El Triunfador #5

Reviewed by Dan at   Crooked Burn

Dan at Crooked Burn does a good job reviewing the series of the latest El Triunfador smokes from Pete Johnson.
Read the full review here…

EO 601 Red Label

Reviewed by Matthew at  Toasted Foot

9.1 seems quite a good mark for this cigar from United Tobacco.
Read the full review here…
Read our take on the EO 601 Red…

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Santiago, DR 12 March 2010 As with their very successful Preferidos, Cien Años and 1495, La Aurora has taken their time in the next step in their 107 year history as Dominican’s oldest cigar maker.

“We had defined our goal early on,” said Guillermo Leon, La Aurora VP, “and that was to bring the smokers a medium bodied, richly flavoured smoke with a fair amount of spice – at a very attractive price.”

Using Dominican, Nicaraguan and Ecuadorian tobaccos, the blending process went through dozens of iterations before achieving a cigar that brings a balanced flavour that is peppery, sweet and provides toasty notes.

According to Vice President, José Blanco, the cigars are being packed in boxes of twenty-one (21) and will come in three (3) sizes priced from $6 to $8:

• Robusto (4.5 x 50)
• Toro (5.5 x 54)
• Belicoso (6.25 x 52)

“I firmly believe we have a smoke, providing excellent flavour, strength and balance,” José Blanco told a gathering of cigar aficionados at a dinner in New York, “that matches the standards we have adhered to in creating the other great cigars that have brought us high regard and high ratings.”

The cigar, named La Aurora 107 in honour of the company’s 107 years in business, will be released in a series of steps, commencing 1 April. “In conjunction with Guillermo and Jose we have planned an exciting series of events to introduce tobacconists and their customers to this cigar,” Nestor Miranda said at the same gathering in New York City.

“As for the name, La Aurora 107, following on the heels of Cien Años, which marked the company’s 100th anniversary,” Leon told the group, “it was decided to keep it simple and meaningful… and easy to remember, hence, La Aurora 107 – La Aurora’s 107th year!”

La Aurora’s distributor, Miami Cigar & Company, has announced that the new cigar will only be available in brick and mortar tobacconists.

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• Chuck won the 10-cigar sampler consisting of premium cigars
• kenballone won a $12 Amazon gift certificate

Congrats to the winners! I will e-mail you tonight, so make sure the e-mail doesn’t end up in the spam folder :) As usual, stay tuned for more contests!

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Origin : United States
Format : Perla
Size : 4.25 x 40
Wrapper : Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$95 for a box of 20
More info about purchasing: Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic cigars

After last week’s debacle with the Series JJ White Label I usually would have put Don Pepin’s products out of my lineup for at least a short while to get the sour taste out of my mouth and intended to do just that. Shortly after writing the review, however, I received gifts from two separate individuals and each contained a Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Blend. Neither had read the Series JJ review and although this blend is not uncommon, I found it an interesting coincidence that they would both send a stick from the line. Always on the lookout for shorter smokes, I put the Perla 1952 size in my desktop humidor to rest and stowed the larger in my coolidor.

Five days later, I found myself staring into my humidor in an attempt to determine which victim would meet my torch that day. While scanning over the various smokes, my eyes kept coming back to the Black Label I had just added. Although I almost never smoke a shipped stick without at least a week’s rest, I felt myself continually compelled to pull this one out to compare to the White Label from last week. Finally giving in, I removed the small stick and closed the humidor lid.

The Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Blend sports the same ornate band that the Series JJ does with the exception that the background is black instead of white. Not surprisingly, this design has not grown on me within the past week; it still seemed a bit overdone. The wrapper, however, is quite smooth with only faint veins being visible. Most of these are so slight that they do not even protrude from the barrel’s surface. I am quite impressed with the cap on this one because it is very clean with three sharp lines defining the triple layering. Inspection of the foot reveals a uniform fill with very little in the way of large veins/stems. Tentatively pinching the length of the stick reveals no soft spots whatsoever. The cigar has a slight give but always bounces back. Overall, the construction is very promising.

Cutting the cap was effortless and very clean. Prelight, the draw is much tighter than the Series JJ, which combined with the solid fill, is likely to provide a steady, controlled smoke. Taking a couple of cold draws, I find myself met with the same hay, grass, white pepper and cherry wood notes as in the Series JJ but in a slightly different array. Where the White Label was rather flat, outside of a very mild sweetness and hay profile, the Black Label has a much stronger white pepper taste. The cherry wood also leaves a more pronounced sweetness on the tongue and lips. Something nutty is in the background as well, similar to oatmeal.

On lighting, the small cigar toasts quickly and soon has a nice red ash going. The tightness of the draw compliments the sharp burn, leaving behind a tight white gray ash in its wake. Initial puffs amplify the cherry wood flavor that was found during the prelight. Through the course of the cigar I had a hard time placing why this was so familiar but finally I had it. It reminds me of the Swisher Sweets wood tipped cigars that we used to smoke as teenagers camping and fishing. Before you completely give up on this stick and my reviewing abilities however, let me explain.

Although the flavors are similar, they are by no means the same. Where Swisher Sweets uses the cherry flavored wood tip to mask the inferior quality of their tobacco, Don Pepin’s blend utilizes the flavor from the tobacco to actually compliment the rest of the blend. Earth tones and white pepper cut the initial sweetness while each of those flavors asserts itself. These three strive for dominance through about the first third of the stick.

At about the second third the flavors stop competing and blend together into a balanced, albeit complex, smoke. The sweetness fades here and the cherry wood morphs into cedar. A short while later I was confronted by an odd, almost soapy, feeling on my tongue and pallet. Finding myself quite put off by this sensation, having never experienced it before, I set the smoke down to rest for a minute to see if the fault lied with smoking too fast and letting the smaller cigar get too hot.

Picking it back up and purging brought back the sweet cherry flavors and thankfully, got rid of the soapy sensation. The cherry is short lived and replaced by a stronger black pepper that is very enjoyable. This pepper remained for the final third and was accompanied by a bit dryer smoke. There was no problem smoking this one down within the last inch or so.

Overall, this small stick was leaps and bounds ahead of the Series JJ reviewed last week. The blend is stronger and more complex. The construction was significantly improved and not having to wrestle with the cigar at every turn proved quite an enjoyable experience. Although I may have gotten lucky with this Cuban Blend (or unlucky with the Series JJ) the improved flavor and somewhat cheaper price point would persuade me to grab for one of the Cuban Blend Black Labels over the Series JJ White Labels. The sweetness will not appeal to everyone but I would recommend picking up one of these shorter Cuban Blends to experiment with.

Appearance : 3.5 out of 5 stars
Construction : 4 out of 5 stars
Flavor : 4 out of 5 stars
Value : 4.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating : 4 out of 5 stars

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As I stated in my best cigar books post, proceeds from sale of books would be given back to one lucky reader in the form of a gift certificate. Here is the first one, for the month of December. It is a gift card for $12.00 that can be redeemed on Amazon.com (doesn’t work on .co.uk or .fr).

Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in the draw. The winner will be announced on Friday, along with the winner of the 10-pack sampler (you still have time to enter that contest, too)!

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Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Churchill
Size : 7 x 48
Wrapper : Nicaragua
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$7 each, $129 for a box of 20
More info about purchasing Cuban Crafters Cubano Claro cigars...

Today I am reviewing a Nicaraguan puro from Cuban Crafters, the Cubano Claro. It is made from Cuban-seed long-filler from the Cupido tobacco field, all enveloped in a Connecticut Desflorado wrapper. Desflorado tobacco is apparently very expensive and difficult to roll. I have had them resting in my humidor for about 3 months now. Here is how the smoke went.

Appearance : 3.5 out of 5 stars
The cigar has a somewhat rustic and coarse looking wrapper. It is pretty bumpy with several large veins. The label is understated but that is okay, you do not smoke the label.

Construction : 4.5 out of 5 stars
The cigar was well packed with tobacco and exhibited no soft spots as well. I clipped the cigar and took my prelight draw which was pretty loose. This was surprising given how tightly packed it felt.
The burn was excellent with zero corrections needed. The burn line was razor sharp although somewhat wavy. The ash was dark gray and flaky. The ash fell off easily however after less than an inch or when just setting it into the ash tray.

Flavor : 4 out of 5 stars
I did my prelight sniff of the cigar and it smelled of sweet tobacco. It lit very easily. The initial taste was of just tobacco and pepper. The retrohale was very spicy and burned my nose a little… Just tobacco and cedar tastes with a peppery note. It produced lots of thick white smoke. The flavor stayed long on the pallet. In the second third the spiciness dropped off and it became just woody and cedar flavored. It was still spicy on retro. It could use a little more depth but it was enjoyable. Final third is woody and it became somewhat harsh near the end.

Value : 4 out of 5 stars
For $7 a stick I think these are an okay cigar. I do see them on sale from time to time and I find them to be a better value then. It smoked for a good 90-100 minutes easily.

Overall Rating : 4 out of 5 stars
I did enjoy this cigar and it had a nice pepper note. As I stated above it was not overly complex but it was interesting enough that I did not find myself bored. The construction was excellent although not the prettiest stick at the dance. I say give them a shot, I do not think you would be disappointed.

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• I very much enjoyed the Avo Domaine Perfecto that I smoked last year. Although it’s not an example of complexity, this cigar is a quality smoke.
• Jamie from Zen Cigar recommends aging the Domaine a little; the robusto is one of his go-to cigars, providing lovely flavor and consistency.
• ER Doc at Cigar Outcast also recommends the perfecto to those who prefer medium to full-bodied cigars.

Where to get it?

Although these cigars are created by Davidoff, Avo Domaine do not command an outrageous price tag. Depending on the vitola, they are available at $6 and higher per stick. Compare the prices here.

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We’ve got a couple of minor updates for the site – first of all, the cigar reviews page now includes a search engine that lets you find reviews of a particular stick on several blogs. It’s better than Google as it excludes all the retailers and junk pages. If you don’t see your blog in the results, let us know.

Furthermore, CigarStash.com now has a newsletter, which will be released several times a month (4 times max) and will contain latest cigar news, sweet deals, site updates, etc.

Now the part you are most interested in, the giveaway. I recently won a contest run by Drew Estate. The prize is a sweet 10-pack that contains cigars from Davidoff, Avo and La Aurora, among others. Unfortunately for me and luckily for you, they can’t ship it outside the United States, so now you also have a chance to win it. Just subscribe to the CigarStash.com newsletter and leave a comment on this post to be entered in the draw. Obviously, you must be of legal smoking age and based in the United States to qualify.

Good luck! The winner will be announced next Friday. By the way, we’ve got another giveaway lined up for the next week, so make sure you are following our updates!

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Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Toro
Size : 6 x 52
Wrapper : Connecticut Broadleaf Ligero Oscuro
Filler : Honduran/Dominican
Binder : Brazil
Hand-Made
Price : $222.99 for a box of 25
More info about purchasing Liga Privada cigars...

La Liga Privada line is a very different type of approach to cigars from Drew Estates. Most everyone knows Drew Estates from their flavored line of cigars; however, the Liga Privada No. 9 is a true masterpiece. The brand was introduced back in 2007 in only one size (Parejo). The cigar comes in five shapes: Robusto (5 X 52); Torpedo (6 x 52); Double Corona (7 x 52); a very limited release Perfecto known as the Flying Pig (4.13 x 60); and today’s featured cigar the Toro. All cigars come in an oscuro wrapper.

Appearance : 5 out of 5 stars
The cigar’s color is a very dark chocolate. It has a very nice oily sheen, and the cigar feels oily in the hands. There are some visible veins but nothing to be concerned about.

The band looks very simple; it has “Liga Privada No. 9” written in a black cursive font. The background is offwhite, and on the top of the band, the phrase “Hecho Exclusivamente Para El Jefe” (Made Exclusively for the Boss) and “Parejo Oscuro.” The bottom of the band features the phrase “La Gran Fabrica Drew Estates S.A.” (The Great Drew Estates Factory). The trademarked lion seal is seen on the side of the band.

Construction : 4.5 out of 5 stars
The cigar looks like it just has two caps at the head. The cigar felt very firm to the touch. Halfway through the cigar, the cigar shows a bit of a soft touch, but it would not be considered a soft spot.

The ash was white and nicely packed. Throughout the smoke, the burn was very even. The cigar itself was not too smokey, and it rose and dissipated quickly. About an inch of ash was obtained before tapping it off in the ashtray.

The band was loose during the pre-light, so it was very easy to remove.

Flavor : 5 out of 5 stars
The wrapper had a subtle sweet smell with a hint of grass. I would have expected more pronounced scents coming off an oscuro wrapper. The foot also had a subtle sweet smell to it. The scent of the wrapper was definitely more noticeable than the foot of the cigar.

Because of the large ring gauge, a Palio guillotine cutter was used to cut the cigar. The pre-light draw had a very nice chocolate/coffee taste. The cigar also featured a very easy draw even for a 52 ring gauge and a fairly packed cigar. The taste to the tongue was salty and slightly spicy.

After lighting the cigar, and letting it come to a nice temperature, a whole slew of flavors just were noticeable. Leather, cacao, and a variety of spices coated the mouth. A smoke had a very nice and creamy feel to it.

After lighting the cigar, the first draw was spicy and peppery. This was the feeling through the first half although leathery notes were picked up towards the middle of the cigar. About an inch into the cigar, a touch of a sweet taste similar to a sweet dinner roll became apparent.

The second half of the cigar featured roasted nuts and outstanding tobacco notes. I was expecting to get a nice nicotine kick out of this cigar, but I never did. The flavors were very enjoyable.

Towards the end of the smoke, a slight bitterness started to overcome all of the great flavors, but it was still a great smoking experience.

Value : 5 out of 5 stars
The $9.00/stick cost is absolutely well worth the investment. This cigar gives you everything you want out of this price range: great looks, good construction, and unbelievable flavors.

Overall Rating : 5 out of 5 stars
This cigar can be summarized in one word: outstanding! I am not a big fan of flavored cigars, so I have not really pursued other Drew Estate cigars prior to this one. Jonathan Drew has a winner here, and another pleased cigar smoker. I will definitely pursue these cigar and try the other vitolas – I highly recommend everyone enjoy a La Liga Privada No. 9.

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Origin : United States
Format : Robusto
Size : 5 x 50
Wrapper : Nicaraguan Corojo Oscuro
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$6-7 each
More info about purchasing: Don Pepin Garcia JJ cigars

Today was yet another beautiful day in my tundra paradise. Not feeling like a particularly long smoke I reached for the Don Pepin Garcia JJ White Label that has been resting in my desktop for just over a month. I had been looking forward to this one for a while because I cannot seem to find enough smokes in the shorter vitolas.

First inspection shows a wrapper that is a bit more vein laden than I would like. Some of them are quite pronounced begging to affect razor edged burns. Despite this, the seams are unpronounced and the cap is nice and secure. Moving to the foot I notice two fairly pronounced dents that can only be described as pencil eraser sized divots. This leads me to believe that this one is under filled. Pinching from the head to the foot reveals a solid cigar with slight give. Unfortunately, there are two very significant soft spots. One is 2 inches from the foot and the other is right about where the larger band is located.

Moving onto the olfactory inspection reveals a fairly neutral smell at the foot. A slight note of grass or hay is present. Using my punch to pierce the cap produced two 1/16th inch cracks in the head. One on each side of the punch. Taking a prelgiht draw I find it to be quite loose. In fact there is no resistance at all on this one, almost like sucking through an empty straw. The neutral flavors from the front come across during the prelight draw as well. There is nothing very eventful. I notice a slight hint of cherrywood but other than that not much.

Pulling out my single torch I toast the foot and get a few puffs in. A very light leather flavor comes across. I enjoy the density of the smoke that this stick is producing at this point. After several more puffs a tasteful white pepper flavor shows itself but only briefly. It is at this point that the burn decides to take off on a horrible sprint. It begins to become quite wavy and visibly skewed on one side. After much turning and angling I manage to help it correct itself some but it still maintains its jagged appearance. Shortly after I managed to get this under control a subtle sweet flavor shows up akin to brown sugar. This smoke is very dry and I find myself reaching for water more than usual. Grassy tones join the party just under an inch in.

At the one inch mark I find myself puffing on a stick that had somehow managed to go out despite my having nothing else to distract me and giving it plenty of attention. Tapping off the ash I torch the foot again and begin anew. Despite relighting, the uneven burn remains quite prominent. Most flavors have subsided at this point except that of the cherry wood, which is still faint. At about 2 inches in, the smoke again went out; much to my frustration. We have all been guilty of leaving a smoke unattended or allowing it to go out because of distractions but this smoke does not fall into that category.

Repeating the ritual, I get this one going again in the hopes that making it past the halfway mark will solve these problems and somehow redeem the stick. After half an inch more, I observe smoke coming from areas other than the head and foot. It turns out that the stick has developed three ¼ to ½ inch cracks in various places along the shaft, thus venting smoke out the sides. I wrestle with the burn and failing wrapper for a few more minutes and decide this one is no longer worth the effort. Disposing of it I reflect on what went wrong.

Overall, the construction of this stick appears to be its downfall. The channels, soft spots, and loose draw are all evidence that this stick was under filled. The lack of flavor may be attributed to that as well but overall it was fairly uneventful and bland. I really wanted to like this stick, especially after enjoying its larger blue label brother, but found it extremely lacking. What surprises me the most about this is that although hand rolled cigars are prone to defects, this one seemed to have several blatantly and outwardly visible indications that this one should never have passed inspection…

Appearance : 3 out of 5 stars
Construction : 1 out of 5 stars
Flavor : 2 out of 5 stars
Value : 1 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating : 2 out of 5 stars

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