The Stogie Guys

Rough, toothy, a bit mottled, and prominently veiny, the Occidental Reserve Double Broadleaf Churchill isn’t what I’d classify as humidor candy. Nevertheless, when it comes to a cigar’s looks, I’m not much of a snob. Many of my favorite smokes have been a bit on the rustic side. And, after all, isn’t flavor what really matters?

Interestingly, this seven inch by 48 ring gauge maduro doesn’t pack much of a punch. That’s something I find a bit surprising coming from manufacturer Alec Bradley, whose marketing often appeals to the “bigger and bolder is better” mindset. Perhaps blender Hendrik Kelner, famous for his work with the ultra-smooth Davidoff label, had something to do with this stogie’s mildness.

At any rate, the smoothness and unassuming body of the Occidental Reserve is just fine by me. I’ve been looking around for a mild, everyday smoke to pair with a decent cup of coffee on my lazy Sunday mornings. While Davidoffs fit the bill, they can break the bank almost as quickly as a bad mortgage these days. At roughly $3 a stick, Occidental Reserves offer near-Davidoff quality for a fraction of the price.

This cigar opens with a full-bodied blast of pepper, cedar, and burnt coffee before quickly mellowing into a much smoother blend of light oak and sweet cream. A lingering, peppery finish never quite disappears from the body of the thick, heavy smoke – intensifying as the cigar reaches its final third. But it’s never enough to overwhelm the subtle character of the stick, and that’s probably for the best.

The burn is even and true, producing a light gray ash that holds for about an inch and a half at a clip. My only complaint with the ash is its tendency toward flakiness (tiny bits tended to float off the foot, here and there, throughout my various experiences). Otherwise, I find nothing worrisome about the quality of the cigar’s craftsmanship.

For outstanding value, ease, and pleasantly smooth flavor profile, I give this bargain-priced stick a solid four out of five stogies.

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–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

First, I heard cracks at the head as I inserted my punch. Then, I saw the thick stem poking through the filler. After smoking two-thirds or so of the stick, the wrapper broke and eventually just about unraveled. That was when I was finally able to pull the stem out.

At two inches in length, it looked more like something from the live oak outside than a remnant from the tobacco fields. My surgery, through, resulted in a tunnel from head to light and soon rendered the smoke extremely hot and more or less unsmokable. All in all, not a bad cigar.

Seriously, this Oliva Serie O is a good smoke, a six inch by 50 ring gauge that’s a satisfying and affordable Nicaraguan blend of tobaccos grown in different regions of the country. The prelight aroma is absolutely mouth-watering. The taste is woody and nutty, subtle and smooth. If you’re a connoisseur of ashes, you’ll want to check this one. It’s chalk white.

I don’t recall what I paid for this stick, but I think they run around $4.50 to $5. And that does factor into my evaluation. I figure that one way a company like Oliva is able to produce good cigars at relatively low prices is to cut back on some processes, like quality control or finely matching wrapper color on the cigars in a box.

That means every once in awhile I will be forced to fiddle with the cigar or abandon it sooner than I’d prefer – the kinds of situations I would find unacceptable in a high-priced stick. And if such defects were common I’d quit buying any line, regardless of the price. But that hasn’t been my experience with Oliva. In fact, this is the first of its cigars I can recall that presented any real problems.

So I can recommend the Serie O, as I would any Oliva cigar. But I can’t rate it too highly because of the difficulties. It earns a rating of three out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: JR Cigars

I wanted to be one of first to review this new Honduran-rolled boutique cigar, so please bear in mind that I only smoked one Isla de Cuba Classic Belicoso for this review. Based on the experience, though, I’m looking forward to trying more.

The Isla de Cuba Group is a Tampa-based manufacturer that was launched in February to bring old Havana favorites back to the U.S. market. With Classic and Aged Maduro lines (five vitolas each), President Darryl Lieser says the “brand is based on the legendary 1956 Montecristo No. 3.” You’ll probably be able to read more about that claim once the full Isla de Cuba website is up and running.

The 6.12 inch by 52 ring gauge Classic Belicoso boasts a beautiful Connecticut Ecuadorian wrapper with a light yellow hue and few veins. The portrait-style band is nostalgic and beckoning, and the cigar is fairly firm to the touch. I’m not sure if this is intentional, but I noticed a slight trumpet-like shape (a feature that’s much more pronounced in stogies like the Puros Piramide).

To its credit, the similarities between the Classic Belicoso and the Puros Piramide end there. Toasting the foot sets the tone with an agreeable floral aroma. The first few puffs are surprisingly spicy as the Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and filler tobaccos start to work their magic. Sweet hay and jasmine move to the forefront until the halfway mark, which is milder and characterized by notes of butter and almond. The culmination of this 100-minute smoke sees a return to the initial spice.

My draw was a bit tight so, after ten minutes of smoking, I re-clipped the head further than I do most torpedo-shaped sticks. It opened right up. The burn is set-it-and-forget-it straight with a wonderful mascara sheen, and the ash holds for about an inch.

You can find these at JR for $151.95 per box of 25. I think that’s a pretty fair price for well-built mild- to medium-bodied cigar with a delicious flavor profile and an all-around quality feel. I give the Isla de Cuba Classic Belicoso four out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We seem to be living in a new golden age of cigar craftsmanship. In magazines, at retailers, and in catalogs, we’re bombarded with tales of “master rollers” and their disciples. We’ve seen a broad resurgence in formerly rare figurado shapes, such as the once-endangered perfecto. Every brand seems to have its own barber pole offering. And, increasingly, it’s becoming very hard to find a poorly rolled stick.

Unfortunately, while the industry focuses so intently on the craft of cigar rolling, some of the art is lost. All too frequently in recent years I’ve smoked exquisitely rolled but boringly blended cigars. I’m sure you know the kind: that undeniably pretty stogie that you can’t wait to smoke, because it just looks so damned good – but whose generic flavor and bland aftertaste leave you wondering what went wrong.

My friends, it is with a heavy heart and a light wallet that I inform you about the Gurkha Special Edition Black Puro Churchill – or, as I like to think of it, the ditzy blonde of the premium cigar world. This seven and 1/2 inch by 52 ring gauge Dominican puro, with its sleek maduro wrapper and its aromatic filler of aged Cuban-seed tobaccos from the Ciboa Valley, is a looker. Quite a looker. And its pre-light nose of coffee, chocolate, and wheat recall a moist and delicate cake at a high-end bistro. With its slick, metallic, black band and its impressive size, the Black Puro seems to whisper, “I know you want me.”

And you do. Until you toast the foot, light the stick, and begin to smoke it. For the first inch or so, the Black Puro is all that it portends to be – offering rich flavors of cocoa, toast, some coffee, and cream. This delicious profile soon fades away almost entirely, leaving in its place very weak notes of chocolate, paper, and dairy. After awhile, smoking the Black Puro feels like drinking a glass of Ovaltine mixed with skim milk. Over and over again. For two hours, if not longer.

I never attribute to poor quality what I can attribute to poor storage. And ordinarily, a cigar whose flavor seems to peter out so suddenly would seem like a victim of dryness. But given the fact that I smoked six Black Puros over the course of the week, and given that each of these Black Puros came from the same shipment (and sat in the same humidor) as some wonderful smokes I’ve had this month, I believe the fault lies in the tobacco here. It is, quite simply, a boring and uninspired blend. While not completely terrible, the Black Puro – which retails for roughly $9-12 apiece – is by no means worth the price of admission.

For impressive construction, questionable blending, and prohibitive pricing, I award the Gurkha Special Edition Black Puro Churchill two and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When a cigar buddy gifted one of these to me a few weeks back, I didn’t know what to think. You see, I had never smoked a candela before I lit up that stick and two more Don Tomás Candela Robustos for this review.

That shouldn’t surprise most of you. As Cigar Aficionado reported in February 2003, and as Patrick S wrote in March 2007 when he reviewed a Camacho, candelas can be hard to find these days. Funny, especially since such “latter-day oddities” were once the preferred U.S. cigar – so much so, in fact, that the wrappers were dubbed American Market Selection.

Today, Don Tomás is one of the few outfits that furnishes a candela line to the U.S. market. As rare as they might be at your local B&M, you can purchase these online for next to nothing. Boxes of 25 Robustos sell in the $49 to $69 range. Still, the company employs a typical, hyped-up marketing strategy to push its product:

“Some months ago, among a supply of Cameroon wrappers, the people in the cavernous Don Tomás warehouse chanced upon a forgotten lot of three or four bales of candela wrapper. A search through the company files revealed that the bales had been literally lost for 18 years!”

Yeah, right. Not knowing what to expect, I surveyed this five and ½ inch by 50 ring gauge peculiarity to find a pale green wrapper that appears virtually flawless. Given the stogie’s Kermit-like hue, however, I’m not sure I could see any veins if they existed. Still, it seems well built and very firm to the touch.

After carefully clipping the head so as not to damage the fragile wrapper and lighting the foot, I found an extremely mild flavor with notes of grass and sweet hay. Then I was immediately struck by the sheer sensation of smoking a cigar that actually feels like rolled up plant leaves (for those who don’t know, the texture of candela wrappers are truly unique). A bit of the banana peel bitterness that’s characteristic of candelas, or so I’m told, creeps in after the first two inches, but it’s neither chemical-tasting nor obtrusive. The mild Honduran puro wraps up with some spice and olive.

I found the burn to be fairly straight, the white ash to hold firm up to a full two inches, and a moderately easy draw. It’s about an 80-minute journey from light to nub.

I get the feeling candelas are love-it-or-hate-it cigars, but I came away from this experience a bit conflicted. While I enjoyed the flavor and while the physical properties are excellent (especially for the value price), I can’t see myself seeking out another for quite some time. Nonetheless, I would encourage everyone to at least try the Don Tomás Candela Robusto, and I give it a respectable three out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

My expectations for this cigar were low, probably just another OK smoke from General. Oh, I knew the original incarnation of the El Rico Habano helped put El Credito on the map in Miami, and that the brand is said to be a favorite of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. Still, I’d left this six inch stick in my humidor for nearly a year, having long forgotten where I got it or what I paid for it.

First things first: I was wrong about this cigar. It’s far, far better than OK. It is, in fact, a very good, complex cigar, especially considering you can pick one up for around $4 and find a box of 25 for considerably less.

The Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler is a little rough looking, but nice and oily. It was the quality of Nicaraguan tobacco that led Perez-Carrillo to re-blend the El Rico Habano and start making it in the Dominican Republic to introduce again in 2001. In 2004, he told Smoke Magazine that he preferred the new version over the original because it now was more consistent and “the cigar has strength, it has aroma, and it has the taste that it had at its best.”

The prelight aroma is rich and inviting. I used a punch on the 50 ring gauge stick and the draw was just right. It began with a peppery kick that gave way to woodsy and leathery flavors. At the final third, a sweetness weaved in and out.

As a full-flavored stick, I suppose the temptation is to compare it to some of Pepin’s creations. I found the construction and burn better than I’ve encountered in a number of his, but I think the El Rico blend lacks that intangible mix of fire and ice that make the best of Pepin’s cigars extraordinary experiences.

I’ve only smoked one El Rico Habano, so I can’t say what the impact of a year resting might have been. But I plan to smoke more soon, and I’ll be sure to report back. Right now, I give the El Rico Habano Corona Suprema four out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: JR Cigars

I thought long and hard before I lit two of these sticks up for this review. For one, I’ve read that the Edición Limitada 2006 may need two to three years of aging before maturity (we’re currently at the low end of that range). Second, the $33 price tag is quite daunting.

But I took the plunge into this update of the Edición Limitada 2001 nonetheless. What I found was slightly disappointing for the price: a well-balanced cigar with some complex flavors and a few construction issues.

It is said that this Cuban puro line is inspired by the cocoa plants of the island’s Baracoa region. I suppose I’d buy that. These 6.1 inch by 52 ring gauge Pirámides are darker (and a bit more rugged-looking) than most Cuban Cohibas, and they exude a savory aroma of chocolate, spice, and vanilla.

After taking great care to establish an even light, the first pull through the firm draw reveals balance and complexity with notes of pepper, burnt marshmallow, and dark chocolate. This s’more-like flavor opens up after the first inch with the addition of toffee and nuts. Earthy toast, pepper, and spice pick up halfway, and the end is powerful with more pepper and black coffee. I give this high marks for taste.

Sadly, the physical properties are less than spectacular – especially for the price. The burn requires several touch-ups to stay even, the ash is surprisingly flaky and unreliable, and the draw varies greatly throughout. The latter might have something to do with the fact that these cigars feel firm in some areas and doughy in others.

When it’s all said and done, I can’t say I’m terribly excited about this smoke. I really enjoyed the flavor, but I expect so much more construction-wise from a cigar that runs $314 per box (of 10, not 20, mind you). I think the high price is driven more by the limited production and the Cohiba name than the quality of the tobacco.

Maybe more aging will do this cigar good. I’ll wait another year or so before trying the other three Pirámides I have in my humi. Until then, I give the Cohiba Pirámides Edición Limitada 2006 four out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys