Rocky Patel Sun Grown Torpedo – Cigar Review

Cigar Stats
Length: 6.25″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Brazil, Dom. Rep., Nicaragua
Approximate Price: $7.70

Dark and oily cigar. The construction looks perfect but the appearance is another matter. There’s a couple of raised veins and it looks almost like there are creases in the cigar. Hopefully it doesn’t affect the performance of the cigar.

Thanksgiving Fire!

Yes, this is the cigar I decided to smoke on Thanksgiving. It better be good!

Absolutely effortless draw; just perfect. There’s also a good amount of spice. Full bodied cigar. The other flavors I am getting are a slight toasty flavor and there is this very subtle sweetness that I get only when I blow smoke out of my nose. Some earthiness to this cigar as well.

Oliveros XL For Men XL/55 Maduro – Cigar Review

XL For Men? That’s really a name for a cigar? That sounds gimmicky to me.

But it actually shows some promise. It is a good cigar with lots of flavor at first. Then something happened. All of the flavors just disappear because there is a really bad draw for this cigar.

It really is a shame because I was enjoying it immensely. So much so that I was going to give it 90+ points. But because of the draw and the disappearing flavors I had to knock it down some.

Read On!

Arturo Fuente Chateau Series King B – Cigar Review

Cigar Stats

Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 55
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown
Approximate Price: $10.00

The Chateau series from Fuente is the same as the Gran Reserva series except with a different wrapper. The Ecuadorian, sun grown wrapper is supposed to make these cigars more full bodied and spicier as well. The King B is the pyramid version of this series.

I have smoked a couple King Bs in the past and I thought they were great. This one has nearly perfect construction with only one pronounced vein and a couple of bumps. The wrapper has a dark, reddish hew to it. It smells a little sweet before lighting it up.

Light Her Up!

The cigar is a little rough at first. A little wild. Obviously strong and very spicy. It’s actually a little harsh right at the beginning so I knocked about an 1/8th of an inch of ash off and that seems to have erased the harshness. Still a very strong cigar.

There’s a hint of vanilla with this cigar. That’s actually a great combination here. Earthy notes as well also some sweetness. Just awesome.

As I near the end of this cigar it begins to burn a little hot at times. It doesn’t get to the point where it takes a lot away from the flavors but it is noticeable. And the burn can be uneven at times.

Overall, it is a perfectly good cigar. It would definitely be better if I had let it age a little while longer. The problems at the beginning and the end are what is responsible from knocking this cigar down a couple of points and out of the great category.

88 points.

Outlaw Padilla Miami 8&11 – Cigar Review from Cigar Jack

Here is a great review from a cigar blog called Cigar Jack. Jack, I’m guessing that’s his name, gives a great description of this Padilla cigar. Makes me want to light one up myself!

Ashton VSG Robusto – Cigar Review

Cigar Stats:

Length: 5.5′
Ring Gauge: 50
Approximate Price: $11.75
Wrapper: Dominican, Sumatra

Ever since I started smoking cigars I have heard great things about Ashton. These are supposed to be some of the strongest, most robust cigars on the market. They aren’t for children. OK, no cigars are for children, spoil sports.

Ashton cigars are made by the Fuentes, so they probably are very good cigars. The VSG, in this case, means “virgin sun grown.”

The look of this cigar is just wonderful. Very dark robusto, perfectly constructed, absolutely no problems with the look or feel of the cigar. Tons of oil to the touch. Should be a good cigar – I hope.

Nuevo Flame!

Silky smooth cigar. Wow! There is some spice supporting the dominant cream flavor. I saw someone else say there was a peat taste to this cigar, can’t substantiate that claim here. There is a hickory taste to it though. And I’ve got to say that this is just an exquisite cigar.

Man, it seems like the cigar is just getting darker. The draw is great but it isn’t burning perfectly evenly. About an inch in it gets a little harsh but that quickly disappears. Maybe I was puffing on it too much. Bad Travis!

Even though everyone says this is an explosive, full bodied cigar I just don’t see it. It’s medium-full bodied with a slant to being full bodied, maybe. But it’s not blowing the brains out of my head. But the lack of strength doesn’t bother me all that much because this is a very complex and well balanced cigar.

An example of this complexity is how the cream has morphed into vanilla at this point. The spice has mostly left the cigar and has been replaced by an immense earthiness.

It is a very interesting cigar. Some of you will love it while others will think it is just a decent, good cigar. What do I think? That’s a tough one. There are some problems with it that cannot be denied.

If this had been a stronger cigar that would have been better for all of us. Likewise, if there had been more spice, the type of spice that punches you in the gut, that would have been great. Even with all that it is still an enjoyable, albeit somewhat mundane, smoke. This wasn’t a great cigar, but it was very good.

89 points

Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Maduro – Cigar Review

The Stats:

Length: 4.5′
Ring Gauge: 50
Approximate Price: $5.50
Wrapper: Dominican maduro

Arturo Fuente cigars hold a special place for me since the first cigar I smoked was a Fuente. But that’s another story for another day, let’s focus on this cigar!

The top half of the cigar is wrapped in a thin sheet of cedar. I don’t think there’s any purpose to this other than that they think it looks good and maybe some people do think it looks good. I think it looks ridiculous. The only reason I say this is because the cedar obscures a perfectly constructed cigar underneath. It’s a very dark and oily cigar and I cannot wait to light this baby up.

The Light!

It’s unlike any cigar I have ever smoked before! Loads of spice with a very deep earthiness to it. There is also a bit of sweetness with this one, which is normal for maduro cigars. There isn’t much sweetness to it but it is there, just barely – thank God.

Even though I don’t like sweet cigars, a little bit can add to the complexity of the cigar and it can actually accentuate the good flavors of the cigar.

One minor problem with this cigar is that the burn isn’t perfect. The draw is absolutely great, the flavors are wonderful, and there is tons of smoke coming out of it so a little burning problem with the cigar isn’t that big of a deal. Seriously, this cigar does have an absolutely perfect draw.

To top it all off, the spiciness is sticking around and maybe even becoming a bit stronger. It’s a little bombshell of a cigar!

Even though this definitely is a full bodied cigar, it is also a very smooth cigar. Unfortunately, the burn is just getting worse. I can no longer ignore it. Every few minutes I have to touch it up… but this cigar is just so good. Maybe I can look past that uneven burn problem.

The deep, smoky spice and the rich earthiness never dissipates. It is a jewel of a cigar even with the uneven burn. Yeah, it’s a small cigar but it is very mighty.

It’s an absolutely wonderful cigar. Without the uneven burn I would have definitely given it a 95, maybe even a 96. But since the burn was uneven…

94 points