Carlos Torano Noventa

Country: Handmade in Esteli, Nicaragua

Wrapper: Nicaragua

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: Santiago (Robusto) 5 x 50

Price: Purchased a box of 25 from local shop for around $210. Individuals are $9.



Pre-Light:
I purchased a box of these anticipated cigars back in November 2006. These have been "sleeping" for about 6 months now and I am excited to do this review.Looking at this cigar, I seen some small veins present. A very firm cigar as well. After I clipped, flavors present on the pre-draw were a pleasant earthy flavor. Aroma presented to me a nice tobacco smell and the draw was as good as I expected it to be.



1/3:
The initial first couple of puffs produced a fair amount of smoke. Not too thick and not too thin. Flavors picked up were: Nutty, toasty and creamy. Draw was good and the finish was short. The strength on this cigar was a bit strong. Burn happend to be a bit uneven, but not too bad. Ash was a light gray colored ash. Construction so far so good.


2/3:
Getting into the 2/3 of this cigar, it was leaving a tingling sensation in the back of my throat. However, the cigar did tend to mellow out a bit, but it still produced a punch to it. The burn happened to even out as expected, which is always a plus in my book. The ash seemed to hold on forever on this cigar, that was until it fell on my lap. Otherwise, so far so good.


3/3:
Coming down the home stretch, I knew this was going to be a winner. That punch I described earlier had dissapated. I did pick up a small flavor of chocolate towards the end. What shocked me was this cigar did not once get too hot. The ash was still holding strong as was everything else. I did not want this to end.

Conclusion:
I happend to smoke one of these back in November and let me tell you that this cigar has changed drastically for the better. When I tried this in Nov. it was really harsh, had a really bad burn and was just not good at all. I rolled the dice and took a chance on a box hoping they would get better. Well, I am not dissapointed one bit. These cigars need rest. It is kind of tough to say that for a $9/stick cigar, but believe me, they get better with age. If you have the patience to age them, please do it. You will not be let down. If you can find these, pick a couple up and you will see what I mean. A definite must have in your humidor. If you can pony up the extra dough to buy a box, go for it. I am glad that I got my box, it is worth every penny plus more.

Rating: A

Padron 1964 Anniversary

Country: Handmade in Danli, Honduras and Esteli, Nicaragua

Wrapper: Nicaragua

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: Exclusivo (Robusto) 5 1/2 x 50

Price: Paid around $12 at local smoke shop.



Pre-Light:
Since today for me is a special day. It is me and my girlfriend 5 year anniversary together. So, I figure I would smoke something "special". I decided to smoke this 1964 Padron Anniversary. Just looking at the cigar, especially around the cap area, it looked a little wrinkled. No big deal though. Besides that, there were minimal veins, construction was very firm, and I did not see one other wrapper flaw. After I clipped with my Xikar cutter, the draw was just perfect. Picked up a nice tobacco flavor that was apparant. Aroma was weak however. So far so good.



1/3:
The first couple of inital puffs, I picked up a rich coffee and toasty flavor. Please remember I have no PhD in flavors. That is best as I can describe it, so please bear with me. The smoke was very creamy and thick. Draw was superb and the finish was short and pleasant. A nice light gray ash was present as well. As I neared the end of the 1/3rd I happened to pick up a chocolate flavor which blended well with the other flavors.



2/3:
As I was smoking the ash happend to fall all over me. Probably because I was going for the longest ash contest. I dusted my self off and continued to enjoy this fine primo smoke. A pleasant aroma filled the garage. The burn did happen to get un-even a tad bit, but self corrected a few puffs later. I still was recieving the same flavors as mentioned above, but the toastiness did kick up a notch. Still a very smooth smoke and draw was still right on.





3/3:
As I entered the last third, I was waiting for maybe a wrapper to start to blister and crack, or the burn to all of a sudden get un-even, but no. This stayed perfect all the way thru. The strength did happen to pick up a little bit, but did not have a negative effect on the cigar. The cigar did get a little warmer, but not hot. Ash was still holding on great. I was hoping at this point that this cigar would never end. I was in heaven.



Conclusion:
If you never have tried this cigar, please do yourself a favor and go pick one up. Sure, they are a bit pricey, but at $12 or so a stick it is well worth it plus more. I consider these "special occasion" cigars as they should be. This cigar was perfect all the way thru. I enjoyed this so much that I wish it would of never ended as I stated above. I am just glad that I have 2 more left in my humidor. You will not be disappointed in this cigar and I can guarantee you that.


Rating: A

Famous Smoke Shop Dominican 2000

Country: Handmade in Santiago, D.R.

Wrapper: Connecticut

Binder: N/A

Filler: N/A

Size: Corona 5 3/4 x 43

Price: Purchased a bundle of 20 off Famous Smoke Shop's Auction site for around $20 with shipping included. These can be purchased from their regular site for $34.95 w/ free shipping.


Pre-Light:
After watching a day filled with sports, I figure I would turn to something that would satisfy. Therefore I selected this cigar. Looking at this cigar, it produces a nice light brown wrapper with minimal veins present. The cigar is firm with a nice cap to top it off. I proceeded to clip and take a pre-draw and the flavor that came to mind right away was an earthy flavor and a flavor of dirt. Yes, dirt. It tasted like I ate a mud pie. Yuck. Anyway, the draw was good and the aroma was a sweet tobacco smell.


1/3:
The first couple of puffs that I took were harsh, but that subsided therafter. A fair amount of smoke was produced from the good draw. The burn however was a bit uneven, but was not that bad. Flavor profile is a nice creamy flavor that is excellent. Finish is short, the way I like it. A nice light gray ash is accompanied by this cigar.



2/3:
The cigar at this point did not let me down one bit. Draw is still good, flavor consistant, pleasant aroma, and still lots of smoke. The ash is holding on well. It finally fell after about 1 1/2 inches maybe 2 inches. Fell right on my damn leg. The burn however was still a bit off, but like before no big deal.




3/3:
There is not really much to say about this cigar at this point. The burn did even out perfectly. Everything else is as good as it was from the start. The ash held on beautifully as it did in the 2/3 of the cigar.







Conclusion:
As stated above. There is not really a lot to say about this cigar. It was good all the way around, except for the minor burn issue in the beginning, but that self corrected. There were no flavor changes in this cigar. Was a one flavor cigar. In this case it was a good flavor that I had no problem if it stayed or changed. No issues with anything else. Overall a very decent smoke. Being a bundled cigar, I would of thought that these would be a lot worse than what they were. This Famous Dominican 2000 surprised the hell out of me at how good it was. I would definitely tell you to try this cigar. It's very inexpensive and is well worth the price. If you can find these on Famous's Auction than I would say bid on it, if not, spend the extra few dollars and just buy it from there store online. You will not be disappointed.

* Above, I do not have a description for the Filler or Binder as it was not in the 2007 Perelman's Encyclopedia that I use for Reference. Also, could not find anywhere else on the internet about it either. Sorry, for the lack of information. *

Rating: B

Gran Habano 3 Siglos

• Country: Handmade in Danli, Honduras
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua
• Size: Robusto 5 1/2 x 52
• Price: $6.39 from a local Smoke Shop.

Pre-Light:

This cigar sports a nice light brown wrapper which is appealing. There are some prominent veins showing. I picked up a couple of soft spots on this firm cigar, otherwise not a bad looking stogie. I proceeded to clip and take a pre-draw before I light. I picked up a nice chocolate flavor and that was about it. Draw is good and time to proceed.

1/3:

So far so good for this cigar. Getting lots of thick creamy smoke complimented by a very good draw. Burn is good, no problems in that category. I am picking up an almond, toasty flavor which is pleasant. The finish is average. Nothing to write home about. The ash however is on the darker side. I have always encountered this problem with this cigar. Anywho, on to the....

2/3:

The toastiness has diminished and now I am picking up a flavor which I can not describe. It's not a bad flavor either. Still getting a good draw and billowing smoke. Strength has kicked up a notch here, but still a Medium bodied smoke. Now I have encoutered my first issue with this cigar. As you can see from the pic above the burn has decided to play games with me. Went from being a good burn to this. Okay, no biggie, this is a burn that I had to re-correct to get it even again.

3/3:

Just as I thought the burn was fixed after I re-corrected it. It decided to play games with me again. I just toughed it out till I was done with it. The toastiness came back and the strength is still the same. Finish is still average as before. I smoked this down to the last half inch and I was done.

Conclusion:

Outside the bad burn, this was not a bad smoke at all. I have smoked numerous amounts of these and I have always encountered the same problem, the burn. I was hoping I would get lucky and get a perfect one, but I am not that lucky. Otherwise, this cigar did change flavors on me a few times which was good. Excellent draw with thick creamy smoke is a treat. This is a Medium bodied smoke, even when the strength picked up, it was not harsh. Anywho, I think that you will enjoy this cigar. This was the Robusto size and at a 52 ring gauge, this was more than enough for me. Too bad Gran Habano doesn't make a Corona in this series. Oh well, I feel that you would enjoy this cigar. At just over $6 a stick, it would be worth to try one or two. Now as for my rating, I got to base the bad issue of this cigar on the burn. I was not pleased that after I re-corrected the burn, it decided to get all out of whack again. Though this could of been a minor issue, it turned out to be major. Therefore this cigar gets a rating of.....

Rating: C

CAO CX2

• Country: Handmade in Esteli, Nicaragua
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Cameroon
• Filler: Colombia, Nicaragua
• Size: Robusto 5 x 52
• Price: Received from a B.O.T.L. (Brother Of The Leaf) from Cigar Utopia

Pre-Light:

This CAO CX2 has been sitting in my humidor for atleast 6 months now and I have always meant to pick it up out of there and smoke it. Well today is that day. I never had one of these and I am looking forward to it. This cigar is very firm with minimal veins which is a plus. Looks well constructed all around and the wrapper has a nice sheen to it. I cut this cigar with my Xikar cutter and pre-light draw is just perfect. Picking up a nice rich tobacco smell with the flavor being earthy. Can't wait to start puffing away on this.

1/3:
Upon lighting this cigar up with my Rocky Patel table top torch, this cigar produced a lot of thick creamy smoke. Draw is excellent. Flavors picked up are a creamy, leathery flavor. The finish is short and pleasant. I did however notice that this cigar is leaving a little tingling sensation in my throat. No big deal though. This CX2 has a real nice aroma. The garage smelled so great my brother came in and asked what I was smoking and proceeded to puff away on my cigar till I told him to give it back. Anyways, the ash is a nice light gray ash and is holding on real good. Strength so far I would have to say is Medium to Full.




2/3:
Well into the 2/3 of this cigar, I am still getting that tingling sensation in my throat. Like before, no biggie. The cigar did happen to mellow out and I did pick up hints of a toasty flavor. Draw is still good and producing tons of smoke. Burn is fine. The finish is a tad bit longer, but still leaving a pleasant taste in my mouth. As all good things come to an end, they did. The wrapper happened to blister and crack on me in one spot. This is a minor issue to me, but it is annoying to look at and should not happen.




3/3:
Down to the final third. I surpassed that bad spot that blistered and cracked in the 2/3. Well, it happened again in the final third in one spot. Now to the good news. Burn was still superb as it was through the whole cigar. Flavors have stayed the same as well as the draw and amount of smoke. The cigar I did notice did get a little hot toward the end, but nothing I would consider major. The ash held on good and took a good beating to get it off which proves to me that this is a well constructed cigar.


Conclusion:
Since I never smoked one of these, it was time. I was unsure of what to expect from this cigar. Let me say that this cigar did not disappoint me one bit. The CX2 (named for the Cameroon Wrapper and Binder) is a definite must try in my book. Besides the blistering and cracking of the wrapper twice, I had no other problems. I enjoyed this all the way through and I look forward to more of these in the future. I will have to pick more up as well as you should too. I am positive that you will enjoy this Medium bodied smoke. Not too powerful, and the flavors are unique and blend well. Excellent construction, good burn, thick creamy smoke and good tasting, you can't go wrong. I am unsure of the price point of these cigars as this was a gift to me, but I am sure that they will be around $6-$8 a piece. I could be wrong, if I am please let me know. Pick one up and you won't be let down.


Rating: B

Rocky Patel Sun Grown

Country: Danli, Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Size: Robusto 5 x 50
Price: Paid $5.70 minus 10% Discount = $5.13 at local smoke shop


Pre-Light:
Since I haven't smoked one of these in a while, I figure why not light one up for a review. Being a fan of Rocky Patel cigars, I was eager to start this up. Looking at the cigar, it had minimal veins, some soft flat spots and a little tear near the foot of the cigar. Smell wise, the cigar put out a nice rich tobacco scent. After I cut the cigar with my Xikar guillotine cutter I took a pre-light draw which was not bad. . I did fail to mention that the cigar did crack a little when I cut it. Depsite the little problems I am still anxious to have a go at this.




1/3:
Starting off the cigar put out a lot of thin smoke. Short finish which is quite pleasant. Flavors picked up are an earthy flavor being the most predominant. A nice even burn is accompanied by a light gray ash. As I got deeper into this cigar, the draw plugged up on me a little. Also, those soft spots burned real quick, but did not affect the burn one bit.




2/3:
Just as I thought the cigar was getting better, it took a turn for the worse. The cap and wrapper started to peel and kept catching my lip and eventually ripped. This is only the begining. The draw happend to get worse, than better, than worse again. It plugged than came un plugged, etc. I guess on a good note the cigar was putting out an excellent smelling aroma, kind of nutty. I started to pick up hints of a sweet, rich cedar flavor. That's about all good I can say at this point. Did I mention that the wrapper started to peel in the middle of the cigar as well.
(Sorry for blurry picture).



3/3:
Winding down on the cigar was a nightmare. The wrapper was peeling everwhere. If I took the band off of this cigar, the wrapper would totally come off and be un-smokeable. Therefore, I decided to smoke this down to the band and call it the night. As for flavors in the last third, I picked up a toasty flavor that was decent. Surprising enough the cigar was still producing lots of smoke. Draw was better, but kind of hard to concentrate on something when the wrapper is flaking from everywhere.

Conclusion:

Having had plenty of these Rock Patel Robustos before, this medium bodied smoke is definitely the first one that I ever had a problem with. I am not sure why, maybe just a bad one from the factory, who knows. I will have to try another one of these again shortly and see if I have the same problem, which I shouldn't. Anyways, on the review of this cigar. It was just down right bad. Good points were the flavor, aroma and burn was decent. Draw was spuradic and with the problems with the wrapper, it made the smoke un-enjoyable. This cigar is going to get a bad rating, but please hear me out when I say that these Sun Growns are really good. I would still pick one up to try. It's worth a shot in my book.

Rating: D

Oliva Serie G

Country: Handmade in Esteli, Nicaragua
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: Belicoso 5 x 52
Price: Paid $3.45 minus 10% discount = $3.10 @ local smoke shop


Pre-Light:
A very nice looking box-pressed cigar all around. The cigar was not as firm as I normally like. It was more on the soft side. I have smoked a few of these and have noticed the same thing with all of them. Therefore, I am not going to make a big deal out of it. Upon smelling the cigar before I clip and light, I picked up a sweet smelling tobacco smell which was very pleasant. Looking at the cigar, had very minimal veins present which is always a plus. I clipped this cigar with my handy Xikar cutter that I always use. The pre-light draw was excellent where I picked up a nice tobacco taste. Before I start I will be complementing this cigar with a glass of Raspberry Lemonade. That's all I usually drink while I smoke a cigar, but sometimes I don't have anything and other times I have a glass of Port wine. Today, I will be having the Raspberry Lemonade.

1/3:
The first third of this cigar provided an excellent draw that produced a lot of creamy smoke. Flavor wise I was picking up notes of toast and almond. A medium finish that was pleasant. Ash wise as you can see from the pics was a light gray ash. I however had a "minor" burn issue. Nothing that I would consider bad though. I was hoping that it would self correct itself. Otherwise so far so good.

2/3:
I got about half way through this cigar and the construction is good. No problems besides the burn that started to re-correct itself. Still producing lots of smoke and the aroma is very nice. I did however start to pick up a creamy buttery flavor. That is best as I can describe it. I don't have a PhD in flavors so please bear with me. It was a good flavor and that is all that matters.

3/3:
Winding down toward the end of the cigar the burn problem was no more as you can see from the above picture. As I smoked this down all the way to my fingertips, it was still producing lots of smoke. I did not have any construction issues all throughout. The ash held on longer than I thought it would and that to me is a good constructed cigar. Another minor issue I had toward the end was it did happen to get a little hot on me. Maybe becuase I was puffing away at it too fast, but I take the blame for that.


Conclusion:
Overall this was a really decent smoke. This cigar is definitely medium bodied. I really enjoyed this cigar and I feel that you will too once you try it. It is a must try in my book. You can't beat the price point on this cigar at just a bit over $3 a stick. You may find them a little cheaper near you, and if you do, grab a few for your humidor as well.

Rating: B