The Stogie Guys

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

In May 2017, not long after it had been introduced by General Cigar, I reviewed the Robusto (5.5 x 50, about $10) format of the then-new Cohiba Blue. This line sports a Honduran Olancho San Agustin wrapper and binder around Honduran Jamastran, Nicaraguan Ometepe, and Dominican Piloto Cubano filler tobaccos. At the time, I called the Robusto a “satisfying, well-made smoke with good flavors,” yet I also remarked, “I don’t think it’s going to wow anyone.” After about 20 months of aging, the flavor remains the same: cinnamon, cedar, roasted nuts, and a bit of honey; well-balanced, spice-forward, and medium-bodied. Enough to merit a recommendation, albeit not a completely enthusiastic one.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Added to Omar Frias’ Fratello line in 2016, the Oro blend is produced at La Aurora in the Dominican Republic. It features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Cameroon binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The Robusto produces medium-bodied flavors with notes of roasted cashew, pepper, cream, and cedar. Connecticut cigars can sometimes be so mild they are bland, but that isn’t the case at all with the Fratello Oro.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

By now, we all know the story. Former Drew Estate chief Steve Saka, now owner of the acclaimed boutique Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, began work in 2005 on a personal blend for his own enjoyment. After over 50 blends of testing with Jonathan Drew and Nick Melillo (now owner of Foundation Cigar Co.), a final recipe was arrived at: a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper fermented for at least 18 months, a Brazilian Mata Fina binder, and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua.

The cigar became known as Liga Privada No. 9. It forever changed the way the cigar world thinks about Drew Estate, which had formerly been known for its infused cigars.

Despite being on the market for over a decade, Liga No. 9 production is still limited (due to tobacco availability) so the cigars can be both tough to find and expensive. In 2012, to help satisfy sky-high demand and capitalize on what would otherwise be waste, Drew Estate launched Papas Fritas, a small cigar (4.5 x 44) that employs cuttings from Liga No. 9 production. Like Liga No.9, it has the same Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Mata Fina binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos.

Spanish for “French fries,” one of Saka’s favorite foods, Papas Fritas is a mixed-filler cigar that, while not on par with the elegance or complexity of the original No. 9, is a quick, cost-effective way to get the core Liga flavors that made that line so successful.

Those flavors include a medium- to full-bodied combination of spice, cocoa powder, espresso, cream, and white pepper. The texture is leathery. The trademark Liga flavor that’s as noticeable as it is hard to describe—the best I can do is “sweet grassiness”—is also present, though it tends to drift in and out.

True to Drew Estate’s reputation, Papas Fritas has an incredibly easy draw with voluminous smoke production. The other combustion properties are also impressive, especially for a mixed-filler cigar. The burn light is straight, and the white ash holds well.

In 2015, to make the cigar cheaper, Drew Estate rolled out new packaging. Papas Fritas can now be found in 50-count boxes, instead of 4-count tins or 28-count boxes. As a result, the per-cigar cost was reduced from $6.40 to $5.25. “We needed something for fans of Papas Fritas who already had plenty of tins and wanted a better value, so now we’re offering the cigar with no tin,” said then-president Michael Cellucci.

If you look around, you can actually pay about $4.70 per cigar, if you buy a box of 50. And why wouldn’t you? Papas Fritas enables you to get your Liga fix in a quick, price-efficient way, and you won’t feel bad about discarding one halfway through. For that, I’m awarding this cigar three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple times each week 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 wasn’t long ago that paying $10 for a cigar was very unusual. Now a significant number of cigars command double-digit prices, and there’s no doubt that Opus X is part of the reason why. The Dominican puro, also a rarity when Opus was first introduced, is known as a strong, complex smoke, and this vitola (6.25 x 48) is no exception. It’s dominated by woody spice with plenty of pepper on the finish. Construction is flawless, something you’d expect from a cigar that costs $14 to $20. Opus X may not be as unique of an offering as it once was, but it is still a very good one.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Compiling the annual StogieGuys.com cigar retrospective is always interesting. How many smokes did we find outstanding? How does this year compare to the past? Was there any dominant brand or startling newcomer?

Only a handful of cigars achieve the top five-stogie rating. In more than 12 years of reviewing, only 59 have made it, an average of just under five a year. (You can find the full list of five stogie-rated smokes here and an explanation of our ratings system here.)

In 2018, only a single cigar scored five stogies out of five: the 7.5-inch, 40-ring gauge Illusione Holy Lance (hl). It was hailed in the review as “a balanced symphony of complex, authentically Nicaraguan flavors.”

Illusione cigars have long been highly enjoyed at StogieGuys.com. Dion Giolito’s brand has two other five stogie-rated smokes, as well as others with an outstanding four and a half stogie-rating, including one this year.

The review also called it “one of the finest lanceros in production today, and these aged cigars showed that they lose nothing after a few years, and might have gained some added complexity.”

For comparison, we had four five-stogie cigars in both 2017 and 2016, six each in 2015 and 2014, and two in 2013.

Considerably more cigars were rated four or four and a half stogies, numbers not dissimilar to those of 2017. I tallied 22 four-stogie smokes (the same as last year), and 13 four-and-a-half-stogie smokes (down three from 2017). They run the gamut from small company productions and limited editions to a couple Cubans to releases from cigar giants.

Below is an alphabetical listing of the four-and-a-half-stogie cigars from 2018 with a quote from each review.

Caldwell Savages Corona Extra: “Once an even light is established, the draw opens almost instantly. What follows is a bready, medium-bodied profile of white pepper, cocoa powder, oak, and soft cayenne heat.”

El Triunfador (Original Blend): “Complexity is the name of the game. There’s a lot going on here.”

Fable Fourth Prime Sapta: “It tastes of nougat, cream, dark chocolate, and coffee bean. There is little spice or heat.”

Fratello Navetta Atlantis: “The individual flavors remind me of espresso, roasted nuts, black pepper, and cayenne heat.”

Hoyo de Monterrey Hermoso No. 4 Añejados (Cuban): “Ultimately, you pay a premium for an assurance of a cigar that isn’t under-aged, but the balanced, rich flavors… still earn it a very solid rating.”

Illusione La Gran Classe Rex: “It’s a balanced cigar that provides surprising nuance in such a small vitola.”

Intemperance BA XXI Vanity: “While Vanity is an awesome cigar for any time of year, I especially appreciate it during the cold months here in Chicago.”

Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva Presidente (TAA Exclusive): “It is full-bodied, yet smooth, creamy, and nicely balanced.”

La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva Robusto: “In addition to enjoyable flavors and solid construction, the price ($7.59) makes this an impressive offering. “

MBombay Classic Torpedo: “… creamy with cedar notes, but the Torpedo also evokes some citrus and other fruity sweetness for added complexity.”

Quai d’Orsay Secreto Cubano Exclusivo Francia RE (2016): “I’ll admit this cigar surprised me, in a good way. Despite its small size, it provided nearly an hour of enjoyable, interesting, complex flavors.”

Sobremesa Robusto Largo: “As the Robusto Largo progresses, flavors like dark cherry, green raisin, cedar, molasses, and caramel come and go.”

Villiger La Vendedora Toro: “… the most impressive, complex, encompassing smoke Villiger has produced to date”

We look forward with great anticipation to the wonderful smokes 2019 is sure to bring.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In this edition of Cigar Spirits, I’m looking at three wheated bourbons from three different states: West Virginia, Florida, and Kentucky.

All bourbons must be made with a mashbill that’s a majority corn, but what sets a wheated bourbon apart is that wheat (and not rye) is the secondary grain. Generally, with age, wheated bourbons, including highly sought-after bourbons like Pappy Van Winkle and W.L. Weller, are considered sweeter and less spicy than their more numerous rye counterparts.

Smooth Ambler has bottled well-received bourbon and ryes sourced from other distilleries for years under their Old Scout line. Big Level is the first bourbon produced at their West Virginia distillery.

Specs: Aged at least five years, bottled at 100-proof, and made from a mashbill that is 71% corn, 21% wheat, and 8% malted Barley. Batch 21. Price = $55.

Nose: Charred oak, menthol, and a touch of alcohol heat.

Palate: Caramel, cinnamon spice, malted milk, cherries, and burnt corn.

Finish: Pepper and green oak.

Verdict: Youthful and unique. Tasty now, but still with an edge that could be smoothed out with more barrel time.

Cigar pairing: Best smoked with a spicy Dominican like the Fuente Opus X or La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero.

Not that long ago, you could count the number of whiskey distilleries in the United States in the dozens; now that figure is well over 1,000. St. Augustine Distillery is one of the many new craft distilleries. Unlike many new operations, St. Augustine isn’t sourcing whiskey from elsewhere. Instead, it’s producing an in-house Florida-made bourbon.

Specs: This special edition 102-proof “malted bourbon” is sold only at the gift shop. It’s made by taking St. Augustine’s Florida Double Cask Bourbon (distilled from corn, wheat, malted barley, and aged first in half-size 25-gallon barrels, then full-size 53-gallon barrels) then aged further in barrels that were used to make port at the nearby San Sebastian winery. Price = $40 for 375 ml.

Nose: Clove, fruitcake, honey, and oak.

Palate: Leather, cereal grains, and cherries.

Finish: Tannins, oak, white pepper, and grains.

Verdict: There is a lot going on with this bourbon, including a delicious nose. It’s a gutsy product from a craft distiller, though you’d be unable to miss the youthfulness, which creates a slightly harsh edge. I’d be really interested to try St. Augustine bourbon with four or even six years in the barrel.

Cigar pairing: Spicy Honduran cigars like the Camacho Corojo, H. Upmann Yargüera, or CLE.

The storied Rebel Yell brand has been around for decades and is known for wheated bourbon. The brand started at the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery, home of bourbon like Weller, Van Winkle, and Old Fitzgerald. The brand is owned by Missouri-based Luxco, but reportedly the bourbon is now produced on contract at Heaven Hill, with the 10 year Single Barrel variety being the top offering in the line.

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

When Crowned Heads released the original limited edition Drumstick lancero (7.5 x 38) in 2013, it quickly became a highly sought-after, much-praised cigar. The re-release last year didn’t seem to garner the same response, despite reportedly being the same as the original with only a smaller production level and the addition of a black foot ribbon. It’s a medium-strength smoke with a smooth Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. There’s pepper, though it’s not overwhelming, and some sweetness mixed with nuts and floral notes. All in all, a fine cigar for about $10.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys