Punch Cigar Rights of America Cigar Review
This one has been in the humidor a while; just sitting on its tray minding its own business… until now! Being part of a CRA sampler I got a long time ago it’s slightly oily, wonderfully constructed, maybe too tightly packed but it does look like a great cigar. Plus, it is a Punch, so I’m sure it will be, at the minimum, a solid cigar. This is in a toro size.
Spartacus Flame!
Definitely more than a “solid” cigar, this one is. Forthright spice, fleeting cherry and a few woody notes make up the flavors in the beginning of this cigar. I’m going to go ahead a peg it as a full bodied cigar, but just barely.
There is this smoky flavor that creeps its way into every nook and cranny of my taste buds. It is a nice extra dimension of flavor; it complements the other flavors well.
While the flavors are above average what I like the most about this cigar is that there is an edge to it. I like it when a cigar has a little edge to it.
In the beginning it was a full bodied cigar but after the first inch it dialed the strength down to the medium-full bodied range. After the halfway point I noticed a certain amount of earthiness creep its way through. This cigar has a good draw and a good burn.
As is the case with all the other cigars from the Cigar Rights of America sampler I will abstain from giving it a score. It suffices to say that this was a great cigar and well worth the price that I paid for it. If you haven’t already done so I would like to urge you to join CRA and help them stem the tide against those anti-smoking zealots that are becoming ever more brazen.
Tatuaje Avion 11 Cigar Review
The Tatuaje Avion 11 is a perfecto shaped cigar, which means it’s tapered on both ends. Chances are if you are looking for the Tatuaje Avion 11 in a search and happened upon this review you already know that, but I just wanted to make sure.
As the special edition Tatuaje Fausto for 2011, this cigar is a looker. And it tastes really good too, even better than the normal Fausto line, which still managed to place very well in my recently (and tardily) published Top 10 Cigars 2011 list.
Solidly and evenly packed. It does look like it got a little smashed (don’t look at me, Tatuaje did this on purpose since it is a box pressed cigar after all) but no bother, it’s not like it’s smashed like a pancake. The wrapper is a dark mahogany brown color webbed with insignificant veins. While it’s oily to the touch what really gets to me is the smell. It’s one of those cigar smells that is the equivalent to that Dirty Harry (paraphrased) line: “Do you feel lucky, punk?” Just the smell of it is aggressive.
Cigar Stats
Length: 6 ¾″
Ring Gauge: 48/52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $45.00/Box of 5 | $180.00/Box of 20
Game of Thrones Flame!
I’ve smoked a number of these so far and the only reason I have yet to do a review for one is because I just enjoy smoking them too much. This one is no different.
Sure, it’s a very strong cigar; definitely in the upper echelon of strong cigars. But that isn’t what I’m getting from it. To me, the Avion 11 is this full throttle study in spice, leather, oak, mesquite and very old tobacco flavors. It’s like a flamethrower of flavor enveloping my tongue’s taste buds. The retrohale is also very enjoyable.
During the second third the flavor profile transitions into being more of an oak and dry earth mix. Sure, spice and leather are still strong flavors but, with this cigar, they are relegated to being merely excellent backup flavors.
Besides the flavors being truly amazing this cigar’s smoking characteristics are exceptional. Every one of these I’ve smoked (this one is the seventh) has had an absolutely perfect draw and the burn line progress at a steady and even pace.
A couple of days ago I was watching Clubhouse Confidential, which is a baseball show that focuses on statistical analysis, and a question was posed. The gist of this question was, “What if there’s a player who was near the top for statistical ratings for eight or so years but since he played for twenty years his average statistics weren’t all that brilliant, should this player merit consideration for the Hall of Fame?” This question popped into my head again as I was progressing through the final third of the Avion 11.
It’s not as if the final third is bad. No, it’s much better than that, but it just is not quite as good as the first two thirds. The flavors have turned towards singed hay, earth and spice, which has come on exceptionally strong during this third.
From my point of view, the final third doesn’t mitigate my enjoyment of this cigar. I don’t think, in this situation at least, that what is a truly exceptional cigar should receive any demerits for lasting too long. What is the alternative? If they had made this cigar shorter the flavors during the first two thirds would be different and probably not for the better. It’s just that by itself the final third would not be Hall of Fame worthy. However, taken in its totality, this cigar is definitely Hall of Fame worthy. If anything, the final third should be considered as a highly deserved victory lap for an excellent cigar.
So, what am I to do? This cigar is not perfect and since I have been lauding this cigar from the beginning you would be right to surmise that I think this cigar is one of the best that I have ever had the pleasure of smoking. At the risk of being overly enthusiastic about this cigar I cannot do anything other than give this cigar an extremely high, and well deserved, rating.
98 points
PS: I feel I need to elaborate a little on why I did not weigh the final third as much as I did the first two thirds. If I had stopped smoking this cigar after the first two thirds, to be honest, it was a little bit into the final third when I noticed the differences in the flavors most fully, this cigar would have earned 99 points. It’s not a perfect cigar in my mind, the strength is a bit too much, even during the first two thirds, and can have the effect of lessening the impact of the flavors if you aren’t completely concentrating on the cigar.
During the throes of the final third the strength overpowers the flavors a little bit more. In my opinion, if the final third were to be segregated and given its own rating, that would make this a 94-95 point cigar. Still excellent but just not as excellent as the whole cigar is.
The reason why I am treating this cigar differently than other cigars is because the first two thirds were so extraordinarily good and it is those first two thirds (probably more like three quarters or four fifths) that has lead me to downplay the ending. It may sound trivial but I think there is a world of difference between a 98 point cigar and a 97 point cigar, which is what I’d given this cigar if I simply averaged the scores out.
Well, that’s enough babbling on for me. If you want a more sober review of this cigar head on over to Tiki Bar’s excellent review.
PPS: The picture on the band is a flying cigar.
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro Short Cigar Review
I received this cigar as a sample from Cigars Direct; my reviews are my own.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Nicaraguan | Box of 24: $100.00 | 5 Pack: $24.00 | Robusto | 5″ x 50
0/3: To me, Don Pepin Garcia is the Samuel L. Jackson of the cigar industry. You know that he is great but he doesn’t get the credit that he deserves from some people. Don Pepin Garcia makes some delicious cigars and the DPG Series JJ Natural is one of them. But what about this cigar?
Well, it feels tightly packed and it looks good enough with only a couple of largish veins marring the appearance of the wrapper. A fair amount of oils gives the dark brown wrapper a nice sheen. The triple cap (just like the Cubans do it!) looks solid.
1/3: I like puros not because I’m some sort of tobacco supremacist – far from it – but because it gives you a better idea about how the tobacco from a certain area will normally taste. Sure, I know, there are many variations within countries and the kind of tobacco leafs you get from one farm can be significantly different than the leafs from another farm a few miles away. But, still, I think that there are some trademark differences between countries; like with this Nicaraguan puro with its bold spicy notes that relentlessly remind the nerve endings in my nasal passages that they recently blew by.
There are also notes of nutmeg, barley and maple. The first parts of the beginning third were amazing but it begins to slide backwards a bit by the end of the first third.
2/3: Even though it has regressed somewhat from the beginning the plateau from which it started was very high. Spice is still the main flavor but now the biggest supporting flavor is a sweet floral flavor. And then at about the halfway mark my enjoyment of the cigar picks up again.
Deep, soulful flavors centering around maple with a fringe of spiciness that sticks around all over. It has a lot of complexity to it – other flavors include floral notes, earthiness and cocoa – and the flavors work extremely well with each other.
3/3: And there is a change back towards that floral flavor, which, while disappointing, still isn’t a bad flavor. But that floral flavor is not all there is. There is mesquite, which is not a flavor I get all that often. It doesn’t end amazingly though, with the flavors dying somewhat.
4/3: “Perplexing” is the best word to describe this cigar. One moment I am in love with it and the next I am confused. Alternating between the great and the merely good is something that I have not encountered too much but, still, this medium bodied cigar with a good draw and burn is a cigar that you should try. Personally, I think the version with the natural wrapper has the edge.
3.5 points
Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie Cigar Review
This cigar is part of a sampler that I received from Drew Estate – my reviews are my own.
My first reaction upon seeing this cigar is that it has a serious identity crisis. It has a light wrapper visible all the way from the foot to the band, which is Ecuadorian Shade (and it actually runs the whole length of the cigar), and then it inexplicably changes to a darker wrapper from the cap to the other side of the band, which is Nicaraguan Criollo.
There may be something to this whole “identity crisis” motif for this cigar. It’s from Joya de Nicaragua and its cigar cousin, the Antano, is a full bodied powerhouse. This is not. But it is a good looking cigar with no serious imperfections. Yes, it has a couple of veins and is a little dry to the touch but they have all (by “all” I mean the other four samples) performed well up to this point.
Cigar Stats
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Shade and Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $140.00/Box of 24
Ron Washington Inspiration (Expletives) Flame!
It’s a cross between burnt and sweet nuts. I usually go for the full bodied cigars but this medium bodied flavor piñata is very nice.
In addition to those nutty flavors there is a dry, grassy flavor. Lots of smoke from this one and I should mention that unless you are going to retrohale this cigar you are going to miss out on a lot of the flavor.
Not exactly a smooth cigar this Joya de Nicaragua. Honestly, when I first received these cigars I didn’t want to like them. The double wrappers scream of gimmickry but with each successive cigar I am being won over.
After about the first third of the cigar creaminess comes into the flavor profile. It has also smoothed out a good amount.
At around the two thirds mark a mildly sweet floral flavor enters. The nuttiness is still the major flavor and it reminds me of a mild nut, like a cashew. It is a medium bodied cigar with a good draw and burn.
Once the burn line crosses over to the darker wrapper it takes on an earthy flavor. Unfortunately, this new flavor is too fleeting.
Fortunately, on the whole this is a great cigar. Very good flavors and the technical aspects of the cigar are spot on. Definitely give this cigar a try.
90 points
Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo Cigar Review
I have had one last Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo sitting in my humidor for about a year now. Looking back on my notes I can see that I generally liked the ones that I had before so let’s see what a year’s worth of aging has done to this cigar.
For whatever reason, probably a combination of the dark wrapper and the torpedo shape, this looks like a menacing cigar. It looks like it is just going to kick you in the butt the second that you touch foot to torch. Beyond the fact that if this cigar were a person you would probably cross the street if you saw it coming your way, it is a good looking, well made cigar. Not very many veins, sufficiently packed from tip of torpedo to foot and the wrapper is fairly oily.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.00/Single | $150.00/Box of 20
Marauder Torch!
After a year or so in the humidor this cigar is somewhat better than it was before. There is more nuance to the flavors, which, by the way, are led by chocolate followed by bitter coffee and generally earthy flavors. After a while the body gradually increases into the full bodied spectrum. One nit to pick is that the draw is a bit too loose and I think that is muting the flavors to a degree or two.
Gosh, this is an extremely slow burning cigar. I think it’s been nearly an hour, probably more like 45 minutes, and I can just now see the second third around the proverbial bend. At this point there has been some evolution in the cigar and that evolution is more towards the spicy side of the flavor spectrum. It’s a good twist because the main flavor other than the spice, which is fiery and long lasting (it never really leaves your palate actually), is chocolate. It’s a nice milk chocolate that goes well with spice.
The transition from the first third to the second third gets firmly set in and lasts through most of the second third. The final third is much the same with one notable departure. Chocolate becomes less of a leader and in its place there is this sweetness accompanied by toast. Almost as if you were smoking toast with a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. And then….
It takes an unexpected turn and the sweetness becomes floral. Fortunately, it is not that fruity kind of floral flavor but it is the heartier kind, the deep, flavorful kind rather. And the spice has gone away. It’s a great way to (slowly) end a cigar that could have otherwise become too heavy on the spice.
If you were to gently prod me into saying something negative about this full bodied cigar I would quickly respond with this: the draw is too loose, which leads to the cigar being a bear to keep lit. This is all weird to me since there is a copious amount of smoke when it is lit and the flavors are excellent. It’s a pain but it’s got to be like the pain one feels when trying to keep a classic car up and running. Sure, there is a lot of maintenance required but it’s more fun than bagging your limit of yetis.
93 points
