The Stogie Guys

A few years ago, Joya de Nicaragua released Cuatro Cinco to celebrate its 45th anniversary. The limited production cigar was a Nicaraguan puro with tobaccos from Estelí and Jalapa, including aged Ligero that had been resting in oak barrels.

Only 4,500 boxes of 10 were made in a single vitola: a large, semi-box-pressed smoke that measured 6 inches long with a ring gauge of 54. In addition to earning an exemplary rating at StogieGuys.com in November 2013, Joya reported Cuatro Cinco sold out in just a few short weeks.

Flash forward to 2015. A few months ago, Joya announced Cuatro Cinco Reserva Especial, which started shipping the last week of June to selected members of the Drew Diplomat Retailers program. Reserva Especial, which is a regular production line, features a “carefully modified recipe,” including barrel-aged, Grade A fillers and a shade-grown Habano wrapper from Jalapa. Four softly box-pressed vitolas sell in the $8 to $12.50 range: Torpedo, Double Robusto, Petit Corona, and Toro.

The Toro (6.25 x 50) is a dark, oily specimen with few noticeable veins and a loose cross-section of tobacco visible at the foot. Its band is very similar to the original Cuatro Cinco, except the newer version says “Reserva Especial” across the top, and there’s more white than gold as a secondary color to the black. The pre-light notes remind me of dried fruit, especially green raisin. The triple-cap clips easily to reveal a smooth cold draw.

Once lit, the Reserva Especial exhibits a gritty, leathery profile with hints of red and black pepper along with espresso. The body is full from the get-go, coating the palate with thick smoke and leaving plenty of spice on the aftertaste. After a half inch, some cocoa sweetness joins in, rendering the profile a little more balanced and interesting. The cocoa is a most welcome addition, though it can be elusive, especially if you smoke too quickly.

As I’ve come to expect from Joya de Nicaragua, the combustion qualities are excellent, including a straight burn line, solid ash, easy draw, and good smoke production.

The original Cuatro Cinco—known as “Edición Limitada”—may be the best cigar Joya has ever produced, so perhaps it’s unfair to compare the Reserva Especial to it. On the other hand, Joya is certainly inviting that comparison by maintaining the Cuatro Cinco name (assuredly trying to capitalize on the former’s success). In my humble view, judging by the Toro size alone, the Cuatro Cinco Reserva Especial is quite tasty but not up to the high standards set by Edición Limitada. That said, kudos to Joya for releasing more than one Reserva Especial size; I particularly look forward to seeing how the Petit Corona stacks up. For now, the Toro should be on your watch list. It’s worthy of an admirable rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

While StogieGuys.com has taken note of this popular My Father line—including a 2012 mention of the Churchill as a Gold Star smoke—we’ve never actually reviewed it.

I’ve smoked a few of various sizes through the years. Recently, I picked up a couple five-packs of the 6-inch toro with a 52-ring gauge—one of the original vitolas introduced in 2009—at a significant discount over the regular price of about $11 each.

The cigar was crafted by Don José “Pepin” Garcia to honor his father, in the same manner Jaime Garcia did for Don Pepin with the earlier My Father line. Le Bijou 1922 features a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. The cigars are rolled at the Garcia’s My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The dark, oily wrapper is exquisite, with tiny veins and a mouthwatering pre-light barnyard aroma. The presentation is also nicely done, with two ornate bands set off by a cloth orange foot band.

In those I smoked for this review, all but one smoked and burned perfectly. One did develop a tunnel that briefly disrupted the burn and the smoke, though it cleared up after about a half-inch.

I’ve read reviews that make note of pepper, but I don’t really get much of it. To me, there was more light spice than pepper. And the flavors I found tended to be darker and richer, with a sweetness in the second half and some floral notes throughout.

I thought the strength was in the upper-medium level, with a lot of thick, rich smoke.

Overall, this is an enjoyable cigar. The length allows it to develop and display complexity along the way. It’s especially worthwhile if you can catch them on sale.

I’d also recommend trying several of the sizes because there’s a difference among them, enough so that I think some smokers will definitely prefer one over another. I rate My Father Le Bijou 1922 four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

First Smoke is a new series of Quick Smoke reviews, each evaluating a single pre-release cigar. Like the Quick Smokes we publish each Saturday and Sunday, each First Smoke is not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

 

Whether by design or not, Nica Rustica has always seemed like sort of a discount version of the immensely popular Liga Privada No. 9. (Think of it as a second wine from a top Bordeaux producer.) Both feature Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers (Liga uses “Broadleaf #1 Darks” while the Nica Rustica uses a “Broadleaf Medium”), and both debuted in just one size, a Toro, before expanding to multiple vitolas. Continuing to follow in Liga’s footsteps, Nica Rustica is expanding with two new sizes this year: Belly (7.5 x 54) and Short Robusto (4.5 x 50).

The Nica Rustica Short Robusto features powdery smoke that coats the mouth in oak, earth, bread, grass, and pepper. Although the final Nica Rustica blend doesn’t use a wild Nicaraguan strain of tobacco that pre-release test blends included, the rustic, gritty characteristics are still evident, which is exactly what Nica Rustica intends. Construction is excellent and features Drew Estate’s trademark smoke production. You won’t mistake it for Liga, but with a $5.95 MSRP, the Nica Rustica Short Robusto delivers good value.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

1792 Sweet Wheat Bourbon is a new offering from the Barton Distillery, which is better known for Very Old Barton and 1792 Small Batch Ridgemont Reserve. (1792 is the year Kentucky gained statehood.)

My favorite bourbon writer Chuck Cowdery explained the details and differences between the original 1792 expression and the new Sweet Wheat:

The flagship expression of 1792 was launched in 2003. It is a rye-recipe bourbon with a higher-than-normal barley malt content, although the exact percentage has never been disclosed. It also features a yeast strain not used for any other brands. The product was created by Barton Master Distiller Bill Friel not long before he retired….

Now the Barton 1792 Distillery is set to release its first 1792 line extension, called 1792 Sweet Wheat. It was distilled in 2007 so, like the flagship, it is eight years old. ‘Using wheat instead of rye gives the taste profile a softer and more delicate flavor,’ said Ken Pierce, director of distillation and quality assurance. ‘The soft flavor is balanced by rich oak tannins extracted by the bourbon while aging in the charred oak barrels.’

In case you’re wondering, bourbon made with wheat as a secondary grain instead of rye has always been a minority of all bourbon made, but it includes some very popular ones, not the least of which is Pappy Van Winkle. While rye is characterized by spice, wheated bourbons (which also include Maker’s Mark, Old Fitzgerald/Larceny, and the Weller family of bourbons) are known for a softer, sweeter edge.

Sweet Wheat pours a light bronze color. It features a muted nose with honey, wood, and red fruit. On the palate, Sweet Wheat is as advertised. It’s soft and lush, with a little resin, oak, cherries, and apples. The finish is much of the same with apples and caramel.

1792 Sweat Wheat Bourbon is 91.2-proof and retails for $33 a bottle. Though expect to spend bit more (I found one for $38) if you can find them at all (my local store sold out in two days) as the first release is fairly limited.

Pair it with a balanced, mild or medium cigar. A few recommendations: Illusione Epernay, Paul Garmirian Gourmet Vintage 1991, Arturo Fuente King T Rosado Sun Grown, and Ashton Classic.

I wouldn’t necessarily suggest spending a lot of time or money finding the new 1792 Sweet Wheat, but it is a good bourbon for the price. If you like Old Weller Antique, Larceny, or Maker’s Mark, it iscertainly worth trying.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

With Tatuaje giving a boost this year to Verocú, introduced originally in 2007 as a stronger addition to the Havana VI line, it seemed like a good time to get reacquainted. After all, three of the earlier Verocú incarnations garnered top ratings in Stogie Guys reviews.

The “new” regular production Verocú comes in six sizes. The No. 1 is 6.25 inches long with a 52 ring gauge, the same size as the earlier limited West Coast edition. It carries a $10 MSRP.

The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano and the filler and binder are from Nicaragua. Typical of Tatuaje, these cigars are rolled at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua.

Some cigars make a lasting impression, and I fondly remember the zoned edition (East and West) Verocú cigars I smoked in 2008. What stands out particularly in my memory is how smooth and balanced they were.

I was a little wary lighting up my first of these new ones. After all, a lot of great cigars have come along in the intervening years. It’s only natural to wonder whether these new sticks can still compete. And win.

The short answer is, yes, they can.

Of course, I can’t possibly remember those older smokes exactly and compare them to these. In my mind, the older ones had more initial pepper than the new sticks. But that could simply be the effect of years of smoking so many other cigars bursting with pepper since then.

What is unquestionably still a hallmark of Verocú is smoothness and balance, as the flavors move and shift throughout the smoke. A bit of sweetness to set off the pepper, floral notes overtaken by leather. The finish lingers nicely. Construction, burn, and draw are excellent, and the cigar produces lots of thick smoke.

Bringing Verocú fully back as a regular production line is, I think, the kind of customer-friendly move that has helped brand owner Pete Johnson achieve an extraordinary reputation and a tremendous following in the cigar world.

I recommend these highly and, once again, give the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocú five stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five-stogie rated cigars can be found here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This special limited edition from Miami Cigar & Co.—one of three released this year—is unmistakably maduro. From the deep rich coffee and chocolate aroma of its Broadleaf wrapper to the sweetness in the smoke, this large cigar stands out.

At 7 inches in length and a 56 ring gauge, the Danno cigars are not spur-of-the-moment smokes. I clocked about two hours with each of the two I sampled.

What you get in that time is a medium-strength cigar with balanced flavors and a light finish. Problems sometimes encountered with large cigars—especially with the burn and the draw—were non-existent. My only complaint was smoke production: I’d have liked a little more.

With the first one, I began with a V-cut at the foot, which sports a small pigtail. After a half-inch or so, I used a guillotine to open it up in hopes of getting more smoke. And that helped some, as it did for the second cigar, when I simply started with the straight cut.

The cigar begins with notes of spice, which give way fairly soon to some of the typical dark maduro flavors like coffee and cocoa. They remain throughout, with the second half becoming sweet, with a taste sometimes reminiscent of burned sugar.

The maduro edition of the 2015 Danno line, named to commemorate Nestor Miranda’s late son, has Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Peruvian filler tobaccos with the Nicaraguan Criollo ’98 binder common to all three. The MSRP is $12, more than reasonable considering the size.

Miami Cigar, which supplied my samples, produced only 1,000 20-count boxes of each of the three at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua.

I don’t smoke a lot of maduro cigars. Too often, I’ve found a sameness in many of them that can lead to a fairly boring smoke.

That wasn’t the case with the Danno Maduro. It has distinct flavors and remains interesting, though, honestly, I probably would have liked it better in a somewhat smaller vitola.

Overall, I preferred the Habano, which I reviewed in June. The Connecticut review is coming up.

The Nestor Miranda Danno Collection One Life Edition Maduro is a fine smoke. I rate it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

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.”

CAO unveiled Concert at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show, but now you don’t hear much about it. Only a few boxes were on display at the most recent convention, and I’ve always got the feeling the line failed to live up to some high expectations from the team behind it. The Amp (5.5 x 46) features medium- to full-bodied flavors with breadiness, cafe-au-lait, and cedar. The blend uses an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper around Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. It’s solidly made, tasty, and affordable at $5.75.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys