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.
5 Vegas Relic Short Cigar Review
Thanks to the good folks over at Cigars Direct for this cigar. Now onto business. And this is going to be a Short Cigar Review not because the length of this post is short but because I only smoked one of these cigars.
You would be forgiven if you saw this cigar from across the room and thought that it was a good looking cigar. For one, it’s a figurado, which, while not a rarity, is a different pace. Another reason to appreciate its look from across the room is its dark and alluring wrapper. Alas, you will need to eventually cross the room and pick up the cigar if you are going to smoke it.
When you do that be prepared for a haphazard cacophony of black blotches on a muddied, dark brown canvas. Look closer and you will see a series of bumps and other misshapen portions of the cigar. It’s not totally gruesome but it is, charitably, rough looking.
On the plus side there is a goodly amount of oil on the wrapper. Well, that and it’s a cigar.
The prelight draw was, as expected, nonexistent. But I was able to get some chocolate flavors up front followed by some spice on the finish.
Cigar Stats
Length: 5.7″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican Piloto
Filler: Three kinds of Dominican: Piloto ’96, Corojo and Criollo
Price: $5.25/Cigar | $100.00/Box of 24
Mamet Fire!
Surprisingly, the draw starts out nicely. Even though it requires a little effort to get some smoke through I am able to pick up some sweet spice notes. That’s pretty much all there is until the burn reaches the meaty part of the cigar.
Once the burn reaches the meaty part of the cigar I’m better able to pinpoint that sweet flavor – it’s fruity, like a peach. As the burn progresses spice takes on greater importance and that chocolate flavor I sensed on the prelight draw also comes on, but barely.
That peachiness has (mercifully) faded into the background. Now the spice is really making its presence known. Chocolate only grows stronger.
This is a medium bodied, maybe medium-full bodied, cigar. The flavors are actually pretty good. Even that peachy sweetness wasn’t too bad. Couple all that with this being a fairly cheap cigar and it is definitely worth a try.
3 points – Average
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
Two Great Cigars
Maybe you have noticed that over the last couple of days I have been spending a lot of time tracking cigar news. Most of it has been bad news. Boston, Dallas, England & Wales, Ontario [Canada], and Baltimore have all launched further assaults on cigars and other tobacco products over the last week.
But there’s a bright side to all of this! For the foreseeable future we can still smoke cigars and here are reviews of two great, classic, perfect cigars!
La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel (pyramid)
Cigar Stats
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Dom Rep
Filler: Dom Rep
Price: $7.00
The cigar construction was a thing of beauty. A Flawless wrapper and beautiful chisel cap let me know I was in for a good smoke. The burn was sharp and never fell off it’s path. The flavors were of spice and leather in the first 3rd. It started to mellow out in the 2nd third with more leather and some salty nuances. I was really enjoying this cigar even though my head was doing a little spinning from the nicotine intake.
As you can see the cut on the cap is a little different, I read somewhere that if you punch through the head like I did It will amount to a better draw. Well I tried it and got a really nice draw, so I recommend trying the punch cut like you see below. I would not recommend this cigar to beginners or novice smokers. It packs quite a punch but is really good.
La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Cigar – In The Humidor
The La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel received a score of 4.75/5.00 stars from Niko over at In The Humidor.
Here’s another review from A Cigar Smoker’s Journal:
Cruzado Marelas (perfecto)
Cigar Stats
Length: 5 5/6″
Ring Gauge: 46
Wrapper: Nicaragua (criollo)
Filler: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua & Honduras
Price: $9.00
OK, this is where I question my sanity. When I clipped my cigar and began the prelight ritual I had notes of rye which caused many looks of bewilderment with the people I was with. It even prompted the question, “What did you have for breakfast”. The answer to that is an English Muffin. Anyway, the note of rye was so defined and so wow, I thought I might of been delusional. So after a few minutes of sitting there questioning myself I lit my cigar and sure enought the 1st third of the cigar offered notes of rye and chocolate which was a really nice combination. The middle part of the cigar the notes of chocolate were joined by a subtle leather. The final third of the cigar was notes of leather and a heavy spice. As I approached the end of this cigar I was looking for push pin to continue smoking it. I had to put it down when there was nothing left to hold.
Cigar Review: Cruzado – A Cigar Smoker’s Journal
The Cruzado received a score of 96/100, which is amazing.
Gosh, both of these cigars have gotten me in the mood for a good cigar of my own. I’ve got a couple of Fuentes and an Upmann (not Cuban, sigh) to choose from. This should be a good afternoon.
Don’t Judge a Cigar by the Way it Looks
I will occasionally take a peek at Cigar Aficionado‘s site because it is a great resource. Today, I went on there and saw that they had a new cigar of the week featuring a Cuban cigar called Cuaba. It’s a pretty big perfecto that received a score of 92 points from the experts.
But Holy crap! This cigar is ugly!
Even though this is an ugly cigar supposedly it is very good.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder but, in the end, all that matters is that the cigar functions well and tastes good.
