Graycliff 1666 Pirate Cigar Review
What is a man to do who has created the first five star restaurant in the Caribbean and has one of the world’s largest wine collections? He obviously creates his own high priced (dare I say overpriced?) cigar! It comes with a lot of exotic tobaccos, a maduro wrapper and the guy credited with the creation of the Cuban Cohiba as its maker. What could go wrong?
Just looking at it I have to admit that it looks good. It’s oily, packed firmly and the wrapper is just awesome, I am a sucker for maduro wrappers. It isn’t in the least bit veiny but the wrapper is a little rough to the touch.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Jaltepec maduro
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Filler: Peru, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico
Price: $14.50
Church Torch!
It starts off nicely. There is this floral and grassy flavor at first. Maybe a little bit stronger than medium bodied but not much stronger than that. I am also getting a little hint of coconut with this cigar. The draw is pretty good but the draw is not even.
Very creamy smoke. Weird cigar though. Yeah, sure, it’s refined and all that good stuff that you would expect from such a lofty upbringing. But there’s just something missing from it. There is no real complexity to it; no intrigue. Solid cigar? Sure. But at this price you would expect something much better.
Light and airy is how I would describe this cigar. There isn’t any bite to it and, well, it’s kind of a boring cigar after the halfway point. Instead of this cigar you can buy so many different cigars for a lot less money that are much better.
87 points
Another, more charitable take on this cigar from The Stogie Guys.
Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur (Natural) No. 3 Cigar Review
I smoked this one a while ago so I’m just basically going off of my notes.
There’s a decent amount of oils on the wrapper but there’s also a minor stretch mark in one area. Other than that stretch mark it looks like it has perfect construction. Right before this I smoked a crappy Don Tomas and a second one (forget what it was at this point) that was just as bad. So there’s a chance that they can adversely affect this cigar. Drinking Maker’s Mark, Cherry Coke, and a water.
Cigar Stats
Toro
Length: 6 1/8″
Ring Gauge: 48
Wrapper: USA/Conn
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Dom Rep, Nic
Price: $6.00
Night Light!
Mild-medium bodied. Slight amount of spice. Perfect draw. Third time is the charm tonight!
Mellow cigar. Very creamy smoke. Slight nutty flavor. Honey and this mildly sweet coconut flavor as well. It may not have a lot of strength but it has a lot of flavor.
Slight problem with the burn. I’m over halfway through now and the burn hasn’t affected my enjoyment of this cigar.
Now, this won’t be a favorite of mine but it’s damn good. It belongs somewhere around the 90 point neighborhood.
Near the end it gets somewhat harsh with an ashy flavor. Knocks of a point or two.
89 points
Note: After looking at some other people’s review of this cigar I think those previous cigars I smoked must have had a bigger impact on this cigar than I thought.
Cigar Jack said this cigar is medium-full bodied with a lot of bold spice.
Her Humidor had a maduro version of this cigar in the Crusader size and she gave it great praise saying that it might be her favorite cigar of the year. She found it full bodied but it also had a poor burn.
Zen Cigar: “It is a medium-bodied cigar; I taste a slight creaminess with wood, leather and some tobacco on finish.” Zen gave it 86 points.
You decide for yourself, it’s worth a try.
