The Stogie Guys

When I first saw the Nirvana on the shelves of the tobacconist near me, I was confused. I hadn’t heard anything about these cigars up until I saw them, and as someone who is very active on tobacco blogs (not to mention someone who works somewhat in the industry), that’s pretty rare for me. So, imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a beautiful new Cameroon smoke from Drew Estate with absolutely no warning.

This cigar is truly beautiful, too. The Cameroon wrapper is a really nice shade of reddish-brown, with a light tint, and the gold bands on the cigar make it stand out. I really like Cameroon wrappers. In fact, I think they’re underused, but I understand that some find them too delicate. If you’re one of those smokers, you should still be excited about the Nirvana, which is made by Drew Estate exclusively for Royal Gold Cigars (the premium cigar division of Swisher International, Inc.). Drew Estate has stated that their intention with this blend is to match the sweet earthy complexities of a Cameroon smoke with the strength, boldness, and spice of the Nicaraguan fillers. On top of this, the cigar has some Honduras filler with a Mexican San Andreas binder.

I clipped the cigar and it lit very easily with a single-flame torch. The first thing I noticed was the amount of smoke. Similar to the Undercrown or T52, the smoke off this cigar is like a small signal fire. Well, maybe not that bad, but I was the only one smoking in our twelve-person lounge when I lit up, and I needed to turn on the exhaust system. This smoke is not harsh or heavy, though, it’s very smooth and pleasant. I wouldn’t quite call it creamy, but it’s close.

About an inch into the cigar that typical Cameroon sweetness came in, with notes of earth and coffee in the background. All of these were complimented by a very long, enjoyable, spicy finish. The flavors on this are hard to pin down, because there are so many, but these are the main ones. As the cigar continues the spice dies down and the Cameroon flavors become stronger and more pronounced. Throughout all of it, though, the cigar maintains a perfect balance—as one flavor moves forward, others fade to the background to allow specific points to have their spotlight.

This cigar is easily my favorite smoke I’ve enjoyed in 2014. There is something to love here for everyone. While the cigar is a bit more expensive than average, weighing in about $10, it is absolutely worth it. Seek this smoke out if you can. With that being said, I’m going to have to award it a four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Joey J

photo credit: Stogie Guys

General Cigar recently unveiled two new blends that will fall under its Partagas 1845 brand. One, Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro, is for online and catalog retailers. The other, Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte, is for brick-and-mortar shops.

Releasing two similarly branded cigars (one for cigar shops, the other for online/catalog) seems to be a new strategy General Cigar is embracing, since they did something similar with La Gloria Cubana Serie R Black/Serie R Estelí. The idea, I suspect, is to protect cigar shops from online competition and vice versa, while having the branding, packaging, and profile be similar enough that each benefits from the publicity and marketing of the other.

In the always competitive world of premium cigars, if it provides even a small advantage then it’s good strategy, though I think the risk is that it can be confusing for consumers who shop both in-person and by mail-order. Unless they are side by side, they look very similar: the Extra Fuerte has a black and silver band, while the Extra Oscuro has a dark purple and silver band, with a darker oscuro wrapper.

The Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte features a four-country blend with an oily Ecuadorian Habano ligero warpper and an unusual Habano Connecticut binder. The filler uses Dominican Piloto Cubano and three types of Nicaraguan tobacco identified only as “Gurdian, Estelí, and ASP”.

It comes in four sizes: Robusto Gordo (5.5 x 52), Gigante (6 x 60), Double Corona (7.5 x 54), and Supremo (7 x 58). Each comes in 20-count boxes with suggested retail prices ranging from $7.49 to $8.49 per cigar. I smoked three of the Robusto Gordo size for this review, all of which were provided as samples by the manufacturer.

The cigar lives up to its “extra fuerte” name with a full-bodied combination of deep flavors. It’s dominated by woody notes, namely dried oak and char, but there are also black coffee and clove spices. While it’s a little sharp and slightly unbalanced at first, but rounds out nicely during the second half.

General Cigar has been using more and more Nicaraguan tobacco in their new blends, and I think the results have been very good. Like the La Gloria Serie R Estelí, the Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte ramps up the flavor and body, but without betraying the identity of the original. The Extra Fuerte went well with some Zaya Gran Reserva 12 Year.

With flawless construction, full-bodied flavors, and a fair price point, there’s a lot to like about the newest blend to carry the historic Partagas name. That earns the Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte Robusto Gordo 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 other day I was browsing through our archive of cigar reviews, and I came across my colleague’s take on the Pinolero Toro from October 2012. It occurred to me I still hadn’t tried any of the Pinolero smokes—an oversight I needed to rectify given my respect for A.J. Fernandez as one of the industry’s best young cigar makers.

Fernandez, of course, has one of the best cigar résumés you’ll ever see. Born in Cuba, he worked with the late Alejandro Robaina, Cuba’s foremost producer of top wrapper leaves and the namesake of the Vegas Robaina brand. Fernandez quickly gained fame making cigars for other cigar companies including Rocky Patel, Padilla, Graycliff, and Gurkha, as well as making exclusive cigars for catalog giant Cigars International (for whom he makes Diesel, Man O’ War, La Herencia, and other smokes.) Then, at the 2010 industry trade show, he introduced his first solo national brand, San Lotano, which became a hit.

A few years later Fernandez added the highly anticipated Pinolero (Spanish for “local”) line to his portfolio. It includes either a Nicaraguan sun-grown wrapper or a Maduro wrapper around a Nicaraguan binder. The filler tobaccos are part Nicaraguan Habano-seed and part proprietary. “Filled with rich, luxurious long-fillers and wrapped in coveted Fernandez Family leaves, this medium- to full-bodied smoke not only captures the highly complex flavors of exotic regional Nicaraguan tobacco, but also affords a highly aromatic mellowness which has become the brand standard of A.J.’s highly coveted products,” reads the A.J. Fernandez website.

Pinolero comes in six vitolas that range in price from $7 to $10: Corona, Robusto, Toro, Figurado, Churchill, and Gran Toro. I smoked two Maduro Toros (6 x 52) for this review. The Maduro Toro is a dark, extremely toothy cigar with a few large veins and some protruding seams, particularly at the cap. It sports an interesting, colorful band with pre-light notes of chocolate and spice. Despite its firmness and weight, the cold draw has only the slightest resistance.

Once lit, a savory profile emerges that instantly reminds me of mesquite. Tangy, spicy, and a little sweet, the Pinolero Maduro Toro’s balanced flavor includes notes of syrup, brown sugar, and herbs. The smoke is dense and moist, and it confronts the palate head-on, though not in an overly intense way. Cocoa, espresso, and spice become more prominent towards the end.

True to A.J. Fernandez form, the physical properties are superb. Both of my samples displayed solid ashes, straight burn lines, smooth draws, and plenty of smoke production.

Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay the Pinolero Maduro Toro is it doesn’t taste like anything else on the market. That makes it interesting and memorable. I’m disappointed I didn’t lock on to this gem sooner. It’s a great smoke, a good value, and worthy of a commendable rating of 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.”

I’ll admit that while I’ve always enjoyed the Punch Rare Corojo line, I haven’t smoked many in recent years. But when my colleague recently reviewed the Rare Salomones size, I thought I should revisit the line. Salomones are one of the most impressive-looking sizes, and this is no exception with its reddish wrapper and double bands. Once you get past the initial couple minutes, the large format produces plenty of smoke. It features leather, earth, and fruit notes and is medium- to full-bodied. It’s an elegant smoke worth paying attention to for a full 90 minutes.

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.”

This was one of those yellow-cello, buried-in-the-humidor, didn’t-know-I-had-it, don’t-recall-where-it-came-from cigars. My best guess is that it was part of a Black Friday sampler I bought at a local shop, but it might have come from last summer’s IPCPR Trade Show. Whatever the origin, I need to get more. El Titan de Bronze Redemption Sungrown Habano Robusto is an excellent cigar. The Ecuadorian wrapper is a beautiful light brown with a lovely cedar pre-light aroma. The cigar performs excellently, with spicy and sweet touches in a smooth smoke.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When it comes to style, most humidors are pretty much the same: stained wood, the occasional glass-top, and brass trimmings. That’s why, with it’s grey slate stone exterior, the Adorini Black Slate Deluxe L stands apart from the crowd.

 

In fact, I’ve had one on display for a few months while I tested it out and more than once I had someone ask me what it was, because it doesn’t look like any humidor you’ve probably seen before. As noted in the Cigar Aficionado‘s write up of the same humidor (one of three other sites that have recently written about this humidor, but the only to not to say if they received it free to write about from Humidor Discount), the slate can even double as a chalk board – even though I’m not sure it befits such a stylish cigar storage unit.

I don’t claim to be an expert on interior design, but it occurs to me that stylistically this is a versatile humidor. It goes equally well in a dark-stained wood and leather decor as it would in a more modern, minimalist style.

There’s no doubt it’s a sharp looking but frankly, I’m more interested in how it keeps my cigars. After three months, there’s no question that it keeps them well, as the seal is perfect.

While larger (you could comfortably store over 100-125 cigars) than the Adorini humidor my colleague tested out last year, the basics are mostly the same. It holds humidity very well and has more than a few notable features that make it function better than most humidors. (more…)

With StogieGuys.com heading toward its eighth anniversary in May, now seems like a good time to take a few minutes to look at the amazing amount of material stored on the site and offer some tips on how you can take advantage of it.

First, check out the references across the top. There, our material is curated into categories to make it easily accessible and useful, whether you’re a raw beginner or a grizzled vet. Just below and to the right is a link to information about Stogie Guys, including our policies and short bios. The Reviews Archive is alphabetized, and there’s a separate list of our top-rated smokes, along with an explanation of our reviewing system.

Around the page you’ll see ads from our advertisers, sometimes with special Stogie Guys offers. Check them out. They help keep us going.

Down the side of the page, there are links to other segments, such as the incredible A-Z Guide to Bourbon and the extensive Cigar University.

And don’t forget that little search window in the upper right of the page. Type in a topic and you’ll likely find we’ve had something to say about it. Searching for some new sticks to try? Explore our Gold Star Smokes. Interested in exploring coffee to go with your smoke? As with many topics, you’ll likely be surprised at how much we’ve written on this.

We focus on cigars, writing about them from Latin American farms and factories to conventions and get-togethers—and everywhere in-between. We take a broad view of cigar enjoyment and try to enhance the experience in any way we can. Sometimes that means delving into regulations and legislation, sometimes it’s an interview with a local tobacconist. Sometimes it is simply reflecting on the joys of a fine cigar.

Our overriding goal is to make StogieGuys.com the best site we can. That includes careful archiving and assembling material for our readers.

To that end, we’re always interested in hearing from you. If there’s anything you’d like to see, just let us know. You can always leave a comment or, if you prefer, email one of us directly.

And stay tuned. You won’t want to miss our birthday celebration!

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys