The Stogie Guys

Despite its popularity among Arturo fans on a budget, two years ago my cohort found the Curly Head Deluxe Maduro to be quite disappointing. “Visual imperfections are to be expected from a budget cigar—even one with a Fuente band,” he wrote. “But coupled with a taste that’s harsh and unpleasant at worst and barely tolerable at best, this cigar proved unsmokable.”

Yikes. I tried to forget those words as I smoked two 6.5 inch by 43 ring gauge Naturals for this review. Like the Maduro line, this slightly more obscure option from the Curly Head Deluxe vein is made with leftovers from Fuente premiums and sold at a discount. Boxes of 25 can be found for $45-60.

Rumored to be mild and nutty, the Lonsdale-shaped Natural sports some unusual aesthetic characteristics. For one, the foot is unfinished, with the longer Connecticut shade wrapper somewhat folding into the shorter Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. The cap is also a head-scratcher. Instead of a smoothly rounded head, the tip appears to be bunched and pinched together.

When you add all this to the cigar’s soft feel and haphazard seams, you get the impression that it’s machine-made. I am told, however, that the Curly Head Deluxe Natural is handmade in Santiago, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

Prelight aromas are almost nonexistent, and the flavor is mild with hints of butter, almond, and creamy spice. Airy and hollow, this taste doesn’t offer much in terms of enjoyment (let alone complexity). Towards the end of the 75-minute smoke, the aftertaste reminds me of the smell of lighter fluid on charcoal briquettes.

For the rock-bottom price, I’d be tempted to take a cigar like this on the golf course. That is, of course, if the physical properties weren’t so subpar. The burn requires constant maintenance to stay lit and keep straight, the ash is flaky (no doubt a result of the medium-length filler), and the draw is surprisingly tight.

Perhaps my standards are too high for a value cigar, but I expect more anytime I fire up a stogie—an interesting flavor at the very least. There are so many better options in this price range, and I’d much rather spend a few extra bucks per stick before lighting up another Arturo Fuente Curly Head Deluxe Natural. That’s why I give it one and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

StogieGuys.com will be featured on the Livin’ Large with Geoff Pinkus radio show on WIND 560 AM in Chicago today. The show runs from 5-7 pm Central (6-8 Eastern), and Patrick S is scheduled to be on around 5:35 pm Central (6:35 Eastern).

Feel free to call in at 877-560-WIND to ask a question on the air. And if you’re not in the Chicago area, you can listen live online here (if you miss it, a podcast will be available here). You can listen to previous Stogie Guys appearances on the Geoff Pinkus Show here.

–The 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.

After a fantastic dinner of steak and lobster, I wanted an equally fine post-dinner cigar. This robusto-sized (5.5x 50) Padrón Anniversary was up to the task. With smooth, flavorful earth notes of roast coffee and bittersweet chocolate, it was delightful with a few fingers of Johnnie Walker Gold Label. Like most Padrón Anniversary cigars, the burn was even, the ash sturdy, and the draw firm but flawless.

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.

“Isla de Cuba has a real hit with this new cigar.” That’s what my colleague said of this 5.5 inch by 50 ring gauge stogie in his September review. Given the full-flavored yet smooth taste of nuts and coffee, the impressive physical properties, and the uncanny resemblance to an upscale Padrón, I can’t disagree. For about $7 a pop, this is a good reminder of why Isla de Cuba is one of my favorite boutique manufacturers.

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 snippets of interest. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) A branch of the American Medical Association is fuming over the prevalence of smoking in movies. After noticing that “teen-oriented summer blockbusters, including Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The Dark Knight, featured cigar smoking,” the group concluded approximately half of all G, PG, or PG-13 movies feature smoking.

2) Many thanks to our readers for making October our busiest month ever! StogieGuys.com received over 200,000 page views as a record number of readers stopped by.

3) Inside the Industry: Miami Cigar & Co. is now the sole distributor of all United Tobacco products, including the highly popular 601 and Cubao lines. General Cigar President and CEO Daniel Núñez will be stepping down in April with Dan Carr replacing the veteran cigar maker. Villiger is introducing its first handmade cigar, the Villiger 1888.

4) Around the Blogs: Keepers of the Flame lights up a Fuente Don Carlos Presidente. Velvet Cigar smokes a Perdomo Champagne 10th Anniversary. Cigar Jack reviews an Oliva Serie O. Matt tries the 601 Oscuro. Cigar Spy observes the Rocky Patel Sun Grown.

5) Deal of the Week: This “Eight Horsemen Sampler” features eight torpedoes for the bargain price of $19.99. Included are pricey smokes such as the Graycliff 1666, the Padilla Obsidian, Rocky Patel Connecticut, and CAO Black—any three of which could easily cost more than the entire sampler. Pick yours up today here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stkarnick

Nearly two years ago my colleague gave the Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo a stellar five stogie rating. Since I’ve smoked and enjoyed many Vintage 1992s over the years, this rating came as no surprise.

But among the many Vintage ’92 cigars I’ve enjoyed, I can’t recall smoking any Petit Coronas until the three I had for this review. At 4.5 inches with a 44 ring gauge, it’s a great vitola for cold weather, which just happens to be hitting the Washington, DC area.

The dark, oily, and slightly splotchy ten-year-old Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper surrounds a Honduran broadleaf binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler that, according to Rocky Patel, has been accumulating flavor and character for seven years.

Just a note on the wrapper: The “1992” on the band seems to confuse many people. It’s a reference to the year the wrapper was first produced in 2002, at which time the wrapper was ten years old. Since then, the wrappers have continued to be 10 years old, meaning not from a crop of wrapper tobacco from 1992. This has led critics,  including JR Cigar’s Lew Rothman, to criticize Rocky Patel’s Vintage lines as misleading marketing.

The sharply box-pressed cigar is extra firm to the touch, but the draw is perfect. The one construction problem is that even when I use the sharpest Xikar cutter, one of the three petit coronas had some slight cracking near the head.

As for flavor, I noticed the same rich, dark coffee taste with hints of chocolate, roasted almond, and subtle pepper that I’ve noticed in larger formats of the Vintage 1992. What I didn’t find was variation or evolution of the flavors from the first puff to the last. That’s a common feature for cigars as small as this, as the size makes complexity even more challenging.

As noted above, the draw is particularly impressive given how tightly packed this little cigar is. The burn is a bit uneven at times, but never requiring step two of our fix that uneven burn tip. The ash was study, even if it didn’t hold all that long.

The Petit Corona runs around $6 apiece, or even less online or by the box. You might not call is a great bargain, but it is a fair price for a little stick that packs a big flavor punch and will last 30-40 minutes.

All told, this is a very impressive cigar. Compared to the five stogie-rated Torpedo, it may lose a little for lack of complexity and slight construction flaws, but that still leaves it with a solid 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

Call me what you will, but last night, as I watched the political pundits attempt to analyze the election results with their fancy maps and roundtables of “expert” commentators, I could think of no better activity than drinking whiskey. And since the whole election experience had me craving something strong and reliable, I turned to the trusted brand that bears my middle name.

Founded in 1780 by John Jameson in Dublin, this is a very popular whiskey that probably needs no introduction. Jameson has been crowned the fastest growing international whiskey in the world, with sales reaching 2.6 million cases in June.

Jameson is made exclusively from Irish barley, both malted and un-malted, all grown around the company’s modern distillery in the southern Ireland city of Cork. Kiln-fired then triple distilled, the “grain to glass” strategy is meticulously executed with the goal of balance. This helps the original blend remain “true to the pot still whiskey tradition laid down by John Jameson in the 18th century. The current Master Distiller, Barry Crocket, continues this great distilling tradition by ensuring that John Jameson’s high standards are upheld.”

The original blend‘s pour is amber-gold with a brilliant clarity. Swirl the glass to notice the great “legs” (i.e., high viscosity) and the rich aromas of malt and wood. If you pay closer attention, you’ll be rewarded with more delicate notes of honey, grass, and oak. But don’t breathe in too deeply; the smell of the alcohol will overpower the whiskey’s aromatic subtleties.

Fortunately, you won’t find much alcohol in the flavor profile. Jameson is extremely smooth with a gentle sweetness and an enjoyable interplay between wood and nuts. The warm finish is long enough to chew.

Full-bodied stogies would drown out this spirit’s subtle balance of flavors, and I think most mild cigars are better suited for beer or wine. So, for pairings, look to the medium-bodied spectrum. My recommendations include the Isla de Cuba Classic, Bolivar Royal Corona, Gran Habano #3, Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill, and Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino. Any of these will make excellent companions for this fine whiskey, which retails for $25-35 per 750 ml. bottle (40% alcohol).

No matter what cigar you pair it with or how you drink it, I think you’ll agree that Jameson is an excellent way to get top-notch, reliable whiskey for a reasonable price. Heck, if it’s good enough for my middle name, it’s good enough for your liquor cabinet.

–Patrick A

photo credits: Stogie Guys