Cigar Extra: Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial LE 2011

Toro, 6.5 x 52 ring gauge / approx. $16
I avoided buying these when they came out because I really was not a big fan of the original Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial...I saw no point in spending $16 or more for a special edition of that stick. At the Atlanta Tweetup, Nada Jumper (who along with her husband, Jeff, owns the Nadi Cigars brand) told me that it was not much like the regular release stick and I should try it. She had an extra one on hand and gifted it to me...and now I'm smoking it for this blog entry. According to information I found on the interwebs, this is supposed to be similar to the regular stick, but much richer. It uses Cuban seed Nicaraguan filler, a Nicaraguan Pelo de Oro binder and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from a lower than usual priming. They made 3,700 boxes of 15 sticks (which also features a bonus 16th stick with a Connecticut Shade wrapper that is supposedly the basis for next year's LE).

The cold draw on the Jaime Garcia Limited Edition 2011 was fairly effortless and had a nice earthiness dominating the taste buds, but notes of dark chocolate and red pepper came through, too. Early puffs revealed notes of leather and cedar in the mostly earthy mix and a peppery retrohale. So far, I found it to be different enough from the regular release to be intriguing, but not so different that you could not tell they were related...a family flavor, as I like to call it. As the first third progressed, I got a much stronger cedar note, which was what I recall the regular cigar being like...and what I wasn't thrilled about with it.

By the time the second third started, though, the cedar became more subdued and some rich sweetness from the Broadleaf wrapper started to become evident and I felt like the whole thing was better balanced. I paired the Jaime Garcia LE 2011 with some Maker's Mark Bourbon; I've often said that bourbon pairs well with almost any cigar and this was no exception.

The rest of the cigar smoked very nicely...mildly sweet with notes of earth, anise and cedar. Aside from much of the first third, it was indeed richer and better than the regular production Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial. Construction was perfect, with a great draw, even burn line and ability to hold a long ash. This LE 2011 turned out better than I had expected. Thanks again to Nada Jumper for gifting me this one.

Cigar Review: God of Fire Series B

Robusto Gordo, 5.5" x 54 ring gauge / MSRP $22, Tobacco World
The God of Fire line was first introduced in 2004 as a collaboration between the Fuente cigar company and the Prometheus lighter company, with Keith Park in charge of the marketing of the brand. Normal annual releases have tended to wear either a Carlito or Don Carlos secondary band to distinguish between blends. They were joined in 2010 by the Series B, which was released in two sizes: a Gran Toro that features a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper, and the Robusto Gordo that I am featuring today which comes with an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper. Why two different wrappers on two vitolas that share the same name? I'm sure there is a reason, but nothing was indicated in any of the promotional materials. Both share the same filler binder blend as the original God of Fire, which is all Dominican. These come in boxes of 10 and each size is limited to 10,000 total sticks for the 2010 production year. These are very pricey...I am only smoking one for this review, but if I love it, I would be interested in buying more if I run across them again.

I was told these were "God of Fire Maduros" when I bought this sample in December and I have to say that regardless of the company statement that it is a Sun Grown, this looks very much like a Maduro...dark and rugged...and not so much like any Sun Grown leaf I can remember seeing. It was rich and sweet in aroma, too, earthy and chocolatey...also very much like a Maduro. There was more oil to the touch than to the eye on this stick and what looked like some excess dried glue in a couple places, which is unfortunately becoming very common with many sticks issuing from the Fuente factory. The foot also had a rich chocolatey scent. My go-to Xikar Xi made a perfectly clean cut on the head of the Series B and the resulting draw was good, if just a little snug. The cold draw had notes of cocoa powder and dark roast coffee, and it left a slight spicy tingle on the lips.

After lighting up, I noticed the flavors to be very earthy with just touches of the cocoa and coffee from the prelight. Despite all senses saying "Maduro" during prelight, the slightly spicy notes on both tongue and nose, as well as the lack of really significant sweetness, are more suggestive of the Sun Grown that this apparently actually is. As the first third continued to burn I noticed a sour citrus note coming through a combination of bitter earth, dark coffee, and baker's cocoa. This could have used just a touch of sweetness to balance out all the bitter and sour notes. It was not "bad" so far, but it also was not as balanced or refined as I would expect for this price tag.

On the plus side, the ash was strong and not flaky...and the burn line was decently straight. On the not so good side, the draw had started off fairly good, but by the time I got deep into the second third, it was tighter than it really should be. Not unsmokeable by any means, but certainly not as easy as a cigar of this caliber should be, either. The flavors of earth and unsweetened cocoa were still dominant. The sour notes had disappeared and there was a bit of leatheriness about it.

In the last third the God of Fire Series B came to life and seemed like a totally different cigar than what I had been smoking. While still very earthy, there was some sweetness to balance the bitterness and a nice spiciness was building up. The draw had opened up again and the whole experience was very enjoyable. If only it had been that way the entire time! The body ended up in the medium to full range and there was enough of a nicotine hit that I can't recommend this stogie for newer smokers. If the draw had not been difficult at times, I wonder how the whole of this cigar would have turned out. I also wonder if it would have been better with the Broadleaf Maduro wrapper used on the larger vitola since that may have provided a better balance. In the end, though, I felt like the first two thirds were a bit of a letdown for a $20+ cigar and when you are paying this much, I just feel like there should not be any letdown at all. I know some disagree..."it's a handmade product and variations in quality happen"...and all that. But for my money, any variation in quality when you're paying this much for a cigar is unacceptable.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 6/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/2
Total: 7.5/10

Cigar Review: Drew Estate Feral Flying Pig

Perfecto, 5.375" x 60 ring gauge / approx. $16.99, Maxamar's Cigars

When I heard Jonathan Drew first talking about this cigar last year I was definitely interested in trying it out. He said it would be very strong and that sounds good to me. This release of the Flying Pig is the third installment started by the No. 9 Flying Pig a couple years ago followed up by the T-52 Flying Pig. There are two major differences that I'm aware of between this cigar and the previous two the most obvious is the size. The Feral Pig is at least an inch longer than the other two. The other difference is that this is a blend of both the No. 9 and T-52. The cigar is comprised of Nicaraguan filler, a Brazilian Mata Fina binder, all covered in a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper. They come packed in 10 count boxes. This was the second one of these cigars I smoked.

The CT broadleaf maduro wrapper on these cigars is definitely one of the better looking wrappers out there in my opinion. The color is a nice medium dark color with a slight amount of darker mottling. The veins that are present are fine with a few mediums ones scattered around. The wrapper feels quite oily to the touch. The wrapper also has a nice thick leathery feel to it as well. I can't help but thinking about a nice pork sausage when looking at this cigar. When I gave the cigar a squeeze I wasn't able to detect any soft spots and there was only a slight amount of give. Putting my nose to the wrapper I get the scent of cedar with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clip off the coiled pigtail cap and take a cold draw on it I get the slight taste of unsweetened chocolate with a great draw.

As soon as I light this cigar up I get a blast of chocolate, leather, and black pepper spice on the tongue. The retrohale has quite a good amount of spice to it, but it wasn't overwhelming. After taking a few more puffs on it I get notes of cinnamon and earth. As with all of the Ligas there was a lot of aromatic resting smoke. The draw was pretty much perfect while the burn was slightly wavy. The off-white ash held on for about three quarters of an inch before needing to be tapped off. I would say this cigar started off full bodied while at the upper end of medium in strength.

I didn't notice a lot of change in the flavors as I moved into the second third. That definitely wasn't a bad thing as I was enjoying the cocoa, leather and earth flavors I was getting. One thing I'll note is the spice didn't die down like it does in the second third on a lot of cigars. By the end of this third I started to get a slight sweetness on the finish.

Once I got to the final third the spice and strength did start to build to above where it was in the first third. The cigar finished with the flavors of semi-sweet chocolate, leather, and cinnamon. I did get a strange flavor for a few puffs, sort of a dry cedar. It wasn't unpleasant, just different. The draw continued to be perfect while the burn was slightly wavy, but nothing that bad or needing correction.

Overall I was very impressed with this cigar. The flavors, while not the most complex, were excellent and very enjoyable. The construction on both the samples I had was nearly perfect, which is something you'd hope to get in a limited edition and more expensive cigar. I was slightly disappointing that it didn't send me reeling like the hype said it would, lol. I would classify this at the bottom end of full in body and strength though. I will say if you like any of the Ligas you need to find at least one of these cigars and give them a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10

Cigar Review: Toraño Vault

Robusto, 5" x 52 ring gauge / approx. $7.25
The Toraño Vault was first announced back in mid-July shortly before the annual IPCPR tradeshow. It was a few months before they started showing up on store shelves, though. The first time I saw them "in the wild" was a recent trip to Atlanta where I picked up this review sample at Tobacco World (technically in Marrieta). The full name, according to the bands, is Blends from the Vault - Blend A-008. Does this mean that there will be future Vault permutations? I guess that's possible, although I wondered the same thing about the Single Region when it arrived...and we still have just Jalapa under the Single Region banner. According to the company's story, Charlie Toraño and Bruce Lewis were revisiting the family Blend Book and re-discovered Liga A-008 from 2000. The original blend called for filler from Esteli and Condega, Nicaragua; a Jamastran Honduran binder; and a Nicaraguan Colorado wrapper. To that base, they added a second binder from Ometepe, a volcanic island in Honduras. As noted before, this is my first encounter with this blend.

The banding is interesting...still the minimalist theme that began with the Master and Single Region releases, but now more interesting with the black and silver color scheme and strategic use of embossing and die cutting. The wrapper was medium-brown with a decidedly reddish hue to it. It felt oily under my fingers and had a slightly lumpy appearance as it was stretched over the tobaccos underneath. The aroma from the wrapper was earthy and leathery...just a great mix of "classic humidor" smells; from the foot I got a rich earthiness. The prelight draw was excellent and had a rich natural tobacco flavor with a little earthiness and a little woodiness to it.

After lighting, I noticed the earthiness first...a fairly unique earthiness that I couldn't quite put a finger on...maybe the influence of the Ometepe? Right after that I noticed the pepper spice...red pepper on the tongue and a very sharp peppery bite on the retrohale. There were undertones of black coffee and a faint dried fruit sweetness. While I have enjoyed a few of the more recent Toraño offerings, I can't remember any of them being this complex and distinctive right from the opening. I have expressed my dislike (boredom) with heavily Honduran smokes (not all of them) in the past, and I was afraid with two Honduran binders this would fall into a dull zone. Instead, the Honduran leaf seemed to blend very well with the Nicaraguan wrapper and filler, mellowing out some of the edginess sometimes found in Nicaraguan puros. There was a nice pepperiness, but it was somewhat muted...a slow burn at the tip of the tongue and back of the throat. The earthy notes were rich and flavorful, and enough nuance of chocolate sweetness and coffee bitterness came through to make it complex and interesting. And this was just the first third.

In the second third the pepper faded quite a bit and the flavor became more leathery with an oily, almost chewy smoke with a long finish. The retrohale had an almond note to it. Construction so far had been excellent--strong ash that held on for more than half an inch, a very even burn line and fantastic draw.

The flavors in the final third were more of what I expected from the heavy influence of Honduran leaf, and that was too bad. It was still good and a bit of pepper spice did return, but mostly it was muted earthiness with a hint of sweetness, but nothing special. I think the boys at the Blowin' Smoke podcast would say it "creamed out." For two thirds, though, the Vault did smash my expectation, and for that I have to give Toraño credit. It was a very good cigar for a very reasonable price and I would enjoy smoking it again. The body was medium to full and the was a bit of nicotine hit, but not too much. Newer smokers might find it too much cigar, but almost everyone else might find something to enjoy. If you are a fan of Honduran leaf, the unique twists that this cigar puts on it (with the help of the Nicaraguan tobacco) might really make you sit up and take notice.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10

Tweet-Ups and Other Stuff...

Another Monday, another batch of "various" things to post about. I don't want to call this a regular "news feature" but it's something like that...maybe not quite "regular" and not always "news." :)

SOUTH FLORIDA TWEET-UP

Frank Herrera's better half, Elissa, has worked hard to get the B&M side of Charmed Leaf up and running and they are going to celebrate the new store's opening with the First Annual South Florida Cigar Tweetup (#SoFlaTweetUp). The event will be Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, at 1405 N. Congress Ave., Suite 10, Delray Beach, Florida 33445.

Obviously Frank will be representing La Caridad del Cobre Cigars (and talk to him if you need a good copyright lawyer, too!); some of the other brand-owners in attendance will be Eddie Ortega (EO Brands), Ernesto Padilla (Padilla Cigars), Dan Tiant (El Tiante Cigars), Lou Rodriguez (Lou Rodriguez Cigars), Luis Sanchez (La Tradicion Cubana), Reynold Benitez (Benitez Cigars), Benny & Loren Gomez (Havana Sunrise and Casa Gomez) and Brad Mayo (Jameson Cigars). Representing Miami Cigars will be Jason Wood and Barry Stein.

Two packages are available for $20 and $30 and you can buy those tickets now. Lots of fun stuff is planned including a bar crawl, pig roast, tons of raffle prizes...and lots and lots of herfing. If you are anywhere near South Florida the first weekend of March, I highly recommend putting this on your calendar.

MALDONADO DYNASTY OFFER

Last week Keith posted a review of the Maldonado Dynasty Mogul. Paul Maldonado was so happy with the added exposure of this review that he decided to open up an offer to Tiki Bar readers:

TIKI BAR EXCLUSIVE OFFER: JAN. 27, 2012

  

The Maldonado Dynasty would like to thank Keith and David at the Tiki Bar for a Great review and would like to extend their readers a limited time offer exclusive to them and our friends at The Maldonado Dynasty Facebook page.  We are opening our reserved batch of “The Mogul,” boxes that we store exclusively for private clients world wide and offering them to you for a great deal.  This is our way of saying thank you for the feedback and time.  Feel free to reach out to Owner/President Paul Maldonado at p.maldonado@MaldonadoDynasty.com or VP barb@MaldonadoDynasty.com for more details.  We are releasing only a limited amount so reserve your box now and enjoy our Ultra-Luxury cigar “The Mogul.” 

Respectfully,

Paul Maldonado

President/C.E.O.

 If you haven't tried this cigar, I encourage you to send Paul an e-mail and find out how you can.

262 UNDERGROUND

This is not "new" news, but I wanted to let you know anyway...because some might not have heard. 262 has re-launched their Underground Community website with a ton of new content and has started up the hype machine for the Manifesto:

January 11, 2012

262 Released the first official webisode from the Manifesto Sessions Series on Tuesday, January 3. This webisode features a local (Lynchburg, VA) cigar smoker giving his thoughts on what the FDA wants to do with the cigar industry.

View the episode at www.smoketherevolution.com/Manifesto

262 has also re-launched their community website, The Underground Press, at www.smoketherevolution.com/UndergroundPress. This redesigned site will be an extension of their current Underground Press email newsletter. The site will house all newsletter content, as well as other News & Updates, 262 Tour Schedules, Videos, and more.

Smoke The Revolution,
Mike Justice
CMO
262 Cigars

 If you're not a member of the 262 Underground yet...what are you waiting for? Go there and join now! And smoke more 262 Cigars...especially that Paradigm Lancero...It Rocks!

CHATTANOOGA TWEET-UP

We began today's post with news of one Tweet-Up, so it only seems proper to finish with news of another...the Second Annual Chattanooga Cigar Tweet-Up, on Friday and Saturday, August 24 and 25, 2012.

I had hoped to give you news about how to buy your tickets today, but as of this writing I'm still working with Matt (manager at Burns East) to figure out exactly what is going to be included and for what price. Rest assured the prices will be very reasonable, especially for what you will get. Plans still call for Friday afternoon and Saturday all-day herfs, a Friday evening baseball game, some sort of liquor tasting (probably featuring Chattanooga Whiskey and possible others), raffle prizes, and a great dinner Saturday night.

What I can fully reveal today is the lineup of brand owners who are planning on attending. Starting with those who were announced a few months ago: Jon Huber (Crowned Heads), Matt Booth (Room 101), Gary Griffith (Emilio Cigars), Bryan White (13th Floor Cigars), Clint Aaron (262 Cigars), and Sean Williams (El Primer Mundo Cigars).

Added to that list today are: Pete Johnson (Tatuaje Cigars), Jonathan Drew (Drew Estate), Eddie Ortega (EO Brands), and Frank Herrera (La Caridad del Cobre). 

And there are still a couple folks we are working on, so that list may not be complete yet. We'll be sending out sponsorship request letters to companies soon and hope to start announcing which companies will be providing cigars very soon. (Side note: if your company was not involved last year and for some reason you don't get a letter from me in the next month or so, please feel free to send me an e-mail.)

This is going to be a huge event. We hope you can all be there! The best I can tell you for now is that tickets will be anywhere from about $20 for the basic package up to about $50 for an all-inclusive package. I hope you can all join us!

Gurkha Giveaway Winners

It's time to announce the winners of our Gurkha Giveaway promotion. Thanks again to Gurkha for generously sending these cigars, making it possible for me to "spread the wealth" a little bit and give other people an opportunity to try them.

To recap, I have two 5-packs of Gurkha Seduction in Robusto size and two 4-packs of Gurkha Cellar Reserve in Churchill size.

The Gurkha Seduction 5-packs go to:
Nick Holloway (@SlappyMcDougal) and @derrickerr

The Gurkha Cellar Reserve 4-packs go to:

Corey Zerbe (@czerbe) and Mike Gravito

A couple of these jokers...I mean "gentlemen"...I know pretty well from Twitter and I'll be sending a DM right away. If you don't hear from me, please send me an e-mail to the address on the "Contacts" page so I can get the prizes sent out. I need to hear back by a week from today or the prizes will go to one of the alternates.

And stay tuned...we turning this year into the "Year of Giveaways" on the Tiki Bar. We have four (maybe five as of last night) more manufacturers lined up for contests in the coming months and the next one will be announced the first Monday of February...this is a big one...You. Do. Not. Want. To. Miss. It.

Cigar Extra: Perdomo Cabinet Reserve Cameroon

4.5" x 46 ring gauge / $5.50, Tobacco World
As I write this, I don't know what I'm looking at. At Tobacco World in December, I was told this was a new release by Perdomo, but it looks like one of their old design bands. But I haven't heard anything about this anywhere and could find nothing online. I believe it to be a Cameroon wrapper and according to the band it is the La Tradicion Cabinet Series Reserve...or something like that. The size is Petite Corona or so...a size Perdomo does not make anymore. In the end, it was inexpensive (like most Perdomos) so I figured I would pick one up for a ungraded review.

The wrapper looked and felt great...a nice oiliness along with a ripe earthy aroma. On the foot I got a combination of cedar and manure aromas. After lighting, I got hit with a wallop of pepper spice on the nose...Cameroon! I noticed a mixture of earthiness and cedar on the palate, perhaps a subtle sweetness underneath it all. The first half of this Perdomo smoked more full and strong than I had expected; it was very earthy and plenty of spice developed on both the tongue and nose. I paired it with some nice Ron Barcelo and it helped to smooth out some of the rougher edges of the cigar.

The rest of the mystery Perdomo smoked similarly well. Not a huge amount of flavor change up or complexity, but very nice nonetheless. I was told that this was a "new release that smokes like an old Perdomo." I don't know if that's technically true or not, but it was an enjoyable way to spend an chilly evening along with a glass a rum.

Update: Chris Harper from Perdomo let me know after I had smoked this that it IS a 2011 release. Still have to say the "classic" band threw me.