The 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their reconstructed A-800 blend, Toraño decided to add one ingredient that wasn’t available to Toraño when it was originally made in 2000: a second binder using Nicaraguan Ometepe tobacco (from the volcanic island in Nicaragua that was previously exclusive to General Cigars).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

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.”

Created for Avo’s 82nd birthday, this toro features an Ecuadorian sun-grown wrapper around Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. The Tesoro has cool, damp smoke with mushroom (a common characteristic of Davidoff-made cigars) and a creamy core. The mild smoke sports plenty of sweetness too, with cashew flavors. It’s far milder than any of the more recent annual Avo releases, but it may be my favorite. If you come across any of these, I’d suggest you pick one up.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Avo

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.”

Made from first generation Cuban-seed tobaccos grown in Nicaragua, this corojo-wrapped smoke has a thick, bready profile of dry wood, pepper, toast, and molasses. It burns well, and there is a noticeable thickness to the smoke the Robusto (5 x 50) produces. This is one of those cigars that I don’t light up very often, but when I do, I always find myself wondering why I took so long to come back. Expect to pay around $8 to $10.

Verdict = Buy.

–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) Drew Estate has become the first cigar manufacturer to launch an iPhone app. The free app, available for download here, allows users to browse the company’s brands, find events based on location, check out photos, and locate nearby shops that carry Drew Estate cigars. “I believe the new trend of mobile phones and devices replacing computers is something that can’t be ignored, and we at Drew Estate wanted to be the first cigar manufacturer to enter the mobile app market,” said company co-founder Jonathan Drew in a press release. “We are very active online through social networking and our website, so the choice to develop a dedicated app was an easy decision.

2) This article from Reuters suggests that up to a fifth of Cuban cigars are sold on the black market. “A box of Cuba’s prized cigars could cost hundreds of dollars in stores, but black market dealers sell it for a fraction of that price, usually to tourists,” it says. “In Havana, clandestine street dealers lead buyers up narrow staircases to small apartments where different brands of cigars in tightly packed boxes are spread out on beds. Some workers smuggle surplus cigars out of distributors and sell them. Others make them in their homes using leftover scraps, dealers said.”

3) Inside the Industry: Camacho Cigars signed a three-year deal to become a corporate sponsor of the Orange Bowl. Habanos SA is selling decorative jars full of 25 Bolivars to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Cuba and China. The 2012 Midwest Smoke Out has been scheduled for April 19 at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and tickets go on sale on January 2 for $150 apiece.

4) Around the Blogs: Tiki Bar tries the Nadi Classic Habano. Smoking Stogie smokes the Davidoff OVTC 35th Anniversary. Stogie Fresh lights up the San Lotano Maduro. Nice Tight Ash checks out the San Lotano Oval Corona. Stogie Review reviews the Perdomo Exhibición Sun Grown.

5) Deal of the Week: This rare Fuente Christmas sampler includes some of the most sought-after Fuente smokes. For $139, you get ten cigars, including two Opus Xs, two Hemingways, and two Añejos.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Drew Estate

OK, I guess this officially marks me as an old fogey or whatever the proper term is these days. But I believe that words matter, and I cannot understand the current trend of naming cigars with distasteful and sometimes offensive names. I also can’t help but worry that it’s a dangerous trend.

The latest to catch my eye and prompt this screed is the Molotov from Quesada, intended to “create awareness of the dangers increased government and taxation…” I have no argument with them promoting their views. But why use a name associated with a deadly device that, while sometimes used in noble causes, such as the Finns and Hungarians, has also been used by terrorists to maim and kill?

Similarly, there’s My Uzi Weighs a Ton, named, I’m told, after a rap song with which I’m unfamiliar. (I read the lyrics online, but I’ve got to admit it still didn’t mean much to me.) Again, why link a cigar with an instrument of war and death?

And that brings me to Hammer & Sickle. I can only guess that there’s some sort of irony intended rather than a celebration of one of the world’s most corrupt and murderous regimes. If there’s irony in the name Donkey Punch, it’s even harder for me to see. Sick, misogynistic, distressing. Again, that’s what I want associated with a cigar?

I can only assume that these sorts of names are intended to make the cigars more appealing to younger smokers. That worries me because I believe it plays into the hands of anti-smoking forces who want to lump all tobacco together and use the fear of youth being corrupted to achieve their goals.

It’s hard to argue that the makers of premium cigars aren’t targeting youth when someone points to names like these. They fit right in with the machine-made, adulterated cigars that, frankly, do appear to be aimed at teens. Don’t be surprised when someone shows up at a smoking-ban hearing with a Donkey Punch or My Uzi as Exhibit No. 1.

Now, I’m not suggesting manufacturers shouldn’t be allowed to call their cigars whatever they want. I’m about as close to a First Amendment absolutist as you’re likely to find. But exercising a right doesn’t mean you escape the consequences. And in this case, I think these marketers are doing the industry and its customers a great disservice.

We say over and over again that premium cigars are for adults and aren’t marketed to kids. Actions need to be as strong as words.

–George E

photo credit: Google

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