Padilla Cazadores Short Cigar Review
I like my Padillas. They are always well made and they almost always taste great. This cigar, the Padilla Cazadores Torpedo (6×52) is one Padilla made stogie that I have been reticent about trying. It’s basically one of their down market offerings but, who knows, right. The Cazadores come with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Ecuadorian binder and filler tobacco from Ecuador as well. This cigar is from Cigars Direct. These cigars all retail for around $5.00 a stick.
0/3: Hardly any veins, very smooth wrapper, light brown color and a slight sheen of oil. Obviously a well made cigar but I just don’t think it will hold up to most of the other Padillas that I have smoked.
1/3: It starts out somewhat promising. Creamy coffee, burnt hay and some oak to start out.
2/3: The second third isn’t so good, it gets a little harsh. Burnt hay coupled with nuts isn’t a great combination.
3/3: As I entered the final third I could not say that I liked this cigar. At the very end, however, there was one redeeming quality: the harshness mellowed enough for a somewhat sweet creaminess to come through.
4/3: Overall, it is a little below average. Medium-full bodied with some good flavors coming through mostly at the beginning and then again near the end. It does have a good draw and burn though, so that’s a plus.
2 points
Cain Habano Cigar Review
Perhaps you may think that it is a little curious that I would be posting a review of the Cain Habano shortly after the launch of the Cain Daytona (Is it a spring break cigar? I don’t know.). And maybe you have a point, this isn’t exactly the most topical of cigar reviews that are out there.
I have previously reviewed the Cain F and the Cain Maduro with the F receiving a score of 90 points and the Maduro receiving a score of 88 points. As of yet I do not have a review in the hopper for the Cain Daytona and, if my previous predilection towards being topical are any indication, I won’t have one up for a number of months.
All the Cains are perfectly constructed. They might have a few veins but none of them are too pronounced. This Cain Habano 660 is an oily cigar. In the past I have done reviews for the Cain Maduro and the Cain F. My favorite so far is the Cain F but, based off the Cain Habanos I have had thus far, the Cain Habanos will give the Fs a run for its money.
For all of you scientists out there who live for the nitty gritty details about things here is the ligero mixture in this cigar (info from the Cain website):
- 25% Esteli Ligero – Strongest ligero in all the land (well, out least out of these three)
- 27% Condega Ligero – Medium bodied but adds substance
- 30% Jalapa Ligero – More noticeable range of flavors
Cigar Stats
Double Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 60
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: around $6.40/Single | $135.00/Box of 24
March Madness Light!
It starts out with the fury of a hurricane. Unruly spice dominates the palate and it is definitely a full bodied cigar. Actually, I love this kind of a cigar since my favorite flavor is spice. But I also like what the cigar evolves into.
The spice is obviously still there; it’s still the predominate flavor. But it loses its tempest in a tea pot demeanor and takes on the resolute firmness of a Beefeater. Another flavor, oak, enters and becomes a sturdy secondary flavor.
Technically speaking, it is a good cigar. The draw is open throughout and the burn is fairly even. As I mentioned before, it is a full bodied cigar but it isn’t overpowering.
What you should expect when smoking this cigar is pretty straightforward: spice and oak in a full bodied package. In the end, I would peg this cigar a little below the Cain F but it is definitely better than the maduro version.
89 points
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Cigar Review
A couple of nights ago I was at the Tiki Bar Herf and the conversation drifted towards movies. Normally, I think I can hold myself pretty well in a conversation about movies but not so in this situation. One of the herfers, I am told, worked as an editor on 24. Most of the other herfers have at least 15 extra years of movie watching experience on me as well. So, to say the least, I was outmatched.
But listening to the conversation gave me a mental checklist of movies that I should consider with one of those being “The Road.” I decided that tonight, Sunday night that is, would be the night where I poured myself some nice Scotch, smoked a quality cigar and watched an extremely depressing movie about a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic world. Unfortunately for me I picked a cigar that I have not reviewed yet: The Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Belicoso with the natural wrapper.
It really surprised me to find out that I had never done a review for one of these cigars. I’ve definitely smoked enough of them to have done a few reviews. But, for whatever reason, here I am doing a review while watching a depressing movie.
Depressing movie or not I’ve got to press on with this review. After taking the cigar out of the cellophane I am greeted by a rather powerful combination of smells ranging from leather to spices. Pleasant aroma really. The construction looks mostly good. There are some bumps and raised veins though. It is an oily wrapper.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Lenght: 5 ¾″
Ring Guage: 52
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.00/Single | $220.00/Box of 24
75% Road Flame!
Just as the movie gets the story moving along quickly this cigar gets the flavors rolling along just as quick. White pepper is quickly followed by some woody notes and a faint but noticeable sweetness. It’s an interesting mixture of flavors and I think it works. One other thing noticeable in the early goings is that this cigar leaves a fairly dry feeling left in my mouth.
Viggo Mortensen and his son are traversing through the ruins of a dead Earth. Trees still stand, there is still water, even a can of soda every now and then. But those trees are dead, the water is lifeless, and the soda was probably flat. Even with all this darkness on the screen in front of me I am still enjoying this cigar.
The second third still has some white pepper and wood. However, the main flavor impression I am beginning to get is floral. There is some sweetness to it but not that much. Like the movie, the flavors are still engaging more than halfway through.
With about a third left there is one more major change in the cigar. Woodiness has come back as oak. There is also a toasty flavor that comes through late in this cigar.
Overall, this is an above average cigar. There is enough there to hold my interest from beginning to end. My one complaint would be that everything about this cigar tends towards being dry. The flavors themselves are dry and, as I mentioned earlier, this cigar leaves you with a distinct dryness in your mouth. In the end, however, this is a sturdy medium-full bodied cigar with a good draw and burn that will not disappoint.
90 points
PS: Watch “The Road” – it is a very good movie. Depressing but good.
Padilla Miami Cigar Review
Last year during my trip to the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic I had the great opportunity to make some cigars. Ten to be exact. I have smoked some of those cigars since then and they actually aren’t awful. But one thing is consistent about those cigars: their inconsistency.
Everything about the construction of those cigars is inconsistent. The packing is varied with myriad soft and hard spots, the cigars are different lengths and different ring gauges (this somehow happened even though we used cigar presses to create some uniformity in shape) and many of the cigars have slight tapers one way or the other. First try or not it is obvious to me that the art of making a hand rolled cigar is not something that anybody can pick up over the weekend. It takes years of hard work and dedication to master that craft.
That is why I love smoking cigars that have a unique shape. Take the Miami Salomon as an example. It is a perfecto, which means the head of the cigar is shaped like a torpedo, the ring gauge increases as you near the foot until that last half inch or so where it tapers down dramatically. It’s a very impressive cigar to behold but these cigars do have one major potential problem.
The draw can be a little tight before the burn line crosses the shoulder (the shoulder being that part of the cigar where it tapers down from a rather large ring gauge to a relatively small ring gauge at the foot). After the burn line does cross that point I have found that it is smooth sailing with the Miami after that.
You already know that I am fond of the shape of this cigar. A couple of points working against the appearance of this cigar are the two smallish holes, one near the head and the other at the midway point of the cigar, and that lone vein that mars the the otherwise placid wrapper.
Cigar Stats
Perfecto
Length: 7 ¼″
Ring Gauge: 57
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $95.00/Box of 5
Cyclopedia Torch!
One happy note about the price. If you lurk long enough on some of the deal sites you can get extremely good deals on this cigar (usually it will be paired with the Padilla 1932 Salomon, which is just as good, or better, than the Miami Salomon).
The draw is almost perfect from the outset, which shouldn’t be expected from a perfecto. This has been a common occurrence for me with these cigars; after all, they are expertly fabricated. Likewise, the flavors are expertly fabricated, if that’s the right term to use in this situation. Almost from the instant when the foot was done being properly toasted I was able to pick up an extremely dry and pure spiciness. The image that this spiciness conjures up for me is the desert floor. In other words: it’s wonderful. As the first third progresses there is an oak flavor that begins to come through. It augments the spice very well.
Progressing into the second third it is obvious that this is a special cigar. It is less a symphony of flavors than it is an extraordinary guitar solo. No, that’s not right; it’s more like a rock super group like Cream than it is a solo. The spice is the lead in this case with oak and some grassy sweetness coming on strong during the middle third. It has a perfect draw and a passable burn. Even though it is a moderately full bodied cigar the flavor is only enhanced by the strength and not overshadowed in any way.
A little after the halfway point this cigar kicks it up a notch with its flavor profile. All the aforementioned flavors are there but there is more now. A creaminess has come on board along with some nuttiness.I’m pleased to note that the remainder of this cigar never loses its greatness. It’s one of those cigar that I have truly loved smoking.
95 points
La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Cigar Review
I had a couple of the La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maestros last summer and I liked them. Hopefully another few months resting in the humidor will have made this cigar even better.
Extremely oily wrapper with a number of small veins running from the foot to the cap. It is very uniform in shape and is relatively fully packed. There are a couple of cracks in the wrapper: one near the foot and another by the cap. The one adjacent to the cap will probably prove to be bothersome due to its close proximity to the cap. Too bad, hopefully I can cope.
On a side note, I just saw the other day that Cigar Aficionado put the LFD Air Bender Chisel in its Top 10. That’s one vote for the cigar (in a different vitola).
Cigar Stats
Corona Gorda
Length: 5 ½″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $7.25/Single | $115.00/Box of 20
Restrepo Flame!
Sure enough after cutting the cigar the crack extends itself all the way through my cut. It probably won’t be too big of a problem in the early goings of this cigar but I’m positive it will make things more difficult the closer to the end I get. That’s going to be especially true once I take off the band because that is what is holding the wrapper together down there right now.
This is one of those cigars where the flavors seem submerged. I can taste the warm spice and the woody flavors but they are echoes of what they should be. During the first third, at least, this cigar is lacking the requisite intensity to keep these flavors interesting. Part of the problem is attributable to the fairly tight draw but I do not believe the crack near the head of the cigar is to blame.
The second third shows some signs of improvement. For example, the spice has come on line a little more strongly now growing from a veiled pseudo-spice to a dry, somewhat sweet spice. It’s a good change all in all. Another flavor that is coming through now is bread dough. At the tail end of the second third there is a graham cracker flavor.
Entering the final third and the main flavor, pretty much its only flavor, is spice. And that flavor is enjoyable enough. But it’s one of those things that you know should be much better, something special. Maybe there was something a little out of phase with this cigar because, honest to God, I remember these cigars being much better. At times with this cigar there are some flashes of inspiration but, overall, it is not that impressive of a cigar. It’s still good though.
Full bodied with a tight draw and an even burn. I think that the Air Bender deserves further investigation and I will probably be doing another review of these cigars in a few months time, perhaps with a different vitola. Normally, I don’t plan on giving mulligans for cigars that I review but this is a special enough case based solely on my previous experiences with this cigar. Right now I’m pegging it as an average cigar.
88 points
