Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Robusto Review

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Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Review 7

If you read the name “Aganorsa Leaf” and wondered what it was referring to, you aren’t the only one. The brand is actually the newest incarnation of Casa Fernandez,  maker of popular cigars like the original Casa Fernandez line, JFR, and Guardian of the Farm (which we reviewed here). I first experienced the company’s product (then Casa Fernandez) in 2012 on a trip to South Carolina and the quality of the product was immediately apparent.

The Signature Selection is the newest blend from the company and features tobaccos aged up to 7 years.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Robusto
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua (Corojo 99 Jalapa)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí & Jalapa)
  • Size: 5″ x 52 Robusto

Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Review 4

Appearance & Construction

The Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Robusto is a stunner of a cigar. After removing the gold foil encasement, the Corojo 99 Jalapa wrapper is revealed to be just beautiful, with an oak wood appearance, a light oily sheen, and an incredibly solid triple (or even quadruple) cap. The gold and white double band has a celebratory vibe reminiscent of many of Davidoff’s cigars, though its distinct enough to not feel like a copy.

Taking a whiff off of the foot, I pick up aromas of hay, sweet grass, caramel, and cedar. The cold draw has an interesting character, with assertive pepper, some creamy chocolate, and cedar. The restrictiveness of the draw is a touch tight, about an 8/10 in terms of amount of restrictiveness.

Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Review 3

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

The Aganorsa Signature Series kicks off with medium bodied, full flavored smoke. Dominating everything are two notes: black pepper and charred oak, drying my palate and setting the back of my throat atingling. There’s a slight creamy sweetness below those two notes, but it’s faint and almost impossible to catch behind the heavy pepperiness. Not a bad start, but I’m looking for more balance and complexity from this cigar–hopefully that shows up soon. I also have a bit of trouble tolerating the retrohale, which is chock full of white pepper and dry wood. Smoke production is decent, but not quite as high as I’d like it to be, and 10 minutes in it seems the outer wrapper leaf is having some trouble staying lit.

Close to an inch in, the ash is holding strong with a very wavy burn. Thankfully, I’m beginning to pick up a bit of the complexity that I was hoping for. Although there’s still dominant charred oak,the black pepper has morphed into a number of cooking and grilling spices (garlic powder, paprika, sea salt). And every couple of puffs I get hints of cream and roasted nuts. It’s closer to being in balance at this point, but I’d still be grateful for a bit less charred oak.

Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Review 2

As the Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection burns into the second third, the wrapper requires a touch up, and it seems that there’s a tunnel developing in the filler tobacco, which drops the smoke production to below average. On the palate and in the aroma, flavors of  graham cracker, cinnamon and Dijon mustard saddle up next to leather and charred oak. The retrohale has morphed as well, taking on a toasty, peppery character.

In the final third, the pepper finally dies down enough to allow the more nuanced flavors to take charge. Flavors on the palate include toasty bread, salt and pepper, generic wood, cream, and Dijon mustard. Construction improves as well, with a straight burn and good smoke production. It’s just too bad the cigar doesn’t find better balance before the end!

Conclusion

The Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection is an enjoyable smoke but it has too many noticeable areas to improve on to merit an above-average rating. Lack of balance and finesse and construction issues take this from being a great cigar down to just good.

Final Score: 84

Caldwell The T Robusto Review

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Caldwell The T Robusto Review

Up for review today is The T by Caldwell Cigars. As we recently noted, Caldwell is noted for releasing beautifully branded, full flavored, quality smokes. So when I heard Caldwell paired up with AJ Fernandez and Matt Booth for The T, it went without saying I’d be picking this cigar up to review.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Caldwell The T Robusto
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 5 x 52 Robusto

Caldwell The T Robusto Review 2

Appearance & Construction

The outer wrapper of the T is very dark, with a sandy texture and visible oil. Unfortunately there’s also a split in the wrapper leaf near the foot (a consequence of a slight tumble the cigar took on its way out of my humidor).  No points docked there.

After clipping the cigar and testing the draw, it’s clear that it’s just touch on the restrictive side, about a 7.5 out of 10. Off the foot are tantalizing aromas of savory hay, barnyard, black pepper, grass, and coffee.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

The T opens with decent smoke production and a profile that’s in the medium to full territory. Pepper is dominant on the palate, with salted dark chocolate, dry wood, and burnt coffee as supporting characters. I’m also picking up an anise note that I keep second guessing. Overall the profile at the beginning is leaning mainly on the bitter and sweet flavor categories.

At about three quarters of an inch in, the ash is holding, the burn is straight, and the smoke production has (thankfully) risen to above average. What started out as burnt coffee shifts slightly sweeter to resemble fresh peanuts. The pepper has lessened on the palate but remains dominant on the retrohale, which is almost too strong for comfort. Over the next 10 minutes, the flavor profile ebbs and flows, sometimes shifting sweeter, other times taking on an almost charcoal like character. But the changes are welcome as they keep the cigar from getting boring.

As The T burns into the second third, the body and strength drop to a hair above medium. Flavors shift as well, with a toasty, cinnamon graham cracker note offsetting the bitter coffee and dry wood impressions. This doesn’t last long though, with the dry wood, charcoal, and a leather note dominating the experience into the beginning of the final third. A bit frustrating really, because the balance just isn’t there. Construction though remains totally flawless, and the overblown retrohale has calmed to a much more approachable level.

The final third is much the same, totally dominated by dry wood, charcoal, and pepper, with creamy coffee and baking spices making failed attempts to break through.

Conclusion

After so many glowing recommendations, I’m a bit disappointed by Caldwell the T. What started out as an enjoyable smoke became an unbalanced, somewhat monotonous smoke. With few exceptions, the smoking experience was out of balance, with many of the flavors which would have balanced the experience lacking in strength. All three collaborators on this project have made better products to try.

Final Score: 82

Blind Man’s Bluff Toro Review

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Blind Man's Bluff Cigar Review

Up for review today is Blind Man’s Bluff, a cigar released at IPCPR 2015 by Caldwell Cigar Co. You may know Caldwell cigars as the boutique cigar company releasing some of the most interestingly branded cigars on the market (i.e. The King is Dead, Long Live the King, Anastasia, Hit & Run, etc). Blind Man’s Bluff.

Three sizes of Blind Man’s Bluff were released:

  • Blind Man’s Bluff Robusto (5 x 50)
  • Blind Man’s Bluff Toro (6 x 52)
  • Blind Man’s Bluff Magnum (6 x 60)

Up for review today is the Toro (generally my favorite size to smoke).

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Blind Man’s Bluff Toro
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
  • Binder: Honduras
  • Filler: Dominican Republic / Honduras
  • Size: 6 x 52 Toro

Appearance & Construction

Caldwell Blind Man’s Bluff comes wrapped in a rich, dark brown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The label has a simple, classic design, but an absolutely cool illustration at the center, with “WE OWN THE NIGHT” emblazoned on the side.

The aroma off of the foot of the cigar is extremely fragrant, with barnyard, sweet hay, stone fruits, natural tobacco and very light black pepper. After cutting with a straight cut, the draw reveals itself to be too lose, about a 4/10 in terms of restrictiveness.

Caldwell Blind Man's Bluff

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

In the first few lit puffs, the Blind Man’s Bluff opens with rich, oaky, medium bodied smoke. There’s quite a bit going on in the palate, with slightly bitter oak, leather strips, creamy dark chocolate pieces, and a salted popcorn which rounds out the dominant bitterness nicely. Smoke production is good, but the draw is absolutely too loose and I have no doubt it will cause issues later on. The retrohale is spicy but mostly manages to avoid overpowering the rest of the experience. This makes the smoke a bit too abundant and I find also increases the heat of the smoke prematurely.

It’s a great opening for the Blind Man‘s Bluff, and the flavor experience begins to evolve as the ember approaches the first inch. Earth and a nice pepper emerges that activates the tip of the tongue. Meanwhile, secondary notes of chocolate cake, cherry, lemon peel, minerals, and touches of cream on the finish. To me, it’s a very enjoyable, though the earth at times becomes a bit muddy, making it hard to fully enjoy the secondary flavors. Construction wise, the burn to this point is wavy but mostly straight.

The salt and pepper ash of the Blind Man‘s Bluff hangs on to the beginning of the second third. At about the same time, the flavors shift once again (good complexity!), taking on character comprised of charred oak, leather, lemon peel, baking spices, and tangy fruit. On the retrohale, white pepper emerges, along with a faint toasted barley bread. The body of the cigar at this point is medium to full, with a thick, chewy texture, and strength clocks in at medium. The burn does start to stray near the end of the second third, but a quick purge is all that’s needed to get it back on track.

The final third of blind man‘s bluff suffers a bit of excess heat due to the overly free draw, but manages to hang on to the flavors that made the preceding thirds enjoyable. There’s charred oak, earth, some black pepper and minerality make up most of the profile, with charcoal and toasted bread on the retrohale. Near the last three quarters of an inch, the smoke heats up too much, forcing me to put the cigar down.

Conclusion

For the price, Blind Man‘s Bluff by Caldwell Cigars is easy to recommend. Despite the overly loose draw, it served up a nice, thematically consistent profile of charred oak, earth, leather, and cocoa, with nice secondary flavors of stone fruits and lemon peel. It didn’t always strike a perfect balance between these notes, but it is undoubtedly a very enjoyable smoke and one I can easily recommend.

Final Rating: 88

Fratello Bianco I Lonsdale Review

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Fratello Bianco I review

Since their initial release, I’ve enjoyed the blends Fratello Cigars have put forth. Omar de Frias has utilized tobaccos all over the world to create complex and harmonious blends of excellent quality. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to smoke the Fratello lines and needless to say I was really looking forward to the Bianco I blend and what it had to offer.

Blend Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Fratello Bianco I
  • Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
  • Binder: Dominican
  • Filler: USA, Nicaragua and Peruvian
  • Size: 6 ¼ x 44 Lonsdale

Appearance & Construction

 The Fratello Bianco I is a dark toothy Maduro with some substantial veins along the sides. The classic red and white label adorns the cigar like a sash. Construction wise, the cigar is well rolled and has some springiness to the touch, but not too soft. A nice sized smoke in hand.

Fratello Bianco I review 2

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

As I lit the Fratello Bianco, the first few puffs greeted me with a touch of spice balanced by coffee and earth. The draw was effortless and a nice billowing of smoke came through. On the retrohale there was spice and wood notes that enhanced the senses without overpowering them. For a Maduro wrapper the subtlety was impressive, most likely due to slow and delicate fermentation which embues richness not harshness to a Maduro leaf.

Midway through, the Fratello Bianco became rather toasty with more café and a graham cracker finish. As the cigar progressed the ash and burn became dark gray.  The smoke then developed a raisinated sweetness of wood and earth. The spice also increased on the finish and lingered on the tongue. At this point the cigar continued to burn stellar, a compliment to its construction.

The last third the Fratello turned to savory notes of leather and cream. I picked up more café at this point with an interplay of wood reminiscent of an oak barrique wine barrel. The burn continued to be spot on and the leather notes built up. The finish left me with an earthiness and more leather along with a hit of lush tobacco. The cigar finished just as dynamic as it begin. A quality smoke.

Conclusion

 The Fratello Bianco I underscores what flavors a well crafted Maduro cigar can yield. The cigar transitioned from earth, coffee, toast and leather providing a wonderful complexity. Omar continues to demonstrate how to craft a cigar properly from processing the tobacco to its blend and construction.

Final Rating: 89

*reviewers note: this is a non-blind rating.

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Espinosa Reggae Robusto Grande Review

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Espinosa Reggae Review 4

Espinosa Cigars has emerged in the last five to ten years in my mind as a company making some of the most unorthodox and flavorful cigars on the market (La Bomba, the core Espinosa line, etc). It’s with that in mind that I approach my review of the Espinosa Reggae, a cigar released by the company in 2017.

The Reggae, which I picked up at Sky Tobacco in Jersey City, continues the company’s flashy trend with an eye catching band design and some interesting Jamaican filler tobacco.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Espinosa Reggae Robusto Grande
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Rosado
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua and Jamaica
  • Size: 5.5″ x 54 (Robusto Grande)

Espinosa Reggae Review 3

Appearance & Construction

I really love the presentation of the Reggae. The combo of red yellow, and green set against dominant black is very eye catching, but still tasteful. The brown Ecuadorian Rosado wrapper has a slight lightness to its color, and the texture is mostly smooth save a very fine sandiness. The cigar is packed consistently the length of the cigar, and there’s a fair amount of give when squeezed.

Off of the foot are aromas of savory spiciness, dry cedar, and slightly sweet grass. The draw is good if a touch loose, about a 6/10 in terms of level of restrictiveness, and the cold draw reveals white pepper, cedar planks, and slightly sweet oak.

Espinosa Reggae Review 2

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

The Espinosa Reggae opens with medium bodied smoke and a very interesting balance of sweet, spicy, tangy, and creamy notes. It’s hard to pick the flavors out, but about ten minutes helps me narrow them down to spicy cream, tangy fruits, black and white pepper, dry wood, and pungent vegetal notes. The retrohale is unique as well, with a combo of sweet and sour sauce, leather, and spice. It’s all very complex, but the jury is out at this point as to whether the flavors harmonize. Smoke production is thankfully excellent.

The first ash drops at an inch in to the Espinosa Reggae, and at this point the flavors shift, with strength and body both at about medium. Vegetal notes are still at the forefront, with a new Wasabi spice note playing nicely with the creamy texture of the smoke. Still, it’s a strange profile and I’m  not quite sure what to think.

As the Espinosa Reggae burns past the second third mark, there’s a fleeting oak note that makes an appearance, and the vegetal notes shift to become somewhat burnt tasting (not so good) There’s also a heavy white pepper that coats the palate along with a secondary brown sugar note. The burn remains almost completely straight.

The cigar smokes mostly this way until the  beginning of the final third, where the balance in the profile shifts toward smooth sweetness and the bitter vegetal notes take a welcome back seat. Secondary notes include leather, brown sugar, and smoky wood. The final inch retreats back toward heavy smoky vegetal, black pepper, and Wasabi. The temperature of the smoke at that point rises quickly, providing a good stopping point.

Conclusion

The Espinosa Reggae is quite unorthodox as flavors go, which isn’t necessarily a problem. The flaw is that what the Reggae has in complexity it lacks in balance and harmony. For most of the smoke, the flavors rarely complement one another.  I’d be curious to know how much of this is due to the Jamaican tobacco, but either way, Espinosa has much better product on the market.

Final Rating: 82

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