The Stogie Guys

In December, I reviewed the Habano Oscuro from the reinvented Tiant Cigar Group, and I was impressed. I later received an email from Daniel Tiant who was prodding me to try the Habano Rosado blend since, in his words, it has more complexity than the Oscuro.

Daniel is the son of Cuban-born baseball legend Luis Tiant, known to many simply as “El Tiante.” Tiant launched his own line of cigars in 2007 (around the time of the 25th anniversary of his final major league game) and only recently unveiled the two new blends that serve as the cornerstone of the company’s reintroduction: Habano Oscuro and Habano Rosado. Each is made at Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father Cigars Factory with Ecuadorian-seed wrappers and Nicaraguan binders and fillers.

Why scratch the company’s original creations and launch two entirely new blends? “I wanted a more serious image with our cigar company, and that is the reason we recreated our cigar bands, boxes, and overall presentation,” Daniel told me.

Both new blends come in four vitolas that retail for $6.80 to $8.60 apiece: Pyramid (6 x 52), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 50), and Toro Gordo (6 x 60). They are sold mostly in the New England area, including shops in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, but are also available at several locales in Florida. Daniel is looking to expand distribution nationwide.

The Habano Rosado Toro has a nice triple-cap, a firm feel in the hand, and a clean, silky exterior leaf. The pre-light aroma is mostly earthy with a touch of sweet cocoa. The maroon band is easily removed and the cold draw has just the right amount of resistance.

Where the Habano Oscuro starts with a chary, chewy Nicaraguan zing, the Habano Rosado has a jasmine-like floral taste with notes of toast, cinnamon spice, and a toffee sweetness on the finish. This is an entirely different cigar with a more medium-bodied profile (the Oscuro is a bold, full-bodied smoke). Still, the spiciness makes it no pushover, and the complexity makes it quite interesting.

As the straight burn line works down the cigar and the white ash builds off the foot, I notice that the resting smoke has a pronounced sweetness. I also notice that the taste of the cigar mellows halfway through with some of the spice giving way to more sweet notes. The overall balance of the profile from this point to the end is how I will remember the Toro, and perhaps the main reason why I look forward to smoking more of this blend.

Now I can see why Daniel prefers the Habano Rosado to the Habano Oscuro. I’d have to agree with him, giving the Rosado a slight edge over its partner in crime and awarding it four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It’s been a few years since my last Dominican-made Montecristo. Too long, perhaps, since I enjoyed many of them, particularly the Montecristo Classic made by Altadis USA.

With that in mind, I was glad to try the new Montecristo New York Edition, introduced recently by Altadis. The concept, a cigar especially for the the New York market, isn’t new as evidenced by Alec Bradley’s Gotham and Broadway by La Aurora.

The Montecristo New York Edition is a large, box-pressed cigar (6 x 60) featuring the classic Montecristo band accompanied by a black band with the New York skyline. Unlike many box-pressed smokes, it is a square-press, with the cigar as wide as it is deep.

Once lit, the Montecristo New York produces smooth and balanced flavors. I found it to be a medium-bodied smoke (though in marketing materials, Altadis calls it medium-full).

Either way, its a balanced mixture of subtle leather, butter, toast, and honey. The flavors are consistent from start to finish, though the body and some graham spice builds towards the final third.

Normally, I’m not a fan of such large cigars, but the box press on this stick makes it manageable and more comfortable in the mouth. Flawless construction also makes for a trouble-free 90-minute smoke.

At $14 each, it’s not cheap, but then you wouldn’t expect a special edition Montecristo to be. Let’s just hope that the price includes New York’s sky-high taxes.

All in all, this cigar has enjoyable flavors with distinctive packaging, and as a New Yorker I’m a fan of the Gotham theme. That’s why the New York Connoisseur Edition earns a very solid four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Tatuaje creator Pete Johnson has called his series of Vérité cigars his “most serious project to date.” This statement resonates with the many enthusiasts who consider Tatuaje to be among the world’s best cigar outfits.

I can understand why Johnson holds Vérité (French for “the truth”) in such high regard. “La Vérité Vintage,” as he calls it, brings a vintner’s approach to cigar making, employing a wrapper, binder, and filler all grown on the same farm. “Much like a single vineyard wine, La Vérité showcases the soil where the tobacco was grown,” reads his website. “The seed varietal varies from year to year based on the crop planted and the tobacco yielded.”

Also like wine, Johnson uses a futures system to sell the cigars before they’re available for consumption. Even though it would not ship until July, the second vintage, 2009, went on sale back in March. That’s when I bought a box of 10 La Vérité 2009s for $150. (I also bought a box of 10 L’Espirit de Vérité 2009s for $120.) These prices respectively increased to $200 and $160 in April, then again to $225 and $180 in May.

Like the 2008 Vintage, all of the tobacco in this cigar comes from La Estrella, the Garcia family’s farm in Nicaragua, and is handmade under the direction of Jaime Garcia at My Father Cigars. Unlike the 2008 Vintage, which was made with 100% Habano Nicaraguan tobacco, L’Espirit de Vérité 2009 is comprised of 50% Habano, 40% Criollo ’98, and 10% Pelo de Oro tobacco.

Visually, the Churchill is very similar to L’Espirit de Vérité. It has a medium brown, somewhat reddish exterior leaf that’s oily and textured. The seams are easy to pick out and several thick veins run the length of the seven-inch cigar. But the overall impression is one of quality, and the faint pre-light aroma of earth and cocoa proves to be a good predictor of the complex smoke that’s to follow.

Where L’Espirit de Vérité 2009 starts with pepper, raisin, and cocoa and later transitions to creamier, nuttier tones, the Churchill is creamy from the get-go. Flavors of cashew, raisin, and mint are apparent at the outset. Later, towards the midway point and beyond, a dry wood taste takes center stage as most of the creaminess dissipates. The physical properties are also excellent, as you would expect from a cigar that now costs over $25 apiece (if you are lucky enough to find one).

If pressed, I’d have to say that L’Espirit de Vérité 2009, a robusto-sized smoke, is slightly more enjoyable than this Churchill. But it’s really close, and that’s high praise. The Churchill has ample complexity, subtlety, and several interesting transitions along the way, earning it a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Toraño brought out two new cigars at last August’s IPCPR Trade Show. Loyal, a value-priced cigar featuring an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler, came out immediately after the show.

The more highly-anticipated Toraño Vault only shipped a couple of months ago. The Vault concept originates from a book of cigar blends, which according to Toraño documents every blend ever created by the company since the 80’s, including many that never made it to market. Toraño executives Charlie Toraño and Bruce Lewis have now begun using the documented blends as inspiration for new blends.

Liga A-800 is the first such Vault-inspired blend. In the Vault book (now kept in a bank vault, according to Toraño’s marketing materials) the A-800 “recipe” uses a shade-grown Nicaraguan Colorado wrapper, Honduran Jamastran binder, and Nicaraguan filler from both Estelí and Condega.

After tasting their reconstructed A-800 blend, Toraño decided to add one ingredient that wasn’t available to Toraño when it was originally made in 2000: a second binder using Nicaraguan Ometepe tobacco (from the volcanic island in Nicaragua that was previously exclusive to General Cigars). This new recipe comes in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 50), and Torpedo (6.1 x 52), plus a limited release Corona Gorda (5.6 x 46).

I reviewed the Torpedo, which sells for just under $8 each. The cigar is firm with no soft spots on the dry, reddish-brown wrapper. It has a complex combination of cinnamon, black coffee, leather, and wood. It’s a medium- to full-bodied cigar with a dry, clove-like spice that I associate with Ometepe tobacco.

There’s not a lot of variation from start to finish, though dry chocolate and leather emerge slightly in the blend that is dominated by wood and spice. Construction is superb, which I’ve come to expect from Toraño.

This is a good smoke, but I’m not sure it ranks with Toraño’s best. (My favorite is the 50 Years Exodus.) Still, it’s well-made and complex, and makes me look forward to the next Vault blend. That all earns the Toraño Vault Liga A-008 Torpedo 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

Before La Riqueza, El Triunfador, Ambos Mundos, La Verite, La Casita Criolla, and Fausto, Cabaiguan was the first cigar made by Pete Johnson that didn’t bear the Tatuaje name.

These days, Cabaiguan (pronounced kah-bei-gwahn) is often thought of as a milder version of the standard Tatuaje fare. But as my colleague pointed out in his 2009 review of the Robusto Extra, this blend is excellent in its own right and worthy of comparisons to some fine Cuban cigars, including the Partagas Serie D No. 4 and the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill.

Cabaiguan is made at Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua with a Connecticut-seed, shade-grown, Ecuadorian wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler leaves. The name on the yellowish band honors the town of Garcia’s birth in Cuba in the northern province of Sancti Spírites.

I smoked a handful of Guapos (5.6 x 54) for this review. This vitola costs about $11 apiece and is topped with a pigtailed triple cap. It is moderately soft to the touch with pre-light notes of earth, hay, and honey. The head cuts easily to reveal a smooth draw.

I try to work a fair amount of Connecticut-seed Ecuadorian smokes into my cigar rotation, so I have a pretty good feel for the sorts of flavors I like—and the flavors I don’t like—when it comes to this breed. And I’ve appreciated the Cabaiguan for years because I know it brings many of my favorite elements to the table while avoiding the major flavor pitfalls of milder cigars, such as metallic notes or a paper-like taste.

What’s especially appealing about the Guapos is the interplay between the tangy spice that hits the tip of the tongue and the mellow undertones of nuts and cream. Attentive smokers will also notice some floral tastes in addition to oak and pecan. This profile doesn’t tend to change much throughout the smoke, but I find the subtlety of the flavor is more than enough to hold my attention.

What’s more, the physical properties enable you to sit back and enjoy the cigar without having to worry about the burn, draw, or ash. This is, of course, to be expected from a cigar of the Garcia/Johnson pedigree. And I would argue it’s a requirement of any smoke that costs over $7, as this one certainly does.

While the Guapos may not be my favorite size of the Cabaiguan line (that honor probably belongs to the Coronas Extra), it’s a wonderful cigar and definitely worthy of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As I wrote in my review of the Corojo Robusto last month, C&C Cigars is a new outfit that launched at last summer’s IPCPR Trade Show.

C&C is owned by Joe Chiusano, the former president of Cusano, a brand that ended up getting purchased by Davidoff in 2009. He and his team of former Cusano/Davidoff employees—including Jeff Aronson, Maurice Tisseur, and Shane Hays—have cooked up three premium lines that are handmade in the Dominican Republic: Corojo, Connecticut, and Limited Release Maduro.

The latter features a naturally ripened Dominican wrapper with Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. “This cigar delivers a rich, full, and aromatic medium-plus strength profile,” reads a C&C press release. “The curing process allows the proprietary maduro wrapper leaf to retain much of its natural sweetness complementing its full flavor. All natural, no dye or oils added.”

Like the other two blends, the Limited Release Maduro is available in three sizes of 18-count boxes: Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), and Churchill (7 x 50). Each size costs $3.99 to $4.49.

I sampled a handful of Robustos for this review. This vitola has a dark exterior leaf with minimal veins and moderate oils. It is light in the hand with a soft feel from head to foot. The faint pre-light aroma reminds me of milk chocolate, and the cold taste is a little musty.

Once lit, the initial flavor includes a heavy dose of espresso and some notes of charred steak. The profile is definitely bold but lacking in spice. I found myself hoping for some sweet or creamy tastes to provide balance.

Those tastes slowly creep in around the midway point, where flavors like cocoa and cashew join in. These additions help offset the mostly bitter base of espresso and add depth. All the while, the Robusto’s physical properties are outstanding for a $4 smoke. The burn line is straight, the ash holds firm, and the draw is consistently clear.

Like the Corojo, the Limited Release Maduro isn’t going to wow any seasoned cigar veterans. But this is a good choice for any everyday smoke if you like espresso flavors and want a well-built stick that won’t break the bank. For that, it earns three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Twenty miles south of Nashville lies the town of Franklin, home to the Bellaterra Ranch. For the Murphy family, the Tennessee ranch is an idyllic setting for horses, wine, and cigars.

Mike Murphy learned about wine from his grandfather-in-law, an Italian winemaker who taught him the craft 30 years ago. Mike and his wife later took more than 40 trips to Napa and Sonoma to help them develop their own wine, called Bellaterra. These days, they sell their California-made wine from their 30-acre ranch.

They also sell cigars, made by the Toraño family in Nicaragua. The Murphys have five blends that are specifically constructed to pair well with (and not overpower) red wine: La Dolce Vita Reserve, La Dolce Vita, Riserva di Famiglia, Euforia, and Double Deuce.

Riserva di Famiglia carries the title of “our family favorite,” so I decided to sample this Connecticut-wrapped line first. It is comprised of five vitolas that range in price from $11.86 to $13.46: Corona (5.5 x 42), Robusto (5 x 50), Torpedo (6.25 x 52), Churchill (7 x 48), and Double Corona (7 x 50). Only 6,000 of these cigars were made.

The Robusto has a dark, reddish exterior leaf with minimal veins and a nice cap. The foot gives off a rich aroma of earth and cocoa powder. Fairly light and soft in the hand, the pre-light draw is smooth, even with just a punch cut.

After establishing an even light, the Robusto opens with a rounded profile of leather, oak, raisin, marshmallow sweetness, and a bit of black pepper spice on the finish. I would classify the strength towards the mild side of the medium-bodied spectrum.

I have to admit to being thrown off by this cigar. On one hand, it doesn’t look or taste anything like your typical Connecticut-wrapped smoke, which usually has hay, almond, cream and a mild body. On the other, it has both spice and some of the zing that you’d expect from Nicaraguan tobacco, but it’s more subdued than the familiar cigars that come out of that country. I’m further vexed by the fact that the Robusto doesn’t taste like anything else produced by the Toraños.

These perplexities aside, I do like the flavor, and I must give this smoke points for its uniqueness. Construction is good, too, with a burn line that meanders but never requires a touch-up. My only complaint is that the white ash tends to fall off the foot a bit prematurely.

After sampling three Robustos for this review, I’m impressed by the balance and individuality of the taste. Don’t think of the price as too high for a cigar you’ve never heard of; think of it as the cost of smoking a rare Toraño most enthusiasts will never get their hands on, one that’s worthy of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys