The Stogie Guys

The Oliva Cigar Co. has only been around for about 15 years. In that short time, this decorated Nicaraguan manufacturer has built a well-deserved reputation for quality and affordability. The brand’s foundation is built on blends like the Habano-wrapped Serie V and the Cameroon-wrapped Serie G—two highly-rated cigars that can be bought on the cheap.

The Master Blends 3, or “Liga Maestra,” is considerably more expensive. It is the rarest regular production Oliva, “specifically blended to deliver the richest characteristics of Nicaraguan ligero fillers and broadleaf sun-grown wrappers,” according to Oliva’s website. “It is a complex cigar crafted for the most developed palette.”

Four traditional sizes are available: Churchill (7 x 50), Double Robusto (5 x 54), Robusto (5 x 50), and Torpedo (6 x 52). They sell for $10 to $14 apiece. Each is a box-pressed Nicaraguan puro with a picturesque band of green, gold, maroon, and orange.

The Churchill sports a dry, milk chocolate-colored exterior leaf with several long, albeit unobtrusive, veins. It is moderately firm to the touch with an effortless pre-light draw. The foot gives off a faint fragrance of coffee and caramel.

After establishing an even burn, the cigar produces an initial taste of cedar spice, cinnamon, and sweet syrup. The medium-bodied profile is slightly dry though otherwise balanced. Each easy puff yields voluminous tufts of white, aromatic smoke.

As the Churchill progresses to the second third, creamy notes join in the fray to round off the once spicy edges. Here the cigar lives up to its promise as a super-premium worthy of the Oliva name. All the while the burn line is impeccable and the sandy ash holds firm. The flavor’s cedary core regains prominence in the final third and the spice increases—especially on the short, crisp finish. Towards the end, one of the three samples I smoked for this review began to unravel at one of its seams. Construction was otherwise flawless across the board.

All told, the Oliva Master Blends 3 Churchill is a very respectable smoke from light to nub. I find it completely worthy of its elevated price tag and award it four 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.”

This vintage petit corona dating back to the late ’40s or early ’50s was generously given to me by Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of the Corona Cigar Company, who has an impressive collection of pre-embargo Cubans for sale in his downtown Orlando shop. Considering the seven decades of age on this Partagas made for Dunhill, the construction was impressive. The years had certainly mellowed the smoke, but the cream, paper, and mild cedar notes made for an enjoyable experience.

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.”

With a profile of dark espresso, black pepper, and dry wood, this sungrown corojo-wrapped Corona (4.5 x 46) has plenty of spice from the first puff. The blend’s full-bodied power is complemented by wonderful combustion qualities and aromatic resting smoke. Still, even as a huge J. Fuego fan, I can’t fully recommend this bold beast. The flavor is a little too unbalanced to justify the $7 price tag.

Verdict = Hold.

–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. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Cuba’s government-controlled tobacco monopoly is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Trinidad brand with a special limited release. Trinidad 40th anniversary humidors will soon be on sale at La Casa del Habano shops across the globe, each filled with 40 Trinidad Cañonazo cigars. “Trinidad, as a Habano, dates back to 1969, but for many years, like Cohiba, it was made only for gifts to foreign diplomats,” reads a description of the brand on the Habanos website. “Not until 1998 was it released for general sale and then only in small quantities.”

2) Alec Bradley—the company responsible for Tempus, Prensado, and Maxx—will pre-release its New York Cigar series on Friday, December 10. Available only at select retailers in the Empire State, the blend will be offered in five sizes with an average suggested retail price of $12.75. Click here to contact a retailer to reserve your order.

3) Inside the Industry: Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father Cigars opened its first branded cigar lounge in Cave Creek, Arizona. As part of its nationwide launch for Macanudo Cru Royale cigars, Macanudo awarded $10,000 to one lucky patron of the Old Allegheny Smoke Shop in Pittsburgh. Originally debuting this summer, Swag cigars are now arriving in stores nationwide.

4) Around the Blogs: Your Cigar Ratings (a new site where users submit their own reviews) currently rates the Tatuaje Petite Cazadores Reserva and Illusione hl Maduro as its top-rated smokes. Smoking Stogie smokes the Cain F Lancero. Cigar Fan fires up the Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf. Stogie Review reviews the La Aurora Corojo. Tiki Bar tries the Nestor Miranda Buckhead 2010.

5) Deal of the Week: It’s not too late to take advantage of this Black Friday sale from Cuban Crafters. Included are deals on highly rated smokes like La Carolina, Cuban Crafters Cameroon, and Miami Medina.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Habanos

The H. Upmann brand got its start when, in the mid-nineteenth century, a German banker named Herman Upmann moved to Cuba to try his hand at cigar making. Today the brand is among the oldest in the industry with a dozen regular production vitolas and two limited edition releases.

The first limited edition, the Magnum 50, came out in 2005. It was a double robusto-sized smoke that received excellent ratings in the mainstream cigar media. Cigar Aficionado, for example, awarded it a 90 and named it a Top 25 cigar of the year. The magazine’s editors praised the cigar’s “powerful, almost raw smoke” and said they’d “like to see this as a regular vitola in the Cuban stable.”

In 2008 they got their wish. That’s when Habanos SA, Cuba’s state-owned tobacco monopoly, released a regular production Magnum 50 at the Habanos Festival—an annual showcase of Cuban distributors and products. Like its predecessor, the newer Magnum 50 is handmade with Vuelta Abajo tobaccos and sold in the double robusto format (6.3 x 50).

The cigar features several large veins, double bands, and a reddish, rustic wrapper with an assortment of large bumps. The pre-light aroma is of faint graham cracker.

After clipping the Magnum 50, taking note of its firm draw, and toasting the foot, I find a flavor of woodsy spice and syrup. Nice but a far cry from exceptional or unique. With a short finish of charred meat, the overall effect is dry and on the lighter side of medium-bodied.

Moving into the second third, as the draw opens, a black pepper spice emerges. Here the cigar develops much more complexity. Notes of honey, coffee, cedar, and leather add depth. Graham cracker spice is the predominant flavor in the final inches, the tastiest segment of the smoke.

While many Cubans have fallen victim to poor combustion qualities in recent years, the Magnum 50 smokes like a champ. All three of the samples I examined for this review exhibited straight, maintenance-free burns and stable ashes. I wouldn’t accept anything less from a cigar that retails for $11 to $15.

The Magnum 50 is a smart buy at the lower end of that spectrum, especially given its potential to improve with age. For now, given its enjoyable transitions and depth-building profile, this cigar is worthy of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When it comes to spirits, the “angel’s share” is the portion that evaporates over time, escapes the barrel, and ascends to the heavens. The new Angel’s Envy bourbon sets out to create a finished bourbon that makes those angels envious.

The Angel’s Envy project may be new, but Lincoln Henderson, the man behind it, certainly isn’t a bourbon novice. Before founding the Louisville Distilling Company, Henderson was in charge of operations at the Woodford Reserve and Old Forrester.

His first solo offering is Angel’s Envy 10/10, an aged, small-batch bourbon that’s finished in port casks. Named for the October 2010 release date, Henderson is planning future versions that will use different barrels for finishing.

Currently, Angel’s Envy is available in just a few states. But I was able to secure a sample of the unique bottle ($45 at retail). The sample I tasted has a light bronze color and was bottled at 86.8 proof.

The nose boasts a port barrel finish along with sweet toffee. As for taste, I find cream, nut, apricot, pine, and oak. The bourbon coats the palate and leaves your lips with a tingle of red pepper spice. The long finish starts out with honey and ends with a reminder of the port barrels.

All in all, based on the sample I tasted, this is an interesting and welcome addition to the already numerous fine bourbons being produced. It deserves to be tasted neat and pairs well with a good cigar.

As for that cigar, I found the spice of a Honduran or Nicaraguan smoke to be an excellent accompaniment, as the Angel’s Envy certainly has the structure to stand up to a full-bodied smoke. Recommended smokes include the Room 101 Conjura, Tatuaje Unicos, and San Lotano Habano. For those more Cuban-inclined, I’d go with the Ramón Allones Specially Selected or Bolivar Royal Corona.

I don’t claim to know what angels drink, and I’m certainly no angel myself. But I do know that I certainly wouldn’t turn down a glass of Angel’s Envy with a fine cigar, and I’m very much looking forward to the next Angel’s Envy “expression.”

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Luca del Toro is the newest release from Los Nietos Cigars, which is owned and operated by Ron Andrews. Los Nietos Cigars are only available online and at Andrews’ cigar store in Punta Gorda, Florida.

The Luca del Toro blend is made for Los Nietos by George Rico of Gran Habano Cigars. The Toro Grande (6 x 54) features a milk chocolate-colored Nicaraguan habano hybrid wrapper and Honduran filler and binder tobaccos. Construction appears to be excellent with no soft spots and very few veins.

Pre-light, the cigar gives off a woody, slightly sweet aroma with just a hint of spice at the end. The initial puff yields a complex sweetness and good amount of spice. After about half an inch the spice fades and is barely noticeable, but the sweetness remains.

The ash is dark gray and very sturdy with a thin burn line. The cigar gives off a good amount of smoke that yields sweetness reminiscent of brioche and caramelized sugar. There is also a woody flavor that reminds me of pine bark and sourness like relish.

Overall, the Luca del Toro is an incredibly complex and impeccably balanced cigar. The flavor profile doesn’t really change and the balance makes it difficult to isolate single flavors. The complexity, however, more than makes up for the lack of transitions. Only towards the very end did my interest  start to wane.

The Luca del Toro is a bargain at $6.50 per cigar, and an excellent way to spend a couple of hours. One of the most complex and balanced cigars that I have smoked in recent memory, the Toro Grande earns four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick M

photo credit: Stogie Guys