cigar review

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Cigar Review: “Cigar Landing” Maduro house blend Lonsdale

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"Cigar Landing" Maduro house blend

Today was my 22nd birthday. I spent my day (9am – 11:00pm) busy with classes, work, and then debate practice. As I was heading back to my apartment from the Fulton St. subway stop, I decided to drop by Cyber Coffee and Cigar Bar.  After taking a look at the available sticks, I decided to go with a “Cigar Landing” house blend (the cafe has loose ties to the cigar maker’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan).  I didn’t have much else to do, so I decided to do a quick review of the stick.

The bar carry a variety of the bar’s house blend, and I went with the medium-full bodied Maduro. The stick turned out to be more of a medium bodied smoke – heavy smoke, but not harsh, abrasive, or heavy at all. Below are my notes:

Size: Lonsdale
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Dominican
Price: $9

Prelight: The wrapper on this cigar is a very attractive dark brown. There are, however, a few minor imperfections, enough to be immediately noticeable.  The stick smells earthy and sweet. Not many distinctive flavors on the prelight draw, but the draw itself is perfect.  I’m not a huge fan of the label – it is attractive, but only moderately so.  The fact that New York is mentioned though is a plus in my mind.

Smoking Characteristics and Flavor: The first thing that I notice is that this is not a medium-full bodied smoke as I heard described. It is a very solid medium. There was no discernable spice on this cigar, which surprised me considering the presence of Nicaraguan tobacco (probably just a presumption born of ignorance on my part).  As far as taste goes, this cigar opened with a very earthy, sweet, but slightly bitter taste (not to be confused with harshness). Throughout the first third, the bitterness continually picked up, which brought the bitterness from a nice complimentary flavor to a minor annoyance.  As the cigar progressed into 2/3, some nuttiness emerged and the sweetness becomes a distinctive mocha.  The ash is still white, and the construction remains solid in terms of the burn.  Unfortunately, this cigar was difficult to get smoke out of in the last half, which meant that the smoke became way hotter than it needed to be.  I wasn’t exactly sad when I finished the cigar, which isn’t really the best indication of quality – the smoke was simply too hot and smoking had become a chore.

Overall Impression: This cigar started pretty well, and I enjoyed the flavors, but I really can’t stand cigars that become chores to smoke.  The second half of the cigar was so difficult to get smoke from that I had to overheat the tobacco, causing it to lose flavor value. Overall, it wasn’t a bad smoke, but for $9 I probably won’t be trying the maduro again.  This cigar reminded me a lot of the Quintero Maduro – except the Quintero was more solid in terms of taste and construction, and about the same price.  If I’m looking for the same kind of smoke in the future (and I will) – I’ll probably go with the Quintero.

Final Score: 7.5/10

Disclaimer: I’ve only had one cigar from this brand, so my experience may not be characteristic of the brand – I did notice though looking at the other sticks that construction was a bit shoddy in general.

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Cigar Review: Berger & Argenti Entubar Robusto

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Launched in August of 2009 Berger & Argenti as a collaboration between Don Kiki Berger of Cuban Crafters and Albert and Michael Argenti of Cuban Imports, Inc. The Entubar is their flag ship cigar and it is rolled in the traditional method of entubar, which it gets it name from.  According to Berger & Argenti this cigar is “a tribute to the time-honored Cuban cigar making technique.” The process is carried out by “creating delicate ‘scrolls’ of rich, flavorful tobacco” and bunching them within the binder and wrapper.  On this cigar there is a 1/4″ roll of tobacco extending from the foot.  This is all of the Ligero tobacco used in this cigar.  There is also a footband that warns against not toasting the foot enough before you light it.  Now, on to the cigar.

Berger & Argenti Entubar Robusto

Size: 5″ x 50
Wrapper: Deflorado Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican

Pre-Light: The Ecuadorian Connecticut Wrapper on this cigar is beautiful.  It isn’t that oily and in fact has a slight dryness to the touch. When I smell the wrapper I didn’t pick up anything discernible. Obviously the most obvious feature while inspecting this cigar is the 1/4″ roll of tobacco that is protruding from the foot.  When I smell the foot I pick up a little chocolate and not much else.  The cigar seems well put together and it is just begging to be smoked.

Smoking Characteristics: After thoroughly toasting the foot at the advisory warning on the foot band instructed me to I took my first puffs two things came to mind: 1) The draw is impeccable and 2) the medium-bodied smoke that filled my mouth was very tasty.

Flavor: This cigar is like a three-act play, with definite distinctions and changes as the cigar progresses.  The first “act” started out creamy and smooth with notes of roasted nuts and a little grassiness. About halfway through the cigar there was a distinct shift from the creamy and smooth to a little more spicy.  The roasted nuts was still there but a cayenne pepper type spice began to appear.  The smoke seemed to not be as creamy, instead it had a velvety quality to it that coated my palette.  And finally with an inch and a half to go the Berger & Argenti Entubar became very full bodied and picked up the intensity another notch.  The spiciness came to the forefront of the flavors and was very bold and in your face.  This was a nice way for the cigar to finish.  With only a little bit left to smoke you don’t have to put up with the bold spiciness for very long if you don’t want to.

Overall Impression:  This is the second size of this cigar that I have tried and I have loved every second of both of them.  You don’t come across a cigar very often that has extremely distinctive changes, but this one did.  I am definitely going to be picking more of these up for my humidor very soon and I highly recommend them to anybody.  They can be a little hard to find but if you can don’t waste any time in picking up at least one.

Final Score: 9/10 – Amazing Cigar

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Cigar Review: Illusione Epernay Le Ferme

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Photo courtesy of illusionecigars.com

For a company that has been producing premium cigars for less than 10 years, Illusione has become a mini powerhouse in the industry.  Dion Giolito, the owner and founder of Illusione, started out in the cigar business and decided to come out with his own brand and his cigars have made quite the splash.   The Epernay line of cigars debuted in 2008 as the ECCJ 15th limited release (in honor of the 15th anniversary of the European Cigar Cult Journal). The cigar is now offered in 5 different sizes. Now on to the cigar at hand.

Illusione Epernay Le Ferme
Size: 48 x 5 1/4″
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Cafe Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo
Origin: Honduras

Pre-Light: As I go through my pre-smoke progression I note that the construction is solid, not tight, but solid with no soft spots to cause concern along the body.  There were no discernible aromas on the foot and the body, but as I took a dry draw I got clear hay and cedar flavors.  The draw on this cigar was perfect.

Smoking Characteristics: This cigar continued to have a great draw throughout the entire smoke.  It also remained cool and never got harsh which is always a welcome characteristic for any cigar to have. This cigar produced mouthfuls of smooth, thick smoke, which doesn’t really effect my opinion of the cigar but it it a personal preference of mine to have nice thick smoke.

Flavor: The prominent flavor in this cigar is hay.  Throughout the entire smoke the hay is underlying flavor and the other flavors that present themselves are layered on top of that.  As I started to smoke this there was a lot of spice.  In the retrohale, I was getting that same spice but also a little cedar.  That spice was strong until an inch into the cigar when it tapered off. Once the spice was done the more subtle flavors were able to be detected.  The other flavors that were woven throughout this cigar were cedar, roasted nuts, oakiness, and a touch of sweetness.

Overall Impression: I would classify this cigar as mild – medium in strength with big flavor, therefore, it would be the perfect cigar for anytime of the day.  The Epernay burned perfectly and never got bitter.  This is in my regular rotation and whether you smoke mild cigars or full cigars you should definitely check it out.

Final Score: 8/10 – A great cigar

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Cigar Review – Tatuaje P4 Churchill

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Tatuaje P4 – Churchill

The Tatuaje P4 – Click to enlarge

The Tatuaje P4 Churchill that I enjoyed this evening was a strange cigar. Lots of highs, and about as many lows. From what I’ve read from other reviewers, P4 line cigars are normally medium bodied cigars.  Tonights stick just couldn’t seem to decide whether it was a mild, medium, or full-bodied cigar. Throughout the smoke, I took notes on the flavor, aroma, and construction of the cigar.
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First third of the cigar - Click to enlarge

– Before lighting, I took note of the construction of the cigar. Seems to be very well put together, the texture of the wrapper is smooth and solid. The smell of the Nicaraguan wrapper is light and sweet. Feels like it is going to be a pretty mild smoke.

– Lighting the cigar is a bit harsh, though I’ve found that to be somewhat typical among lighter cigars. The taste is noticeably sweet, with a hint of spice to it. The aroma of the smoke is pleasantly sweet – strong, but not overpowering. Also a hint of woodiness.
– About a quarter of the way through, the burn is solid – construction seems very good. The burn is creating a great ash that is mainly white with lines of grey. The wrapper smells great on the pull and complements the taste well.

Half-way - Click to enlarge

– About half-way through, the cigar is taking on more spice to the taste and aroma. Just past halfway, the sweetness has continued to be replaced by spiciness – a bit too much for my taste, and I don’t like the hint of acidity that is emerging. The burn, however, has remained almost flawless.

– The last third is taking on a harshness that I do not like. This could be a sign of the filler being underpacked. The cigar doesn’t seem to want to cool down, and has started burning more quickly. The acidity and over-spiciness is making me want to retire this cigar, and if it doesn’t correct, I will. On a positive note, my black lab Toby just came outside and seemed to be enjoying the aroma – ultra spicy and harsh though it is.

The last third as the sun goes down - Click to enlarge

– Just when I’m about to put this cigar down for good, the sweetness characteristic of the first half returns like an old friend. The harshness isn’t fully gone, but it is starting to draw down. I decide to finish the cigar, and the last quarter surprises me by redeeming the last ten minutes or so of smoking.  The harshness has drawn almost completely to a close, the wonderful woody sweetness is back, and it has cooled down dramatically.

Final note: “Mixed feelings.”

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Conclusion:

At $4 a stick, the Tatuaje P4 Churchill was almost what I expected. The construction was a huge plus, and the way it burned was encouraging. The strength of the spiciness and emerging harshness in the last half, however, made it a frustrating smoke. The cigar teetered between mild-medium body and full-body, and that lack of consistency brought the level of enjoyment way down. The fact that it toned down near the end was nice, but not enough for me to give this cigar high marks.

Of course, I should disclaim that I have only had this particular stick once, so I cannot definitively caution readers away from this cigar – but I don’t plan on spending the money on it again.

I rate this cigar a B-

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