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.”

About a year ago, both of my colleagues praised the Robusto (5.5 x 50) from the new (at the time) Partagas Ramon y Ramon line. This cigar sports a Cameroon wrapper around a Dominican binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua (Jalapa) and the Dominican Republic (Piloto Cubano). The profile starts mild and ramps up to medium-bodied with flavors of sweet cream, cedar, oak, toast, and melon. Construction is solid. This is an easy recommendation at about $8.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

With its name so closely linked to burning wood, you might expect Fogata to resemble the smoky presentation of fire-cured tobaccos in cigars from Drew Estate or Sam Leccia.

It doesn’t. In fact, in a statement when the cigar was released last year, Avo Uvezian said an outdoor fire (fogata is a Spanish word that can be translated as bonfire, campfire, or wood fire) was among his “favorite settings to share unforgettable and intimate moments with my closest of friends.” So it’s the surroundings, not the burning, that served as inspiration.

Another assumption for which a smoker could be forgiven is also tied to the name: Like its older sibling, the Avo Syncro Nicaragua, Fogata is far from a Nicaraguan puro. It sports an Ecuadorian Habano 2000 clara wrapper, a Mexican binder, and a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobaccos.

The Nicaraguan filler does not include any leaves from the volcanic island of Ometepe, and Fogata is round, not pressed. Both characteristics are different than the Avo Syncro Nicaragua.

Lastly, on the expectations front, Fogata also pleasantly surprised me with an absence of the disagreeable dirt taste I so often find in Mexican tobacco.

Fogata comes in four sizes, with an elegant Short Torpedo, Robusto, Toro, and the Special Toro. The 6-inch, 60-ring gauge Special Toro continues the trend of including a larger stick in releases. The MSRP is $11.90.

I had no complaints about construction or performance, though the burn tended to be a little fast and a bit uneven at times, even if it didn’t require any significant touch-ups.

The flavors of Fogata are an interesting and well-balanced mix. There’s not an abundance of pepper or spice, but when those ramp up a bit they blend nicely with the overall experience. Significant flavors along the way included a fruity sweetness, coffee, and leather.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar, perhaps not quite as much as the original Avo Nicaragua line, but certainly enough to recommend it highly. And to give it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Avo Cigars / Stogie Guys

“A muestra is the vision of the ligador and torcedor realized, it is the promise of a new experience and possibly the key to financial success for the fabrica,” says Steve Saka, founder and Master Ligador of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. “Muestras are hoarded and coveted by not only their makers, but by the cigar smokers who seek to catch a glimpse into the cigar maker’s soul within their smoke.”

In its young history, Dunbarton has amassed acclaim from seasoned cigar devotees that is as well-deserved as it is widespread. Sought-after brands like Sobremesa and Mi Querida are virtually universally praised by cigar veterans who trek to meet Saka at retailer events and hang on his every Facebook post. So when Saka introduces a “muestra,” you have to take notice.

Nacatamale is the second muestra from Dunbarton. It was announced in July and is intended to be “considerably more robust” than its predecessor, Exclusivo. It is made in the “old farm” style, meaning all the filler tobaccos are from a single operation (in this case, an undisclosed farm in Jalapa, Nicaragua).

Nacatamale (6 x 48) comes flawlessly presented in an individual wooden coffin. I paid over $20 for mine (including insane tobacco taxes here in Chicago; the MSRP is $15.95). Inside is a gorgeous, beautifully constructed cigar with a dark Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It has tight seams, a firm feel, thin veins, and a smooth cold draw. The pre-light notes remind me of green raisin with milk chocolate and cinnamon.

After setting an even light with a wooden match, a spicy, bold, well-balanced introductory flavor emerges that reminds me of cayenne heat, dark chocolate, black coffee, and sweet nougat. The medium- to full-bodied profile steps off the accelerator as the midway point approaches. Here, hints of cinnamon, cedar, cream, and leather play a more active role, and the spice is more subdued. The finale witnesses a reprise of spice with notes of black pepper, dry oak, espresso, cedar, and a frothy, marshmallowy sweetness at the fore.

As you would expect from Saka (and any cigar at this price point), the combustion properties are sublime. The burn line stays straight and true from light to nub with torch touch-ups completely unnecessary. In addition, the draw is smooth, the ash holds firm, and the smoke production is outstanding.

What makes Nacatamale so outstanding—and, yes, it is absolutely outstanding—is not any individual flavor. This cigar is a great example of how the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. The overall balance, complexity, and harmony is simply on point. That Saka handicapped himself by relegating the entire filler recipe to one farm and still composed a symphony of deliciousness… well, that’s head-scratching. Pony up and grab one of these while you still can. Any rating besides five stogies out of five would be inappropriate.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five stogie-rated cigars can be found 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.”

This year Punch added the Gran Puro Nicaragua line, but today I’m smoking the original Punch Gran Puro, which is made with 100% Honduran tobaccos. The well-constructed cigar produces a nice combination of leather, hickory, pepper, and a subtle gingerbread sweetness. The Punch brand as a whole, and this blend in particular, have always offered up good value for the price, and this toro is no exception.

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.”

Let’s cut to the chase: This is one of the tastiest mild cigars I’ve smoked. The blend—Dominican and Nicaraguan filler under an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper and Dominican Criollo ’98 binder—kicks in a little spice to keep it interesting along with wood and an occasional touch of sweetness. I found virtually none of the grassy component often common with Connecticut Shade tobacco. But full disclosure: This cigar has been in my humidor for a couple of years and I can’t say how that might have affected it since I hadn’t smoked one previously. The Robusto (5 x 52) from Pinar del Rio is a bargain, available online at just a bit over $5 a stick.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

About four years ago, Cigar Aficionado published an article entitled “Strange Leaves” about how some cigar makers are looking to non-standard tobaccos to create distinctive blends. One of the tobaccos highlighted is Andullo, which has a longstanding Dominican heritage and is typically used as a pipe or chewing tobacco.

“Andullo is created by taking cured tobacco leaves, wrapping them tightly in palm tree pods with rope, and hanging them to ferment for a period of two years,” reads the article. “The process turns the tobacco into dark, hard logs resembling big sausages… Andullo is made, not grown. It’s the process that makes the tobacco distinctive, not the seed variety or its growing conditions.”

Leave it to La Aurora, the oldest cigar maker in the Dominican Republic, to incorporate this uniquely Dominican tobacco into one of its blends. The new line—called ADN Dominicano—debuted earlier this year at the 2017 ProCigar Festival. Originally, it was only going to be sold within the Dominican Republic. Before the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, however, La Aurora and its distributor, Miami Cigar & Co., decided to make it available in the U.S. market.

ADN Dominicano sports a Dominican wrapper from the Cibao Valley, a Cameroon binder, and filler tobaccos from Pennsylvania, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic, including one whole Andullo filler leaf. There are four ADN Dominicano vitolas, each retailing in the $7.25 to $9.25 range: Robusto (5 x 50), Churchill (7 x 47), Gran Toro (6 x 58), and Toro (5.75 x 54). Each is adorned with a slightly toothy, moderately oily wrapper that has several large veins, as well as a Dominican flag-themed band that includes the familiar La Aurora lion. The Toro is firm to the touch with pre-light notes of molasses. The cold draw is effortless.

The initial profile is medium-bodied with core flavors of earth, leather, cereals, and some tangy, zingy sweetness that reminds me of barbecue sauce. The finish on the palate is clean with hints of lingering spice and gentle heat. Beyond these impressions, however, there is a noticeable lack of complexity that, at times, strikes me as papery and a little bland, notwithstanding the aforementioned spice and body.

As the Toro approaches the midway point, some welcome changes begin to take shape. The overall flavor gets a boost of balance and depth with the arrival of a creamy sweetness. In addition, a taste reminiscent of walnuts emerges and, while the spice seems to recede a bit, the body begins to approach the medium- to medium-full range. The final third is characterized by dense earth, bread, warm tobacco, and black pepper.

Throughout, the combustion properties can be slightly frustrating. While the smoke production is good and the draw is clear, the flaky ash tends to fall off the foot haphazardly, and the wavering burn line requires a number of touch-ups to stay even.

The star of ADN Dominicano is intended to be Andullo yet, tasting the cigar as a complete blend with its many components, it’s hard to say exactly what role that tobacco leaf plays. I would relish the opportunity to smoke Andullo on its own in order to define its attributes.

On the whole, the ADN Dominicano Toro does not live up to the standards I’ve come to expect from La Aurora in terms of either flavor, balance, or construction. That’s ultimately why I am rating this cigar only two and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys