The 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.”

The Heritage line, introduced in the summer of 2010, may be the fullest-bodied regular production cigar in the Avo portfolio. But that doesn’t mean it trades strength for substance. The Robusto (4.9 x 50) still has plenty of subtlety to go along with its boldness, with notes of leather, mushroom, bread, and black pepper as the most dominant flavors. The aftertaste is especially spicy. I paid $7.50 for this Ecuadorian-wrapped cigar at my local tobacconist in Chicago, and I didn’t experience any buyer’s remorse.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

José Blanco’s “retirement” didn’t last long. The longtime spokesman and marketing director for La Aurora announced he is joining Joya de Nicaragua as senior vice president.

Blanco left the Dominican cigar maker in June after 29 years with La Aurora and its parent company, including the last 11 as sales director for the cigar division, which was spun off earlier this year. As sales director, Blanco was responsible for developing and releasing new cigars.

In the press release announcing the move, Blanco praised his new company. “Joining Joya de Nicaragua allows me to do what I love and feel passionate for: working with tobacco. It is a choice that I feel very happy about and makes me look into the future with great enthusiasm,” he said. “Joya De Nicaragua is in my opinion an honorable company with strong tradition and history, which I value highly.”

Dr. Martinez Cuenca, owner of Joya de Nicaragua, praised the new addition to his team: “José will bring new blood and fresh ideas to our legendary company that will allow us to expand our lines of production. His experience in blending and marketing will complement our own efforts and will undoubtedly result in a great contribution to the development and growth of Joya de Nicaragua in both the U.S. and worldwide markets.”

Analysis

When I spoke with José Blanco at the industry trade show in July, it was pretty clear that while he was “retiring” from La Aurora, he had no intention of retiring completely from cigars. Even then it seemed clear to me that it was a question of when, not if, he would take another position in the cigar industry. Cigars, he told me, were in his blood. He also joked with me that unlike some people in the industry, he never signed a non-compete, a fact borne out by his return to the cigar industry just three months after leaving La Aurora.

In Blanco, Joya de Nicaragua gains not only a knowledgeable and innovative cigar veteran, but a gregarious spokesman. The company, which has relied on its distributor, Drew Estate, for its U.S. presence, will now have  its own advocate and unique voice, even as Blanco works closely with the team at Drew Estate.

Joya de Nicaragua is also doing the cigar industry as a whole a great service as Blanco is a forceful advocate for cigar rights. Additionally, he has educated thousands of smokers with his tasting seminars that break down the elements of a cigar and give smokers a peek into the complexities of cigar blending, something that will hopefully resume with his new position.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One thing’s for certain about Rocky Patel: He makes a heck of a lot of cigars. Rocky’s flashy website doesn’t even bother to mention many of his blends, be they seasonal, limited editions, retailer exclusives, or what have you.

It’s safe to say that some cigar enthusiasts are perturbed by Patel’s ever-expanding lineup. They lament his seemingly countless blends and claim that over-expansion has deteriorated the excellence of the core cigars that made Rocky famous, including the Vintage ’90 and ’92 cigars. But many others couldn’t be happier with the variety of tastes, sizes, and price points offered by Patel. For them, any stick with Rocky’s name on the label is worth trying.

These are two extremes. Whether you’re in either camp or (more likely) somewhere in-between, you may have heard of Xtreme Sumatra, a “value brand” that Rocky produces exclusively for Famous Smoke Shop. This line features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper with a Honduran binder and a two-country filler blend from Nicaragua and Honduras. It is available in three traditional vitolas: Churchill (7 x 48), Toro (6 x 52), and Robusto (5 x 50).

I sampled three Robustos for this review. This frontmark is strikingly attractive with a reddish, silky wrapper, no soft spots, a nice cap, and a beautiful cross-section of tobaccos at the foot. The pre-light aroma is of sweet earth and hay and the draw is perfect.

After an even light is established, a profile of dry wood, orange, and coffee emerges. The finish is long and spicy with pepper and occasional traces of sweetness. After an inch or so, flavors of cream, vanilla, and almond start to emerge. The overall result is one of medium-bodied balance, with occasional bitterness in the final third.

Ashing the Xtreme Sumatra Robusto becomes an afterthought as the gray ash builds wonderfully from the cigar’s even burn. You’d be hard-pressed to find a similarly priced smoke with equal construction—perhaps a testament to Patel’s quality control efforts.

So Rocky detractors beware: While this cigar won’t blow any seasoned enthusiasts away, it’s definitely a well-made, satisfying smoke. Best of all, it can be had for as little as $3.90 apiece. That earns the Xtreme Sumatra Robusto three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I’ve found all La Palina cigars to be enjoyable, but the prices (often $18-20 apiece) make them hard to enjoy regularly. The new El Diario line, introduced at this year’s industry trade show, is an attempt to change that. It sells for around $10 each.

“El Diario” is Spanish for “the daily,” a nod to both the daily newspaper and the fact that, at least compared to the La Palina Family Series, it’s a more affordable “daily” cigar. Currently five sizes are available, with a sixth in production and on the way, though details of the new size haven’t yet been released.

El Diario is a collaboration between La Palina and Alan Rubin of Alec Bradley. It is made at the Raices Cubana factory in Honduras, where many Alec Bradley cigars are made, in addition to such highly regarded cigars as Illusione, Viaje, and many of the Padilla lines.

The cigar features Nicaraguan and Honduran tobacco. The wrapper is an oily Honduran corojo ’99 rosado leaf. Underneath are dual Honduran criollo ’98 binders that surround the Nicaraguan filler composed of corojo ’99 and criollo ’98 leaf.

For this review, I smoked two in the Gordo size, which is a thick super toro (6 x 58). The cigars were generally well constructed, though the draw on one of the samples was a bit tight. Each featured smooth earth, powdered chocolate, a hint of pepper spice, and a bit of clove. Though I’ve heard La Palina owner William Paley describe the cigar as medium-bodied, I found the Gordo to be more full-bodied.

The flavor profile is pleasant, accented by a bit of char on the finish but dominated by earthiness. On multiple occasions, I found myself thinking it was a similar profile to the Tatuaje Havana VI, though slightly stronger.

There’s not a ton of variation from start to finish, and it certainly is not as complex as the original La Palina line, but it’s a flavor profile that will be right up the alley of fans of Nicaraguan cigars like Tatuaje and Illusione. And the fact that El Diario costs $9-12 per cigar, as opposed to nearly $20 for the Family Series, makes it easier on the wallet.

Ultimately, this cigar is good enough to keep me interested for a full two hours, which is why I’d give the La Palina El Diario 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

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.”

If a cigar ever had as much hype surrounding it as the Behike, I sure haven’t seen it. The thick (5.7 x 54) Cuban commands $50 per cigar and still is regularly sold out. It’s a complex smoke, with hay, cedar, honey, coffee, and molasses, although it doesn’t change much from start to finish. The result is a pleasant medium-bodied smoke with perfect balance. Were it not for the price I could easily recommend it. But with its hefty price tag, it may only be worth trying if you’re a true connoisseur–and it’s not a cigar to go back to again and again.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Cigar maker Litto Gomez is best known for establishing La Flor Dominicana and growing the brand from its humble roots as one of many cigar boom upstarts to a widely recognized, highly successful company. He did so through slow, methodical growth and by building a loyal and passionate following for his strong, innovative smokes.

As his own recognition increased over the years, Gomez also lent his name to a number of smokes made under his direction. Most notable are the Litto Gomez Small Batch cigars that were released between 2008 and 2010. The Small Batch No. 2 and Small Batch No. 3 both received high ratings at StogieGuys.com—particularly the former, which earned a perfect rating in August 2009.

You’ll also find Gomez’s name on a blend crafted exclusively for Famous Smoke Shop, an internet retailer based in Pennsylvania. According to Famous, these cigars are “seamlessly handcrafted with a full-flavored blend of choice Nicaraguan long-fillers and Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed binders rolled inside dark, shimmering Nicaraguan wrappers.” They produce a “creamy smoke teeming with rich, earthy tobacco flavors augmented by an underlying sweetness in the mix.”

Three traditional sizes are available: Churchill (7 x 50), Robusto (5 x 50), and Toro (6 x 50). They range in price from $8.75 to $10.13 per single, not including the price breaks you can get if you purchase a 5-pack or a box of 20.

The Toro is a firm, heavy cigar with a highly mottled, heavily veined exterior leaf. A closer inspection reveals several soft spots, but the oily cigar seems to be otherwise well-constructed. A muted aroma of leather and cocoa is evident off the foot, and the cigar cuts cleanly to reveal a smooth draw.

Once lit, the Famous Signature Series Toro starts as you might expect from any Litto Gomez creation: lots of bold pepper and spice. Leather is dominant with hints of black cherry in the background. The aftertaste isn’t as sweet as advertised; instead, it has a cayenne kick.

Towards the midway point, the Toro makes the transition from spicy powerbomb to a more medium-bodied profile complete with roasted nuts and cream. The finale is characterized by a reprise of the bold flavors that dominate the outset.

With excellent construction and interesting flavors that change enough to keep the cigar interesting throughout the duration of the smoke, the Famous Signature Series Toro will be a welcome addition to La Flor fans’ humidors. But I would recommend buying by the box since the price for a single ($9.50) is too high in my opinion. All things considered, this Litto Gomez smoke is worthy of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Maybe I’m just cynical, but many of the stories that accompany the release of new blends sound like complete B.S. Usually they involve finding a mysterious stash of fantastic leaf in a hidden corner of a factory (how disorganized is your factory?), an accident on the part of a roller (thousands of cigars were mistakenly made?), or a personal blend made only for the cigar master (which they were able to scale up to hundreds of thousands of cigars?).

Most of these “cigar creation stories” seem like the creation of a marketing department as opposed to an account of what took place. For once, I’d like to hear that someone created a cigar because they thought they could sell a ton of them and make a lot of money.

The Drew Estate Undercrown also has a creation story, though despite its complexity it rings more true to me than most. As both Drew Estate co-founder Jonathan Drew and company president Steve Saka recounted to me at the recent IPCPR Trade Show, Undercrown was born on the factory floor when the rollers responsible for Liga Privada were told they could no longer smoke Ligas while they worked because Drew Estate was already struggling to meet demand. So they created their own blend using tobacco bought for Liga Privada but not specifically used in the blend.

As it was described to me, where Liga Privada might use the seco from a particular tobacco plant, Undercrown might use viso (or vise versa). The only exception is the wrapper, which is a dark and oily San Andreas leaf on the Undercrown (Liga Privada uses Connecticut broadleaf). The result is a cigar similar to, but distinct from, the Liga Privada blend. It all actually makes sense when you consider that the tobacco in Undercrown was already being purchased (or grown) by Drew Estate, which should make Undercrown a profitable blend.

The resulting cigar is very impressive. It’s slightly milder than the Liga Privada, placing it solidly in the medium (maybe medium-full for some people) spectrum. It’s toasty with nutty flavors and coffee bean. As it develops, roasted tastes dominate and there’s a little spice in the final third.

Undercrown comes in five sizes: Robusto (5 x 54), Belicoso (6 x 52), Double Corona (7 x 54), Gordito (6 x 60), and Gran Toro (6 x 52). The cigars sell from $7.45 to $9.95.

Each of the three Gran Toros I smoked (all of which I received at the trade show in July) displayed perfect construction. The burns were even, the draw firm but not difficult, and the ashes held strong.

I think Drew Estate has another fine cigar on its hands here, though perhaps not quite as exquisite as the original Liga blend. If the Liga Privada is a fine steak, Undercrown is a perfectly cooked hamburger. And a good burger is certainly nothing to sneeze at. That’s why the Undercrown Gran Toro earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys