14 Monty 2
La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
In the humidor for six months. Light barnyard on the foot and cold draw. Starts out with pepper. Draw is not tight but the burn is odd and hot when I puffed hard to get more smoke. After a half inch, I ashed the cigar and checked the foot. Two holes/tunnels visible where two of the petioles, (leaf stalks), had burned out ahead of the leaves. Too hot to hold by the halfway point so I let the cigar go out, then re lit it to no avail. I guess the cigar was stalked.
Crowned Heads Headly Grange Estupendos
Easy to smoke as far as draw and burn. Medium/full. Very woody and nutty. Some white pepper. Retrohale shows unsweetened coffee and chocolate. Dry flavors. A little one dimensional but enjoyable. Generally, not my favorite Crowned Heads stick but now I am going to give them more time in the humidor. = B
Jason
Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan
Running low on these so I better have one before they are all gone. Chasing flavors for an hour. Ooh, this one has hints of mint too.
Aging Room Quattro F55N Maestro Torpedo
Number 1 cigar for 2019. Cuban cut the cigar. Cocoa and berry aromas on the foot. The same on the cold draw. Settles in smooth and flavorful after a half inch. Turning the cigar produces different flavors from different taste buds. With the open angle of the cut turned to either side I get dark chocolate, dark sweet berries and some earth. With the cut turned up, the smoke is delivered to taste buds at the back of my tongue. Coffee and kitchen spices are primary. With the cut facing down, I get a combination with coffee the primary. My new number 1 cigar.
I totally missed that question. Yeah it is a CRKT Pilar designed by Jesper Voxnaes. I have a few CRKTs, 2 flippers designed by Ken Onion, and for the money, I think they are awesome knives.
J
Thanks for the note. I don’t buy Aging Room but always curious about a cigar that makes a lot of waves. Sounds like there is a lot going on with that smoke. A few should be on my list next time I am up for a purchase.
Jason
A. Fuente Don Carlos Belicoso
At least one year in the humidor. Draw is a little tight. Starts out nutty with some mild pepper, offset by some sweetness from the Cameroon wrapper. Some cedar and nutmeg soon join in. About half way through it develops a salty streak that interferes with the lighter notes for the remainder of the cigar.
Padron _1964 Anniversar_y Corona Natural - Purchased in January
Don’t need to say much. Basically a perfect cigar. Nuts, roasted chicken and maple. The retrohale brings more richness and sweetness. The finish goes on forever. = A+++
Alec Bradley Black Market Robusto
I have only had this for a few months and at the moment it seems undeveloped. The last one I smoked had 7 years in the humidor and was terrific. I enjoyed this smoke but there was not a lot of complexity or harmony of flavors. Chocolat and coffee focused with a bit of soil and wood. Full bodied with medium flavors. The draw was good but I did need to hit it twice with the Perfect Draw. = B
Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Toro
Happy Easter with The Rose of Sharon. A terrific smoke. Complex with a long finish. Leather, cocoa, oak, and Christmas Spice. Retrohale has dried cherries and plums. No harshness and very balanced. = A
Peace,
Jason
Love those Padrons…
Sencillo Platinum Robusto Gordo 2015
Released in December 2018 and been in the humidor since. Black tea, almost Earl Grey tea aroma on the foot. Allspice on the cold draw. Starts out peppery and settles in after half an inch with some nuttiness, cinnamon and leather. Easy draw with thick smoke. Occasional hints of nutmeg, earthy notes and sweet cedar. Gains strength as it burns past mid cigar but still smooth and tasty.
Caldwell Long Live The King The Heater Purchased in January 2020
Decent simple smoke. Earthy and woody. At $4.00 it is a fine purchase just not overly interesting. I had burn problems with this. It went out twice. I don’t even remember which one it was, but the first Caldwell I had was very nice so I grabbed a few each of the different styles. None of them have been very moving. = C+
I have to say that, although I do not smoke, I really dig the photos and descriptions - whether Randy’s hand working through store inventory or Jason sitting in the sun and enjoying life.
Thanks.
I broke into one of my humidors at home to get something old. All the cigars have been in the humidor for a minimum of 20 years. Two are Cuban and four were purchased from JR Cigar when I smoked on the cheap. Left to right:
La Flor De Maria Mancini
La Finca
LAS Cabrillas Honduras
JR Cigar Private Collection Ultimate
H Upmann
Cohiba
Randy, curious about provenance of the Cohiba. Bought enough direct from La Casa del Habanos, Cohibas specifically. So… Wrapper color is not “right” to my eye. Cohibas have a distinct “orangish” hue, not sure how to explain it. Though it could be quality of the picture.
A friend of mine designed JR’s “walk in humidor store” on Rte. 17 in Paramus, stopped by many a time to grab some smokes. Though I think they eliminated the front smoking area a while ago. Used to pass it on my way to/fro to Mahwah offices for work.
Greg, it’s my old phone camera. Here it is next some others:
I’m O for 2. The La Finca was tight and it wouldn’t hardly draw. Running a spike through exploded the cigar. The Maria Mancini also had a bad draw and burnt down one side until it self corrected after half the cigar but was still unremarkable. Today’s lesson: Aging cheap cigars may not improve them.
AJ Fernandez Last Call Flaquitas Maduro
After yesterday’s debacle I decided to smoke what I know today. Rock hard slow smoker. There’s coffee and cocoa, dark chocolate and espresso, kitchen spices, some earth, sweet dark berries and a little white pepper. An hour and ten minutes worth of chasing flavors.
Included a number of these in today’s order based on this.
Looking forward to your notes. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}