The Stogie Guys

It’s hard to beat Angostura 1919 if you’re looking for a light sipping rum with a soothing, rounded heat. As I wrote in my review back in September, perhaps no other spirit is quite as relaxing or as complementary to a medium-bodied smoke. For those of us who also enjoy stronger and more flavorful stogies, though, sometimes the 1919 blend just doesn’t pack enough punch. That’s where the older and more expensive Angostura 1824 comes in.

This highly esteemed rum honors the year Angostura got its start as a maker of concentrated food and beverage flavorings. The Trinidad & Tobago-based company’s beginnings can be traced back to 1824 when a surgeon general in Simón Bolívar’s Venezuelan army sought to improve the appetite and digestive well-being of the soldiers.

It wasn’t until 1947 that Angostura began to ferment, distill, age, blend, and bottle rum in Laventille, Trinidad. Today Angostura produces over 600,000 cases of rum each year, most of which is shipped to America, Great Britain, and other Caribbean islands.

The 1824 blend, which sells for around $55 per 750 ml. bottle (40% alcohol by volume), is Angostura’s flagship rum. It is made from “the finest mature rums, hand-picked by the master blender from select casks.” Aged in charred American oak bourbon barrels for at least 12 years, the rum is hand-blended and re-casked until it reaches its “optimum maturity” before it is hand-drawn.

Each individually numbered bottle of Angostura 1824 is decked out with a gold ornamental medallion and a wax-encased cork. Dark with a brilliant reddish hue, it pours with a pungent nose of sweet, smoky notes that include fruity orange and raisin and creamy honey and vanilla.

I find the taste—which others have described as similar to toffee, spice, butterscotch, and nuts—is best compared to charred molasses and caramel. That smoky sensation from the nose carries over well to the palate. The finish is nearly everlasting, warm, and highlighted by a clinging spice.

With this array of flavorful complexity, Angostura 1824 isn’t difficult to pair with a cigar. You’ll have to find your own perfect match through trial and error, but the LFD Double Ligero Chisel, Hoyo Petit Robusto, and the Montecristo Cabinet Selección Belicoso are good places to start.

If this bold blend sounds like your cup of tea, and if you don’t mind paying top dollar for top-quality rum, go ahead and make an investment in a bottle. That decision will pay big dividends neat or on the rocks.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

While you might not of heard of it, there’s a good chance a few of your favorite cigars are distributed by Miami Cigar & Company.  The outfit distributes such acclaimed brands as La Aurora, Nestor Miranda Special Selection, Don Lino, León Jimenes, 601, Cubao, and Mi Barrio, among others.

And to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary, Miami Cigar & Company is putting out a special cigar under its Nestor Miranda Special Selection line, which is named after Miami Cigar & Company’s founder Nestor Miranda. The celebratory cigar is blended by Don Pepin Garcia’s son, Jaime, and made in Pepin’s Nicaraguan Tabacalera Cubana factory.

According to a recent interview, Miranda has been looking to have Pepin make a cigar for the line for some time, but the last time he approached Pepin he was busy setting up his new Nicaraguan factory. So when it came time to create a new cigar for the anniversary line, there was little doubt that it would be made by the Pepins.

The cigar is a very limited release. Only 2,000 boxes of 20 cigars have been made, 1,000 with a Habano Rosado wrapper (the subject of a future StogieGuys.com review), and 1,000 with a Habano Oscuro wrapper. Both versions come in only one size, an immense (7 x 56) smoke called the “Danno.”

The Nicaraguan oscuro wrapper is a bit rustic, with plenty of small veins and a nice shine. The wrapper has been aged three to four years before being rolled around a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The firm cigar is accented by a pigtail cap.

Once I began smoking, the Danno produces full-bodied earth and bread flavors and an understated peppery core. Beneath those initial flavors is a subtle combination of complexity that includes coffee beans, oak, and cocoa. The finish is long, dry, and toasty.

I was amazed by the copious amount of smoke that this thick cigar produces from its easy draw. It gives off a rich aroma that’s reminiscent of freshly brewed espresso. The even burn and ash, which holds for well over an inch, cap off the cigar’s impressive construction.

The Nestor Miranda Special Selection 20 Aniversarios have an MSRP of $9 apiece, a reasonable price considering its pedigree and when compared to many of the limited release cigars being put out these days. If I had my way, the 56 ring guage might be reduced slightly, as I personally find such girth to be larger than I prefer. But that’s a small complaint against what is  an excellent, interesting, complex, and well-constructed smoke.

All of which is to say that you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend $9 and two hours. That’s why the Nestor Miranda Special Selection 20 Aniversario Oscuro earns an impressive 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

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

The Montecristo Petit Edmundo has been one of my favorite cigars for some time now, so I was excited to see what the longer Edmundo format had to offer. While a tad soft to the touch, the Edmundo has the same good looks as the Petit version, and later I found the construction to be outstanding with an even burn, ideal draw, and dependable ash. The smoke is a pleasant combination of cedar, leather, and toasty flavors. I’d agree that it isn’t as complex as the Petit format, but that doesn’t mean the Montecristo Edmundo isn’t a fine Cuban cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

First my colleague gave this new Belicoso (6 x 54) a good review in March. Then, just a few weeks ago, we gave away a Savoy humidor signed by baseball legend Luis Tiant and filled with 23 El Tiante Corojos through our email newsletter contest. It was high time I tried one of these for myself. When I did, I encountered admirable construction and loads of flavor—including cedar, herbs, and sweet spice. You can pick up this wonderfully balanced, slow-burning treat for around $6-8.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and informative as possible, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) With baseball’s worst record and third-lowest average attendance, the slumping Nationals seem intent on reviving the old saw of Washington as “first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” We can’t help but wonder what might have been had the team accepted our 2006 proposal to create a smoking section in the stands of their old home at RFK Stadium. Is it too late to reverse a bad call for the new Nationals Park?

2) Liz Klein, an assistant professor at Ohio State University, recently published a “study” that purports to downplay the impact of smoking bans on employment in restaurants and bars. But as our friend Jacob Grier points out, the methodology Klein used amounts to little more than fuzzy science. That’s why, he says, “The applicability of her paper to public policy is very limited.”

3) Inside the Industry: Camacho Cigars, best known for their full-flavored smokes, is releasing a Connecticut-wrapped cigar. Cigar Rights of America is further enticing membership, this time with an a sampler of 20 cigars made by industry leaders exclusively for CRA and available only to members.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review lights up a Punch Rare Corojo. Fire Up That Cigar sparks a Don Pepin Garcia JJ. The Weekly Cigar smokes a Marco V Gold. Cigar Inspector inspects an ORTSAC 1962. Keepers of the Flame torches up an ITC 10th Anniversary.

5) Deal of the Week: With full-bodied spice and Cuban-like depth, people are turning to Nicaraguan smokes more and more, and this Nicaraguan Blends Sampler shows why. Included are two each from Padilla Habano, Man O’ War, Rocky Patel Fusion, and Gurkha Park Avenue, all for under $40. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr

Ever wondered what peat tastes like? Scotch is often described as having “peatiness,” but an exact description of the flavor is hard to come by. It seems some things are easier to taste than to describe, and that’s where the Tasliker 10 Year Single Malt Scotch helps out.

The Talisker 10 Year is dominated by peatiness, which makes it a Scotch that not everyone will like, but some will love. The peaty flavor comes from the distinctive terrain that surrounds the Talisker, the only Scotch Whisky distillery on the Isle of Skye in West Scotland.

Talisker, located in Carbost, has been making Scotch since 1830. The distillery, which is owned by the spirits conglomerate Diageo, makes Single Malt Scotch with ages varying from 10 to 30 years.

The Talksker 10 Year is the youngest Talisker single malt available and is available for $35-40 for a fifth. It has a golden amber hue and a vibrant nose filled with peat, pepper, and vanilla.

On the palate you get more of the distinctive peatiness, with plenty of salty ocean flavor and an underlying sweetness. The finish is deep, peppery, and tapers off to a meaty charred flavor.

It is a great scotch to pair with a cigar, but not any cigar can stand up to the intense flavors of the Talisker. I’d suggest going with a  strong, full-bodied stick with plenty of pepper, earth, or cedar.

I enjoyed the Talisker with the Padilla 1932 and the Cubao.  I’d also recommend the Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Especial, the Rocky Patel Vintage 1992, or the EO 601 Serie Oscuro.

No matter what cigar you choose, you’ll find the Talisker 10 Year Single Malt to be a distinctive pairing. While that distinctive peatiness isn’t particularly approachable for the novice scotch drinker, those who love powerful,peaty single malts will find the Talisker 10 to be a little slice of heaven.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Desflorado tobacco, from what I understand, is difficult and laborious to grow, which is why sticks that use this finicky leaf are relatively expensive and hard to come by. Our friends at Cuban Crafters, however, have come out with an affordable lineup of cigars that make use of this rich tobacco.

The process of cultivating desflorado tobacco requires a watchful eye and arduous attention to detail. By definition, the buds on these plants are cut off before they flower to give the tobacco “an extra rich and smooth taste.” Then the best leaves are hand selected from the tops of each plant to create the Connecticut desflorado wrapper for this line, a project that was four years in the making.

You can tell this cigar is different right out of the box. With a dark complexion and a reddish-yellow hue, it certainly doesn’t look like it comes from the Connecticut lineage. But, thanks to its neat cap and a clean appearance, it does look like it was rolled with care.

I sampled four or five Toros for this review, and I think this is a smart vitola for the blend. Its slender, six inch by 48 ring gauge physique allows more of the wrapper—the highlight of the blend—and a little less of the Cuban-seed long-filler from the Cupido tobacco fields to shine through in each puff.

Not surprisingly, the Cuban Crafters Cubano Claro doesn’t taste like your average Connecticut, either. It starts with a peppery flavor of olive, clove, onion, and bread, and the wrapper adds a bit of spicy tingle on the lips. Well-balanced, if not slightly dry.

A creamier backdrop of nuts and milk chocolate shifts to the forefront after the first few inches, making the overall taste slightly milder. Seasoned cigar veterans who normally steer clear of Connecticut stogies should take note that there’s still a lot of flavor going on, even when this cigar is at its mildest.

Like many other Cuban Crafters cigars, this blend features excellent construction, including a very even burn, a solid white ash that holds well, and an effortless draw that produces thick smoke.

The Toro sells for $6.30 apiece when bought by the box of 20. I think that’s more than a fair price, especially considering the quality of this cigar and the fact that it’s packaged in vintage cedar humidor boxes.

So, if you’re looking for something a little different, the new Cuban Crafters Cubano Claro Toro should be high on your wish list. It earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys