Cigar Weekly

Published Tuesday, Febuary 3, 2004

Pre-Smoke Comments

Mike Osborn (moob): A 5 X 52 box pressed robusto (gauge is 52 x 40). A fine solid feel with uniform coloring in the foot and a firm bunch. The color of the wrapper has a light brown, EMS/natural color with a slight honey tint. The wrapper had several noticeable small veins. Randomly scattered across the wrapper were faint splotches akin to varicose veins. he wrapper had a smooth feel. The cap was smooth and clipped cleanly. The prelight draw produced a mild, nonspecific taste.

Charles Belida (charlieb): This was a good looking box pressed robusto. Both samples had a slightly rustic feel, but seemed to be rolled well. The caps on both were a little sloppy but cut well. They were firm to the touch with no soft spots. A pre-lite draw found it east to bring some air through, and tasted earthy with a slight chocolate taste.

Dan Girard (trblmkr): This was a flat box pressed cigar that had a nice natural looking brown/tan appearance it. It was veiny on both cigars, and gave a leathery feeling even after being stored for a week in my humidor after shipment. The cap was medium texture, nothing to rough or soft, and the cigar was nice and firm.

Carlos Pena (runningdog): I have to admit that I anticipated more from this cigar based on its good looks. This robusto had a nice box-press but was absent of any oily sheen. The initial cut from my Zino Davidoff guillotine was fairly rough with lots of loose tobacco, however the draw was perfect!

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): This was a Corona Gorda box pressed cigar with a dark brown wrapper with no veins showing. Cap was smooth. The bunch of the cigar was on the soft side.

Smoke Comments

Mike Osborn (moob): The cigar lit easily and produced great amounts of smoke on a perfect draw. Initially has a slightly sweet taste that quickly gives way to a woody, medium to full-bodied smoke. The cigar has a surprisingly mild finish. After a half inch it began to burn unevenly. A small V shaped valley occurred along the leading edge of the wrapper on both samples. The first cigar was easily corrected and burned relatively straight afterward. The second sample continued to burn unevenly despite a touch up. A firm, bright gray ash developed, measuring 2 before falling. The cigar smoked with a consistent flavor and its strength increased with time, but a full woody body overwhelmed any nuance of flavors. The finish suffered over the last third of the cigar becoming tarry and coating my throat.

Charles Belida (charlieb): Both samples lit well and produced a good amount of smoke, a plus for me. Strength out of the gate was on the medium to strong side and this surprised me. I had a nice grey ash that held to over an inch in some wind, that I knocked off. The coal took a cone shape and burned evenly through the full cigar. The easy draw continued until I nubbed it out. I think that the strength of this cigar got a little more powerful as I smoked it, but did not become boring, staying with an earthy type flavor. I did not detect any sweetness or bitterness as reflected by my smoking it till the end. There was a little saltiness that occurred near the end of my smoke, along with a sharpness around the same time that may be due to some nicotine buildup.

Dan Girard (trblmkr): The burn was pretty even throughout most of the cigar. It wasnt until it got down to where the band would be that it started having problems with the burn. It only needed a touch up now and then, most of the time it could be corrected by rotating the cigar. It maintained a cone shaped coal and had a dark gray ash, which was very solid. It only fell off when I forced it to. I had no significant problems with this cigar. I would say that this is a mild-medium cigar. It starts off on the mild side, and then slowly builds towards the last 1/3 of the cigar. The flavors never changed, it remained for the length, but it did get stronger. I would have to say the overall flavor of the cigar was earthy

Carlos Pena (runningdog): Once lit, the cigar began to run a bit. The taste was somewhat flat and grassy which later became more herbal. The aroma was much better than the taste. It was round and bready. No stink.

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): The cigar burned evenly for the entire cigar with no need for touch-up. Ash was a light gray and very solid. There was no burn problems at all.

Summary Comments

Mike Osborn (moob): I am not certain what caused the cigars to burn unevenly. The sample cigars rested in a humidor (65% r.h.) for three weeks prior to reviewing them. My overall impression of this cigar is to give it high marks for solid construction and draw but low marks for burn and depth of flavor. The flavor profile was fairly one dimensional. This combined with the burn problem make for a less than satisfying smoking experience.

Charles Belida (charlieb): This cigar was a very nice medium to strong robusto that I would enjoy having in my rotation. It was a 45 - 60 minute agreeable medium body good cigar for someone whose palate has developed beyond a mild taste. If this cigar was out of the box then the makers have done a good job of making it ready to smoke, and I would be curious as to how it ages.

Dan Girard (trblmkr): This cigar would be considered an agreeable smoke with a good medium body. I would give this a rating of good.

Carlos Pena (runningdog): Overall, this was a less than average smoke considering the increasing quality in cigars today compared to only 3 years ago when decent cigars were hard to come by (IMHO). Without the perfect draw and medium strength, this would have been a "Dog Rocket".

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): Beautiful looking cigar with good construction and draw but the flavor was terrible. I would not recommend it to anyone.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 32.17 out of 50

3 1/2 Stars -- Above Average