The Stogie Guys

I seem to have hit the jackpot lately on lower priced cigars. In a recent tip, I listed three recent discoveries. This fat entry from General Cigar’s Michael Gianni makes it four.

With an MSRP at $4.99, Carbon is a more subtle, tasty, and engaging smoke than I expected. Gianni introduced it at July’s IPCPR Trade Show as part of General’s Foundry operation. Carbon was one of a dozen Compounds, Elements & Musings lines, with 10 offered in one-time, highly limited editions. Only Carbon, sold in unique boxes of 77, and Uranium are slated to continue and are only in B&Ms.

The Carbon comes in one size, a 60 ring gauge that is 5.5 inches long. Gianni identifies the blend as “Nicaragua, Lower 48, and Smoke It,” so you can guess what’s what as well as I. Asked if there were plans to introduce any other vitolas, General’s Victoria McKee replied, “You never know!”

She also said that marketplace reaction to the Carbon has been excellent, with reorders “tough on the factory.” I can understand why. Carbon is not just a good $5 cigar; it’s a good cigar, period.

There’s lots of smoke, a good burn, easy draw, and consistency among the three I’ve smoked so far. I’d put it in the medium category of strength and intensity. The flavors develop as it goes along and a variety of exotic, spicy notes provides a workout for the taste buds. There’s also a bit of tobacco sweetness and earthiness along the way.

For me, Carbon is one of the best finds of 2013. I give it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: @Aphelion Cigar

The history of Sosa dates back to the early 1900s, when Don Juan Sosa transformed himself from a small-scale tobacco grower into one of the largest tobacco producers in Cuba. Like many others, he and his family were eventually forced off the island during the revolution.

Settling in the Santiago region of the Dominican Republic, the Sosa family continued the tradition of its patriarch. Today, the brand is under the Antillian Cigar Corporation umbrella, alongside Macadi and Imperio Cubano. The Sosa portfolio includes, among others, the Exclusive Series, Family Selection, Super Selection, and Underground.

The newest Sosa offering is called Limitado. Blended by Arby Sosa, it features a three- year-old Nicaragua Habano wrapper from the Puros Indios factory in Honduras, an Indonesian Sumatra binder, and filler tobaccos from Ecuador and Nicaragua. It is made in Miami with production limited to 800 cigars per month. Only one roller is used to make the Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo.

That Stout Torpedo size (7 x 54) is intimidating; the cigar looks like it could be used as a murder weapon. Once the cyan-colored band sleeve is removed (thankfully, it slides easily off the cigar), you’ll find a dark wrapper with minimal veins and moderate oils. The feel is consistently firm from throughout. Musty, earthy notes can be found at the foot.

While the cigar may look intimidating, the flavor is anything but. Once lit, a soft, approachable profile emerges that’s rounded, balanced, and light on spice or nicotine kick. Identifiable notes include clove, dried fruit, baking spices, wood, and a little sweetness. The texture is billowy and the finish is short. I don’t find a ton of flavor changes throughout the long smoke.

Without question, the individual Sosa has rolling the Stout Torpedo knows what he/she is doing. Across the four samples I smoked for this review—all provided by Sosa—each had a perfect burn line, a solid ash, and a smooth, airy draw that yields ample smoke with little effort.

I really like this cigar. What makes it so difficult to review or rate, however, is the asking price, which is $15. That cost puts the Limitado Stout Torpedo against some stiff competition in the super-premium market. Taking everything into consideration, I’m recommending everyone give this pleasing cigar at least one try and settling on a solid rating 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

Felix Assouline may be a new name in cigars, but the team behind it has a long history in the cigar business. The company had a booth at the IPCPR Trade Show for the first time this year, to show off its four cigar lines, all made in Estelí, Nicaragua. (My colleague reviewed their Havana Sunrise Reserve recently.)

Their cigars can be hard to find—I’ve yet to see them on the shelves of any of my local shops—so the company offered to provide me with some samples from their Ego line. According to their website: “Ego is a full-flavored line of cigars. The careful blending of tobaccos from Jamastran, Jalapa, and Indonesia are brought together to create a full flavor cigar that is further enhanced by ‘pressing’ the tobaccos together and aging them carefully before boxing them and shipping them to their eventual home, your humidor.”

Ego comes in a peculiar selection of seven sizes. Five are 6.5 inches long with ring gauges between 54 and 58, plus there’s a Perfecto (5 x 52) and a Cigarillo (5 x 24). I smoked four cigars in the Trip size (6.5 x 54).

The Habano Criollo ’98 wrapper is a reddish-brown color with a slightly mottled appearance. The cigar has a soft box-press (notably, almost every cigar Felix Assouline makes is box-pressed), that makes the 54 ring gauge seem less over-sized.

The cigar utilizes an Indonesian binder and filler from Jamastran, Honduras, and Jalapa, Nicaragua. It features a solid base of roasted flavors, cashew, hay, and wood.

It’s medium- to full-bodied, but the real character comes from the spice notes, which include both black pepper and cinnamon. The flavors are relatively steady throughout, but there’s enough depth to the flavor that it isn’t dull. Construction is free of any flaws.

All in all, my first experience with Felix Assouline made a good impression. While not the most balanced cigar, Ego Trip is well-made, interesting, unique, and, at $7.50, fairly priced. That earns the Felix Assouline Ego Trip a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The Altadis-owned Romeo y Julieta brand is strongly associated with its country of origin, the Dominican Republic. That’s where the first non-Cuban Romeo y Julieta line was—and still is—made, featuring Dominican tobaccos around an Indonesian binder.

It’s telling of Nicaragua’s rise to dominance as a cigar- and tobacco-producing country that an iconic Dominican brand like Romeo y Julieta would launch a Nicaraguan offshoot line. That’s exactly what Altadis did when, last month, the company announced the new “RyJ by Romeo y Julieta.” RyJ is a Nicaraguan puro with double binders from Estelí and Jalapa, and filler tobaccos from Jalapa, Estelí, and La Mia. The wrapper is Jalapa Corojo grown exclusively for Altadis in Nicaragua.

Altadis, in keeping with the Nicaraguan theme, calls RyJ “Nicaraguan-made,” even though the country of manufacture is listed as Honduras. It bills RyJ as “full-bodied, rich, and spicy,” and offers the blend in three formats that range from $8 to $8.75 per single: Piramide (6.1 x 52), Bully Grande (5 x 54), and Toro (6 x 52).

The latter is a handsome, light brown, somewhat reddish smoke with a dry exterior and two white bands that make it unmistakably different from the other Romeo y Julieta blends. Firm to the touch, the Toro shows a tight cross-section of tobaccos at the foot despite the smooth cold draw. The pre-light notes are earthy and syrupy.

After establishing an even light, a profile emerges that’s dry, woodsy, and a little spicy. Secondary notes of sweetness and cream help to add balance and complexity. The cedary finish seems to linger on the palate for ages, and the resting smoke is sweet. The fullness of the flavor strikes me as medium-bodied, yet there’s nothing medium about the strength, as each puff seems to inject a hearty dose of nicotine.

On the three Toros I sampled—all of which, in the interest of full disclosure, were provided to me by Altadis—I find myself having to pull hard through the cigar’s stiff draw and puff frequently to keep it lit. This, in turn, increases the temperature at the foot, resulting in a hotter, sourer smoke and masking the core flavors. I think my enjoyment of RyJ would be increased significantly if the cigar smoked more effortlessly. Aside from the draw, the other physical properties are excellent, including a straight burn line and a solid ash.

Last year Altadis added to the Romeo y Julieta portfolio with Romeo, a cigar that, in my opinion, trumps RyJ. But my experience with RyJ is very limited at this point. I’m sure we’ll be seeing many more RyJ Toro reviews in the coming weeks, and I look forward to hearing what others have to say (especially about the draw). In my book, this new cigar clocks in at three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

I picked these up 18 months ago for around $9 per cigar. First a five-pack, then a whole box. It’s a Nicaraguan puro with a pigtail cap and a bright Colorado-brown wrapper. The profile has lots of leather and wood, but it’s restrained and not over-the-top. It’s medium-bodied with balanced flavors, including a little creaminess and cocoa. With excellent construction, I can recommend it, although I think it was better before the aging.

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 verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Nat Cicco, a company best known for its value-oriented “Rejects” lines, openly invites you to compare this large (6.25 x 56) cigar to the ultra-expensive Cuban known as the Cohiba Behike, one of the most hyped, expensive, and rare specimens on the market. Let me settle the score by saying there really isn’t any comparison. The Behike is beautifully balanced with tons of depth and complexity, albeit at an exorbitant price; the Nat Cicco HHB 56 is a nice smoke that’s, quite bluntly, overpriced at $14. Now that isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the flavors of the HHB 56. Its Ecuadorian wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers produce a mild- to medium-bodied experience that’s creamy, nutty, and well-constructed. In terms of return on investment, though, I’d say it should be priced at more like $7, $10 tops.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) La Sirena, a brand that has been under the Miami Cigar & Co. umbrella since it was created in 2009, will be independently owned and operated in 2014. Arielle Ditkowich will remain head of La Sirena. “Ditkowich is extremely grateful for everything Nestor Miranda and the entire Miami team has taught her during their partnership and will always look at the Miranda family as an extension of her own,” reads a press release. “La Sirena Cigars will continue to work with the Garcia Family at My Father Cigars and Guillermo León at La Aurora Cigars to make the current Sirena and Merlion Blends, respectively.” More news about the future of La Sirena is expected to be announced soon.

2) States will take in about $25 billion in tobacco-related taxes and settlement funds from tobacco in 2014, but will spend only about $481 million on programs to reduce or eliminate use, according to news reports. Many states allocate much of the money for other programs, such as Medicaid, and only two—Alaska and North Dakota—will meet federal tobacco-reduction spending recommendations that total $3.7 billion for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

3) Inside the Industry: Drew Estate’s Herrera Estelí line is adding a Lancero size. For the first time ever, Padrón is shipping its highly-acclaimed 1926 blend in four-packs. Boutique Blends/Aging Room is releasing a new box-pressed Dominican puro called the Quattro T59 that’s described as similar to the Aging Room Quattro F55, but with an eight-year-old Dominican Criollo wrapper.

4) Around the Blogs: Cigar Inspector inspects the Punch Sir John. Stogie Review reviews Nica Rustica. Tiki Bar kicks back with the Nomad S-307. Stogie Fresh lights up the Casa Fernandez Miami Maduro. Cigar Fan examines the San Cristobal Elegancia.

5) Deal of the Week: E.P. Carrillo is offering a sampler that includes two never-before-released cigars through the subscription service Bespoke Post. Included is a special edition of the 2013 Limited Edition with a natural Ecuadorian wrapper (as opposed to the regular San Andreas wrapper), a five-year-old Inaugural Limitada 2009, and a cigar called “Family Blend #809” that has an Ecuadorian wrapper, Dominican binder, and Nicaraguan filler. You also get a wooden ashtray, a candle, a cutter, and cedar spills, all for just $45. To get your hands on these exclusive cigars sign up here, then select their “Churchill” box. (After you receive your E.P. Carrillo cigars, you can pass on future boxes you don’t want, or simply cancel.)

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: La Sirena Cigars