Cigar Aficionado June 2009

Just got my new issue of Cigar Aficionado today and on the cover is Jay-Z. As a younger guy I’m somewhat aware of who this guy is. Rapper, music mogul, with Beyonce, and an all-around cool dude. Basically, I just know what his image is – so the part about him probably won’t be all that interesting of a read. Oh well.

The top cigar of this issue is the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series “A” with a score of 95 points. That’s an impressive score indeed and one that I would most likely agree with. My New Year’s Day cigar was a Padron 1964 Anniversary Monarca and I gave it 95 points. Since then I have had a couple of cigars I would rank higher and I will be putting those reviews up in the future.

Then I come to the Editors’ Note. It’s always one of the more enjoyable parts of the magazine for me because it’s not just an advertisement for the rest of the magazine like so many other Editors’ Notes tend to be. It starts out with a nod to the current economic problems and how the fear of today is analogous to the fear from the Depression even if the current circumstances do not arguably warrant as much trepidation. Then they talk about S-CHIP and how the increase in taxes doesn’t seem like it’s going to put a damper on premium cigar sales anytime soon (that’s just what the tax-happy Senators and Congressmen wanted to hear).

And then, oddly, they say that more taxes usually leads to a drop-off in sales for the taxed items. This I completely agree with and, ironically, may explain why premium cigar sales didn’t slack off during the first quarter. When the government tells the people that they are going to raise taxes on a product on a certain date the people will act rationally and start stockpiling those products up to the date when the tax increases. Here’s an example of that and here’s another example.

Go to page four of this report and see the affect that stockpiling could be having on premium cigars. This report is mainly about a tax on cigarettes but I think that we’ll see a lot of the same things happening with cigars during the next couple of months. Maybe the taxes on cigars will have less of an impact due to its premium status but once you couple the new taxes with a soft economy I don’t know how we will see cigar sales increase for the next few months.

Alright, that’s it. I’m going to go and read the magazine and find a better cigar to enjoy (Hoyo de Monterreys are not my favorites by any stretch of the imagination). Have a great day!!!

Padron 4000 (Natural) Cigar Review

The Padron 1964 Anniversary is my favorite cigar to date so I must admit that I do have high hopes for this cigar. No, I do not think it’s going to even come close to the 1964 Anni but I do expect great things from this one. But the presentation of this cigar has me a little worried. This cigar is very bumpy with some raised veins. There is also this small stretch mark near the foot. Very little amount of oils. Drinking Wild Turkey and a Cherry Coke.

Cigar Stats
Toro
Length: 6 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nic
Filler: Nic
Price: $7.00

Ball of Fire!

Leather and spice and everything nice. Perfect draw. More spice than leather, I have to say. Not burning evenly though. Wow, very spicy cigar and, as you may know, I really do like spicy cigars.

There’s also a steak flavor with this cigar. Meaty and slightly salty. Juicy even. Not a sweet cigar at all. Not as good as the 1964 but it is still a very good cigar. The burn isn’t even after 1 1/2″ but it isn’t too bad either.

Halfway through the cigar now. Had to correct the burn a little bit. That spicy flavor is almost gone now and I am a little disappointed about that. The meaty taste is what is strong now. Full bodied. The saltiness is even more pronounced at this point, which I am not ecstatic about. It’s not a big negative but it is a minor annoyance that the salt is coming through stronger.

Three quarters of the way through and the saltiness has, thankfully, vanished leaving the meaty flavor to take over. It’s a great cigar and I will definitely be smoking more of these in the future.

90 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