Memoirs of a Cigar

Heaven has arrived, and it comes in a 44 inch ring gauge Corona. Richard and I picked up a box of aged Bolivar Coronas Extras with the box code ‘NISU-VC-2′. The Bolivar Coronas Extras are said to be the strongest, most full bodied, Cuban Bolivars available when they are new. These cigars, being well aged Cubans, are bound to be a bit softer, but with more delicate and complex flavors, than your typical Bolivar Coronas Extras.

Prior to lighting the cigar I noted flavors of cool oatmeal. The first few puffs once lit were amazing, if not heavenly! Toasty wood flavors with a delicate earthy core. I also noticed a rich green grassy taste and a sweet finish with a touch of light spice.

The Bolivar Coronas Extras are definately a complex smoke. The cigar completely changes from the first to second half. While the first half is very delicate and balanced, the second half builds strength, adding flavors of chocolate and cedar, and ends up being a fairly powerful smoke. Call me crazy, but I also tasted peanut butter in the very center of the cigar. Spectacular!

I was very impressed with this little Bolivar, and really surprised that it still had so much strength left in the second half. It should age quite well for another decade, if you have the patience for such things. After smoking my first, I sure don’t, as these Bolivar Coronas Extras are an amazing 95 point smoke which will go very quickly in my humidor.

Today I smoked one of my most prized Habanos, the Hoyo De Monterrey Particulares. It is otherwise known as ‘The Coffin’, for the individual wooden boxes these cigars come in. The cigar box, or coffin, is stunning. You slide the wooden lid off to reveal a little strip of wood, which you lift to reveal a strip of paper, which you lift to reveal a magnificant ‘A-sized’ cigar.

An ‘A-sized’ cigar is a 3 hour masterpiece of a smoke (2 hours and 50 minutes to be exact), and the longest cigar in regular production. These are limited to very special and rare cigars, of which the Cuban Montecristo ‘A’ is the original. You can see in my photos below just how long this cigar is as I hold it up next to a Hoyo De Monterrey Churchill.

Aside from the beauty and elegence of the cigar box, I am thoroughly intrigued, if not temporarily obsessed, by the small strip of wood present in the coffin which has a bamboo like scent to it. I will talk more about this mystery wood in a later post.

Through retro-olfaction I detected this bamboo like scent to be present throughout my Hoyo De Monterrey Particulares, and I found it to be completely mesmerizing. Enough with the wood (I warned you I was borderline obssesed with this mystery wood), back to the cigar.

The Hoyo De Monterrey Particulares comes wrapped up in a smooth milk chocolate colorado wrapper. I found the wrapper to be ripe with small clear hairs, much like fuzz on a peach.

Upon lighting the cigar I was greeted with flavors of honey and very light cedar notes. A few minutes later I tasted a dark grass note, which I had never experienced in a cigar before. Later in the cigar a creamy toasted nut blend was introduced. Still later, remember this a 3 hour masterpiece, an oak cask wood and roasted nut taste emerged. The aftertaste of the Hoyo De Monterrey Particulares had a rounded bourbon mouthfeel.

In addition to being quite rare, this cigar is also quite expensive. The one I purchased usually goes for $200.00, although my special cigar blogger discount landed me a price of $80.00.

The Hoyo De Monterrey Particulares Is a smooth, creamy, sweet, aromatic, vibrant cigar that can be summed up in a word: perfect! I would rate it a 97 point smoke at it’s current age of 8 years old.

The sun shines through the trees
at a diagonal angle,
lighting up the thin veil of Cuban smoke
covering the top half of my face
like a feathered mask
at a masquerade ball.

The sun also shines upon the water,
and it’s reflection reveals
the gentle ripples in the sea
which sway left to right
at the same leisurely pace
as the Cuban smoke
which lifts freely from my lips
into the sky,
seemingly immune from gravity.

At this moment
my vision ceases to be useful,
as I am in a perpetual state
of pure relaxation,
where the senses of taste and sound
take control.

I close my eyes
and hear the small black ducks
with the small white bills
strange echo of a quack,
followed by a seemingly off beat response
from a tiny finch
who’s light and airy chirps
come in groups of threes and fives.

The trumpet wails
in lovely up and down progressions,
while a maraca
is lightly shaken.

A rhythm guitar
being lightly plucked
completes the trio of instruments
live streaming
from Cafe Del Mar.

Just then
a female voice
whispers French phrases
softly into the microphone.

A gentle breeze
blows the Cuban smoke
down from the sky
in a steady stream
criss crossing over my chest.

It seems
the Cuban smoke
is not immune
from all
the forces of nature
after all.

My return to reality
brought my senses of sight
back into dominance,
and in gazing at
my Cuban Trinidad Cigar,
suddenly skepticism sunk in.

The authenticity of the Cuban
held between my fingers
came into question
as my eyes told me
the cigar band
was more in line
with the Trinidad Cigars
produced in the Dominican Republic
then that of Cuba.

Could it be
my Cuban Cigar
smoking experience
was induced
by the Dominican Trinidad?

A quick look up
on Cigar Aficionado
revealed this was the original Trinidad band
from the early days of Trinidad.

A sense of calm swept over me,
as the final soft notes
of the piano played
until the music stopped,
and my supreme aged
Cuban Trinidad
smoking experience
was complete.

The Arturo Fuente Rosado Gran Reserva is a new release from Fuente which just hit stores in late 2009. I picked up a couple of these cigars in Florida at the Smokers Inn. These cigars are the same blend as their Gran Reserva line, but with a 8 year aged Rosado Wrapper.

The Fuente Rosado Magnum is the largest of the three sizes available. It’s a big 90 point medium bodied smoke. It produces flavors of cloves and leather, with a hint of cedar and nuts.

The new Fuente Rosado is a very balanced cigar, and the clove flavors make it very unique. I found it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable cigar on a Friday afternoon.

My Fuente Rosado Magnum is shown below in front of Chloe’s new Louis Vuitton Purse!

The Montecristo No. 2, with it’s iconic fleur-de-lys, is the most famous Cuban Cigar in the world. When allowed to age properly, these are probably the best cigars on earth, and you could smoke one every day for the rest of your life and never tire of them. The best cigar I have ever smoked was a properly aged Montecristo No. 2, which I rated at 99 points out of 100.

Being so famous and in such demand they have suffered production issues over the years, and so they will always be good smokes, but at times they will be exeptional smokes. They do require a good 3 years of age, at least, to really shine. Age one closer to 10 years and you have the best smoke on earth.

Right now I am smoking a 2 year old Montecristo No. 2, which I would rate at around 92 points. The flavors are still incredible however, composed of a perfect blend of leather, spice and toasted nuts, with a creamy complexion. The cigar is bold and rich, but stays just short of being labeled full bodied. A few more years of aging would reveal coffee and vanilla bean flavors too.

The Montecristo No. 2 has contributed to every cigar lovers habit, myself included, and remains one of our most special cigars. I will be comparing it’s current flavors with a Montecristo Edmundo in the near future, so check back soon.

Nub Cigars were released in 2007 by Oliva Cigars Co, as a marketing strategy to appeal to cigar smokers who wanted to enjoy a large ring gauge cigar in a shorter time period. They aimed to provide smokers with just the ‘sweet spot’ of a cigar, that was short enough that they could enjoy during their lunch break.

Nub Cigars come in a selection of 3 Wrappers; Connecticut, Cameroon, and Habano, which is the same Habano Wrapper used for the 94 point Oliva Series V. Nub also has a 6-pack available, which has all 3 wrappers in both rounded and torpedo formats.

The Nub Connecticut is a high quality smoke, which lasts a good 40 minutes. I found it to produce a full flavor profile from start to finish, thereby delivering on it’s ‘sweet spot’ promise. It was smooth and balanced with flavors of light cedar wood, white pepper for spice, and the sweet buttery taste Connecticut Wrappers are known for.

Writing a review on a cigar like this is difficult. It’s not a bad cigar, but it’s not a good cigar either. I don’t like to bash any cigars, and for $3.00 I guess it has it’s place, but at those price points I might prefer to smoke machine made cigars.

The Te-Amo World Selection Series Nicaragua Blend is what it is, and that’s a low cost flavored cigar. It’s actually not artificially flavored, but it sure tastes like it. It has a sweet smelling wrapper, but the cigar itself is too sweet, and is lacking any core cigar flavors. It tastes like robitussin at some points and is full of bitter and sour notes. I only made it halfway through this cigar, a rarity for me.

Anyways, like I said for $3.00 I don’t feel like I got ripped off, but for me Cigar smoking is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, and this was not. Their marketing is quite good however. They have a very nice band with a great name and great cigar countries for the blends. They also have an advertisment in Cigar Aficionado almost every issue, which encouraged me to give them a shot. Not wanting to end the day on a sour note (literally), like Jay-Z says, I’m “on to the next one”.

Cigar Aficionado named this the #10 cigar of the year, prompting me to pick up a box. While I have enjoyed many of the Partagas Serie D No.4′s over the years, this was my first Serie P No.2. It’s very similar to the Serie D No.4, but in a longer torpedo format. The extra length allows you to better distinguish the wonderful flavors throughout, and to notice all the subtle changes and complexities in this stellar cigar. The torpedo tip better funnels the smoke into your mouth for a slightly stronger smoke overall.

The wrapper has that distinctive Partagas Serie smell and the construction is perfect, but one item to note is that it appears to be more tightly packed with tobacco then the Serie D. This probably helped to give it the additional strength, but still with a perfect draw.

The first few puffs were amazing, with a finesse like quality, and flavors of herbs and sweet cedar wood. The lovely Partagas Serie Wrapper’s flavor was present throughout the entire smoke. I completely loved the first third, not only for it’s perfect flavor, but also in anticipation of what was yet to come.

The middle of the cigar became very strong and spicy, with black pepper followed by a rich esspresso taste. The herbal woody qualities are still present in the scent of the smoke upon exhaling, leading me to believe if these were aged a year or more you would probably be able to taste those flavors in the middle third as well. For now though, this young Cuban is flexing it’s muscles in this center third. It might be too much for lightweights, but for you heavyweight cigar smokers out there, you have a knockout cigar here.

I will definately be smoking more of these Partagas Serie P No.2′s soon, as well as aging a few of them, as they will undoubtably improve and reveal all the subtle flavors that make this one of the best Cuban Cigars available.

The Tatuaje Verocu Tubo is a sharp tipped Nicaraguan Puro Torpedo. Both the Cigar and the Red Cigar Tube are stunning. It’s made in Nicaragua by Don Pepin Garcia, which brings up an interesting question. Could it be considered a Nicaraguan Puro if it was made with all Nicaraguan Tobacco, but was rolled in Miami? I’m not sure, but I’m guessing the correct answer is no. Regardless, the Nicaraguan Binder and Filler are complented by a 99 Corojo Wrapper.

Rarely do I encounter a good cigar too strong for my tastes, but this may just be the one. It starts with a delicious blend of raisens and mocha, but quickly is overpowered by a blast of Black Pepper, the likes of which Pepin Garcia is known for. I usually love that Pepin Pepper Blast, but this time it seemed a bit too strong for my taste, and easilly outmuscled the rest of the cigar. About halfway through the first third the pepper subdued to reveal a core of leather with a sweet earthy taste. The middle was good and flavorful, but my mouth was still a bit numb from the initial pepper blast. The last third picked up the spice a bit and I could taste a touch of caramel sweetness thrown in with a hint of toasted nuts. The end of the cigar settled into a nice flavorful smoke with the raisens returning and the caramel blending nicely with the spice. Maybe on a different night after a full meal this would have been spot on?

The Tatuaje Verocu Tubo is a flavorful Full Bodied Cigar. For those who enjoy very rich strong cigars, this may be a favorite, but this week I have enjoyed several aged Cuban Cigars, and so for me this Tatuaje seemed a bit overly powerful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good complex smoke, and very interesting from start to finish, but you definately need to be prepared for a strong full bodied smoke.

-box of 25 Partagas Serie P no.2
-box of 10 Cigars from 2008 Habanos Festival
-5 Trinidad Fundadores
-5 Montecristo Edmundos
-5 Vegueros Marveas
-4 Romeo y Jullieta Churchill Tubos

My first Vegueros Cuban Cigar, with it’s plume covered wrapper, completely blew me away! If you have ever been fortunate enough to experience that ethereal grassy quality of an aged Cohiba Robusto, that’s what smoking a Vegueros is like, only better. The Vegueros is a magical smoke that seems to only have that magical aged quality and nothing else.

“Vegueros” translates to “Harvester” and is a tribute to the Tobacco Field Workers of Cuba. Created in Pinar Del Rio, Vegueros is made entirely from tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region, considered by many to be the premier tobacco of Cuba. Apparently these cigars are no longer in production, so if you find yourself a Vegueros somewhere, I highly recomend picking it up and enjoying the best of what aged Cuban Cigars have to offer.

My Vegueros Mareva immediately revealed a lovely aged ethereal quality, combining a sweet grassy taste with delicate light fruit flavors. The cigar produced a lovely floral aroma which completed it’s overall presentation. The entire cigar maintained it’s perfect mild aged Cuban quality, of which I enjoyed every puff. This is a well kept, hidden gem of the Cuban Cigar industry, which I feel lucky to have experienced.