Tatuaje Little Monsters – Frank Jr.

• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Vitola: Corona Gorda

Heavy pepper to start with an underlying earthiness.  As the first third dies down, so too does the pepper.  Earthy and cedary flavors are featured.

Still mostly pepper at the halfway point, no significant secondary flavors to speak of other than a fleeting, very dry cocoa.

Flavors get real creamy in the final third and the cedar becomes more subdued as the cocoa comes to the front.

Razor sharp burn, easy draw, lots of smoke output.

Rating: 3.  Outside of the final third the cigar is rather uninteresting, especially compared to the other four cigars in the Little Monsters lineup.  To my palate, the cigar would be much more enjoyable if the creaminess of the final third was more prevalent throughout the entirety of the cigar.

MCW – My Cuban Wheel – No. 1

Shape: Robusto
Size: 4.8 x 50
Strength: Mild-Medium
Country of Origin: Dominican
Wrapper Type: Ecuador
Binder / Filler: Dominican Republic/Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

Smoked this first thing in the morning, so I’m never sure if that’s a good thing or not – the palate is totally fresh, but it’s also likely still half asleep.

Very mild cedar flavors with hints of pepper on the retrohale, backed up with a bit of creaminess.

Ash was a tad flaky and there were some tunneling issues after the halfway point.  Not a ton of smoke output, and at times I’d thought the cigar had burned out.

Rating: 2.  Flavors weren’t horrible but it was very mild.

601 Serie White – Robusto

Shape: Robusto
Size: 5 x 50
Strength: Mild-Medium
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder / Filler: Nicaraguan / Nicaraguan

The cigar started with pepper and a heavy, dry cedar.  By the end of the first third it took on some creaminess.  The mixing of these three flavors would last for the duration of the cigar.

Easy draw, sharp burn.

Rating: 3.5.  I’ve yet to smoke a Connecticut wrapped cigar that seemed overly complex, but the 601 White was definitely on the fuller side of the flavor spectrum, and I’d put it right up with the San Lotano, The Griffin’s, and the EPC New Wave Connecticut as far as my favorite connies are concerned.  I don’t think I’d buy more of these 601 Whites with a handful of other connies to choose from that I like just as much (or more) but they’re definitely tasty.  This particular stick had only a month of down time on it, perhaps time will bring out some more flavors.

5 Vegas AAA – Corona

Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5×42

The core of the cigar is very similar to the robusto I smoked a while back – rich tobacco, pepper, and fleeting hints of cocoa.  The flavors are A LOT stronger in the corona vitola, though.

Tough to ‘review’ this cigar since there’s not a whole lot going on other than the initial flavors, but they’re holding up for the duration of the cigar.  Big flavors that you don’t have to concentrate on to appreciate.

The pre-light draw was very tight, but nothing some time in the draw poker couldn’t alleviate.  Sharp burn, thick smoke output.

Rating: 4.  I’m always skeptical of site exclusive cigars, and AJ Fernandez’s Cigars International exclusve smokes haven’t always been my favorite.  Most are decent fresh but lose most of their flavors with any sort of down time.  I only have this one 5V AAA corona so I won’t be able to speak for their long term consistency (yet).  I’d grab a 10 pack if they were ever made available that way, but for now they’re only sold as part of a sampler.  Also, the rating does take the price in to consideration, which is $3.  I wouldn’t pay a whole lot more than that, but it’s well worth the asking price.

Arturo Fuente Sun Grown Rosado Magnum R 44

Shape: Short Robusto
Size: 4 7/8 X 47
Country Of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper Type: Ecuadorian Sungrown Habano
Color: Colorado
Binder / Filler: Dominican Republic / Dominican Republic

Started with a sweet cedary spice, but nothing overpowering.  The slightest hint of pepper is present on the retrohale, but it’s brief and doesn’t linger.

Cedar, leather, and a bit of pepper are still the main flavors as the cigar burns through the first third and approaches the halfway point, though they’ve all increased substantially.  There’s an odd sweetness underneath it all that I can’t put my finger on, but it keeps the heavy cedar/leather from being overwhelming… almost like cinnamon sugar.

The pepper fades from the overall profile after the halfway point, and the cigar finishes how it started – sweet cedar, and a little bit leathery.  The sweetness makes one last appearance in the final third.

Nice draw, sharp burn, and above average smoke output.

Rating:  3.5.  If the pepper had lasted throughout the entire cigar I’d have rated it higher, but I got a bit tired of the cedar/leather.  The sweetness at the very end was the sort of tease that makes you want to light another.  It’s the type of cigar that I’ll buy more of locally as it has a reasonable MSRP ($7-ish), but I probably wouldn’t stock up on them.

Edgar Hoill – Vida

Shape: Perfecto
Size: 4 1/2 X 38/52/22
Strength: Medium – Full
Country Of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Nicaragua
Binder / Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua

The cigar started out with a very sweet, peppery blast.  Other reviews call it ‘red pepper’ and I think that’s appropriate.  The sweet pepper is accompanied by a very rich woodiness, too.  VERY heavy flavors as the cigar burns through the nipple tip.

Shortly after the cigar opens up a coffee flavor enters, with the sweet peppers and wood lingering in the background.  ”Lingering” is relative to the blasts of it at the beginning, though.  Huge flavors.

The flavors are largely the same at the halfway point, with the sweet pepper (but without any traditional peppery burn) being the most prominent.  This flavor would last through the remainder of the cigar.

Perfect burn, easy draw, and tons of smoke output.

Rating: 5.  Great cigar with a very unique profile.  It was nice to taste pepper without being blasted by it on the retrohale.

 

The Griffin’s – Corona

Shape: Corona
Size: 5.06 X 43
Strength: Mild
Country Of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper Type: Connecticut Shade
Color: Colorado Claro
Binder / Filler: Dominican Republic / Dominican Republic

This tasted very, very similar to the robusto – rich cedar, some pepper-that-might-just-be-strong-cedar, and all settling to a creamy nuttiness by the halfway point.

The main difference from the robusto (reviewed here) is in the construction.  The corona’s draw is a tad firmer.  Not unsmokeable, but there is certainly some resistance.  Could just be because it’s fresher OTT than any robusto I’ve had, though “firm draw” and “connecticut wrapped coronas” seem to go hand-in-hand for me.

Rating: 4, just as I gave the robusto.  Big flavors for ANY wrapper cigar, nice construction, and my favorite vitola.

Cuenca y Blanco – Lonsdale

Shape: Lonsdale
Size: 6 1/2 X 44
Strength: Medium
Country Of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Ecuadorian Habano
Color: Colorado
Binder / Filler: Dominican Republic / Nicaragua, Peru

The CyB lonsdale starts off with noticeably more ‘salt’ than the Corona Real.  Hard to describe the sensation, but it doesn’t have that “burn” of a peppery blast, but rather a sensation that totally coats the palate.

The saltiness dies down after an inch but the creaminess I got from the Corona Real is nowhere to be found – it’s a fairly intense cedar flavor at this point.

Hints of creaminess surface at the halfway point, but cedar is still the dominant flavor.

Cedar stays at the forefront in the final third though fleeting cocoa flavors round it out nicely.

Noticeably looser draw than the Corona Real, though the lonsdale does need to be babied a bit.  It simply cannot handle being smoked too quickly without the burn going out and tasting like charcoal.

Rating: 3.  I would rate it much higher had I not been comparing it directly to the smaller Corona Real.  The lonsdale is dominated by a cedar profile, as opposed to the smoother, richer, and more complex Corona Real.  I suspect I’d rate this closer to a 4 if it was the first CyB I’d smoked.

La Palina El Diaro – Kill Bill

Shape: Petit Corona
Size: 4 1/4 x 44
Strength: Full
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper Type: Honduran Corojo ’99
Color: Rosado
Binder / Filler: Honduras / Nicaragua

Started off with some leather, rich cedar, and pepper.

Surprisingly (for a short cigar, that is) the flavors changed up a bit halfway through, giving off some dark chocolate, berry sweetness.  The rich cedar flavors lingered in the background.  These flavors stick around through the end of the cigar.

Perfect draw and lots of smoke output, though I had a few issues with the wrapper canoeing but nothing that a quick touch up couldn’t fix… could just be due to these cigars being only a week or so off the truck.

Rating: 5.  It’s a bit expensive to smoke as an everyday short cigar but it’s one that’ll definitely be a staple in my humidor.

E.P. Carrillo Short Run 2013 – Robusto

Size: 4 7/8 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Piloto Cubano (Dominican)
Filler: Nicaraguan, Ecuadorian

The initial wave of flavor is a bit outside the norm of what I’ve come to expect from EPC cigars – instead of that toasty nuttiness that seems to be a trademark ‘house flavor’, I’m getting a damp, floral sweetness with some pepper in the back of the throat.

The smoke output is thick and rich, almost a syrupy sweetness.

The pepper is long gone by the halfway point, replaced by a sweet, cedary profile that coats the palate.  These  flavors remain unchanged through the end of the cigar.

Draw is somewhat firm, but not too bad.  Very strong ash, sharp burn.

Rating: 5.  Although this particular cigar was only a week off the truck, the flavors are huge.  It’s similar to the Cardinal natural (same wrapper), though much richer.  I haven’t met an EPC cigar that didn’t improve significantly with extended rest, but if these never change at all I’d still be perfectly satisfied.