Don Pepin Garcia Black Edition Cigar Review
It’s a perfect looking parejo in almost every way. Construction is nearly perfect, almost absolutely cylindrical. There are a couple of minor veins that I am not worried about. Also, these cigars are very oily. This particular one that I am doing the review on is very oily as well.
The prelight draw is easy and gives off light tones of spice and sweetness. On the other end, the foot smells like tobacco and sweet spice. It looks like a solid cigar and, hopefully, this will be a solid cigar to smoke as well.
Cigar Stats
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Nicaragua – Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $7.50/Single | $125.00/Box of 20
Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team Torch!
From the very beginning of this cigar the flavors are strong and well balanced, which is not something you can say of a lot of cigars. This good start is peppered with what feels like a healthy dusting of spice ranging from sweet spice on the tongue and black pepper through my nostrils. Cedar is a secondary flavor in the early goings as is a slight amount of citrus on the aftertaste.
Personally, I’m not one of those people who would get bored if my favorite team was winning the same way all the time. Let’s take the Lakers as our example. They have won a lot during the last 13 years or so by doing the same things. You have the triangle, they many of the same players, etc. In many ways, this cigar is the same way: consistent and excellent.
The flavors during the final two thirds of this cigar are pretty much the same as the first third but those flavors are excellent. I love the interplay between the sweet spice and cedar on my tongue and the lingering pepper in my nostrils. It’s not a complicated cigar but it’s an excellent cigar.
Now, if you want complicated in sports you would have to look at the Rays. Oh sure, it’s exciting watching every night and seeing them win with pitching one night then with a contribution from some platoon guy another team basically gave away. The next night they will win with defense. It’s exciting and will keep people interested (even in that hotbed of baseball fandom known as Tampa Bay) but, if I had my druthers, I will take the perennial contender with the tried and true formula. Yes, you would not be wrong in saying that I am a boring person.
Consistently great cigars are definitely fine by me. Actually, they’re better than that. This is one of those cigars where you can pick it up and know that you are going to get a perfect draw, a great burn, a medium-full bodied cigar with a great group of flavors every time.
91 points
G. De Graaff ‘S-Gravenhage Short Cigar Review
After my grandmother came back from her most recent sojourn, this time to see the Continentals amongst them a certain former foreign exchange student from Germany, she brought me this cigar for my birthday. As you can tell by the title of this review the cigar’s name is quite a mouthful. It looks like it is a house blend but beyond that I don’t have much information on the cigar. What I have found can be seen here.
Here’s a little bit of information from that site:
De Graaff cigars have been hand-made for generations by the old established house of cigar makers De Graaff, using only the highest grade tobaccos from Brazil, Cuba and Indonesia. The tobaccos are blended in their factory according to old family recipes which conscientiously are kept a secret. One of the advantages of their cigars is that no artificial tobacco is used, another that each cigar has its own particular sophisticated composition, resulting in an unique balance between fragrance and taste.
With all that being said I cannot vouch for the makeup of this cigar nor can I seem to be able to find the vitola that I smoked on their website. Here’s the basics: it’s a thick cigar measuring in at more than a 55 ring gauge I’m sure. The length is about 5 ½” and the only reason why I don’t know the exact length is because I was sure I would be able to find the vitola on their site, but I didn’t.
The cigar did get a little smashed in transit but there was no tearing of the wrapper and I do not think it had much of an affect on the performance of this cigar. It has a triple cap and the wrapper is medium brown with some smallish veins.
Friedman Flame!
Honestly, this cigar is starting off awesomely. Spice, grass and earth make up the core. Immense flavor in the early goings. Pretty intense though, hopefully it will mellow out a little bit as it progresses.
Burnt toast and sweet spice come on during the second third and they are tasty. The intensity has yet to flag, which I’m actually liking now with the new flavors on board. I would peg this as a medium bodied cigar.
Taking the band off of this cigar is proving to be a pain because the band does not reach all the way around the cigar and, to make up for this fact, the manufacturer has decide to use tape to bridge the gap instead of making a larger band. This is a problem because the tape has stuck to the wrapper. I am only able to remove the band at the expense of the wrapper, which has now been torn.
Charred meat is coming on strong in the final third, which is a flavor that I really like. There is also the sweetness but without much of the spice that was ever present during the first two thirds of this cigar.
In retrospect, my favorite third of this cigar was the first third where the flavors were perhaps a little wild but they were interesting. The second third offered a more well rounded experience that most anyone would enjoy. The final third took a step back in terms of f lavor and enjoyability but, overall this was a very good cigar and I bet many people would enjoy it.
4 points
Felipe Gregorio W20 Short Cigar Review
I received this cigar from the maker many months ago so it has the benefit of some rest time in the humidor. Let me see, besides that little tidbit I can’t find much on this cigar save for that the wrapper is Marron Havano 2000, if you know what that means please leave a comment telling the rest of us. Take a look on their page to see all the info on this cigar.
It’s a good enough looking cigar. Tightly packed throughout with some minor tears here and there. One medium sized vein runs from foot to cap and there is a rather largish 1.5″ length of vein stretching down from the foot. Well, lets see how this 5″ x 55 cigar tastes.
Tiki Bar Flame!
My first impression is that the flavors are going to revolve around sweet spice, which is fine with me. It’s a pretty enjoyable flavor with all things considered. Not much else going on early on.
The second third is much the same. The sweet spice is still going strong and it is somewhat better than it was earlier on. In addition to the spice there is some dry woodiness and, actually, the best way to describe this cigar thus far is dry. The flavor profile is completely dry with some above average flavors. Cigars like this do have their benefits.
Entering the final third and I do notice some changes like the floral flavor that has crept in and mostly replaced the spice. There are moments of harshness as well but they are minor.
This isn’t a force of a cigar. Medium-full bodied with a good draw and a decent burn. Overall, this is a slightly above average cigar and would probably be liked by people who like spice.
3.5 points
Alec Bradley Family Blend Cigar Review
[A note from Travis: This is one of the cigars that will be featured in my cigar dinner on December 1st. If you are in the Los Angeles area and want to smoke some great cigars, eat excellent food and meet a great group of people go here for more info!]
I started seeing this cigar online during the spring or summer and finally pulled the trigger and purchased some a couple of months back. Lo and behold, I get my new issue of Cigar Aficionado and this cigar gets a rating of 94 points. And it was the same vitola that I bought a box of. Crazy, right?
The genesis of this cigar is interesting since it started out as the personal blend for the patriarchs of the AB dynasty.
Alec Bradley Family Blend cigars were created expressly for the fathers of the company’s three principal executives, Alan Rubin (President), Ralph Montero (Vice President), and George Sosa (National Sales Director).
Based off of my mediocre memory of cigar history, it is usually a good omen if a cigar starts out as the personal blend of the head of the company and then gets released to the public. (Some of the Fuente’s cigars and Drew’s Liga Privadas come to mind.) I’ve smoked a few of these Alec Bradley Family Blend cigars now and they continue that trend.
The Alec Bradley Family Blend T11 is a very well made torpedo. There can be some stretch marks on the wrapper and there are some minor veins; ho-hum. The Honduran wrapper has a nice chocolate brown hue to it and it is accompanied by a good allotment of oils.
Besides the good appearance the most striking thing about this cigar, besides the actual smoking of it, comes right after you pull it out of the cellophane. A potpourri of tobacco, sweet spice and leather greets you with a warm embrace.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6 1/8″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Indonesia
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua
Price: $7.25/Single | $125.00/Box of 20
The flavor parade starts right after the cigar is lit. What I smelled after taking it out of its cellophane cocoon is pretty much what I am tasting. A restrained sweet spice, a background of leather and some tobacco flavors round out this little flavor parade. Add to that a pretty great draw and an even burn and it is shaping up to be a great cigar during the first third.
What is the most refreshing thing about this cigar, for me at least, is that it is a superb medium bodied cigar. This is a cigar that every cigar smoker will at the very least enjoy, probably much more than just “enjoy.”
During the second third and especially during the final third there is a distinct woody note that comes through. Also during this time the sweetness and the spice grows a little bit. The sweetness slowly morphs into a nuanced dark fruit and the spice deepens into a warm spice, something like cinnamon.
If you are looking for an excellent way to spend a couple hours of your time then you should definitely give these cigars a try. The Alec Bradley Family Blend T11 is a laid back cigar with a ton of flavor and well above average level of complexity. A must try.
95 points
Felipe Gregorio Pure Cigar Review
The sample I used for this review comes from Felipe Gregorio.
I think that the marketing people at Felipe Gregorio picked “Pure” and not “Puro,” which this cigar is, because they feared Americans wouldn’t understand what Puro means. And maybe that is a fair assumption. After three years of Spanish in high school I still get a little nervous ordering a few tacos at Taco Bell. So, if you have the chance to translate something from Spanish to English then by all means do it for us monosyllabic types.
This Felipe Gregorio Pur0 Pure Corona is a very small cigar. It comes with a cedar sleeve adorned with a little band of red fabric around the foot. After the sleeve has been safely removed a beautiful cigar is revealed. Oily, one medium sized vein, expertly crafted. A little soft to the touch near the foot.
Cigar Stats
Petite Corona
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 44
Wrapper: Dominican Republic
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: ~$10.00/cigar (I think)
Angel Flame!
Wow, this cigar starts off amazingly. It’s a bracing cedar spiked with the occasional dash of sweet spice. There’s also a healthy helping of leather mixed in. Light flavor profile with some power behind it.
During the second third a thin floral presence comes through. A light earthiness also comes on at this time and remains for the remainder of the cigar.
The first flat flavor comes on during the final third. It doesn’t last long nor is it that bad but it is there. One of the flavors that has been there on the retrohale throughout, but I couldn’t quite peg, is this dark, fruity flavor. Even though it is fleeting, it is very good.
Both the draw and the burn were very good for this cigar. It is a medium-full bodied cigar, maybe a little stronger than that. The flavors are great and this cigar is well worth a couple of tries at this price.
92 points
