Appearance: First, as stated before, I love the lancero.  I think it’s an elegant cigar.  The La Aurora 107 Lancero definitely deserves the description of elegant.  This 7×40 cigar is capped with a traditional pigtail, which I think adds to its appearance.  The Ecuadorian wrapper has no tooth with a few prominent veins running along the length.

Taste: At first light, prominent pepper covers your lips and lets you know this isn’t a cigar to be overlooked.  After the first inch or so, the pepper subsides into a rich leather flavor.  Be warned, though, not to smoke this cigar too quickly as, with any cigar, you can build up tar which ruins the flavors.  About half way through, earth pops in to mix with the leather and this combination holds almost until the end where some cedar introduces itself.

Aroma: Cedar and cocoa waft from the unlit stick, but after lighting, this won’t be your wife’s favorite smelling cigar.  This is a medium-full smoke and the smoke’s aroma lets you know that.

Construction: This is a well constructed cigar.  Lanceros can be hit or miss because of its thin ring gauge, but of the three I’ve had so far, there were no problems.  A smooth draw also signifies a good roll.  The burn was solid.  Of course, this isn’t La Aurora’s first rodeo either since the 107′s older brother, the Preferido lancero, has been around for a little while.

Overall Impression: This cigar hits the mark.  Retailing for around $7, this has great flavor, is well constructed, and looks great.  While not overly complex, the 107 Lancero changes enough to keep you interested.  This is a medium to full flavor cigar that I think improves on the Serie 107 Aniversario line.  For those who were involved in working with La Aurora to bring this cigar to life, I thank you.

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So, for the first review of the summer, I bring to you the Calibre 58 from Miami Cigars.  Along the same vein as NUb cigars, these are short but stout.  The Calibre 58 is a Nicaraguan puro, and if you know anything about Nicaraguan puros, that almost guarantees a full-bodied smoke.  These were “initially created as a personal house blend of Miami Cigar to be used exclusively for promo’s [sic] but due to the demand [they] were forced to release them.”  These cigars are available in both rosado and oscuro wrappers as well as a parejo or torpedo shape.  Let’s see how they turn out.

Appearance: These are unbanded, which to me is a good thing, since they’re so short at  4×58.  No need to mess with a band when they’re that short.  Notice I didn’t say small, because a ring gauge of 58 is nothing to sneeze at.  The wrapper has few veins and no tooth.  A slight sheen to the cigar hints at age, but it’s not what I would call oily.  The cap of this torpedo is extremely well done as is the rest of the roll.  Unpretentious in its presentation, let’s see if the cigar backs up its lack of flaunted presentation.

Taste: This thing comes out swinging like Foreman before he learned how to grill.  Very strong cedar from the gate that subsides into a pure tobacco taste.  A strong wood and floral come to the forefront pretty quickly with a slight undertone of pepper, but not as much as you’d expect from this powerhouse.  I can honestly say I’ve never experienced these kinds of flavors from any puro, that were so abrupt in strength but smooth in flavor.  After the first inch, though, the floral went away and the woodiness came heavy.  Heavier than I like, but taste is purely subjective, right?  It didn’t really change much after that.

Aroma: Taking a huge whiff of this stick pre-light gave me a very strong aroma of chocolate, cedar, and tobacco.  This thing smells fantastic and reminds me of what a cigar should smell like.

Construction: I’ll say in both samples that I had before writing this review, these weren’t easy to initially light.  Not that they were extremely difficult, but it took some time to get a good full light on these.  Once going, the burn was good, though not great.  In the humid southern air of a somewhat cool North Carolina evening, though, it’s probably never going to be perfect, so take that for what its worth.  The cigar is well rolled.  The ash holds strong.  The wrapper doesn’t unravel even with the added humidity.  Miami Cigars has maintained its quality and proves it with the Calibre 58.

Overall Impression: I’m sold.  At just under $5 per stick, these are extremely enjoyable, even if not earth-shattering.  A good solid cigar with powerhouse flavor.  Just be careful not to smoke these too fast.  With all that strength, this can get pretty acrid on you if you don’t moderate.  I would definitely say that NUb has some strong competition in the market now.

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Well, let’s see, being as it’s been forever since I’ve posted a cigar review; being that I was not able to make it to the IPCPR trade show that’s going on right now; and, being that I had a pretty good weekend with my daughters, I figured why not have a cigar tonight and write down my thoughts for my readers.  Oh yeah, and NFL preseason kicks off tonight!!  As if that’s not reason enough.

Anyway, I pulled out the recently released NUb Maduro for tonight’s smoke.  I’ve enjoyed all of the previous releases, which you can read here.  But, being a huge maduro fan, I really was looking forward to this cigar’s debut.  Here we go.

Appearance: This thing’s got a pretty dark wrapper even for a maduro, but they’re not painted dark like some other manufacturers do.  The wrap is tight and well done, and looking at the foot, the bunch looked good.  The band is the same as the other nubs, just a brown to represent the maduro.

Taste: This thing started strong; a little too strong out the gate, but it mellowed pretty quickly.  From there, it was just good tobacco taste.  It’s not a complex cigar and trying to pull flavors out of this isn’t a priority tonight.  Let it suffice that if you like maduros, you’ll like this.

Aroma: The unlit cigar was just good wholesome maduro tobacco smell, but I wouldn’t go waving this smoke, once lit,  in your face too much trying to get a good whiff.

Construction: Well, what’s to be said about these things.  They’re always great in this area.  The draw was fantastic.  The burn was a little off, but who cares?  You’d think that for such a short, thick cigar you’d see more construction problems, but these are always well-made.

Overall Impression: I’ve been impressed with NUbs ever since they came out.  This one doesn’t disappoint.  As far as maduros go, it isn’t the best, but it isn’t the worst either.  For a little over $5 and still at least a good hour of smoke, you can’t really ask for more.

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Normally I don’t do a review based on one cigar, but I was asked to do a review of this by   of Reyes Family Cigars.  He’s very proud of this cigar and it’s only being released in limited numbers to limited retailers.  At least that’s how it stands now.  Sometimes “limited” is subjective in the cigar world.  Anyway, I decided to get some good pictures of this nice looking cigar to put in here as well.

This is a 6×52 toro made up of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobaccos.  The binder and wrapper are Ecuadorian Sumatra

Appearance: The cedar-wrapped cigar seems to be going away, but this Cuba Aliados sports one.  Its red, white, and gold band is simple but sharp and bold.  The wrap looks pretty well done with only one small blemish where the wrapper was too wet and wrinkled as it dried.  A few prominent veins route their way through the leaf.  The cap wasn’t perfect, but the part that was folded under was to be cut off anyway.  The foot shows a very nice tight, even bunch.

Taste: This started out with a medium strength laced with a light pepper and a full leather.  There was some cedar too.  This maintained that leather flavor throughout.  And the best way to describe it is ‘dry.’  Dry as in dry wine.  Don’t know how to explain it other than that.  Anyway, it maintained this flavor profile for pretty much the whole of the cigar with the pepper going in and out.  The strength, however, grew subtly from beginning to end, morphing into a smooth full-bodied smoke by the end.

Aroma: Usually a cedar-wrapped cigar bears the smell of that cedar.  This one, however, had a sweet floral smell that broke through that cedar.  Very nice. The smoke was rather harsh.

Construction: The cigar had the appropriate firmness and sponginess too.  The draw was excellent.  It took a little bit to light, but once it was lit it burned exquisitely until the last two inches.  At that point one side just stopped burning altogether.  I can’t ding it too much, though, because again, this is based on only one sample.  The ash was always tight and firm and wouldn’t tap off unless it was over an inch.  That’s always a good sign of quality construction.

Overall Impression: I think the Reyes Family has hit a home run with this cigar.  Not being fully accessible to the public yet, you might have a hard time finding these, but I definitely recommend trying one if you can get your hands on it.  I’m hoping they keep it out of certain retailer hand (notice I didn’t particularly name Cigars International) so that it doesn’t get overburdened and ground into the ground like I feel the Puros Indios line did.

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Okay, let’s kick this week off right with a cigar review.  These cigars were sent to me by Paul Bush who’s just recently created his own cigar line: Panacea.  Wanting to take what he calls an “old school” approach, Paul says his focus is on getting the best tobacco.  Instead of focusing on pretty packaging, he wants to get back to the basics of cigar making.  Let’s see how he does.  The torpedo is 6×52 and the blend is made up of a Brazilian wrapper with Cuban seed ligero and seco.

Appearance: This is a good looking torpedo.  It has a sharp point at its cap, and the cap is well done.  The chocolate wrapper has no tooth and some slight veins with a few prominent ones.  The wrap itself is visible.  Overall, this looks like a good torpedo.  I’m not a big fan of the band itself.  It looks a little cheap to me, but I’ve said many times you can’t judge a cigar by its band.  Also, band design and production can get expensive.  If you’re putting all your money into the tobacco itself, it makes sense that the band isn’t the focus here.

Taste: This is a pretty straight forward stick.  A mild-medium strength of a floral wood is consistent from beginning to end.  While not complex, it’s pleasant.  The strength starts out on the medium side, then mellows a bit, and picks back up toward the end.

Aroma: Holding the foot to my schnoz, I got a little floral cinnamon in there.  The wrapper itself is a mild tobacco.

Construction: Squeezing this stick, it’s a stout one. After clipping, the draw was fantastic.  While the burn wasn’t razor sharp, this stick was perfectly made.  The ash was firm and held tight for a long time.  I flicked the ash off the first time after I’d smoked half the cigar.  I didn’t have to flick again until I put the cigar down.  That’s a helluva well-made cigar if you ask me.

Overall Impression: I’m impressed.  The construction of this cigar is flawless.  It burns well and the ash holds well.  I’d like a little more complexity, but I can pick out many sticks I smoke on a regular basis that aren’t complex.  At around $6 for this stick, I think it’s a great buy.

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This is the final review of the Los Blancos Premium cigars. You can see all of the Los Blancos reviews by clicking here.  I want to say thanks to David Blanco of Los Blancos for sending these samples to me and for being so patient waiting for the reviews.  That being said, this cigar was held to the end because, well, I’m just not a huge fan of Connecticut wrapper cigars.  David told me he hopes that in this case, “[I've] saved the best for last.”  Let’s see…

Appearance: The band is the same as on all the other premium blends, only this time it’s blue, my favorite color.  Go figure.  The light wrapper has very few and very sleight veins.  The wrap is very well done and is almost seamless.  The cap was excellently done as well.  This is a fantastic looking cigar.

Taste: This started out with a very strong sweetness that I’m not accustomed to with Connecticuts.  If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought it was sugar-tipped.  Of course, it’s not, so the intense sweetness wasn’t unnatural nor unpleasant.  It was very welcome.  Eventually, some woodiness came through and took over, but it wasn’t the harsh wood that I usually associate with Connecticuts.  Some leather peeked its way in there towards the middle too.  The leather and wood held for the remainder of the smoke.

Aroma: Holding this to my snoz, I got a strong scent of wood and honey.  Very nice.  The smoke’s aroma is nothing to concern yourself over.  It won’t get you smoking in the house, but it won’t get you kicked out of the garage either.

Construction: The burn for the first inch was razor sharp.  It fell off after that but never got to the point where I’d be concerned about construction.  The ash was firm and would hold for an inch or more without dropping.  The draw was fantastic.  Very easy but not loose.

Overall Impression: Okay, okay…  I liked this smoke.  D’ya hear that, David?  It’s a mild to medium body, and that sits well with me for a Connie.  I could see this being an occasional morning smoke for me.  The construction is great and it’s a great looking cigar.  The blue band sits on the light wrapper well.  The flavors weren’t overpowering like I find other Connies, in fact, they were just right.  I can count the number of Connecticut wrappers that I really like on one hand, and while this one fits on that hand, I can now count it.

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This is the second in a line of four lancero reviews.  The first was a Nestor Miranda Special Selection.  Now, we’re onto the EO Cubao No. 7 Lancero.  This is a 7.5×38 cigar.  Long and strong is what you can expect if you’ve already tried the Cubao in another size.  Another Pepin blend brought to you by Eddie and Eric at United Tobacco, makers of my beloved 601 brand.  This cigar boasts Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos and an Ecudorian Sumatra Oscuro wrapper.  It’s touted as medium to full bodied with lots of flavor.  Let’s see if it stands up to its claim.

Appearance: You can see the plain band, which almost matches the color of the wrapper itself.  This is a light oscuro wrapper.  There are many prominent veins in the wrapper, but very little tooth.  It’s a little bumpy, too, from the roll.  The triple cap is finished off with a little pigtail, which I happen to prefer.  It’s easier for rollers to finish a cigar this way as well instead of trying to set a cap on top.

Taste: I recently reviewed the No. 7 Corona, and this, as expected, has the similar flavor profile of cedar and leather, but not as much of the spice.  The amount of flavor, though, is more if that makes sense.  It’s much smoother than its shorter brother, too.  It starts out strong, but mellows out into that medium-fullness that they claim.  There were also hints of toasted bread in there.  Again, these are creamy cigars.  Very tasty.

Aroma: The pre-light sniff was very aromatic and smelled like roasted nuts and wood.  The smoke itself wasn’t anything special.  Probably not something your significant other would like sifting through the house though.

Construction: The samples I had were a little soft and spongy when feeling them before lighting.  The draw was great; not loose like I expected based on the feel, but the ash was loose and very flaky.  It held a pretty consistent even burn though.  I think the roll could have been a little better accomplished, but then, having never rolled a cigar myself, let alone a lancero, I’ll leave it at that.  I’m not complaining.

Overall Impression: This is the kind of cigar that forces you to distinguish between flavor and strength.  Many people confuse the two, but there are full-bodied cigars and there are full-flavored cigars.  They’re different.  This is definitely a full-flavored cigar that is just pure enjoyment.  The only reason it didn’t get another half-star in the rating is that it could have had a little better construction.  Flavor is subjective, but if you like full to medium-full bodied cigars, I can almost guarantee that you’ll love this.

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Up next in the lancero head-to-head is the Oliva Serie V Lancero.  Stay tuned…

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This cigar was sent to me by Tex Cigars and my eyes lit up when I saw it.  I love a full-bodied cigar and I loves me some ligero.  These cigars were rated as a 91 by Cigar Aficionado, but take that for what it’s worth.  Last year Scott reviewed its little brother robusto and it got a decent rating.  Let’s see where this one stands up.

Appearance: I love these bands.  Pure elegance.  It’s a good presentation and it says “I’m worth the cost.”  We’ll have to see if the cigar backs that up.  The wrapper is a little toothy and has some color variation.  The wrap seams are easily distinguishable.  The cap on this is perfectly done and it’s sharp.  This is a very, very sharp looking cigar.

Taste: This thing starts out hard leather.  It comes on pretty strong too.  Not a bad thing at all, but you may wanna have a little snack before you tackle it.  It’s creamy too.  After about the first inch, this cigar settles into some earth and pepper and it smooths out considerably.  About half way through, the pepper left and the leather moved back into the foreground and stayed until the end.

Aroma: I was so looking forward to this stick that I forgot my usual sniffing ritual, so you’re just gonna have to find out for yourself.  The smoke was a nutty buttery smell that was very pleasant.  There was plenty of it too.

Construction: I did feel along the stick and noticed some inconsistency along its length.  That sounded kinda dirty.  Anyway, the burn was a little ragged.  I always want a razor-sharp burn when I’m smoking in doors.  The ash was loose too.  Neither of which are a huge deal, but together don’t rave of the roll quality.

Overall Impression: This is a damn good cigar.  And smooth too.  You’ll have to be careful because the strength sneaks up on you.  While I was smoking this cigar, I was wondering how it could be claimed as a full body cigar.  After the cigar was over, I knew.  Make sure you have a full stomach when tackling this baby.  Great smooth flavors, good creaminess, decent burn.  Yeah, you’ll love this stick.

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This review is brought to you courtesy of Cigars Direct.  They’ve sent me a good line-up to bring to you over the next few weeks, and to start it out I decided on the Henry Clay Brevas.  I’d never tried any of the Henry Clays before, so I was excited to see exactly how Henry Clay has stayed around so long.  This is an Altadis brand now, but it has a long history, and is even part of a famous quote by Rudyard Kipling: “There’s calm in a Henry Clay.”  Well, we’ll see, won’t we Mr. Kipling.  Let’s get to it:

Appearance: This 5 1/8×42 box-pressed cigar with a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper has an old-style band keeping in mind that Henry Clay has a long tradition in the cigar industry.  Nothing fancy or flashy, just a band that says “Henry Clay.”  The wrapper is smooth, but with large veins.  It also has a mottled appearance of dark browns and darker browns.  Not an even coloring throughout.  I will say, however, that this cigar intrigued me with its unkemptness.

Taste: Pre-light draw gave me no hint as to how this cigar would be, but after lighting it, I was hit with spice and leather.  And it’s the kind of spice that rests on your lips like you just ate some jalapenos.  And you could tell right away that this was no sissy cigar.  I was looking for some chocolatey cocoa-ness, but didn’t find it here.  After the first inch, some of the leather went away as did almost all of the spice, and some earthy goodness kicked in.  It maintained that earth taste with the undercurrent of leather most of the way through, and I have to say it was very good.

Aroma: This is probably where my intrigue started.  Pulling this out of the humidor, it smelled like one of those chocolate bars your kid sells for school fundraisers.  It didn’t have that fake aroma of a flavored cigar, but rather this smelled of rich, premium chocolate.  I’ve not had a cigar that smelled so much like chocolate.

Construction: Feeling along its length, there was consistency in its firmness.  The foot looked like the tobacco was evenly rolled, and this thing had a good solid weight to it.  The draw was firm and it took a bit to get it properly lit, which means that it may have had too tight a roll.  Once it got going, it was a good burner and held a good firm ash that held reliably.

Overall Impression: I’m liking this.  It was full-bodied, but not too overpowering.  This reminded me of the much loved EO 601 Oscuro (green label). There was good flavor, good construction, and it was an overall good experience. Maybe Kipling knew what he was talking about.

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To change it up a bit but still stay within the Los Blancos family, today I pulled out a Primos Habana Criollo Rosado Torpedo sent to me by David Blanco.  This is a bundle cigar that is made using mainly Nicaraguan tobacco.  It is reputed to be a medium to medium full body cigar that will please even the experienced cigar smoker.  Let’s see…

Appearance: The first thing you notice is the band, well, kinda…  It almost blends in with the color of the wrapper and is a different take on the way other cigars (even other Los Blancos) are: where the band is very prominent.  The wrapper is quite veiny with a little tooth.  Looking at the foot, the bunch seems to be well made.  The wrapper is not oily, but it’s not dull either.  Maybe with a few more months in the humidor, the oils might have started working their way out a bit more.

Taste: This thing started the first few puffs and I thought it was going to be a dud.  But then the spice kicked in.  Wowza.  It didn’t last long, and it gave way to a rich leathery flavor that coated the palate, but for a few puffs I thought I was in for a ride.  The spice did come back in small doses, and a sweet woody flavor weaved its way in and out as well.  I can’t say that the taste changed much, but I can say that it was quite pleasant all the way through.

Aroma: Either my sense of smell is off (wouldn’t be the first time) or this has the most mild scent I’ve ever smelled on a cigar.  I had to inhaled deeply just to get any hint of a scent from this cigar.  The smoke had that sweet woody scent that you could taste.

Construction: This cigar had a medium draw and feeling along the body, had a few inconsistencies, but being a bundle, that’s easy to forgive, right?  The burn proved the inconsistencies, but it never got out of control nor did I ever need a relight.  That’s good in my book; not great, but definitely good.

Overall: Overall, this cigar exceeded my expectations.  I know, I know…  I’m not supposed to have any preconceived notions, but having had quite a few dud bundles in my day, it’s hard to get that out of my head.  This cigar may just turn me around on them.  I’d put this cigar right in the middle of medium body (maybe leaning toward the milder side), but it’s rich in flavor, produces plenty of smoke, burns well, and costs less than $3 a stick.  Primos may be a bundle cigar, but right now it’s prime-time as far as I’m concerned.

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