San Lotano Oval Cigar Review
Disclaimer: I received some of these as samples from the manufacturer many months ago. All reviews are my own.
I have smoked the maduro and the habano varieties of San Lotano and even though I do not have a review up for the habano wrapped variety I have to say that I do like it quite a bit. The maduro is a good cigar – just not something that really got me going. What about the Oval?
Due to its name the first thing you are going to think about is its unique shape. It’s oval and I do think that aides in the comfort level of this cigar. One of my favorite cigars of all time is the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Maduro and while the shapes aren’t exactly the same they are similar. In both cases the top and the bottom of the cigar are flat and that helps create a better seal with your lips. Does this actually improve the cigar though?
The chocolate brown habano wrapper for the Oval is nearly flawless. There are some very thin veins but they are few in number. Oily to the touch, the cigar does give a little when squeezed on the flat sides but not so much when I squeezed the rounded sides. How do A.J. Fernandez’s torcedores roll this cigar?
Cigar Stats
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5 ½″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Habano 2000
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras & Redacted
Price: $156.00/Box of 20
Chuck Torch!
By “redacted” I mean it’s a secret. Not my secret but Mr. Fernandez’s secret. And since it is a secret it can be from anywhere your imagination can take you. Maybe you are thinking that this unnamed filler tobacco could be from someplace where it is illegal for Americans to buy cigars from. Could it be?
The initial flavors are good. Nuts, buttery pound cake and some spice that lingers on the outskirts of the retrohale. It’s different and the flavors are more than capable of keeping your attention. There’s also this toasted flavor that permeates every last inch of the flavor profile; not a disagreeable flavor characteristic in this setting. While I’m at it, there’s also a sweet, creamy flavor going around as well. Anything else?
Slowly but surely the flavors migrate towards buttery toast, which is more a combining of the flavors than a transformation. Spice is mostly gone but the nutty flavors are sticking around. Is the shape making a difference?
I don’t know. It feels better, that’s a plus. And the cigar is very enjoyable. Plus, the final third does evolve somewhat. Singed wheat and oatmeal make a pretty good mix. How good?
It’s a medium bodied cigar with a good draw and burn. The flavors do have some evolution, especially at the end. While it isn’t exactly the type of cigar I normally go for I thought it was still a very good cigar. So, how good?
90 points
Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo Cigar Review
I have had one last Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo sitting in my humidor for about a year now. Looking back on my notes I can see that I generally liked the ones that I had before so let’s see what a year’s worth of aging has done to this cigar.
For whatever reason, probably a combination of the dark wrapper and the torpedo shape, this looks like a menacing cigar. It looks like it is just going to kick you in the butt the second that you touch foot to torch. Beyond the fact that if this cigar were a person you would probably cross the street if you saw it coming your way, it is a good looking, well made cigar. Not very many veins, sufficiently packed from tip of torpedo to foot and the wrapper is fairly oily.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.00/Single | $150.00/Box of 20
Marauder Torch!
After a year or so in the humidor this cigar is somewhat better than it was before. There is more nuance to the flavors, which, by the way, are led by chocolate followed by bitter coffee and generally earthy flavors. After a while the body gradually increases into the full bodied spectrum. One nit to pick is that the draw is a bit too loose and I think that is muting the flavors to a degree or two.
Gosh, this is an extremely slow burning cigar. I think it’s been nearly an hour, probably more like 45 minutes, and I can just now see the second third around the proverbial bend. At this point there has been some evolution in the cigar and that evolution is more towards the spicy side of the flavor spectrum. It’s a good twist because the main flavor other than the spice, which is fiery and long lasting (it never really leaves your palate actually), is chocolate. It’s a nice milk chocolate that goes well with spice.
The transition from the first third to the second third gets firmly set in and lasts through most of the second third. The final third is much the same with one notable departure. Chocolate becomes less of a leader and in its place there is this sweetness accompanied by toast. Almost as if you were smoking toast with a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. And then….
It takes an unexpected turn and the sweetness becomes floral. Fortunately, it is not that fruity kind of floral flavor but it is the heartier kind, the deep, flavorful kind rather. And the spice has gone away. It’s a great way to (slowly) end a cigar that could have otherwise become too heavy on the spice.
If you were to gently prod me into saying something negative about this full bodied cigar I would quickly respond with this: the draw is too loose, which leads to the cigar being a bear to keep lit. This is all weird to me since there is a copious amount of smoke when it is lit and the flavors are excellent. It’s a pain but it’s got to be like the pain one feels when trying to keep a classic car up and running. Sure, there is a lot of maintenance required but it’s more fun than bagging your limit of yetis.
93 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.
Quesada Tributo Cigar Review
This is a very special cigar from the Quesada family. According to Cigar Aficionado “…the Tributo brand was made by Quesada and his team of daughters, nephews and nieces—known as the “Fifth Generation”—at Matasa (Manufactura de Tabacos S.A.) in Santiago.” Before I jump headlong into the review I would like to thank Cigars Direct for this wonderful cigar.
It’s a great looking cigar; well-made and feels solid to the touch. The wrapper is oily. The only drawbacks I can see (and feel) is that there are a couple of discolorations on the wrapper and the cigar may be a little too tightly packed.
Doing some research on this cigar I found out from A Cigar Smoker’s Journal that the wrapper is unique. According to the indispensable Barry, the cigar “utilizes a special hybrid wrapper which was created using the seeds of the Corojo, Habano 2000, Habano Vuelta Arriba and Sumatra in Ecuador.” So lets see if this is a hybrid that we can all like.
Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Ecuador Heinz 57
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
Price: $6.50/Single
10 Light!
It is definitely an interesting mix of flavors right out of the gates. Instead of the spiciness that I was expecting the flavor profile is much more tame. Sure, there is some spice but there is also sourdough, darkly mild fruitiness and something else that I can’t quite pin down yet. It’s a seemingly minor flavor yet it slices through the other flavors like a light saber through a Jedi. The best I can come up with is something like a tangerine or some other kind of exotically fruity flavor.
The draw requires the slightest of tugs to get a good amount of smoke coming at your taste buds. Good burn and, after about the first third is through, I’m going to go out on a limb and peg this one as a medium bodied smoke.
As the burn line migrates from the first to the second third the flavors are meshing together very well. It is an interesting cigar. There are a good amount of flavors but I cannot say that any one of them stands out as being amazing. What I am willing to say is that these flavors are great when combined. Plus, it is just an interesting cigar. This may sound stupid but this cigar is actually making me think about it.
I’ve let it burn down quite a bit, nearly to the beginning of the final third, and here is what I’m getting. Basically a bunch of heavy but good flavors. The sourdough flavor is gone, it’s more like toast now. Burnt wood, that dark fruity flavor I mentioned earlier and some wheat. Still like it.
The only other mentionable change is in the strength of this cigar; it moved from being a medium bodied cigar to a medium-full bodied one. Thanks again to Cigars Direct.
89 points
El Beso Reserve Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
A couple of years ago my parents got me a cigar lighter from a local B&M called El Beso. That lighter lasted me nearly three years and it looked good so I went back to El Beso to get another one. Once I got into their brick and mortar I learned that they also make cigars. My interest now piqued I had to get a couple of their home made cigars; one a maduro torpedo and the other the Reserve No. 11 (torpedo). I am smoking the latter, which has a Connecticut Shade wrapper and Nicaraguan tobacco makes up the rest.
There are some imperfections on the wrapper: a minor hole and some dark spots dot the light brown wrapper. Other than that, it looks and feels great. The wrapper feels soft to the touch but this El Beso Reserve is packed perfectly. I guess these people really do know how to roll a cigar. Let’s find out if they know how to blend tobacco well.
Smoke
It starts off with a strong oak flavor. At this point it is a mild-medium bodied cigar but the flavors are really good. Then, at around the one inch point, the spice really starts to bloom. There is nothing overpowering about this cigar but it does have a lot of flavor – and I like spice – so all is good by me.
Behind the spice is a layer toasty flavor that mixes quite well with the overall flavor profile. After the initial mild-medium bodied strength it goes a tick up to medium bodied. The draw is perfect and the burn is even.
After-Smoke
I didn’t know what to think of this cigar before I smoked it. The proprietor, Joe Gomez, assured me that while the strength is middle of the road the flavor is dynamic. And it is. My only qualm about this cigar is an intermittent harshness that pops up in the last couple of inches of the cigar. Overall, it is a very good cigar.
4 points
Price: $6.50
