Tatuaje Black

I recently did a review on the Tatuaje Black Label for Cigar Jack. It is a wonderful cigar and has become one of my top 5. Open link here.

Padron Serie 1926 #6

Padron Serie 1926 #6

Origin : Nicaragua
Size : 4 ¾ 
Ring : 50
Wrapper : Nicaragua
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : $286 (box of 24)

First things first. I’d like to thank Cigar Inspector and Tex Cigars for this fine smoke. I won a contest and this was included in the package. As a meager thank you, I’ve decided to do a review on each cigar I received. Now let’s cut to the chase. The envelope please. Drum roll please. And the winner is: Padron Serie 1926 #6. The 1926 line premiered in 2002 commemorating the birth year of Jose O. Padron. All tobaccos used in the cigar have been aged five years. Production is limited to 100,000 cigars a year.

Appearance:
This is a beautiful little cigar. It has a nice light brown wrapper with a nice serialized double band. It has a smooth wrapper with a couple of small veins running the length of the cigar.

Construction:
This is a very solid box pressed cigar. I detected no soft spots at all. I expected the draw to be tighter due to the firmness of the smoke, but it has an effortless draw. I did notice that with the easy draw comes the inevitable hot burn, but I don’t think it’s a construction issue. It’s an experience issue with this stick. It gives off plumes of thick white smoke that I was very surprised to see coming out of such a small cigar. It had a straight burn throughout with not touchups required.

Flavor:
Where to begin? Well at the beginning, of course. It started off with a chocolate, leather, and wood combo with a wonderful spicy aftertaste. After the first third it picks up a sweet, fruity flavor that I can’t place. The sweet taste disappears midway through the second third and a coffee flavor joins the party. The spicy aftertaste picks up at this point, but not enough to irritate the throat. This cigar builds in strength throughout the smoke. To me this is a deceptively strong cigar.

Value:
I’m not big on dishing out over $10 for many cigars, but this is definitely worth it. The variety of flavor and exquisite construction make this cigar hard to beat. So, is it worth roughly $12 – $15 per stick? You better believe it.

Overall Rating:
I have to give this cigar a perfect 10. Sure, it’s expensive, but there aren’t many cigars that I know of that can beat this flavor and construction at a price any lower. This is definitely a special occasion cigar.

5 Vegas Miami Robusto

Brand: 5 Vegas
Line: Miami
Vitola: 5 x 50
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan, Cuban-seed Dominican
Flavor: Full 
Strength: Medium – Full
Price: $130 (box of 20)

Description:
The 5 Vegas Miami is blended by Don Pepin Garcia using 1st generation cuban-seed tobaccos. The original shaggy-foot 5 Vegas Miami (Edicion Especial) was actually manufactured in Miami, but production was so limited it wasn’t released on a wide scale. Now it is being manufactured in Nicaragua in five sizes. The original shaggy is still available, but at a premium price.

Construction:
The 5 Vegas Miami has a nice brown wrapper with a few small veins running down it’s five inch length. It feels nice and solid with no soft spots. It has a rich barnyard smell. It has a tight pre-light draw with a hint of the spice I expect from a Pepin made cigar. It produces plumes of thick smoke with a very strong tobacco smell which I enjoy. The draw loosens up considerably after the third pull on the cigar. At this point it has a smooth draw with little resistance. 

Burn:
I was somewhat disappointed in the burn. It never kept a straight burn and actually went out on me once. I had to touch it up twice. This was the one thing that really kept me from really enjoying this cigar. The light gray ash, however, was very firm an only flaked where I had to touch it up. I had to flick it a couple of times to get it to fall off.

Flavor:
The flavors of the 5 Vegas Miami are pretty much what you would expect from a Pepin cigar. It started off with base flavors of leather, wood, and pepper with a very pronounced, lingering spicy aftertaste. About an inch through the stick, the spice and pepper slack off considerably and creamy notes are added, perfectly complementing the leather and wood. Around the beginning of the second third, the creamy notes disappear and a floral taste appears very briefly. Once the floral disappears, pepper and spice are the dominate flavors throughout the rest of the cigar.

Verdict:
The only issue I had with this cigar was the burn. The flavors were wonderful and complex, especially in the first half. All flavors perfectly complementing the others. I’ve only had this stick resting for three months. Maybe another six months would cure the burn problems I encountered.

Similar cigars would be pretty much any Pepin made cigar. I have by no means smoked all Pepin cigars available, but of the cigars I have smoked all had the spice, pepper, leather, and wood base combo to some degree.

Macanudo 1968 Robusto

Brand: Macanudo
Line: 1968
Vitola: 5 x 50
Origin: Dominican Republic 
Wrapper: Honduras San Agustin Havana Seed
Binder: Habano Connecticut
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Ometepe
Flavor: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $8.50 per cigar

Description:
I wasn’t weaned on Macanudos when I started smoking cigars. As a matter of fact, I’ve probably only smoked about four or five. I can tell you that I can’t really remember anything about my previous experiences with this brand other than it is an ok cigar.

Enter Macanudo 1968. This is billed as a fuller bodied, fuller flavored Macanudo. The tobacco is aged in tercios and charcoaled wooden barrels. The name comes from the year Ramon Cifuentes began developing the Macanudo brand. It is also the year General Cigar purchased the Temple Hall factory in Jamaica. Is this a Macanudo to remember? We’ll see.

Construction:
This cigar is very appealing to the eye. It is very firm from cap to foot with small veins. No visible defects at all. The pre-light draw seems to have a little too much resistance, but once lit it seems to be perfect. I see no problems with the construction.

Burn:
The burn on this cigar is pretty much straight the whole way through. The ash is a very light gray and very solid. It did tend to burn a little hot, especially the last 2/3.

Flavor:
Pre-light flavors are of smooth chocolate and a very mild coffee. Once lit I can taste a smooth, creamy chocolate with wood undertones with very thick smoke. The chocolate fades at about the 1/2 inch mark and a floral tone makes an appearance. The last third of the cigar is dominated by a dark roast coffee flavor with a little cedar.

Verdict:
All in all it was a nice cigar, but it was missing something. It could you a little spice. Or maybe more cowbell. I don’t see myself buying many of these at $8.50 a pop. It just doesn’t have the flavor profile I’m looking for. Macanudo is currenlty running an online special of these. Three for $7.95 plus $2.00 shipping. After that, they will only be available at your local B&M.

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to Cigar Insite. This is my new cigar blog. Isn’t she a beauty? Anyway. I’ll start up on the cigars soon. Stay tuned.