Casa Magna Oscuro Cigar Review
I like the Casa Magna Colorado. It’s a very good cigar.
Full disclosure: I received this cigar from Cigars Direct. All reviews are my own.
Wrapper: Honduras | Binder: Honduras | Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
Vitola: Toro – 6″x52 | Price: App. $33.oo/5 pack
0/3: Good looking cigar. Very dark wrapper. Feels dry to the touch.
1/3: Bitter chocolate and dry wood. It’s starting out a little interesting. Not quite sure if it’s a good or a bad “interesting” yet. Can already tell that I’m not liking it as much as I liked the Casa Magna Colorado. The Oscuro seems like it may lapse into being harsh over the course of the cigar.
Also am getting some grassy notes during this third.
2/3: Retains a lot of that bitter chocolate flavor. There is also some graham cracker apparent during this third. This is the third where it begins to become a little too harsh for me. The flavors are okay but nothing spectacular.
3/3: Getting a little too bitter at this point and it has its spots of harshness. It’s a medium bodied cigar with a good draw and burn.
4/3: While this cigar does have its moments where it is good I’m afraid to say that for the majority of the time it under performs. Too bad, really, because I had such high hopes for it.
2.5 points – Prove me wrong, get this sampler to try the Casa Magna Oscuro.
Sencillo Short Churchill Cigar Review
Today we have a very special review from Danny (@dannysguitar is his Twitter handle). He’s a cool guy and he has done an awesome review of the Sencillo Short Churchill. Enjoy!
First off, I would like to thank Travis for inviting me for a guest review on his site. Today we have for you the Sencillo Short Churchill. I have smoked my way through a box of these and this is one of the last sticks I have. A little background on this cigar. Keith K Park, owner of Prometheus and God of Fire was looking for an everyday cigar to add to his portfolio. He contacted Christian Eiora of Camacho cigars to put together some blends for him. This is the one that was chosen. So let’s light it up!
Giving the cigar a good once over reveals a nice dark wrapper. Tightly packed, and heavy for it’s size. This particular cigar is a Honduran puro. Prelight smell is sweet tobacco on the wrapper. Almost like vanilla. The foot is more musty barnyard with a touch of spice, maybe cinnamon? I decided to use a punch on this cigar and the prelight draw gives me slight pepper.
Cigar Stats
Toro
Length: 6.25
Ring Gauge: 48
Wrapper: Honduran Habano de Jamastran
Binder: Honduran Habano de Jamastran
Filler: Honduran Habano de Jamastran and Honduran Piloto Cubano
Price: $7.95
The first few draws are natural tobacco with a slight pepper and a hint of bitterness. Actually a little dry. Tons of smoke with a nice easy draw. A few puffs later I get some nice spicy earthy flavors. On the retrohale and I get a little black pepper spice and a nice bitter chocolate or coffee. Not sure which. Burn is straight, and the ash is strong, holds on for about an inch. Chewy thick smoke. Medium to full body.
Heading into the 2nd third, the smoke changes to a predominately smokey wood flavor. The further down I smoke this, the more I’m begging for some sweetness to balance out these flavors.
Coming to the end and the flavors are about the same. Earth, bitter chocolate/coffee, wood, and a bit of pepper spice. The spice has ramped up a tad bit. I find these flavors to be very enjoyable, but this cigar still missing a little sweetness to make this the complete package. I think this cigar would go well with a nice bourbon or rum. Something sweet to contrast the flavors of the cigar.
Final thoughts on the Sencillo Short Churchill. I think it’s a pretty good smoke. Better than an average cigar. I’m kinda surprised one type of tobacco could produce so many flavors.
89 points
Cuban Stock Royal Selection Cigar Review
This cigar was sent to me by the Cuban Stock Cigar Co.
Alright, this is the third one of these that I am about to smoke. I really liked the first two so I have high hopes for this one as well.
This cigar has a pretty severe box press to it, which is aesthetically interesting. The thing about this Cuban Stock Royal Selection is that the wrapper looks, for lack of a better word, like an old man’s face. It’s got wrinkles, some holes in it and it just plain looks like Clint Eastwood’s face after a week of shooting in the desert. Well, to be fair, a darker complexion Clint Eastwood but I think you get my meaning.
But then you touch it. The wrapper is smooth and sturdy. There is a good helping of oils on it as well. And, if it performs as well as I think it will, the appearance will be of little import.
Cigar Stats
Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $25.00 for five cigars
Witching Hour Light!
Spice is one of those flavors that I have come to cherish with all these Cuban Stock cigars I have smoked, this one included. It isn’t the most robust spice out there but the flavors are very enjoyable. It’s a warm spice.
Raisins and leather are strong supporting flavors in this cigar. I am also getting a little bit of coffee as an aftertaste, which is nice.
The draw is open and the burn is good. It is a medium-full bodied cigar, almost in the full bodied range, which is fine by me.
There is some complexity apparent with these cigars. Spice takes on an increasingly stronger roll as the cigar progresses.
91 points
For another take head on over to Beer Review Dude
Carlos Toraño Signature Collection Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
The Carlos Toraño Signature Collection features a sun grown Brazilian maduro wrapper, a Connecticut broadleaf binder and the rest of the tobacco is Cuban-seed ligero from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Very good looking cigar with tons of oil. This cigar is truly a fine piece of craftsmanship. I am smoking the toro vitola (6″ x 50) for this review and it retails for a little more than $7.00 a stick.
Smoke
Earth and cocoa are the first flavors I get. Most of the flavor is evident in my mouth and not when I exhale out my nose, which is different than my normal experiences with most cigars.
There is an almost tart flavor on the tip of my tongue. The burn is basically even, the draw is good and this is turning into a tasty medium bodied cigar. The flavors are moderately above average.
Sweetness is apparent in the immediate aftertaste associated with the cocoa and then fades. On a side note, the cocoa becomes watered down.
After-Smoke
If I had to teach the “law of diminishing returns” I would have my pupils smoke this cigar. It starts out as a solid example of earth and cocoa. But then it progressively got weaker. Still, at its low point, it is a decent cigar. For the most part… I liked it.
3 points
Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
The most obvious difference between the original Maxx line and the Maxx Traditional line is that the Traditional line has smaller ring gauge cigars. Other than that, the traditional cigars are suppose to impart the same bold flavor as the oversized Maxx cigars.
I am smoking the Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro (6″ x 50), which costs around $5.25, for this review. The wrapper has a good sheen of oils but it also has a number of veins. Furthermore, the wrapper color is not consistent but rather a mottled assortment of milk and dark chocolate colors with the occasional black spot.
Smoke
Coffee flavors without any of the bitterness. There is a lot of chocolate, it just coats my mouth and won’t leave – not necessarily a bad thing. As this cigar progresses I’m afraid that coffee and chocolate will be all you get from it (and the coffee is relegated to a minor role in less than half an inch).
On the bright side it is a mostly sound cigar. The draw is great but the burn is somewhat uneven and the flavors (um, flavor – so far) is strong. It is a medium bodied cigar. This is all up to the halfway point.
After that point a saltiness comes on. It’s definitely a negative flavor but it is in no way overpowering or even a large enough part of the flavor profile to significantly take away from my overall enjoyment of this cigar. In conjunction with the saltiness a meaty flavor starts coming on. The chocolate is still the major flavor though.
After-Smoke
Now that I have finished this cigar I feel let down. Chocolate is a fine flavor as long as it is, at most, a secondary flavor. Making it the leading flavor, for me at least, is a mistake. It is a decent cigar but could have been much better considering its lineage.
2.5 points
