3 points
Oliva Connecticut Reserve Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
Silky, light brown Connecticut wrapper. Oily, veiny and there are a couple of dark color splotches. The feel of the cigar is a little spongy.
For this review I am smoking the churchill (7″ x 50) vitola. It costs about $7.00.
Smoke
A burnt oak flavor is the first and main flavor to start off and it is pretty good. It burns evenly and the draw is great.
The cigar stays very consistent throughout. Oak is the mainstay and, if you like that flavor a lot, then you will like this cigar a lot. It ranges from burnt to sweet but it’s oak all the way.
After-Smoke
For the Oliva Connecticut the complexity is confined to its oak flavors. It’s a fine cigar and an enjoyable enough cigar. Now, if you are thinking there are going to be a lot of flavors then you need to look elsewhere.
3 points
Carlos Toraño Signature Collection Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
The Carlos Toraño Signature Collection features a sun grown Brazilian maduro wrapper, a Connecticut broadleaf binder and the rest of the tobacco is Cuban-seed ligero from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Very good looking cigar with tons of oil. This cigar is truly a fine piece of craftsmanship. I am smoking the toro vitola (6″ x 50) for this review and it retails for a little more than $7.00 a stick.
Smoke
Earth and cocoa are the first flavors I get. Most of the flavor is evident in my mouth and not when I exhale out my nose, which is different than my normal experiences with most cigars.
There is an almost tart flavor on the tip of my tongue. The burn is basically even, the draw is good and this is turning into a tasty medium bodied cigar. The flavors are moderately above average.
Sweetness is apparent in the immediate aftertaste associated with the cocoa and then fades. On a side note, the cocoa becomes watered down.
After-Smoke
If I had to teach the “law of diminishing returns” I would have my pupils smoke this cigar. It starts out as a solid example of earth and cocoa. But then it progressively got weaker. Still, at its low point, it is a decent cigar. For the most part… I liked it.
3 points
Alec Bradley Medalist Short Cigar Review
Earlier today I did a review on a Cu-Avana cigar that costs under $3.00. To say the least, I didn’t like it. The Alec Bradley Medalist is a cigar that, when bought in quantities of 10, will cost $3.00. So I figured that Sunday would be as good of a time as any to have a cheap cigar grudge match.
Pre-Smoke
It is a nearly perfect looking cigar; dark and alluring. There are a couple of raised veins, one being near the cap. Oily cigar that is packed very well. I am smoking the robusto (5″x52) vitola for this review.
Smoke
The wrapper is not the only thing that is alluring. The flavors are nice: chocolate, hot sauce (more on that next sentence), earthy and chalky (not a plus). By “hot sauce” what I mean is a grassy spice flavor that is analogous to the salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant.
Even though I do really like these flavors I am not head over heals for them – still very enjoyable though. Medium-full bodied, good draw and a decent burn.
After-Smoke
It’s an impressive cigar once you consider the price. If you take away the price component then it is an average cigar. Technically great but the flavors just are not robust enough. It handily beats the Cu-Avana
3 points
Arturo Fuente Chateau Series Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
Full disclosure, I like Fuentes. They are quality cigars and some of the upper level Fuentes are good. Hopefully, this one is great as well.
This cigar comes with a cedar sleeve, which means something or another. After taking off the cedar a very nice looking cigar is revealed. There are a couple of minor veins but that is the only thing wrong with this Arturo Fuente Double Chateau Fuente Natural (6 3/4″ x 50). Not very oily.
Smoke
Spice, creaminess and some burnt wood are the first flavors. The draw is good and the burn starts out evenly but then begins to stray. It is a medium bodied cigar with some above average flavors.
A sweet spice flavor starts to develop after about the one inch mark. The burnt wood flavor has shed its burnt-ness and is now more of a clean oak flavor. The flavors are nowhere near exceptional but it is an enjoyable cigar. There is a foul, almost bleach-like aftertaste that comes in after the halfway mark.
After-Smoke
It’s a good cigar with some good flavors. That foul flavor that comes on after the halfway mark takes away any shot it had at 4 points for me. But it isn’t enough of a big deal to make this a bad cigar. As long as you focus on the flavors when inhaled and the ones you get after exhaling out your nose it is quite enjoyable.
3 points
Price: $6.00
Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
I did a full review of an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story about a month ago and went into the unique shape of this cigar. The previous review I did had a score of 89 points, so, if this one scores 3 or 4 points (it’s a short review, which means that I didn’t want to spend every second thinking about the cigar and don’t want to put a definite score to it but, rather, a range of scores), that’s pretty much all there is to know about what I think about this line. I am smoking the Classic (7″ x 48) vitola with the Cameroon wrapper for this review.
This cigar looks good and it feels like it is a little too loosely packed. There are some oils on it and there aren’t any raised veins or glaring imperfections on the wrapper.
Smoke
Due to its odd shape at the foot it is a little difficult to light. But, after it gets past the shoulder, it opens up nicely. The main flavor is oak. This is a very smooth cigar. There is also a warm spice and a meaty flavor.
It is a medium bodied cigar with a good draw and an even burn.
After-Smoke
It is not as good as I had remembered. Like with the other one the flavors are a little weak but there are many flavors. Still a good cigar. I’m going to give it three points, or, roughly, 87-89 points.
3 points
Price: $10.50
El Beso Maduro Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
The dark wrapper is gruesome looking. Bumps and raised veins pollute the landscape of an otherwise oily and well constructed cigar. This is the second cigar that I bought at El Beso in Whittier, CA the other day. Measuring in at 6″ x 54 the El Beso Maduro Torpedo has tobaccos from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Brazil. As was the case with the previous cigar, the El Beso Reserve No. 11, this cigar made locally.
Smoke
Great draw and an even burn. I can feel the heat on my tongue from the spice but it definitely is not overpowering. Earthy, cocoa and a bit of sweetness round out the flavors. It’s a medium bodied cigar, maybe slightly more than that.
Working in the El Beso Maduro’s corner is the fact that the flavors are pristine; it’s really easy to pick out the flavors. Oddly, when I started smoking this cigar I was thinking that there was no way I was going to like it. But it is just getting better and better.
Chocolate takes on a more prominent role after the first ashing at the one inch mark. It’s an extremely rich chocolate. And then, as soon as that extremely rich chocolate flavor comes on the scene, it nearly disappears.
After-Smoke
It is difficult to formulate a conclusive verdict for this cigar. The flavors are good and they are very clean. But there is just something lacking from it. The flavors are not as vibrant as I had hoped. Perhaps my expectations for this cigar were too lofty after smoking the El Beso Reserve No. 11 to truly enjoy this good, in its own right, cigar. Still, something was missing.
3 points
Price: $6.50
Camacho Select Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke: This is part of the upper echelon of the Camacho lines; ultra premium is its designation. According to the Camacho Select page this cigar comes in five different vitolas with the binder/filler tobaccos hailing from Honduras and the wrapper picked in Cameroon.
This cigar has a couple of raised veins but, other than that, it looks perfectly fine. Not overly oily and the wrapper feels fuzzy, like velvet. Packed nicely. I’m smoking the robusto vitola.
Smoke: The flavors start out meaty and leathery. There is also a smokiness about this cigar that works out really well with the meatiness. After an inch or so a charcoal flavor begins to dominate.
It is a medium bodied cigar with a good draw. The burn is not even though.
After-Smoke: It was not that impressive of a cigar. The flavors are alright but any chance of me liking it a lot was dashed by the uneven burn and the charcoal flavors that came on too strong.
3 points
Price Range: $6.00 to $8.50
Fundadores Jamaica Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke: Barrington House sent me these cigars a few months back. They have surprised me because, even though they are very mild, they are enjoyable.
The Fundadores Jamaica is not a good looking cigar. Full of bumps and veins. The wrapper is somewhat oily. I’m smoking their churchill vitola.
Smoke: Like I said, it’s very mild. Floral sweetness with some oak. The flavors are surprisingly strong for such a mild cigar. While it isn’t a complex cigar it is great for what it is; mild sweetness. The draw is perfect and the burn is very good.
After-Smoke: What I really like about this cigar is that it is relaxing. It doesn’t take any effort to enjoy it. But the thing of it is that there isn’t a ton of complexity to it. If you like sweet, mild cigars then you will love this one. However, even though I tend to like the more full bodied cigars, I actually liked this one.
3 points
Camacho SLR Maduro Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke: Looks and feels oily. Maybe a little too soft to the touch but the wrapper looks great – no significant imperfections. Smoking the robusto vitola, the Rothschild.
Smoke: One of the best examples of a maduro cigar I can think of right now. Earthy with cocoa. Some spice is lurking in the background. Perfect draw and an incredibly even burn.
After about the halfway point the cigar does become a little bitter, which is a shame. The Camacho SLR Maduro is a medium-full bodied cigar. Slow burning.
After-Smoke: If it were not for that bitterness that comes on after the halfway point I would easily give it 4 points. But even with the bitterness, which isn’t extreme, I am still thinking about giving it that high mark. However, upon reflection, while the flavors are very good there is not enough complexity of flavors here to overcome the negative affects of the bitterness for me.
3 points
Camacho Corojo Natural Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke: Very oil and smooth wrapper with only a couple of imperfections. There’s a small hole at about the halfway mark and the foot isn’t exactly the picture of perfection either – although that will soon be incinerated. Nicely packed cigar and, besides the aforementioned imperfections, it is wonderfully constructed. This is the monarca vitola (5″ x 50, robusto)
Smoke: It’s a medium-full bodied cigar with pretty good flavors. Earth and some spice are the main flavors. Not an overly complex cigar but good nonetheless because I like the flavors that are here. But, even so, this is an average cigar.
After a while a strong tobacco flavor starts coming through. I also have to upgrade the strength to full bodied; it just keeps on getting stronger. But I can’t say that the added strength is adding to my enjoyment of this cigar.
This cigar has a somewhat tight draw but the burn is pretty good.
After-Smoke: When I lit this cigar I really wanted to like it because I liked the Camacho Coyolar so much. But things just did not work out this time. Good cigar but nothing special.
3 points
Price Range: $5.00 – $ 7.25
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