, particularly with Champagne. For its part, Cusano says it uses only a very select portion of the tobacco harvest for these cigars.

Getting straight information on this cigar is a little difficult. You’d assume Cuvée’s website would be the definitive source. But in one place it describes the Blanc as “shade-grown Connecticut and Peruvian tobaccos.” In another spot, the binder and filler are listed as Dominican. Similarly, the Cuvée site says the wrapper is U.S.-grown Connecticut; other sources say it is Ecuadorian.

The Blanc, which features four vitolas, is one of four Cuvée lines. The Toro—a six inch stick with a 54 ring gauge—is one of four Blanc sizes. It runs about $7 per stick. Physically, this example was first-rate.

The wrapper was smooth, the draw and burn excellent, and the smoke production copious. As you might expect, the Blanc is a mild cigar. The flavors were smooth and sometimes sweet. They tended to run toward grass, hay, and a little bit of nuts.

Overall, the Cuvée Blanc is pleasant and worth trying if you like mild cigars. But don’t be surprised if it fails to make a big impression. I think it simply lacks the complexity and subtlety that separate the OK from the excellent.

All things considered, I rate the Cuvée Blanc Toro three and a half out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

You won’t find much information online about this relatively obscure cigar. Perdomo’s extensive website doesn’t even mention the blend, and my emails to the company have gone unanswered so far. All this is a shame, especially since I was pretty pleased with the three Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Robustos that I smoked for this review.

Here’s what I do know: The line features a Cuban-seed binder and filler from Nicaragua and a triple-fermented Connecticut shade wrapper. As with many anniversary cigars, this one was created to celebrate Tabacalera Perdomo’s ten years in the business.

The five inch by 54 ring gauge Robusto looks like many Connecticut shade smokes, albeit save for the orange-yellow cellophane in which it is wrapped. The wrapper leaf is oily, light, and clean, and the stick is firm and tightly packed with an overall feel of quality. The unique band is as huge as it is ornate.

Now for those of you who consider yourselves too macho for Connecticut shade tobacco, don’t write off the Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne just yet—this unassuming stick packs a lot more flavor than you’d think. While the main profile of sweet hay and grass is predictable, it is partnered with heavier, more unexpected notes of pepper, smoky wood, and cereals.

I don’t want to give you the impression this Perdomo rivals a 601 Oscuro. It doesn’t. But it incorporates more complexity and flavor than many Connecticuts, even after the taste settles down after the midway point.

While the construction isn’t impeccable, it’s better than most cigars that sell for around $130 per box of 25. The white ash is a little too flakey as it layers gorgeously atop the fairly straight burn. The draw is deliberate but easy. Despite some reviews I’ve read, I had no trouble keeping my three samples lit.

My overall verdict is that this is a solid, multifaceted smoke with more taste than meets the eyes. Don’t pass up the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Robusto as a delicious early evening cocktail smoke. I give it three and a half 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.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As you might have seen in last week’s Cigar Insider, the fine folks of PG Cigars are traditionalists who make significant sacrifices to create cigars that look, taste, and feel like pre-Castro Cubans. Dr. Paul Garmirian and his son Kevork have honed an important strategy: set aside gimmickries to focus on providing top-notch products for the most discriminating of cigar enthusiasts.

Their efforts often result in cigars that are dissimilar to many of today’s most popular blends. The Epicure size from PG’s original Gourmet Series, which debuted in 1990 at Georgetown Tobacco, is no exception.

The blend features a Colorado shade Connecticut wrapper that’s grown in Ecuador and a binder and filler from the Dominican Republic. It has a dry, leathery look and a faint prelight aroma of cedar and earth. Handmade in Santiago, the Gourmet Series is known for its spice and balance.

We didn’t find a ton of spice but, not unlike most PG creations, the five and a half inch by 50 ring gauge Epicure is big on balance. It starts with a clean vegetal taste and then quickly moves into a mild, complex array of oak and cedar.

Like a Davidoff Grand Cru, this series’ subtleties are best uncovered if you occasionally smoke through the nose. Doing so will give you access to all the warm fruit and dry red wine notes that are otherwise too muted to appreciate. For this same reason, if you’re on a steady diet of powerhouse Nicaraguans the Gourmet Series Epicure is probably not up your alley. It’s the sort of stick that pairs better with a nice red burgundy than a strong cocktail of rum or whiskey.

We are happy to report the physical properties are as good as you’d expect for a cigar that sells for $9.50. The burn is surgically straight and the ash is well-layered and sturdy. Fans of Graycliffs will be pleased with the easy draw despite the cigar’s firm touch.

This mild creation’s many wonderful traits won’t hit you over the head; they will, however, reward those who pay close attention. For its delicate deliciousness, we give the Paul Garmirian Gourmet Series Epicure four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A & Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This past summer, Davidoff announced it would be releasing the first maduro cigar in the company’s storied history. The announcement caught many, including myself, by surprise. After all, Davidoff’s strength is generally considered to be its complexity and balance often in mild to medium cigars. Maduro wrappers present significant challenges to that formula, not to mention that Davidoff’s master blender Henke Kelner is reportedly not a fan of maduro cigars.

Still maybe the introduction of Davidoff’s first maduro should not have been a complete surprise. I’m just speculating here, but given Davidoff’s special connection with the Cuban Cohiba brand, maybe we should have expected Davidoff to follow when Cohiba introduced its first Maduros under the Cohiba line in 2007. (The introduction of Cohiba’s Siglo line in 1992 was widely considered to be a move to replace Davidoff’s Cuban lines, after Davidoff stopped making cigars in Cuba following disputes with the Cuban government.) More than any other non-Cuban company, Davidoff directly competes with Cohiba and other handmade Cuban cigars, so the move may be a reaction to competition from the new Cuban maduros.

But no matter the impetus for the cigar, it is one of the new releases that I was most looking forward to reviewing. The cigar is a five inch by 52 ring gauge robsuto (the maduro is only offered in the robusto), and it consists of a Dominican wrapper and a San Vincente binder with a sungrown Nicaraguan Cuban-seed “natural maduro” wrapper from the Jalapa Valley.

The maduro wrapper is the color of dark roasted coffee beans. Before lighting, I notice cocoa and vanilla bean flavors.

Once lit, I’m greeted with a combination of classic Davidoff flavors—balanced cedar and coffee—along with some new flavors including a little, though not an overwhelming amount, of the classic maduro sweetness. I also notice hints of charred oak, banana peel, and maybe even saffron.

Both cigars I smoked for this review developed uneven burns, but both self-corrected before they became problems. Besides that, the construction was flawless, with a predictably easy draw and firm, sturdy ash. One word of advice: Take this cigar slowly. Rush it and the rich, balanced flavors will develop a bitter edge.

While there wasn’t much variation as the cigar progressed, the complexity of the flavor was more than enough to keep me interested. And it strikes me as a cigar with some tremendous aging potential.

I paid $15 each for these cigars, which is in line with Davidoff’s MO. At that price you expect a superior cigar and it delivers, though it still doesn’t gain any points for value.

Those who enjoyed the Millennium Blend, another fuller-flavored Davidoff, should definitely give this cigar a try. As should fans of maduro cigars, particularly those who think that maduros need to have overpowering sweetness or must be one dimensional.

For this well-balanced blend of the best of maduro and classic Davidoff flavors, the Davidoff Maduro R receives a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys