The Stogie Guys

God of Fire is best known for selling high-end accessories and limited Fuente smokes (like God of Fire and Angelenos). Back in 2010, though, the California-based company entered the mid-priced cigar market with Sencillo, its first line not made by the Fuentes.

The latest Sencillo (Spanish for “simple”) is Sencillo Black, which features filler from Nicaragua, Honduras, and San Andreas surrounded by Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. It’s made by the prolific Nestor Plasencia Jr. in Nicaragua and comes in five sizes.

Before Black there was Platinum, made by Christian Eiroa of Camacho Cigars in Honduras (Eiroa has since left Camacho to launch his own cigar brand). Prometheus founder Keith Park tells me Platinum came about when he asked Eiroa to replicate a particular cigar he had given Park back in 2008. It features “Habano de Jamastran tobacco for the wrapper, filler, and binder, with Piloto Cubano tobacco added to the filler to balance out the flavor,” according to the Sencillo website.

Sencillo Platinum is a Honduran puro that’s available in six sizes ranging in price from $6.95 to $8.95. The Pirámide (6.1 x 54) is advertised as “the most visually impressive” of the line with “the most intense aroma.” It is characterized by a beautiful, reddish wrapper, a robust fragrance of cocoa, and a smooth pre-light draw.

Immediately after lighting, the Pirámide is salty with black pepper spice. Before even the quarter-inch mark, though, the profile mellows considerably to display wonderful balance and subtlety. Flavors include buttery oak, coffee, dried fruit, and mushroom—a note that reminds me of some Henke Kelner smokes, including Davidoff and PG.

Cream, caramel, and spice come and go as the cigar progresses. The texture is silky, the nicotine impact is minimal, and the body falls in the mild- to medium-bodied spectrum. The word “harmonious” comes to mind, and the theme seems to be soft yet flavorful. At no point does this cigar taste like a Honduran puro. It performs expertly with a straight burn, fine white ash, and bountiful tufts of thick smoke.

Given its more approachable price point, I don’t think I’m supposed to like the Sencillo Platinum as much as God of Fire’s higher-priced offerings. But I do. The Pirámide is one of those superbly balanced smokes that makes you want to fire up another as soon as you’re done with the first. I don’t say that too often, and that’s ultimately why this cigar is 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.”

A collaboration between the Quesada sisters of SAG/MATASA and Janny Garcia of My Father Cigars, 3 Reynas is made in Nicaragua with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler. The Robusto (5 x 50) costs $7. This sample is more full-bodied than the previous 3 Reynas cigars I’ve smoked. I’d characterize it as medium-bodied, as apposed to mild-medium. With earth, coffee, milk chocolate, and mild oak, it’s a great smoke for the Sunday paper and a good coffee.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Reinado is a brand to keep your eye on. The original offering is a good cigar (particularly the small Habanito size), but it’s the follow-up that has been getting the buzz.

That follow-up, the Reinado Grand Empire Reserve, is a cigar I remember enjoying when I first smoked it at the IPCPR Trade Show and one I meant to seek out. Still, whether because they are difficult to find locally or just because I’ve had no shortage of new cigars to smoke, I was glad when I got a few samples to try recently.

The Grand Empire Reserve (GER) currently comes in just one size called Elegidos (5 x 55). It has a soft box-press and looks more like a traditional 50 or 52 ring gauge cigar. In addition to this initial size, introduced this summer, multiple additional sizes are in the works for 2013.

Like the original Reinado, the GER is a Nicaraguan puro made in Condega. It utilizes a “select Habano maduro” wrapper that’s dark and shows lots of oils. It retails for $9.95.

The cigar shows loads of earth, a syrupy sweetness, and plenty of oaky wood. There’s black pepper on the finish. It starts out strong, mellows slightly, and then ramps up to the finish.

Flavor-wise, it’s a cigar smoker’s cigar: full-bodied, gritty, with plenty going on and not too similar to anything else available. Construction is excellent with a quality burn, ash, and draw.

It’s the kind of cigar that begs for a fine, dark spirit. Aged rum, malty Scotch, or well-aged oaky bourbon all fit the bill.

All in all, I really enjoy the Elegidos. Unique, flavorful, and spirited, the cigar gets a well-deserved 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

As he told the story on his blog, Gary Griffith mentioned to cigar maker A.J. Fernandez that he needed to add a Connecticut-wrapped smoke to his lineup of Emilio Cigars. This was back in 2011, and this is how the AF Suave blend was born.

“There are plenty of Connecticuts out there, and the one thing I stressed that I didn’t want was a one-dimensional cigar,” wrote Griffith when AF Suave was released in June 2012. “Instead, I said I was playing with the idea of making something that would maintain the interest of the seasoned smoker, yet not overpower novices.”

The result is the third line made by Fernandez for Emilio Cigars (the first and second being the San Andreas-wrapped AF1 and the Habano oscuro-wrapped AF2, respectively).

AF Suave features a golden Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper around Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos (the exact makeup of the binder and filler has not been divulged). It is sold in boxes of 20 and available in five standard sizes: Corona (5.5 x 42), Churchill (7 x 50), Robusto (5 x 50), Torpedo (6 x 52), and Toro (6 x 50). The latter retails for around $7.50 and boasts a sweet pre-light aroma of honey and apricot.

Consistent in feel from head to foot, the Toro’s cap cuts easily to reveal an open, airy draw that imparts spice on the lips. That spice carries over to the flavor of the opening profile, which is characterized by black pepper, coffee, and salty notes. Then, in less than a half inch, the taste mellows considerably, becoming creamy and nutty and dropping most of its stronger tendencies.

At the halfway mark and beyond the Toro is mild- to medium-bodied with a creamy, chalky texture and classic Connecticut flavors—vanilla, cream, and almond—with a backdrop of pepper and espresso. One could say Fernandez and Griffith hit the mark of crafting a blend with “flavor complexity often unattained in a cigar of this strength level.”

With a solid ash, a straight burn that requires no maintenance, and a profile that’s simultaneously restrained yet interesting, the AF Suave will find fans among newer cigar smokers and longtime enthusiasts alike. It nicely diversifies the Emilio Cigars lineup, which is quite robust—especially considering how young the company is. All told, this particular smoke is worthy 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.”

It’s a bit confusing, but there are actually two Timeless blends produced by Nat Sherman. In addition to the Dominican blend, a Nicaraguan-made puro was introduced summer 2012. This little cigar (4 x 52) is a great size that I wish we saw more of. The cigar is medium- to full-bodied and woody with spice, earth, and just a bit of sweetness. Enjoyable flavors combined with excellent construction makes this a definite “buy” recommendation.

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 is a killer cigar. Strong, flavorful, complex, smooth. Just about everything you’d expect from a stick that garnered a five-stogie review from Patrick S. I got this 5.5-inch beauty as a gift from him a while back and smoked it the other day. As you can tell, I was blown away. Believe me, Patrick got it absolutely right. At about $10 per stick, exclusively from Smoke Inn, it’s worth every penny.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I said goodbye to an old friend the other day. After more than seven years of faithful service, my worn Ronson Jetlite torch gave up the ghost. I’m not sure, but I think it was the ignition system that sputtered away.

Think about that. Seven years. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of cigars torched and touched up. Filled with butane that ranged from the cheapest drug-store no-name brands to fancy quintuple-filtered fuel, a $3 Ronson performed perfectly time after time.

If you’re a regular StogieGuys.com reader, you know we’ve long extolled the virtues of this simple, reliable lighter. My recent experience reinforced that view.

After the Jetlite died, I went rummaging through my cigar accessories stash and found several other lighters. The first one I tried—a thin, stylish lighter I’d rarely used—came apart when I tried to light it. A couple of others, admittedly cheapies, either wouldn’t ignite or did so erratically. The only reliable lighter was a BenzOmatic micro-torch that holds a ton of butane and fires up every time. But it has two problems. It requires another flame to light it, and the flame is unbelievably hot.

So, I went to the cigarette counter at my local Walmart and picked up another Jetlite. There have been a few changes since I bought my first. The price is up about $1 (still a bargain). And Zippo bought Ronson a couple of years ago. But in appearance at least, the lighter seems to be the same.

One thing I didn’t notice before, though perhaps it was there, is a line on the packaging that the lighter is “Excellent for Pipes and Cigars.” Yes, it’s excellent for cigars. But I hope no one would be foolish enough to risk severe damage to a pipe by using a torch lighter of any kind.

So, I’ve met my new friend. Here’s to what I hope is a long and happy relationship.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys