Los Blancos Robosto Criollo 5 x 52
 

Wrapper: Habano Criollo grown in Honduras

Binder: Nic or Hon

Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran

I have been looking forward to smoking this cigar for several weeks now.  I have had it stashed away in my humidor waiting for a rainy day outside where it was cool enough for me to have an enjoyable smoke. Well, it’s raining and I am about to start smoking.

As with all of the Los Blancos Premium line of cigars this one comes with a double band on it; one at the head and one at the foot.  The wrapper is just the perfect shade of dark tan and it looks great.
 

Criollo wrappers are supposed to be for the more discerning cigar aficionado but according to their website this cigar is: “RICH in flavor and FULL in body. Smooth yet Robust!”   We shall see.

The cigar was very easy to light up.  I first notice a spicy taste to it.  It wasn’t full of pepper like many strong cigars are; just a in your face spiciness.  I like it.   As advertised, it does have a strong taste to it, but it is not an overpowering taste.

It has a full rich flavor of cedar and the smoke will set your nostrils aflame.  I have been smoking some milder cigars lately so it is refreshing to smoke a fuller bodied cigar.  The ash is holding on great. It has a nice dirty white color to it.

The taste has remained quite even throughout.  It is quite a smooth smoke.  I am always a bit skeptical about what the cigar companies say about their own smokes.  They, of course, think the world of their own line of cigars, but the problem is that very few times does their own hype live up to the cigar.

In this case, the Criollo cigar from Los Blancos has surprised me.  As cigars go, it is cheaper than the highly rated Criollo from CAO and I would have to say it is just as good if not better than the CAO version.

If you have a cigar you would like for me to review e-mail me at jbyrd@buydominicancigars.com and I would be happy to review it for you.

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade

Binder: Honduran

Filler: Nicaraguan

Manufactured in Esteli Nicaragua

I am quite excited about reviewing the next few cigars.  Los Blancos Cigar Company has sent me a sampler pack for me to review.  I have already reviewed their maduro line and I liked it, so this should be a good experience for me.

I have already written the company info in my last review on Los Blancos so you can check it out there or you can look it up on their website at www.losblancos.com.  As far as cigar websites go, I think this is one of the best. It has a nice section on their family roots and the site is very easy to navigate.

Today I am going to be smoking the Los Blancos Rebosto 5 x 52 with a Connecticut shade wrapper.  The cigar looks great.  The wrapper is as smooth as silk. Aesthetically, the cigar is perfect.  Los blancos double bands their wrapper which usually annoys me, but this band is at the foot of the cigar and is very easy to remove without tearing the wrapper, so I can deal with the double band.

The cigar was a bit hard to light but that was my fault.  I butchered the whole lighting process.  It is nice outside so I decided to smoke it in the great outdoors…well, the wind was up and made it a bit difficult to keep the match burning so it started to burn fast at the tip and I had an uneven burn…Thankfully, this cigar is good enough to correct itself after I set it down.

We are burning nice and even now.  This cigar smokes a lot.  It is like an engine that has blown a head.  That is a good thing; at least it is to me.  In the beginning it tasted very peppery, but that died down quickly.  Now, it has a nice mellowness to it.  I don’t mean to say it is tasteless like a Helix cigar or Macanudo, but it isn’t strong.  I would say this is a mild smoke with a medium taste.
 
It does have a good flavor to it.  The Nicaraguan tobacco brings out a certain robustness that I like to find in a cigar yet it is not overpowering.  This Robosto is holding the ash quite nicely and it maintains a nice even burn.  There is a dark ring line around the ash.  It taste as if the tobacco has been aged for quite a while.  I haven’t noticed any harshness to it, which is further evidence of the aging.

The suggested price for a box of the Los Blancos Connecticut Robosto’s is $124.00 and 24 cigars come to a box.  You can check here and see if you have a local retailer that is selling this cigar.
 
Overall, I would give this cigar a high mark. It has retained its mellow smoothness throughout the entire cigar and it would make a good addition to your humidor.

Soon, I will be reviewing the Los Blancos Sumatra wrapper Robosto, Los Blancos, Criollo Robosto, and a new bundle line they have developed.  Check back to see the new reviews in the next week.
 
If you have a cigar you would like for me to review shoot me an e-mail at jbyrd@buydominicancigars.com

Cuban Seed Habano Tobaccos

Wrapper: Sun-Grown Nicaraguan Habano

Binder: Nicaraguan Habano

Filler: Nicaraguan Habano

Aged Five Years

Everyone who has ever read one of my reviews knows I have a certain panache for the Oliva family of cigars.  I just love them for some reason. I love Nicaraguan tobacco and in my opinion, Oliva, is the crème de la crème of Nicaraguan tobacco.  So I am biased toward them and this review might be a bit biased, but it is my cigar and I will say whatever the heck I want to about it…

For starters it has a wonderful wrapper on it.  Small veins with a habano look to it, the wrapper certainly lives up to the five year aging.  It looks great.  For this cigar tasting I bought the torpedo, which is my custom, and it looks ready to smoke, so here we go.

It had a nice clean cut to it.  The tobacco’s stayed together and the pre-draw was filled with spice.  After lighting it, the spiciness really came out.  This is very spicy and peppery in the beginning.  It was pretty easy to light and it seems to be holding the ashes very well.

It has a nice even burn with a dark ring around it.  You can tell this is aged tobacco.  The O serie from Oliva is supposed to use five year old aged Cuban seed Habano leaves to make this a Nicaraguan Puro.  They grow the wrapper, binder, and fillers in different regions of Nicaragua to produce the complex flavor of the cigar.  With the proper blending they have created a full bodied smoke.  They also age their cigars for at least five years to allow all the flavors to come together leaving you with a full bodied smoke that is extra smooth.

Midway through the cigar one of the things I notice the most is the relatively smoothness of the tobacco.  It is burning nice and slow and producing ample amounts of smoke.  It taste of cedar but only a hint of it.  The taste blend together quite well so it is difficult to distinguish them.  For me, this is sheer bliss.

Overall, this is a great cigar.  I paid $5 for this stick and it is worth ever penny of it.  Go down to your tobacconist and buy one and you will see for yourself why the Oliva family is one of the most renowned families in tobacco.  They know there stuff.

You can visit the Oliva family cigar website at www.olivacigar.com.  They have some info about their cigars and about their company.  The website is easy to use and is very attractive.

If you have a cigar you would like for me to review send me an e-mail to jbyrd@buydominicancigars.com.

Savinelli Fuerte Liga Especial

Size: 6 x 52 Torpedo

Tobacco:

Wrapper: Dark Aged Corojo

Binder & Filler: Nicaraguan

Savinelli Fuerte Liga Especial is a new line from Tobacco Puros who is the maker of Savinelli as well as the makers of Joya De Nicaragua which is the most well known Nicaraguan cigar.  The Savinelli Fuerte’s got a 91 in Cigar insider and was is higher than some modern day Cubans.  This cigar certainly has a lot of hype to it and I hope it lives up to it. 

This cigar has two bands on it.  I only mention it because that has always bugged me.  I mean, if I want to smoke more than half of it I am going to have to remove it and then you risk tearing the wrapper.  This one didn’t tear, so I am still content with it. 

The dark and oily Corojo looks ravishing on this cigar.  The very thin veins with the oily sheen just make it look great.  There seems to be a good amount of tobacco in the cigar and I didn’t notice any blemishes on it.

The cigar cut very well.  It has a nice clean line to it and there isn’t any tobacco trying to escape.  This fuerte was a bit difficult to light.  Maybe it was over humidified or something, but it didn’t want to take to the match.  Due to this, the first taste that reached my palette was rather harsh and it was difficult to keep the cigar in my mouth.  Nevertheless, I did manage to get it going and decided to sit it down for a spell to let it cool off.

The beginning wasn’t good for me, but it is a ton better now.  There is a rich full taste that is perfect for after dinner.  This is most definitely a full bodied smoke with it robust Nicaraguan fillers.  It produces a decent amount of smoke and to top it all, it doesn’t burn quickly.  This seems to be a good full body cigar that takes a while to smoke.

After the initial light up, the taste has been quite smooth and even; there is a taste of coffee and earthiness to it that is quite pleasing.  This is definitely a cigar you are going to want to sit down and enjoy making sure you are taking your time.  As strong as the cigar is, you will not want to be puffing away on it like a chain smoker.  It is a delicate smoke that needs attention and if you have the time, and money, then you are going to have a great time and a good smoke.

If you have a cigar you would like for me to review or just a cigar question in general just send me an e-mail to jbyrd@buydominicancigars.com. 

The Basics:

Name: Camacho Corojo Figurado 54 x 6 1/8

Tobacco: Wrapper, Binder, and Filler are all Authentic Jamastran Corojo grown in the Jamastran valley of Honduras

I am always attracted to the torpedo or the Figurado shapes of cigars.  When I think of a cigar, that is what always comes to my mind.  Besides the fact that they just look great, these shapes always seem to smoke better. They offer a large ring gauge which gives you the most tobacco thereby insuring you get the best flavor and they just look cool. 

This cigar in particular, Camacho Corojo, is jam packed with tobacco yet you still can tell that the draw is going to be fine just from squeezing it a bit.  Oh yeah, don’t let your tobacconist catch you doing that…they don’t like your oily hands on their fine puros.  

I used a double bladed cutter on it and it cut super smooth and, pre-light, the draw is great, so I don’t expect much trouble from this one.  Upon lighting, I noticed an intense spiciness to it right off the bat; very peppery tasting. I put the cigar down for about a minute or two and the pepper taste went away.  The smoke is much smoother now.  It has a nice full taste to it, but it isn’t overpowering anymore.

The cigar seems to be put together quite well.  There is a lot of tobacco as I have already mentioned and the draw is great.  The wrapper is a nice brown that looks a bit dried out, but it isn’t.  The cigar produces a good amount of smoke but I think it is burning a bit too fast.

I should mention that if you have a problem smoking stronger cigars try them with a glass of cold ice tea.  This might just be a southern thing, but a glass of cold, sweet ice tea not only cools you off, it takes away from the cigar’s strong taste.  Many times I have noted that tea can actually make the cigar taste quite a lot better.  Something in the tea lets your palette taste the subtle textures of the cigar better.

Camacho offers quite a few different types of cigars and they are rated quite well.  You can visit their website at www.comachocigars.com.  I love their website.  They have a very good section on their roots in the tobacco industry and a section on following the plants from seedling to the finished product at your tobacconist.

I had the pleasure of talking with one of the local reps in the Memphis area back last fall (05)  and found him both to be very knowledgeable about their cigars, which is what you would expect from a sales rep, but he was also very passionate about them which you don’t always see from reps.  He believes this is the best cigar and he gave me a cigar to prove it.  He also pointed out that the Camacho Corojo is the only authentic Corojo cigar and that they control every aspect of the cigar process which enables them to make sure their cigars meet their exacting standards.

Half way through this cigar is still smoking great.  I would say this is a medium/full body smoke with a great taste.  It is still producing volumes of smoke and burning quite well for being outside in the wind.

Towards the end of the smoke I did notice it to be a bit stronger and more robust.  I would recommend eating before you smoke this cigar as it will not sit well on an empty stomach.

Overall, I really like this cigar. The MSRP on this cigar is $5.95 which would place it in an ocean of cigars that price.  I would buy this cigar again and would give it my recommendation.  It is much better than many of the cigars I have review recently and it is a ton better than the Montecristo I reviewed last time. Not to mention it was a lot cheaper as well.  

As always, if you have a cigar that you want me to review you can e-mail me at jbyrd@buydominicancigars.com and I would be happy to post a review for you.  

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can smoke a cigar that you usually love and one day it just doesn’t taste right?  Sometimes, this is due to the cigar being a dog, but quite often something else is working on the cigar and you don’t even realize it. What is this x factor?  Well, that is what this article is about so sit down and light up and learn some about some chemistry.

I am not a chemist and frankly, most chemist are quite boring and for anyone to read this article it can’t be boring…of course, by the time you finish reading it you might think I have missed my calling and if that is the case, I can always go back to college and learn some alchemy.

Tobacco is a plant. DUH!  A tropical plant at that and just like any plant, it requires delicate attention to details to keep it alive and well.  Cigars are alive and well.  The tobacco itself isn’t “alive” anymore but like a seed that dies to bring us trees the tobacco must die to bring us cigars ( kinda like a tree must die to give us toilette paper).  The cigar is alive in the sense that there are certain properties that are going on in that little thingy.  Proper moisture levels are a must as well as proper temperature controls.
 

There are quite a few different things that affect the cigars, but today we are not going to be focusing on the externals.  The internal aspect of cigar smoking is what we are talking about today.  Just as there are many different external things that effect the taste of the smoke, so is the internals such as, mood, empty stomach, full stomach, what you eat, what you are drinking, stressed, relaxed, outside temperature, relative state of mind, etc. and of course the list can go on and on.
 

I know that when I review a cigar I try to make sure I am already relaxed and the temperature is very comfortable.  I try to make sure I am only drinking water so that the true taste of the tobacco comes through.  I also try to make sure that I am not hungry, nor have I just eaten.  Basically, to review a cigar, you have to make sure that you can keep all of the internals and the externals as close to perfect as possible.  Of course, this is often impractical because if I could just turn off stress like a light switch I would be have already marketed that switch and would be sitting on an island smoking a cigar and not writing this article.

As such, I am human and can’t control all my circumstance and all of my internal feelings.  Just remember this that you too are human…I think… and as such everything will affect the way the cigar taste to you.  One cigar that you hated on one day could be wonderful the next day because your internals are working better.  Now, if the cigars externals are a dog, then it will smoke like a dog no matter if you are in a great state of mind or not.  BUT, if we take for granted that you don’t buy cheap pathetic cigars and that the general construction is pretty good, the main factor is going to be how it taste and smokes to you.

When I go out and purchase an expensive cigar I always try to save it for a time in which I feel like everything is going great.  Usually, the cigar, always, taste much better for some reason.  I have smoked a usually great cigar one day when I really wasn’t in the mood for it and, you know, it tasted pretty bad.  Next time you pick out your smoke take time to consider your body and what type of mood you are in. It always helps me to enjoy my smokes more when I am a generous and happy mood.

If you are in a great mood and the cigar is a dog…well, write it off on your taxes as a un-reimbursed work expense….at least this way you get something out of it.

The basic Padron cigar sizes include:

Churchills

Padron Executives

Londres

4000s

3000s

There are many other types of Padron Cigars to choose from with some preferring the natural wrappers over the Maduro wrapper and vice versa. There are Padron Cigars that are designed for short, savory smokes while others are intended to be savored for longer periods of time. There are long cigars and short cigars, so determining your favorite Padron Cigar really might take some time and sampling each and every Padron Cigar you can.

The basic Padron cigar sizes include:

Churchills

Padron Executives

Londres

4000s

3000s

There are many other types of Padron Cigars to choose from with some preferring the natural wrappers over the Maduro wrapper and vice versa. There are Padron Cigars that are designed for short, savory smokes while others are intended to be savored for longer periods of time. There are long cigars and short cigars, so determining your favorite Padron Cigar really might take some time and sampling each and every Padron Cigar you can.

Only the best tobacco is used in a Padron Cigar, not to mention an amazing amount of time and a lifelong commitment to providing cigar smokers the type of cigar they can always count on.
There are some Padron Cigars that have a creation time of approximately five years. That is a long time to create one cigar, but the Padron Company is not worried about time because they have plenty of patience. Also, time is what makes the Padron Cigars as good as they are and it is necessary for the company to be proud of their product.

One particular famous Padron Cigar is the Padron Maduro. In fact, the cigar market measures all other Maduro cigars against the Padron Maduro. The reason why is because the Padron Maduro is exceptional and made with a hand cultivated Maduro wrapper. Picking the best tobacco leaves from the fields ensures high quality cigars every time. Then the torcedores, who are Cuban trained and know how to create an outstanding cigar, begin their work. After they are done the cigars are watched while they age for at least three years. The amount of time involved in creating the Padron Maduro means there are not a lot of these cigars out there. However, the ones that are are sure to be outstanding and coveted by all cigar aficionados.  

Cigar connoisseurs are very aware of the Padron line of cigars. The name boasts quality and consistency and this is exceptionally important for cigar manufacturers interested in creating a fine cigar. The Padron Cigar company is dedicated to producing outstanding cigars each and every year. They never skimp on time or effort and the result is certainly worth the price tag of the cigars. Certainly, not everyone can afford Padron Cigars because they are a bit pricey. Nevertheless, the price reflects years of dedication and effort to creating one cigar for the smoking pleasure of its purchaser.

When it comes to Padron Cigars there are few other manufacturers in the world that have a dedication to quality like the Padron family does. You will find in today’s society many companies, including cigar companies, take short cuts in order to increase the bottom line. However Padron never rushes its product and always ensures the best of the best cigars are produced for the smoking pleasure of their customers. Because of this dedication Padron Cigars have been around more than 100 years and will likely be around 100 more.

Only the best tobacco is used in a Padron Cigar, not to mention an amazing amount of time and a lifelong commitment to providing cigar smokers the type of cigar they can always count on.
There are some Padron Cigars that have a creation time of approximately five years. That is a long time to create one cigar, but the Padron Company is not worried about time because they have plenty of patience. Also, time is what makes the Padron Cigars as good as they are and it is necessary for the company to be proud of their product.

One particular famous Padron Cigar is the Padron Maduro. In fact, the cigar market measures all other Maduro cigars against the Padron Maduro. The reason why is because the Padron Maduro is exceptional and made with a hand cultivated Maduro wrapper. Picking the best tobacco leaves from the fields ensures high quality cigars every time. Then the torcedores, who are Cuban trained and know how to create an outstanding cigar, begin their work. After they are done the cigars are watched while they age for at least three years. The amount of time involved in creating the Padron Maduro means there are not a lot of these cigars out there. However, the ones that are are sure to be outstanding and coveted by all cigar aficionados.  

Cigar connoisseurs are very aware of the Padron line of cigars. The name boasts quality and consistency and this is exceptionally important for cigar manufacturers interested in creating a fine cigar. The Padron Cigar company is dedicated to producing outstanding cigars each and every year. They never skimp on time or effort and the result is certainly worth the price tag of the cigars. Certainly, not everyone can afford Padron Cigars because they are a bit pricey. Nevertheless, the price reflects years of dedication and effort to creating one cigar for the smoking pleasure of its purchaser.

When it comes to Padron Cigars there are few other manufacturers in the world that have a dedication to quality like the Padron family does. You will find in today’s society many companies, including cigar companies, take short cuts in order to increase the bottom line. However Padron never rushes its product and always ensures the best of the best cigars are produced for the smoking pleasure of their customers. Because of this dedication Padron Cigars have been around more than 100 years and will likely be around 100 more.