Cain Maduro Cigar Review

It is a nice looking cigar without much in the way of raised veins or discolorations. Not exactly the darkest maduro I have ever seen but it has a nice, chocolate hue to it. I am smoking the torpedo and I have noticed that most of the torpedos I got were cracking a little bit near the pointed foot of the torpedo. This is probably due to the care given to them by the cigar shop and, since the cracked wrapper is never too large, it gets cut off anyway. No harm, no foul in my book. It’s not very oily and has a number of soft spots throughout.

A lot has been made about the fact that this cigar is chock full with ligero tobacco from all the coolest locales. The little booklet that comes with a box of Cains states that it is “25% Esteli Ligero, 27% Condego Ligero, 30% Jalapa Ligero.” So, to put it bluntly, if you like a cigar that packs a punch then you would probably like Cain cigars.

Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua Ligero (Esteli, Condega and Jalapa)
Price: around $7.00

Crazy Light!

Even before I gently torch the foot I can taste the strength. The center of my tongue lightly touched the newly cut part of the cigar and it stung a little. Knowing that I am in store for a full bodied cigar I light it and can immediately tell that it’s got a great draw. A couple inches into this cigar reveals a steady, even burn and a really strong ash. And, yes, it is a full bodied cigar but, to tell you the absolute truth, the strength isn’t bowling me over like the Cain F has (review forthcoming).

What is really impressive about this cigar is that with all the strength there really isn’t a foul note; it’s a smooth cigar. When I started smoking these cigars I was at least expecting some harshness and maybe some bitterness as well but they are nowhere to be found in the Cain Maduros I have smoked.

The second most impressive thing about this cigar is that it burns evenly. When I got these cigars I was fully prepared to do the occasional touch up but, for the most part, I haven’t had to touch up any of the Cain Maduros I have smoked.

Coffee, chocolate, a dirty earthiness and some other rich flavors lead the way with this cigar. The spice, which is a cross between cracked black pepper and a warmer spice like cinnamon, play well as a secondary (definitely not background) flavor profile. There is also an underlying sweetness evident in this cigar that works to accentuate the Cain Maduro’s overall robustness.

Interestingly, the spice, which is a strong supporting flavor profile, is what lingers the longest on my tongue, which is preferable to me.

After the halfway point the spice takes over the top flavor spot. There is also a nuttiness that starts to come through.

Overall, this cigar does not live up to the amazing amount of hype that has been heaped on it. While there is a lot of different flavors evident in this cigar none of those flavors really stand out. All of the different flavors play well with each other but it’s not amazing.

This all brings me to the conclusion that it’s a lot better to ignore the hype surrounding a cigar and to just appreciate it for what it is. It’s a semi-enjoyable cigar flavor-wise with a decent amount of kick. Don’t expect great things if you pick one of these up.

88 points

Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro Short Cigar Review

Pre-Smoke

The most obvious difference between the original Maxx line and the Maxx Traditional line is that the Traditional line has smaller ring gauge cigars. Other than that, the traditional cigars are suppose to impart the same bold flavor as the oversized Maxx cigars.

I am smoking the Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro (6″ x 50), which costs around $5.25, for this review. The wrapper has a good sheen of oils but it also has a number of veins. Furthermore, the wrapper color is not consistent but rather a mottled assortment of milk and dark chocolate colors with the occasional black spot.

AB Maxx Traditional Page

Smoke

Coffee flavors without any of the bitterness. There is a lot of chocolate, it just coats my mouth and won’t leave – not necessarily a bad thing. As this cigar progresses I’m afraid that coffee and chocolate will be all you get from it (and the coffee is relegated to a minor role in less than half an inch).

On the bright side it is a mostly sound cigar. The draw is great but the burn is somewhat uneven and the flavors (um, flavor – so far) is strong. It is a medium bodied cigar. This is all up to the halfway point.

After that point a saltiness comes on. It’s definitely a negative flavor but it is in no way overpowering or even a large enough part of the flavor profile to significantly take away from my overall enjoyment of this cigar. In conjunction with the saltiness a meaty flavor starts coming on. The chocolate is still the major flavor though.

After-Smoke

Now that I have finished this cigar I feel let down. Chocolate is a fine flavor as long as it is, at most, a secondary flavor. Making it the leading flavor, for me at least, is a mistake. It is a decent cigar but could have been much better considering its lineage.

2.5 points

Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Sun Grown Cigar Review

Yesterday, I did a review for this cigar with the natural wrapper and the green band that holds the cedar sheath. To cut a long story short, I did not really care for that cigar and I rated it at 87 points. The flavors were all fine but the cigar just lacked life, complexity and most everything else that makes a cigar truly enjoyable. But maybe with a different wrapper this cigar will be better – maybe an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper will do the trick.

I effortlessly slide off the cedar sheath, with the black band this time, and a well constructed cigar is revealed. It’s definitely darker than the other one, maybe a little bit more oil and packed tighter but not too tight. I can smell something sweet from the foot of this cigar. Let’s see if it’s better than the other one or not.

Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 4 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $4.55

Echo Torch!

I smelled sweetness from the foot and now I can taste it. There’s also a coffee flavor that has a good helping of cream added in. Unfortunately, there is a pervasive burnt blandness that sticks around as the main aftertaste. Fortunately, that negative flavor is relegated to the bottom half of my olfactory system. The flavors I get through the nose are good.

During the first half an inch or so the flavors I mentioned are the main ones. After that point a dirty earthy flavor comes on stronger and I actually like it. It gives the cigar some interest. Surprisingly, at about this same time that burnt blandness has begun to fade into the background, almost disappearing but not quite gone.

The Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Sun Grown is a medium bodied cigar with a slightly erratic burn and a good draw. That negative flavor of burnt blandness has come back for the last third of the cigar, which is too bad. I was enjoying this cigar, somewhat. With the negative flavor this cigar falls precipitously in my estimation. Without the problematic flavor this cigar is one or two points better than the natural wrapper (which scored 87 points) version of this cigar but, with the negative flavor, the sun grown wrapper version of this cigar is at least two points worse.

It has its ups and downs. However, its highest highs are not very impressive. Couple that with the lows and this cigar can be avoided. The natural wrapper wins!

84 points

Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Cigar Review

First off, you will be able to recognize this cigar by the peach colored cellophane that encapsulates what turns out to be a very light colored cigar. Its wrapper is extremely smooth but not very oily. I have to admit that I accidentally ripped off some of the wrapper when I removed the band. It’s just that the band is gigantic and it needed to be removed if I was going to smoke this cigar comfortably. It is a firmly packed cigar that, knowing how other Connecticut Shade wrapper cigars are, I am not expecting too much from.

Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $5.50

Godlington Flame!

An effortless draw reveals some surprisingly good flavors. Sweetness, wood, some spice and earthy/grassy flavors. There is also a faint hint of coffee grounds. It produces a ton of smoke, is medium bodied and has an even draw.

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne is not a procession of good flavors, far from it. During the first half of this cigar it is decidedly un-smooth; ratty would not be too unkind of a term to use.

Sometime around the halfway mark the ratty-ness disappears and for a brief while those good flavors I mentioned earlier are allowed to come through. And then something else negative starts coming through. The best way I can describe it is by calling it metallic.

Without those bad flavors this is still an average cigar. The flavors, the good ones, are, at best, neutral. It’s a fine cigar without those bad flavors but with them it is a cigar that I will avoid.

85 points

Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro Cigar Review

According to Perdomo’s website: “A Decade in the making, the PERDOMO RESERVE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY cigars are here to celebrate the next generation of Tabacalera Perdomo’s award winning and highly acclaimed original La Tradicion Perdomo Reserve line.” Awesome but for the small fact that I haven’t smoked the original one so I can’t compare the two. What I do know is that the maduro version of this cigar is a Nicaraguan puro that comes in five different vitolas: perfecto, robusto, toro, double corona and a torpedo.

This Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro has a multitude of veins, bumps and an inconsistent color pattern. There are some oils on it and it feels like it is well packed. Maybe a little tightly packed by the cap and a little loose nearer the foot but, overall, well packed. The wrapper feels rough to the touch.

Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua Nicaragua
Price: around $5.50

Cabin Light!

This quite possibly represents the easiest draw in a cigar I have ever encountered and I like it. Tons of creamy smoke coats my mouth.

Chocolate is the main flavor followed by coffee grounds and dirt. The burn is even and I would peg this as a medium bodied cigar, maybe a little bit stronger than that.

Even though it is not an overly complex cigar the flavors are well above average. A cigar with these flavors relax me, very mellow. This is one of the better examples of this type of cigar: chocolate, coffee, etc.

But, in the end, there is just something that is missing from this cigar that would have put it up into another echelon of cigars for me. It’s missing spice, which would have cut the sweetness of the chocolate and brought in another level of complexity. While still being a great cigar it could have been better.

92 points

Examples of cigars I liked with more spice:

CAO L’Anniversaire Maduro Belicoso Cigar Review – 93 points

Partagas Black Label Piramide Cigar Review – 93 points

Cuvee Rouge Robusto Cigar Review – 92 points

I feel that the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro could have been better than all of these cigars if it had some spice mixed in with it. Of course, by changing the mixture of tobaccos that would change the overall flavor profile for this cigar and that might mean reducing what is the best and most dynamic chocolate flavor I have ever tasted.

Perdomo Habano Maduro Short Cigar Review

Pre-Smoke: It feels too tightly packed and the wrapper is dry. The wrapper doesn’t show any imperfections except for one raised vein.

Smoke: Weak flavors. Tobacco, dirt and a mild sweetness, which is grassy, that occasionally pops in. I think it tracks really nicely with a heavily watered down coffee.

Mild-medium bodied with a loose draw and an even burn. The wrapper begins to crack and unravel as I near the end of it.

After-Smoke: Frankly, I had no idea what to expect from this cigar but I expected more than what I got from it. Completely mundane.

2 points

Camacho Coyolar Short Cigar Review

Pre-Smoke: It’s a Camacho. Need I say more?

It’s oily and the wrapper looks perfect. Dark wrapper with no raised veins or imperfections. The only minor problem is that it feels a little soft near the foot of the cigar.

What, you may be thinking, does Coyolar mean? In short, it’s the name of the farm where all the tobacco for this line of cigars is grown. The Coyolar farm is located in Honduras. I am smoking the Rothschild (robusto) vitola.

Smoke: The first thing that I notice is that it has loads of flavor and absolutely coats my mouth with awesome array of flavors. Ranging from warm cocoa to meat to a screeching spice that is as brilliant as it is brief, only coming at the apex of the retrohale. Tons of smoke as well.

At first I was not impressed by its strength but, boy, it is full bodied. It’s a strength that builds up slowly as you smoke this Camacho. The draw is perhaps a little tight but does not interfere with the cigar in the slightest. The burn is perfect.

There is an occasional sweet note. Coffee is the predominant flavor in the aftertaste.

After-Smoke: This is an impressive cigar. It has tons of flavor, some kick to it and it smokes very well. Definitely a keeper.

5 points

Camacho Coyolar Page

CAO Brazilia Samba Cigar Review

I smoked one of these a while ago and did a review on it. Here’s what I had to say about it:

Fortunately, this one was better. Here’s the review:

It has a little amount of oil on the wrapper. Very black wrapper. The construction looks good and I am having Wild Turkey and a glass bottle of Coke along with this cigar.

Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Lenght: 6 1/4″
Ring Guage: 54
Wrapper: Brazil
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $7.00

Miss America Flame!

Notes of coffee and chocolate. Some spice. It has a great draw. There’s also an earthiness to this cigar. These flavors are good and true.

I am also getting this modicum of sweetness an inch in. There is also a welcomed bitterness here that moderates the slight sweetness.

The coffee is not that strong; it’s almost like it tastes like watered-down black coffee. This is a medium-full bodied cigar. When I retrohale the smoke I do get peppery notes.

It is burning evenly. The earthiness has almost completely gone away. The main flavor, thankfully, is coffee halfway through. Another plus is that it burns very slowly. Swimsuits – YEAH! Go Miss Iowa! (Yes, I was watching the Miss America pageant and, unfortunately, my pick lost.)

The last third the pepper really comes through. Good, evolving flavors. I like it a lot more than the previous one.

90 points

CAO L’Anniversaire Maduro Belicoso Cigar Review

Even though I live in Southern California it does get cold here. That means my habits have to change, especially my cigar smoking habits. No longer can I relax outside at the end of another day and enjoy a nice cigar. Now I’m forced to go outside in the afternoon. Even still, it is getting colder and making it harder to enjoy cigars. Fortunately, I think I could have smoked this cigar in freezing weather and still enjoyed it. Onto the review.

Ugly! Wrapper is missing a chunk at the foot with another tare 3/4 of an inch from the foot. It is also spotted with flecks of white. There are a couple of raised veins and there is little oil on this wrapper. All I am accompanying this cigar with is water.

Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Dom Rep, Nicaragua
Price: $8.00

Full Flame!

Luckily, it tastes a lot better than it looks. Perfect draw. Bold spice at the beginning. Notes of chocolate and coffee back it up. This one produces a lot of smoke.

About an inch in and I can say that this is a full bodied cigar. The spice is gone but in its place there is a strong earthy flavor. The chocolate and coffee remain but they are less noticeable now.

There is also a distinct sweetness to this cigar but, unlike with the Bolivar from yesterday, this is a welcomed sweetness. It just tastes more natural, if you know what I mean.

Complex cigar. It’s at the lower end of full bodied at this point but still in the full bodied camp halfway through. The earthy flavors have become even a more central focus for this cigar pushing the chocolate, coffee and sweetness further into the background.

Now that I am nearing the end the chocolate flavor is taking over. One of the more complex cigars I have ever had the privilege of smoking. It even burns evenly. This is just a pure joy to smoke even when you consider the shoddy appearance of this cigar.

93 points

Padron 1964 Anniversary Series (Natural) Monarca – Cigar Review

[NOTE: originally I had this as a sun grown cigar. Actually, thanks to friends at A Cigar Smokers Journal and Stogie Review I have come to understand that it has natural tobacco as the wrapper. Sun grown means that it was grown in the sun as opposed to the shade. While this Padron uses a wrapper grown in the sun the wrapper is, indeed, natural. For further clarification head over to Padron's website HERE to really understand what goes into the making of this wonderful cigar.]

This was the first of two cigars I smoked on New Years Eve night and, without a doubt, it was the best cigar of the night. It might actually be the best cigar I have ever smoked bar none. Here’s my review:

Box pressed with a medium brown, sun grown wrapper. Extremely oily cigar. The appearance of this cigar is actually quite bad. There are stretch marks, divots and blemishes galore! This is supposed to be a great smoke and I hope it is since this is one of my last cigars for 2008. I’m drinking Wild Turkey Single Barrel with Cherry Coke and a water.

Cigar Stats
Grand Corona
Length: 6 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 46
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nic
Filler: Nic
Price: $11.50

NEW YEARS FLAME! part one

Oh… my… GOD!

I was going to say something derogatory about the look of the cap on this cigar but when it tastes this good who cares about a gnarly cap?

Tons of flavor: spice, earth, cocoa, coffee. The draw is perfect. It’s full bodied. Tons of smoke. Happy New Year to me!

Over a quarter of the way through now and this is easily the best cigar I have ever smoked. It doesn’t burn evenly though, pretty badly actually.

Fortunately, I was able to correct the burn. Half way in now and I have to say that the flavors have become milder. However, when I blow smoke through my nose, retrohaling the cigar smoke – if you will, all those amazing flavors are still present.

Here is my dilemma. The first half of this cigar was awesome, 97 points without a doubt. The second half of the cigar was still great but due to the flavors falling away somewhat I give that half 93 points. And then there is the whole thing about the horrible appearance and the bad burn for this cigar. Truthfully, I still think it’s the best cigar I have ever had.

95 points