The Stogie Guys

The original Illusione Singulare 2010 known as “Phantom” is one of my favorite cigars of all time, a cigar I bought four boxes of before the the 1,000-box run was exhausted. I remarkably still have half a box left. If ever I’m pressed to give my hypothetical “desert island cigar” (a single cigar that would be the only one you’d smoke for the rest of your life), Phantom is always in consideration.

That makes the 2011 and 2012 Illusione Singulare cigars some of my most anticipated smokes of the year. Both were shipped to stores last week together in boxes of 15, selling for $170 (around $11 per cigar). Boxes apparently randomly have eight of one blend and seven of the other. The two blends can be easily identified because the 2012 comes wrapped in tissue paper and the 2011 doesn’t.

More obviously, the 2012 features a San Andreas maduro wrapper, while the 2011 features a natural corojo wrapper that looks more similar to the original 2010 version. Both have a similar combination of Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Notably, these are the first Illusione cigars to be made in Nicaragua at the TABSA factory operated by Eduardo Fernández, who also owns the Honduran Raices Cubanas  factory where all the previous Illusione cigars have been made.

The Singulare 2012 (along with the 2011) is a toro (6 x 52). The San Andreas wrapper is dark brown, nearly completely vein-free, and it has just a touch of oils, but not much sheen. It’s a well-made cigar with a bit of give and an effortless open draw.

The cigar features a combination of dry chocolate, roasted flavors (peanut and pecan), slight cedar, and some black pepper. Towards the second half, it develops a mouth-watering tannic edge, similar to the original Phantom, and the pepper ramps up too.

It’s balanced, medium-bodied, and produces voluminous, dense smoke that coats the entire palate. The burn on each of the three cigars I smoked was perfectly even and the ash held for at least an inch.

I’ve only had one of the 2011 version but, based on that limited sample, I think the 2012 is the standout of the new Singulare 2011/2012 releases. In fact, based solely on this cigar, I already ordered a second box.

The initial 2010 “Phantom” was a cigar that got better and better with age. (In fact, if I reviewed it again today, I’m sure it would earn a perfect rating.) I suspect this cigar might benefit similarly. Still, it’s already an excellent, balanced, complex, and interesting cigar. I just hope it’s not two more years before we get to try the next “annual” Singulare cigar. That’s enough to earn the Illusione Singulare 2012 four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

While this year’s industry trade show is still a little more than a week away, General Cigar’s (arguably) most important new release of 2012 has already been on the market since April.

Chances are you’ve already heard of Partagas 1845, read reviews of the four-vitola line, or even smoked a Partagas 1845 yourself. Today I bring you my take on the Robusto, courtesy of several samples that were mailed to me by the folks at General Cigar.

To construct Partagas 1845, Jhonys Diaz, Francisco Rodriguez, Yuri Guillen, and Benji Menendez reportedly went through 50 different blends before arriving at the final recipe. They settled on an Ecuadorian Habano viso wrapper, a Connecticut Habano binder that took nine years to develop, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic—some of which were aged in rum barrels.

The result is a dark, firm-feeling line of four sizes that retail for $6-8 apiece: Corona Extra (4.5 x 46), Gigante (6 x 60), Double Corona (7.25 x 54), and Robusto (5.5 x 49). The Robusto is a bumpy smoke with a fair amount of veins and a nice triple cap. The foot has a moist, earthy aroma. Once clipped, the pre-light draw displays moderate resistance.

After establishing an even light and taking some time to let the profile sink in, I find notes of sweet tobacco, cherry, leather, and earth at the outset. Each puff yields ample smoke. There’s hardly any spice at all, but the finish weighs heavy on the back of the throat.

Later, a charred steak flavor creeps in and a spice starts to hit the lips that reminds me of Montreal steak seasoning. Not too bad, albeit a little dry. The aforementioned sweetness does a nice job of rounding off the salt and the spice. Leather becomes more prominent at the midway point. Char is more pronounced in the final act.

With outstanding physical properties—including an even burn line and a solid gray ash—the Partagas 1845 Robusto is a nice smoke and a fair value for $6.50 (not including taxes). Those of you who enjoy char-centric cigars, earth, and leather will be pleased with this new blend. Personally, I would prefer some creaminess and a little more sweetness to render the taste more balanced and less dry. In my book this cigar is worthy of three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Viaje, the undisputed king of releasing tons of different cigars in difficult-to-find quantities, released four different cigars recently. I’ve already given my opinion of the Summerfest and Roman Candle, and the remaining releases are the C4 and the TNT.

Today I take a look at the TNT, a toro (6.25 x 54) with a fuse-like pigtail cap that comes in large boxes of 75 that look like a crate of dynamite. Last year only 50 crates of 75 were produced (3,750 total cigars) but Viaje tells me this year they expanded that to 125 crates of 75 cigars each (9,375 total). If you can find one, will cost you just over $10 per cigar.

The TNT is notable for it’s long, fuse-like pigtail cap and closed foot. The wrapper (Nicaraguan corojo ’99) features a bit of tooth and not many oils. It surrounds Nicaraguan binder and filler, and is made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras.

Once the closed foot burned off (I even pulled it off to avoid the flaky ash it produced for the first few draws), I found a medium- to full-bodied smoke. It featured a unique, crunchy, toasty flavor that (after some serious cigar memory searching) reminds me of the Tesa Gran Cru.

Also apparent are earth, spice, and bittersweet chocolate. It only changes a bit from start to finish, but it’s interesting and well-balanced, with a long, clean finish.

I smoked four TNTs for this review, and I wish I had picked up a few more. It’s not the spicy, powerful bomb the name implies, but I enjoyed every minute of the 90-minute smoke, which has good construction that produces abundant, voluminous smoke.

This may be my favorite Viaje cigar, and it’s certainly my favorite of the many explosive-themed Viajes (TNT, MoAB, C4, Firecracker, WMD, etc…). Well-constructed and flavorful with balance and a unique edge, it earns four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When I reviewed the new Seleção Robusto last month, I mentioned that Dona Flor, a top brand in Brazil for years, was once a darling of StogieGuys.com.

The company’s blends earned high praise from my colleagues and I back in 2006 and 2007. The Alonso Menendez Robusto was no exception. That smoke might have been my favorite Dona Flor at the time. I remember it as a rough-looking specimen made of mata fina tobacco with a quick burn, good construction, and an aromatic profile of coffee and milk chocolate—a flavor that I’d sometimes describe as “moist chocolate cake.” But my access to the Alonso Menendez Robusto was cut off for years as legal issues halted Dona Flor’s brief distribution to the U.S.

Then, on June 5 of this year, I received a press release proclaiming Dona Flor’s re-introduction to the American market. I quickly scoured the text in hopes of seeing the Alonso Menendez name. No such luck. But there was a new blend that looked and sounded a lot like my old friend. Called the Dona Flor Puro Mata Fina Robusto, it too is made from 100% mata fina tobacco. Save for the updated band, it also looks like the Alonso Menendez Robusto, with a coarse, textured wrapper, a loose packing of tobacco, and a similar cap. And the Puro Mata Fina Robusto is even sold in the same size (5 x 52). The retail price will run around $8.

Before setting fire to the foot, the pre-light aroma of the Puro Mata Fina Robusto does remind me of Alonso Menendez. It’s a potent fragrance of sweet chocolate. The cap clips easily to reveal a predictably airy draw with some sweetness on the lips.

Now the Puro Mata Fina Robusto is a fast-burning cigar, so that means a few things. First, the cigar takes less time to smoke than your average robusto. Second, the burn is perfectly even and requires no touch-ups along the way. Third, each puff gives off tons of smoke. And fourth, I’d typically expect a cigar with such rapid combustion to taste hot and harsh.

Thankfully, though, the flavor is anything but. At the outset the profile is cool, dry, and cedary with notes of allspice, leather, and pine nut. There’s also a fair amount of dark chocolate bitterness present—a contrast to the sweet chocolate that’s so pervasive in the Alonso Menendez. As it progresses, the bitterness and the woodiness ramp up significantly, and charred notes dominate the final third.

Since I started working on this review, I’ve learned that the Puro Mata Fina Robusto is not simply the reincarnation of the Alonso Menendez. Dona Flor aims to eventually reintroduce Alonso Menendez to the U.S. market, but that probably won’t happen for at least another year. In the meantime, the Puro Mata Fina Robusto is a decidedly different cigar, one that’s worthy of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

At Cigarnival, I made a point of asking various cigar makers what they had planned for the upcoming IPCPR Trade Show. When I posed the question to Brad Mayo of Jameson Cigars, he pointed at a box he had displayed on his table.

Thinking it was the Santos de Miami, which was released at last year’s show, I had overlooked that this cigar was different and new. Brad explained that one of his many experiments was set for release at the show: a non-pressed version of his Santos de Miami blend.

The difference, he explained, is more than just the shape (which, in addition to shedding the extremely sharp box-press, loses the pigtail cap). The round parejo shape’s blend is stronger, he said, because it contains more filler because the box-pressed shape has to be rolled looser in order to be so sharply pressed.

According to Jameson’s website, Santos de Miami is “inspired by the spirit of Miami, particularly Calle Ocho. [It] features all Dominican grown tobaccos with a Havana corojo wrapper, criollo ’98 binder, and corojo and criollo fillers.” The original box-pressed line comes in two sizes: Haven (6 x 54) and Alma (5 x 46). Brad gave me two of the new non-pressed cigars, apparently in the same Haven size.

It’s a well constructed cigar, with just a bit of shine on the corojo wrapper, which is framed by the sharp-looking art deco-style band. The firm construction produces a stiff but not difficult draw and a sturdy ash that holds for an inch and a half. I was worried about possible draw issues since the cigar is so tightly packed, but they never came.

Once lit, the cigar produces charred oak and unsweetened chocolate flavors. It’s medium- to full-bodied with just a hint of spice. As it evolves, there’s a bit of molasses and clove added to the dry coffee and nutty core. It has a unique, very clean, almost minty finish.

It’s been a long time since I had the original Santos de Miami, but I definitely agree that the shape change creates a slightly different flavor profile. The cigar changes only a little from start to finish, but it’s a very tasty, if not overly complex. Assuming this is the same packaging as the original (boxes of 10 for $80), it’s a fair price for a good cigar. With enjoyable flavors and excellent construction the Santos de Miami Haven Parejo earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I often get asked to recommend a cheap blend that’s tasty enough to be enjoyable yet mild enough for a beginner. One of the first cigars that always comes to mind is the Oliva Serie G.

Now just because this Cameroon-wrapped smoke has a price and flavor profile that makes it approachable for infrequent smokers, that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed by seasoned cigar veterans, too. I (obviously) smoke pretty damn regularly, and for years I’ve kept a stash of Serie Gs in my collection. Why? Because sometimes I want a milder smoke to accompany my morning coffee, and sometimes I crave that Cameroon sweetness. It also doesn’t hurt to save a little money from time to time.

When I reach for a Serie G, I’m usually choosing a smaller size like the Robusto (4.5 x 50), Special G (3.75 x 48), or even the Cigarillo (4 x 38). These are fine morning or mid-afternoon vitolas that won’t take up a ton of time. Every so often, though, I’ll fire up a Churchill, which is the largest Serie G at seven inches long with a ring gauge of 50. It retails for $4 to $6, depending on where and how many you’re buying.

This box-pressed smoke boasts the standard Serie G recipe, including a Cuban-seed Habano binder and Nicaraguan Habano long-filler tobaccos. The Cameroon wrapper is yellowish and pale with a fair amount of veins and various watermark splotches. You won’t find a ton of oils on the wrinkled exterior leaf, but the foot yields a wonderful pre-light aroma of hay and caramel.

After setting fire to the foot, a cool, mild profile emerges that’s dry and a little flat. There isn’t much spice to speak of. Instead, the taste can best be described as toasty and airy. Once the first inch is complete, some of the flavors that I associate with the smaller Serie G vitolas start to enter the equation. These include cream, butter, almond, sweetness, and warm tobacco. The spice intensifies slightly in the final third but I don’t think the Churchill ever ventures out of the mild spectrum.

In terms of physical properties, this cigar performs at the standard I’ve come to expect from Oliva. The burn is straight and requires no touch-ups. The white, finely layered ash holds firm off the foot. And the draw is smooth and easy from light to nub.

Oliva is an excellent manufacturer whose low-key marketing approach often causes the brand to go relatively unnoticed. But if you’re looking for a mild Cameroon smoke, I don’t think you can do much better than the Serie G at this price point. That said, I maintain that the Serie G is much more enjoyable and interesting in its smaller sizes. The Churchill takes a while to get going and, once it does, it doesn’t really hold my attention for the duration of the smoke. That’s why it doesn’t earn a rating higher than three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As I noted last month when I reviewed the San Andreas, I didn’t know what to think when Camacho announced a partnership with jewelery maker Matt Booth, whose Room 101 brand is named after the torture room in George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The original Room 101, while far from a bad cigar, didn’t do much for me.

Since then, I’ve been far more impressed by Room 101. I’ve found Conjura, Namakubi, Connecticut, and the new San Andres all very enjoyable. Which is why I wanted to try the One Shot One Kill (OSAK), introduced earlier this year. (I did smoke a pre-release sample from an event last fall.)

The limited edition line has some interesting characteristics. It comes in three distinct perfecto sizes, from the small Filero (4.5 x 52-42) to the large Chingon (8 x 60-44), and features very original packaging. The cigars are wrapped in tissue paper, then placed in a decorative patterned paper tube, before being packed in boxes of ten. The unique band has stylized OSOK initials and a QR code on the back that sends you to Room 101’s Facebook page.

The blend is comprised of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Honduran corojo binder, and a combination of Honduran corojo and Dominican piloto ligero filler. I smoked the $10 Trucha size, which is 6.5 inches in length with a ring gauge that’s 19 at the foot and 50 at it’s widest point.

It’s a good looking cigar with a milk chocolate wrapper and a bit of shine. It’s well-constructed, with an open draw and an ash that holds for well-over an inch.

Once I light up the OSOK I find distinctly dry flavors: cedar, toast, slight cinnamon, and black pepper that hits the back of he tongue. It’s a medium-bodied cigar that lets off highly aromatic, cedary smoke. As it develops, it sheds some of its dryness. Earth and roasted flavors develop as the cigar gets near the 50% mark but, by the end, the dominant cedar flavor is back with vengeance.

If you like dry, cedar-driven smokes, then this is a must-try. But if you, like me, prefer more nuance and complexity, the one-dimensional aspect of the Room 101 may not be a big hit. Considering the price, I’d much prefer the Room 101 San Andres or Conjura. That doesn’t mean OSOK is a bad cigar. I rather enjoyed the first 30 minutes. I just didn’t find it interesting enough for an hour and a half cigar. The next time I smoke one, I’ll certainly be reaching for the smaller Filero. In the end, the Room 101 One Shot One Kill Trucha earns a 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