The Stogie Guys

My girlfriend picked up a few of these sticks at a Sarasota cigar bar during our golf vacation to Florida last weekend. She told me she was drawn to Diamond Crown Maximus because the cigars share a name with her employer (I’m just glad she wasn’t buying any more shoes).

This line was created by J.C. Newman as a fuller-bodied follow-up to the company’s successful Diamond Crown blend. Said to be the sister cigar of the famed Opus X, Diamond Crown Maximus marries three legendary families: the Newmans; the Olivas, who grow the wrapper in Ecuador; and the Futenes, who produce the binder and filler tobaccos in the Dominican Republic.

The Robusto No. 5 weighs in at a classic five inches with a 50 ring gauge (kudos to the manufacturer for eliminating all confusion and printing the full vitola name on the cellophane). The band is wonderfully ornate – albeit slightly gaudy – and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were some mixture of the three families’ crests. Dark, firm, and tightly wrapped, the cigar exudes rich notes of chocolate off the freshly cut head.

The El Bajo sungrown wrapper adds a nice sweetness to the lips and the first puff is akin to savory cocoa, clove, and black pepper. Salty, but acidic tones help balance the flavor profile. The taste remains surprisingly consistent until the nub with no noticeable increase in spice, harshness, or bitterness.

One of the Robustos was more reliable than the other, but don’t be surprised if the white ash holds firm for up to three inches. The burn is straight or self-correcting, and the draw is just right.

In all, I think these limited production sticks make real treats for sungrown fans and devotees of cigars with rich cocoa flavors. The only challenge is to locate a supply and fork over $8.50-12 per single (about $200 per box of 20). Let’s just say I’m happy my girlfriend found and bought them, and I give the Diamond Crown Maximus Robusto No. 5 a highly regarded four out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Rough, toothy, a bit mottled, and prominently veiny, the Occidental Reserve Double Broadleaf Churchill isn’t what I’d classify as humidor candy. Nevertheless, when it comes to a cigar’s looks, I’m not much of a snob. Many of my favorite smokes have been a bit on the rustic side. And, after all, isn’t flavor what really matters?

Interestingly, this seven inch by 48 ring gauge maduro doesn’t pack much of a punch. That’s something I find a bit surprising coming from manufacturer Alec Bradley, whose marketing often appeals to the “bigger and bolder is better” mindset. Perhaps blender Hendrik Kelner, famous for his work with the ultra-smooth Davidoff label, had something to do with this stogie’s mildness.

At any rate, the smoothness and unassuming body of the Occidental Reserve is just fine by me. I’ve been looking around for a mild, everyday smoke to pair with a decent cup of coffee on my lazy Sunday mornings. While Davidoffs fit the bill, they can break the bank almost as quickly as a bad mortgage these days. At roughly $3 a stick, Occidental Reserves offer near-Davidoff quality for a fraction of the price.

This cigar opens with a full-bodied blast of pepper, cedar, and burnt coffee before quickly mellowing into a much smoother blend of light oak and sweet cream. A lingering, peppery finish never quite disappears from the body of the thick, heavy smoke – intensifying as the cigar reaches its final third. But it’s never enough to overwhelm the subtle character of the stick, and that’s probably for the best.

The burn is even and true, producing a light gray ash that holds for about an inch and a half at a clip. My only complaint with the ash is its tendency toward flakiness (tiny bits tended to float off the foot, here and there, throughout my various experiences). Otherwise, I find nothing worrisome about the quality of the cigar’s craftsmanship.

For outstanding value, ease, and pleasantly smooth flavor profile, I give this bargain-priced stick a solid four out of five stogies.

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

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

There isn’t too much for me too add to the full review done by my colleague Patrick A.  This is a rich, flavorful, attractive, and well-constructed smoke.  Quintessentially maduro, this box-pressed toro features chocolate, earth, and roasted flavors.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I wanted to be one of first to review this new Honduran-rolled boutique cigar, so please bear in mind that I only smoked one Isla de Cuba Classic Belicoso for this review. Based on the experience, though, I’m looking forward to trying more.

The Isla de Cuba Group is a Tampa-based manufacturer that was launched in February to bring old Havana favorites back to the U.S. market. With Classic and Aged Maduro lines (five vitolas each), President Darryl Lieser says the “brand is based on the legendary 1956 Montecristo No. 3.” You’ll probably be able to read more about that claim once the full Isla de Cuba website is up and running.

The 6.12 inch by 52 ring gauge Classic Belicoso boasts a beautiful Connecticut Ecuadorian wrapper with a light yellow hue and few veins. The portrait-style band is nostalgic and beckoning, and the cigar is fairly firm to the touch. I’m not sure if this is intentional, but I noticed a slight trumpet-like shape (a feature that’s much more pronounced in stogies like the Puros Piramide).

To its credit, the similarities between the Classic Belicoso and the Puros Piramide end there. Toasting the foot sets the tone with an agreeable floral aroma. The first few puffs are surprisingly spicy as the Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and filler tobaccos start to work their magic. Sweet hay and jasmine move to the forefront until the halfway mark, which is milder and characterized by notes of butter and almond. The culmination of this 100-minute smoke sees a return to the initial spice.

My draw was a bit tight so, after ten minutes of smoking, I re-clipped the head further than I do most torpedo-shaped sticks. It opened right up. The burn is set-it-and-forget-it straight with a wonderful mascara sheen, and the ash holds for about an inch.

You can find these at JR for $151.95 per box of 25. I think that’s a pretty fair price for well-built mild- to medium-bodied cigar with a delicious flavor profile and an all-around quality feel. I give the Isla de Cuba Classic Belicoso four out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We seem to be living in a new golden age of cigar craftsmanship. In magazines, at retailers, and in catalogs, we’re bombarded with tales of “master rollers” and their disciples. We’ve seen a broad resurgence in formerly rare figurado shapes, such as the once-endangered perfecto. Every brand seems to have its own barber pole offering. And, increasingly, it’s becoming very hard to find a poorly rolled stick.

Unfortunately, while the industry focuses so intently on the craft of cigar rolling, some of the art is lost. All too frequently in recent years I’ve smoked exquisitely rolled but boringly blended cigars. I’m sure you know the kind: that undeniably pretty stogie that you can’t wait to smoke, because it just looks so damned good – but whose generic flavor and bland aftertaste leave you wondering what went wrong.

My friends, it is with a heavy heart and a light wallet that I inform you about the Gurkha Special Edition Black Puro Churchill – or, as I like to think of it, the ditzy blonde of the premium cigar world. This seven and 1/2 inch by 52 ring gauge Dominican puro, with its sleek maduro wrapper and its aromatic filler of aged Cuban-seed tobaccos from the Ciboa Valley, is a looker. Quite a looker. And its pre-light nose of coffee, chocolate, and wheat recall a moist and delicate cake at a high-end bistro. With its slick, metallic, black band and its impressive size, the Black Puro seems to whisper, “I know you want me.”

And you do. Until you toast the foot, light the stick, and begin to smoke it. For the first inch or so, the Black Puro is all that it portends to be – offering rich flavors of cocoa, toast, some coffee, and cream. This delicious profile soon fades away almost entirely, leaving in its place very weak notes of chocolate, paper, and dairy. After awhile, smoking the Black Puro feels like drinking a glass of Ovaltine mixed with skim milk. Over and over again. For two hours, if not longer.

I never attribute to poor quality what I can attribute to poor storage. And ordinarily, a cigar whose flavor seems to peter out so suddenly would seem like a victim of dryness. But given the fact that I smoked six Black Puros over the course of the week, and given that each of these Black Puros came from the same shipment (and sat in the same humidor) as some wonderful smokes I’ve had this month, I believe the fault lies in the tobacco here. It is, quite simply, a boring and uninspired blend. While not completely terrible, the Black Puro – which retails for roughly $9-12 apiece – is by no means worth the price of admission.

For impressive construction, questionable blending, and prohibitive pricing, I award the Gurkha Special Edition Black Puro Churchill two and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

A friend gave me this Honduran puro, which is better known in Europe than in the U. S. Wrapped in a light caramel brown wrapper, the Churchill was pleasantly aromatic. The flavor was mild with honey, sweet cedar, and some underlying pepper spice. With flawless construction, it is not surprising that this is Europe’s best selling Honduran cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When a cigar buddy gifted one of these to me a few weeks back, I didn’t know what to think. You see, I had never smoked a candela before I lit up that stick and two more Don Tomás Candela Robustos for this review.

That shouldn’t surprise most of you. As Cigar Aficionado reported in February 2003, and as Patrick S wrote in March 2007 when he reviewed a Camacho, candelas can be hard to find these days. Funny, especially since such “latter-day oddities” were once the preferred U.S. cigar – so much so, in fact, that the wrappers were dubbed American Market Selection.

Today, Don Tomás is one of the few outfits that furnishes a candela line to the U.S. market. As rare as they might be at your local B&M, you can purchase these online for next to nothing. Boxes of 25 Robustos sell in the $49 to $69 range. Still, the company employs a typical, hyped-up marketing strategy to push its product:

“Some months ago, among a supply of Cameroon wrappers, the people in the cavernous Don Tomás warehouse chanced upon a forgotten lot of three or four bales of candela wrapper. A search through the company files revealed that the bales had been literally lost for 18 years!”

Yeah, right. Not knowing what to expect, I surveyed this five and ½ inch by 50 ring gauge peculiarity to find a pale green wrapper that appears virtually flawless. Given the stogie’s Kermit-like hue, however, I’m not sure I could see any veins if they existed. Still, it seems well built and very firm to the touch.

After carefully clipping the head so as not to damage the fragile wrapper and lighting the foot, I found an extremely mild flavor with notes of grass and sweet hay. Then I was immediately struck by the sheer sensation of smoking a cigar that actually feels like rolled up plant leaves (for those who don’t know, the texture of candela wrappers are truly unique). A bit of the banana peel bitterness that’s characteristic of candelas, or so I’m told, creeps in after the first two inches, but it’s neither chemical-tasting nor obtrusive. The mild Honduran puro wraps up with some spice and olive.

I found the burn to be fairly straight, the white ash to hold firm up to a full two inches, and a moderately easy draw. It’s about an 80-minute journey from light to nub.

I get the feeling candelas are love-it-or-hate-it cigars, but I came away from this experience a bit conflicted. While I enjoyed the flavor and while the physical properties are excellent (especially for the value price), I can’t see myself seeking out another for quite some time. Nonetheless, I would encourage everyone to at least try the Don Tomás Candela Robusto, and I give it a respectable three out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys