Appearance: A very well wrapped belicoso with a tight seam and a nicely done cap.  A very slight tooth to the wrapper gives a little texture, but not too much. The veins were very slight.   The double band adds a touch of class, with the 2009 adorning the foot.  The band is simple yet elegant.  The 5×54 cigar is robust in its looks, yet classy.

Taste: This started out with some strong cedar for me.  A little pepper sneaked in and would dash in and out, but the cedar remained the constant throughout.  Cedar is a sweeter woody flavor and it sits well on the lips.I’d like to say that there was a lot of complexity to this cigar, but it’s not always necessary, is it?  Sometimes a good flavor throughout the whole of a cigar is enough, especially if you don’t want to think about it.  This fits that bill.

Aroma: I hate to keep using this word, but it’s, you guessed it, cedar.  The scent is unmistakable, and this was out of the humidor long enough for the cedar of the box to dissipate.  There’s just some cedar to this cigar.

Construction: Feeling this cigar, you might think it’s made out of concrete.  It’s a hard sucker.  But when you clip the tip and take a preliminary draw, it’s smooth and even.  A nice tight roll without hampering the draw wins with me every time.  The burn was good and the ash always held tight.  I can’t find anything about the construction to nitpick.

Overall Impression: This is a good smoke.  It’s not a great smoke.  Whenever someone puts the label “Limited Edition” on something, I expect something special, and well, for a limited edition, this didn’t meet my expectations.  That’s okay, though, because this cigar doesn’t hold a limited edition price.  At just over $5, this is a very well priced cigar that is sure to please the average smoker.  And, the pairing with the Speyburn 10-year was a good match.  They fit well together for a very pleasant smoking experience.

Cigar Rating:

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Alright, y’all, here’s the last of the original group of lancero reviews: the La Aurora Preferidos Cameroon Lancero.  I’ve decided to continue this series so I’m breaking them up in groups.  This first group consists of this La Aurora, the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Lancero, the Oliva Serie V Lancero, and the EO Cubao No. 3 Lancero.  After this review, I’ll post a head-to-head comparison and then declare a winner from this group.

La Aurora is known for being the oldest cigar company still producing cigars.  The Preferido line, mainly associated with those pretty little tubes, is their top-of-the-line offering.  This lancero falls into that line, just without the tube.  At 6 7/8″, this cigar falls on the short side of the lancero range.  It’s a 40 ring guage.  La Aurora has long been rolled in the Dominican Republic and this cigar is no different.  Wearing a Cameroon wrapper, the binder and filler are Dominican tobaccos.

Appearance: The band is the standard pictured above.  It’s a nice looking band, just one that you’re so used to seeing it becomes familiar and unstriking.  What I love about this cigar is the deep brown richness of the wrapper.  It’s got some prominent veins with a very light tooth, but the color of this wrapper is just beautiful.  I love the sleek look of a lancero, though if you’ve read my other reviews in this series, you know that the lancero is my favorite size.  The cap is perfectly done and the foot shows an good even bunch.

Taste: At first draw, this cigar started cool and sweet. It quickly kicked into a nice full leather with some spice; kinda tangy.  This is definitely on the full side of the strength radar.  The flavor, when you relax in between draws, eases back and forth between leather and wood and definitely keeps your palate guessing as to what’s coming next.  Wish I could say there was more to it, but it’s somewhat straight forward.  Towards the end, though, it starts to become harsh, a little bitter even.  I put this down with about two inches left as the strength and harshness stopped being enjoyable.

Aroma: Holding the unlit stick to my nose I get a mild sweet tobacco smell.  Nothing too delicate or different.  The smoke was that great cigar smoke smell that your wife loves so much.

Construction: Running my fingers across this, it’s a firm stick and consistent in its feel.  Again, the foot shows an even bunch.  The wrap was well done.  It lit quickly and burned well.  Not great, but good enough.  The ash was tight, but wouldn’t hold firm for very long.

Overall Impression: Well, at $9-10, I’m a little torn.  The construction and quality of this stick is very good.  It burns well, draws well, looks good, etc.  I’m a full-bodied cigar lover, so I didn’t mind the strength, but this seemed like it was strong just to be strong.  I wanted to like this cigar more than I did end up liking it.  With the stick going badly at the end, plus the higher price tag, I just can’t give this more than I did.

Cigar Rating:

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Alright y’all, this is part three of the multi-part series of lancero reviews.  This week brings the Oliva Serie V Lancero.  I’ve already reviewed the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Lancero and the EO Cubao Lancero which have set high standards already.  The Serie V is a Nicaraguan puro that’s said to be medium-full in its strength.  Let’s see how this 7×38 stick holds up to its competition.

Appearance: The Oliva Serie V band is huge, and it’s a little too big on the other sizes in this blend, but I think for the length of the lancero, it just fits.  The light coffee-colored wrapper has an oily appearance and no tooth.  The wrap is very well done and it sports a triple cap.  This is a very elegant looking lancero.

Taste: This hit me with a bold pepper at the onset, but that quickly mellowed into a rich cedar and earth.  It’s a mild to medium-bodied cigar with very little complexity.  You get the cedar and earth throughout the stick.  It’s got a short finish also.

Aroma: Nothing special about this cigar when holding it to your nose, but then again, cigars aren’t for smelling, are they?  The smoke’s aroma itself wasn’t harsh, but rather a soft tobacco.

Construction: There were some inconsistencies in the feel of this cigar; some areas more firm than others.  The draw was a little too tight but not so tight I couldn’t smoke it, however, the tightness did interfere with its burn in that if you didn’t keep smoking this stick it would go out on you.  Not a good thing when you should be resting in between draws.  The cigar didn’t ever canoe or burn unevenly on the outside though.

Overall Impression: This is a very decent cigar.  It’s my favorite out of the Oliva Serie V line, but it’s just slightly above average overall.  The price point is a big plus on this at or even under $5 per stick.  Now, as far as the comparison goes, it just doesn’t hold up to the other lanceros reviewed up to this point.  It’s a good stick on its own, but it’s not a great stick if you ask me.

Cigar Rating:

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I don’t smoke enough Avos.  There’s no particular reason why, because I do like Avo cigars.  Especially their 787 that just came out over a year ago.  So, when reaching through my humidor yesterday during a beautiful afternoon and spending too much time on Twitter, I pulled out this tubo that has been in my humi for a few months now.  I can tell you it’s been over a year since I’ve smoke an Avo, so I was looking forward to this one.

The No. 5 is a 6 7/8×46 cigar with a Connecticut wrapper and Dominican filler and binder.

Appearance: First, I love the presentation of a tubo.  It just makes the whole experience better.  But when I pulled this cigar out of its tubo, I was greeted with the much-discussed plume of a finely aged cigar.  Now, I always caution people when they say they see plume, because 9 times out of 10 when they show me what they’re talking about, it’s really mold.  But this light dusting of plume was a joy to my eyes.  The wrapper had no tooth and barely any veins.  It was well wrapped, but the cap was a bit sloppy.

Taste: The pre-light draw didn’t give any hint as to what the cigar would taste like, so it was quickly to flame. I always get a woody flavor with Connecticut wrappers and this didn’t fail me.  At first it was a very mild woodiness…very light.  But it wasn’t long before the wood jumped onto my tongue claiming its territory on my taste buds.  As it was dancing around, some spice decided to jump into the mix.  Unfortunately, that’s all there is to this cigar.  It’s consistent in flavor throughout, so if this flavor combo is for you, well, that’s a good thing.

Aroma: My sense of smell must be off, because I got nothing from this.  The smoke was nice and light, but even that didn’t have too much of an aroma.

Construction: Avo seems to not be as consistent in this area.  It’s been a problem with most of the Avos I’ve smoked.  The burn was inconsistent on this: weaving back and forth, side to side.  It never reached the point where it needed a touch-up with the lighter, but it’s not as good as it should be.  The draw was good though, on the medium to easy side.  The ash would hold to almost an inch before it fell off each time.  I almost wore it a couple of times.

Overall Impression: I’m torn because Avo makes good cigars.  Really good cigars.  The Classic, being a Connecticut, isn’t my favorite of his line.  At around $7 a stick for the No. 5, I can think of many other cigars I’d reach for before this one.  I’d also rather pay the higher price for the 787 if I’m going to get an Avo.  So, take it for what it’s worth.  However, the construction aside, this thing gave off smoke like a forest fire, which is always a plus for me, cause I love making smoke rings.  Again, I’ll come back and have this again, but it’s not on the top of my Avo list.

Cigar Rating:

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Alright, smokers and jokers, here’s another installment of the Los Blancos cigar reviews.  It’s been quite hectic for me (what’s new, I know), but it was time to relax with a much deserved cigar.  I’m a big maduro fan, so when reaching into my coolidor, I just had to go for this one today.  Besides, I owed you guys and gals a review.

Appearance: I like the look of Los Blancos.  It’s not too fancy, but not too plain.  The double band is nice, and their color scheme shows you what you’re smoking.  Maduros have yellow bands.  The wrapper is a nice medium brown with slight veins and is well wrapped.  The cap is well done and the bunches look to be consistent.  This is a very good looking cigar.

Taste: I was immediately hit with a strong wood and spice that covered my palate completely.  After a few minutes the spice disappeared completely to be replaced by a leathery taste that dominated completely.  Talk about creamy.  After the first inch you could almost chew on the flavor.  I like that.  You have to smoke slowly though, because this will turn bitter on you if you can’t pace yourself.

Aroma: Holding this to my nose, I got spicy chocolate.  Very aromatic.  The plentiful smoke was strong tobacco.  This kind of cigar is why wives don’t want you smoking in the house.  But, I’m an outside smoker anyway…so I don’t care.

Construction: Feeling along this cigar, it had some inconsistencies along its length, but nothing too bad.  The burn was pretty even the whole way through.  I touched it up once, but that was probably more my OCD than the cigar itself.  I have to say that this is a well made cigar.

Overall: Very good maduro cigar.  Again, like the criollo, this is a man’s cigar.  No frills, no fuss.  It’s a straight forward, well made, taste good cigar.

Cigar Rating:

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Thanks to our friends at Cigars Direct, I got an Oliva Serie G special G to review for our loyal readers of Cigar Command.  I’ve got a day off, so I figured what better way to start the day than to smoke this cigar and review it for you guys.

Pre- Light:  As I usually do, I ran this cigar across my nose, and got very nice hints of cedar and leather, with some slight sweetness.  I cut the cigar with my trusty Palio cutter, and took a pre-light draw.  The draw was perfect, and I got more of the leather and cedar notes that I smelled at first.

1/3:  As I lit up this cigar, the first few puffs were strong cedar and leather flavors.  The draw was perfect, and I got lots of billowing billowing smoke of this little cigar.  The ash was tight, and perfectly straight.  Thus far, I am REALLY enjoying this cigar, and I am impressed with the construction.

2/3: As I continued on this cigar I got some more of those cedar and leather flavors.  The leathery flavor was more prominent at this point.  The ash was holding strong, and the smoke was still billowing abundantly.  The burn was still perfectly straight as well.  I finally decided to knock the ash off at this point in order to not get it dumped all over my clothes while smoking it.

3/3:  As I finished up this cigar, the cedar notes came up more to the foreground, and the leather and slight sweetness was in the background, with a short finish on the palette.  The burn was still razor sharp, with plenty of billowing smoke.

Overall Impression:  Overall, I enjoyed this cigar.  I did find it to be a bit one dimensional, and not overly complex.  The flavors were enjoyable, but there was not a whole lot of change in the flavors.  What impressed me the most was the burn and ash quality on this stick.  The ash held tight, and I probably could have run it down to the nub before knocking off the ash, but I wasn’t really wanting to live dangerously.

-Scott

Cigar Rating:

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Hey y’all…it’s been awhile, but we’re never too far away. Awhile back, David Blanco of Los Blancos cigars contacted me to do some reviews, and, of course, I said I’d be happy to. So, here’s the beginning of a series of reviews from pretty much the whole line of cigars. I’m a criollo fan, so I decided to start with this one. Here we go…

Appearance: This is a good looking cigar.  With a double band, one at the head and one at the foot, the presentation is good, but not over the top.  The criollo band is green, with each other cigar having their own color bands too.  The wrapper was smooth with no tooth, well wrapped, and had a nice double cap.  This doesn’t look like a high-end cigar, but it’s no low class representative either.

Taste: Okay, this is a man’s cigar.  You want complex…look elsewhere.  You want to spend your time distinguishing if a cigar has a hint of seven-year Madagascar vanilla…look elsewhere.  You want straight good tobacco flavors of leather and wood, then this is your cigar.

Aroma: Again, this is a cigar.  It smells like a cigar.  Holding this to my nose, I got good tobacco smell.

Construction: Los Blancos scored here with me, because these burned extremely well.  I never once needed to relight or fix a burn.  The medium draw was pleasant, not too tight, not too loose.  The samples I had of these were just extremely well made.

Overall: This is a good cigar.  It’s not super-duper greatness, but it’s definitely a contender for a good everyday, reliable cigar.  It’s medium body will satisfy any smoker, and it has a long finish that will stay with you after you’re done.  The only thing I have to say that isn’t positive about this cigar is that I wish it had more of a criollo presence in the flavors.  If you’ve never given Los Blancos a try, this would be a good place to start.

Cigar Rating:

- Ricky

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I was given the opportunity by one of our sponsors,  Cigars Direct, to review an Oliva Serie O Maduro.  I have always loved every Oliva cigar I have had, so I figured this would be no exception.  Without further ado, lets get started!

Pre- Light: As I usually do, I ran this cigar across my nose to get a little hint of what was to come.  I got some nice woody flavors, with deep chocolate and cedar notes.  I clipped it with my trusty Palio.  I took a pre-light draw and the cigar was drawing perfectly, so I decided it was time to get into it.

1/3:  As I lit this up, the first flavors I was getting were lots of cocoa, chocolate and cedar flavors, with some light leather flavors on the background.  The ash was holding strong, and the smoke was billowing.  Along with these two aspects, the cigar was also burning just about perfect.  So far I am REALLY enjoying this cigar.

2/3:  As I started onto the 2/3 of the cigar, the first thing that I noticed was that the cocoa flavors faded into the background a little bit, and I got lots of cedar/wood flavors, along with leather.  The cocoa flavor became almost the after taste at this point, but it was very nice so far.  The only issue I started to have was the burn was a little crooked, and the ash got a little flaky.  I was still enjoying it very much so, however!

3/3:  As I finished up this cigar, the cocoa flavor came back full force, and the cedar and wood flavors faded back into the background.  The burn straightened out at this point, and the ashes were still a little flaky, but they were holding on.  As is the same with all the other Oliva cigars I have smoked, I enjoyed this one right down to the point where my fingers were burning.

Overall Impression:  Overall, just like every other Oliva product I have smoked, this cigar did not dissapoint.  The flavors were outstanding, and the cigar as a whole was great.  The burn needed a little work, but corrected itself fairly decently.  I also experienced a flaky ash with this cigar, which isn’t something I usually get with Olivas.  All in all, I really enjoyed this cigar, and will smoke one again, and again and again.  I want to thank Cigars Direct for sending me this cigar to review.

-Scott

Cigar Rating:

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First off, I need to say thank you to Chubzerous, a great member on Cigar Live, who sent me a few of the new LIVE cigar by George A. Rico.  This cigar is the brain child of Daniel Lopez, the Administrator of Cigar Live.  I immediately thought of the loyal readers here, and decided to review this cigar, so here we go!

Pre-Light:  The first thing I noticed about this cigar, is that Daniel at Cigar Live wanted to be a little different in making this cigar, so he made it so that BOTH ends need to be cut.  This was a bit confusing, as I was not sure which end was the foot, and which end was the head, but after a little research on it, I figured it all out   As I ran this cigar along my nose, I got some nice spice, and some leathery wood scents.  I clipped BOTH ends with my Palio, and lit up with my trusty Ronson Jetlite.  According to the LIVE CIGAR website, here is what they say about the LIVE green label blend:

Wrapped in a nice Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper this cigar is packed with some nice Nicaraguan filler and binder. This is a spicy treat that is medium to full body in strength. If you like the taste of great Nicaraguan tobacco and the spice of an Ecuadorian wrapper this is the cigar for you.

1/3:  As I puffed out the first few puffs, I got hit hard with some serious spice, with some leather and wood undertones.  The smoke was billowing BIG time in this smoke.  The draw was just about perfect, and it was tasting great.  The burn was a little wavy, but nothing TOO bad.  The ash was a little flaky, so I put it in my mind to just go ahead and ash it fairly often to keep the ash from ending up in my lap.

2/3:  As I continued, I got more of that wood flavor, and the spice died down a little bit.  The flavor was great.  I have always loved that earthy wood and leather flavor, so this was a good smoke so far!  The burn was still a little wavy, and the ash was still flaky, but the smoke was VERY nice and abundant.  The smoke at this point was very consistent.  Not REALLY complex, but had some great flavors nonetheless.

3/3:  As I finished up with this cigar, the ash was still flaky, but that didn’t bother me, because I was really enjoying the flavors I was getting from this cigar.  It was staying consistent, but the spiciness came back a bit, to add to the flavors of this smoke.  The burn did start to straighten out on its own, with no corrections on my part.  At this point, I was impressed with this smoke, as I put it down numerous times, and it never went out, and continued to burn nicely.  The smoke was still great, and the flavors were still very nice leather and wood, with some spice in the background.

Overall Impression:  Overall, I found this smoke to be VERY enjoyable.  Not overly complex, but its a very good cigar for the money.  The flavors were something I always enjoy, and you can bet that I will buy a box or two of these as soon as possible.  Next up is going to be the LIVE Blue Label, and if I can get my hands on a couple, I will also review the LIVE Red Label soon!

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As I was thumbing through the reviews that we have done here at Cigar Command, and I noticed that Ricky had put up a Master Blends 2 review, but the Master Blends 3 had not yet been reviewed, so I thought I would smoke this thing and give you a guys a review on it, so here we go!

Pre-Light: As I took at look at this cigar, the first thing I noticed was the hugely ornate band surrounding this stick.  The band was full of colors and great looking!  As i ran it across my nose, I got some nice leathery smells, along with a slight sweetness and floral smell.  I cut it with my ever trusty Palio cutter, and took a pre-light draw.  I got the same leather and floral tastes on pre light draw, as well as some slight sweetness.  My mind was telling me, this was going to be a tasty smoke!

1/3:  As I started on the first third, I was hit hard with the sweet and floral flavors, with the leather and a little bit of earthy flavors in the background.  As you can see by the picture, the rollers at the Oliva factory certainly know how to roll a cigar.  The ash was perfect, and the cigar was burning perfectly straight.  The smoke was billowing, and so far, I am really enjoying this cigar.

2/3:  As I continued through this cigar, it kept on changing on me.  The floral taste pulled back a bit, and the earthy flavors came through full force.  This was a great taste that I enjoy in just about every cigar I smoke.  The ash was holding tight, and continued to hold tight until about the 1/2 way point.  I ashed it just before the band, only because I didn’t want to risk it falling all over me.  I am confident that if I had taken the band off before lighting it up, I could have gotten the ash to stay on the cigar down to the nub, but I didn’t want to chance it, so I ashed it into my stinky ashtray.

3/3:  As I was finishing up this cigar, I noticed that the floral tasted decided it got tired of being in the background, and came back full force.  This time, with almost TOO much floral taste.  I am not usually a big fan of big floral taste, and this floral taste was the same way.  The earthy flavors fell off almost completely, and the floral taste was a bit overpowering, but I powered through it to the nub, just to give an accurate review.

Overall Impression:  Overall, this was a very enjoyable cigar until I got to the end, but thats just my personal taste preference talking.  I only ashed the cigar twice through the entire thing, and it was a solid smoke that was pretty tasty most of the way through.  I highly recommend that everyone try this cigar at least once.  I enjoyed most of it, and I would have no problem smoking more of them.

Cigar Rating: 

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