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.”

This petite corona is one of five blends in RoMa Craft Tobac’s El Catador de Las Petite Coronas sampler box (featuring two each of the company’s five core blends in a four-inch, 46-ring gauge format). The cigar also sells by itself in boxes of 30. Made with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Indonesian binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, it is a rich, medium-bodied smoke that goes well with a strong cup of coffee. Cedar, cream, toast, and light pepper spice dominate the 30-minute smoke. With excellent construction and balanced flavors, it’s easy to recommend.

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.”

I don’t smoke a lot of maduros, but once in a while those coffee and cocoa flavors tempt me. I liked the Habano La Galera, so I thought I’d try the Maduro. I was cautious from the start in light of the Mexican San Andrés wrapper; I usually dislike this tobacco’s dirt-like taste, but there have been exceptions, and I hoped this would be another one. It wasn’t. The low-priced robusto (5 x 50, under $6) also had an unpleasant sharpness from the start and never developed into anything else. Construction and performance were fine. If you’re a big San Andrés fan, you might want to pick one up. Otherwise, I recommend leaving it on the shelf.

Verdict = Sell.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When it comes to variety of styles, rum gives whiskey a run for its money. Dark rum, aged rum, spiced rum, overproof rum, flavored rum… Besides being distilled from sugarcane or sugarcane derivatives, there are few rules when it comes to rum.

The downside is many rums, even higher-end rums, take advantage of the lax rules to add sugar or caramel color. This creates a sweetness many identify with premium rum. Such rums may be enjoyable to sip, but they’re hardly the only style of premium rum.

Foursquare Distillery’s Richard Seale is on a mission to clear up some of the confusion inherent in the category and give rum drinkers a better way to determine what exactly they are sipping. He’s even proposed new sub-categories of rum to achieve it.

Meanwhile, Seale makes some excellent rums, all free of any additives; he only employs rum and barrel time. He’s also not shy about revealing the details of exactly what’s in the rum and what types of barrels were used to make it. While some premium rums obfuscate about how long they were aged or how much sugar has been added, his approach is a breath of fresh air.

Today I look at two rums I recently picked up from the Barbados Foursquare Distillery. Both are barrel-proof and, while not impossible to find, will take some searching to locate.

Foursquare 2004 Single Blended Rum (Exceptional Cask Selection, Mark III)

As the label makes clear, this rum was distilled in 2004 in both pot and column stills then aged in used bourbon barrels for eleven years before being bottled at a hearty 59% alcohol by volume. Foursquare also makes a port cask- and zinfandel cask-finished version of the 2004 vintage rum. So, if you buy it, be sure to differentiate between them. Expect to pay between $60 and $80 for this bottle.

The nose of this amber-hued rum is surprisingly restrained with wood, vanilla, and molasses notes. On the palate, it’s a bold combination of tropical fruit, cocoa, leather, candied almonds, and butterscotch. The finish shows off more vanilla and fruit along with some barrel char.

Foursquare Triptych Single Blended Rum

Foursquare’s Triptych blends 2004 rum aged in used bourbon casks (presumably the same as in the 2004 Exceptional Cask) with 2005 distilled rum aged in ex-Madeira casks and 2007 rum aged in virgin oak. The use of virgin oak is unusual for rum, and the combination, once blended, is bottled without dilution at 56% alcohol by volume. Expect to pay $120 or more for this rum, which is limited to just 5,400 total bottles.

The result is a deep copper-colored rum with a lively nose of vanilla, wood spice, and just a bit of sulfur. On the palate, it features powdered cocoa, roasted cashew, bananas foster, leather, and molasses. The finish lingers with charred oak and more molasses.

Each is an excellent rum and a testimony to how flavorful, complex, and smooth rum can be without any added sugars. Also remarkable is how sippable they are neat despite the high proof. The prices aren’t cheap, especially the Triptych, but if you enjoy rum neat these are must-tries.

Good rum always pairs nicely with cigars, and these are no exception. The high proof and full flavor lend themselves to an earthy, full-bodied cigar like the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu, Sobremesa, or Intemperance BA.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

You’ve got to hand it to Pete Johnson, the creator and owner of Tatuaje. His annual Monster Series release is pure marketing genius. Every year, Tatuaje’s growing army of devotees seeks out the Halloween limited release, many buying an entire box before trying a single cigar.

Back in 2011, Cigar Aficionado wrote an article about the “distribution nightmare” the Monster Series had become. Back then, the release was only in its fourth year, with production at 22,000 cigars; the latest release, called the Krueger, clocked in at just shy of 60,000 cigars.

For the uninitiated, Tatuaje has released an annual Monster Series smoke since 2008, each celebrating a character from the horror genre, including The Frank, The Drac, The Face, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The JV13 (Jason), The Jekyll, The Hyde, and The Krueger. The MSRP is always $13, and there are typically 666 “dress boxes” of 13 cigars made available to 13 “unlucky” retailers (Johnson also releases plain boxes of 10).

I didn’t have a chance to get my hands on The Krueger when it came out last fall. Thankfully, I spotted a stash at my local tobacconist and picked up a handful. As the name would suggest, The Krueger honors the Freddy Krueger character from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Its recipe calls for a Mexican San Andrés wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.

Typically, wrapper leaf is judged by both taste and appearance. A testament Johnson’s aforementioned marketing genius is his ability to use ugly, scary-looking wrapper leaves that, while tasty, certainly wouldn’t qualify for most $13 cigars. Indeed, The Krueger is a dark, rough, and rugged box-pressed torpedo (7 x 48). Its dry surface is characterized by plenty of veins, lumps, and tooth. There are hardly any oils to be found. It is slightly spongy and the cold draw is moderate.

After setting an even burn, pungent pre-light notes of earth, cocoa, and hay transition to an initial profile that’s balanced and medium- to full-bodied. Flavors include coffee bean, roasted nuts, leather, black pepper, and sweet cream. That earthiness (some might say dirtiness, or grittiness) so emblematic of San Andrés tobacco creeps in as the first inch is concluding.

As the midway point approaches, the profile remains consistent, but the flavor settles a bit as the cigar takes a more balanced and nuanced stance. The sweetness ramps up with the addition of chocolate, and the leather and roasted nuts become more pronounced. The final third is marked by a reprise of the intensity from the outset, plus heavy notes of leather and a sour meatiness.

With solid construction from light to nub, The Krueger is a fine, well-built cigar with loads of rich flavor and ample changes throughout to keep things interesting. That said, I don’t believe it quite stands up to the lofty expectations set by its Monster Series predecessors (and its price and pedigree). Perhaps that will change with some age. For now, the most fitting rating for this Tatuaje creation is three 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.”

It’s hard to believe how much the La Palina brand has grown since I attended the launch party in June 2010. From the debut single vitola blend, La Palina now features a dozen blends, most with multiple sizes. Illumination an features Ecuadorian wrapper and binder around Dominican and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is made at the El Titan de Bronze factory, same as La Palina’s better-known Goldie. The corona gorda-sized Illumination Colonial (5.25 x 44, $10.50) showcases medium-bodied bread, cedar, hay, and coffee notes. Flavors are pleasant enough, though hardly in the same class as Goldie. The biggest flaw, however, is a burn that goes out for no apparent reason and requires several relights.

Verdict = Hold.

– 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.”

Released in 2015 to celebrate Rocky Patel’s 20 years in the cigar industry, this blend is said to have taken four years to develop. Its wrapper and binder comes from Honduras, and the filler is a mix of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos. The result is a complex, tasty, medium-strength smoke. The severely pressed Twentieth Anniversary Natural Toro (6 x 52, $12) performs excellently, including the generation of lots of smoke. It’s well worth a try.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 541st in the series.

1) Cuban farmers in the storied Pinar del Río province are harvesting a bumper tobacco crop, and they expect to increase acreage even more next year, according to news reports. Much of the country is struggling with drought, so additional wells are being drilled and irrigation systems expanded to accommodate the additional planting. Exported premium cigars are said to generate about $450 million a year for Cuba.

2) With the override of a gubernatorial veto, Maine this week became the latest state to raise the minimum age for tobacco purchases to 21. (Others that have approved the change are California, Hawaii, Oregon, and New Jersey.) Voting for the increase in both legislative chambers crossed the required two-thirds majority. Gov. Paul LePage, in opposing the change, had referred to raising the age as “social engineering.”

3) Inside the Industry: A lawsuit filed last year by Frank Herrera’s law firm on behalf of several cigar makers challenging FDA cigar regulations has been suspended. Herrera posted the document to stay the case on Facebook. He wrote that the FDA’s three-year extension for implementation of the substantial equivalence provision regarding cigars “provides relief for issues that were raised” in the lawsuit. Either party is allowed to reopen the case in the future. Meanwhile, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a 30-day delay in the lawsuit brought by Cigar Rights of America, IPCPR, and the Cigar Association of America against the FDA. It is assumed the extension is intended to buy time for the Department of Justice, the agency that is representing the FDA, to determine how FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s new tobacco regulation plan impacts premium cigars.

4) From the Archives: San Andrés wrapper is seemingly everywhere these days, including on many of the cigars that were introduced at the recent IPCPR Trade Show. Back in May 2015, we published our thoughts on Mexican tobacco. You can revisit that piece here.

5) Deal of the Week: StogieGuys.com recommends Bespoke Post, a monthly collection of awesome items (think fine bar accessories, shaving kits, wine, workout gear, coffee kits, and more) delivered for just $45. You can skip or purchase every month. Sign up here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys