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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Second, I wanna thank Se7en_Vandalay for doing this guest review.  He had it to me over a week ago and I had every intention to get it up in a timely manner, but well, see my first point.  Anyway, here you go.  Leave a comment and let him know how you like this review!

Cigar: CAO Brazilia Vitola: Box Press Size: 5½ x 55 Origin: Danli, Honduras Wrapper: Brazilian Colorado Maduro Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Price: $7.20 + CO tax

The CAO Brazilia has been a long time favorite of mine. I have smoked nearly all the vitolas in the line. And haven’t found a bad one yet. I’m impressed by the overall quality and flavor consistency. I think I have a good handle on this line which is why I chose it for this Guest Review for Cigar Command. So I got home last night, pulled one out of the humidor and sat down outside to enjoy a great Colorado evening with thunderstorms rolling off in the distance.

Appearance/Presentation: (18/20)
The CAO Brazilia comes in a beautiful dark chocolate Brazilian Colorado Maduro wrapper. From the dark wrapper there is incredible contrast to the dual bands of the Brazilia. The primary band displays the cigar name in Gold over the Green, Yellow & Blue of the Brazilian Flag. The secondary band displays the vitola, Box-Press, in Gold over a Yellow field with accent stripes. That beautiful wrapper was lightly oily with some tooth. Also there were some superficial blemishes towards the foot. The cigar was well packed head to foot, with no hard or soft spots. The cap was well placed, but did come undone a bit once cut.

Light/Burn: (14/15)
The CAO Brazilia lights up like a champ. A few moments with my torch produces an even white foot telling me I am ready to smoke. The burn was fairly sharp considering I was outside and those thunderstorms in the distance gave me some wind to deal with. As the cigar rested it had a very light and even smoke and produced a nice and solid grey ash. I found that the cigar burned at a very nice rate and never required any re-lighting.

Construction: (27/30)
The draw of the CAO Brazilia was near perfect to begin with. It did ease up into the second third but returned to a nice medium draw through the remainder. Despite my note about the head coming undone after I cut the cap, the wrapper stayed intact very well.

Taste: (35/35)
I could not find anything wrong with the taste of this cigar. The flavors are so intense and so enjoyable. The pre-light is tobacco with hints of chocolate. Once lit, this guy takes off. The dark chocolate flavors are pleasant and linger throughout most of the cigar. There is also a delicious coffee flavor under the chocolate. The spice picks up in the second third and remains ’til the end. The body of the CAO Brazilia starts off medium-full and progresses to full along the way. It’s such an enjoyable experience every time, which keeps me coming back.

Overall: (94/100)
Well. As I said in the beginning this is one of my all time favorites and I guess the score show that. I remember being introduced the the box-press late last year and it has quickly risen to the top of the line for me. The concentration of flavors from this vitola make it like no other. I would highly recommend picking the CAO Brazilia Box-Press. I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed.

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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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Okay, this is a cigar I’ve been looking to try for awhile.  I don’t smoke a lot of Altadis products, but when Billy of Cigars Direct asked what to send for review, I had him throw some Montecristos in.  I’ve had my eye on these since they came out, but never pulled the trigger.  As a maduro fan, and these being the only maduro in the Montecristo line, the Media Noche intrigued me.  The Edmundo is a fat robusto at 5×55.

Appearance: I like the cigar band.  The blue and gold that replace the brown and white of the traditional Montecristo label really make this cigar stand out.  The wrapper is a bit closer to oscuro than maduro, if you ask me.  It’s quite dark.  There’s a fine tooth to the wrapper and it has quite a few prominent veins.  There’s a slight shine to it from the oils in the wrapper.  It’s a fat little sucker, which is pronounced by its shorter length.  The cap was okay, though you can tell it was a little too wet when put on, as the drying caused it to shrivel a bit.

Taste: This is a mild maduro at the beginning.  You’ve got your usual cocoa and leather, but unfortunately on both samples, I got a very heavy dose of ammonia.  This isn’t pleasant at all.  It leaves a very chemical taste on your lips.  I couldn’t find any aging information on this cigar, so it may be that these were recently rolled and just haven’t settled.  Anyway, the strength never really picked up.  The claim is that these are medium-full, but I’d be hard pressed to say these even made it into the medium category.  Strength is subjective though.

Aroma: This had a mild earthy cocoa it it before lighting it up.  It was decently aromatic.  The smoke itself was just a regular tobacco smell.  Nothing too bad, but nothing too great either.

Construction: As I’ve already said, this thing is fat.  So, with larger rolls you have the ability to get more inconsistencies and soft spots.  These sticks weren’t too bad, though there were a couple of soft spots.  These led to an irregular burn that weaved from side to side, showing slight canoing as the burn passed over certain spots.  It never got out of hand where I needed to touch it up, but it was quite annoying in its inability to stay straight.

Overall Impression: Unfortunately, the ammonia killed these for me.  I could get over the ragged burn if the flavor was there, but it just wasn’t.  Montecristo is a popular brand, though, and it has to be for a reason; maybe I’m just missing it.  I will say that this thing burned slowly.  It took about an hour to get past the halfway point on this thing.  It’s a monster.  I consider that a good thing, since you get your money’s worth.  At around $8 a stick you want it to last.

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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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Like the other cigar bloggers in my circle, I was recently contacted by Andrew Roth from the H.J. Bailey Company about their new venture into having their own cigar brand: Don Ramon. The H.J. Bailey company has been in the tobacco business for over 75 years and is the largest wholesale distributor in the U.S. Well, now they’re cigar makers too. I was sent the maduro and Connecticut churchills to review, so look for the Connecticut to come soon.  A Honduran puro, this 7×48 cigar is made for H.J. Bailey by the Camacho factory.

Appearance: This wrapper is dark!  That’s the first thing that struck me.  It is dark.  The band is elegant but not overly done.  No veins, no tooth, and no visible wrapper lines.  The cap is not perfect, but it’s very well done.  This is a good looking cigar.  Looking at them in the box, they’re consistent across the board in color, size, and shape.  The foot shows an even roll.  Looking good so far.

Taste: This thing lit well, and immediately brought moderate maduro flavors.  There was a sweet chocolate at first, but then some slight bitterness kicked in.  I think the acridity is due to the cigar not having enough age.  This will go away with some time, and it muted a little bit during the coarse of the smoke.  Now, I love a maduro cigar; they’re actually my favorite, but you can’t look too far for flavor variety.  It’s leather and chocolate, and this was a maduro.

Aroma: This is a maduro and it smells like a maduro.  Strong chocolatey tobacco will infuse your senses with their aromas.  The smoke was mild and woody.  Probably still not something the wife would like inside the house.

Construction: Feeling along the body, it is a solid stick.  It was consistent in its feel throughout, and I could feel no plugs or soft spots.  After cutting, the draw was a bit tight, but not overly so.  It did start to burn faster on one side than the other, but it quickly corrected itself and then burned very well the rest of the way through.  The draw loosened up slightly, too, with the heat from smoking.

Overall Impression: I gotta say that I think there’s some real potential here.  Good construction, nice looking, good maduro flavor… It’s all going to come together well.  I just think that they need to rest for a little bit.  I’ve got more and I’m going to put them away for a couple months to let them age a bit.  They’ve done well at other blogs, so I definitely think there’s something promising with these Don Ramons.

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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.

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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

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I know this particular cigar is generally a hit when smoked by most people, and I am no exception. I have had my fair share of the padron line, particularly the 1000 series, from the 2000 series up to the 6000, and I have enjoyed them all immensely. I realized that although this is a very popular cigar, it is one that we have yet to review on Cigar Command, so I thought I would tell you what my thoughts are on the most recent one that I smoked.

Pre-Light: This cigar was treated the same as I treat every other cigar on the pre-light ritual. I ran the cigar the length of my nose and got a very nice chocolate and coffee smell. I cut it with my ever so trusty Palio cutter that works EVERY TIME. As I took a pre-light draw, the chocolate was strong with this cigar, and the coffee was there just on the back of the palette on the after taste.

1/3: As I lit up this cigar, I knew I was in for a treat, as I have had quite a few of this particular stick. The first few puffs were very chocolaty and coffee like. I was really enjoying it. The draw was perfect, the burn was not quite razor sharp, but it was close enough, as to not keep me from enjoying it. I was getting a lot of smoke and great flavors.

2/3: Not much changed at this point. I was still getting those chocolaty and coffee flavors. The draw was still great, and the smoke was still billowing. I was really really enjoying this cigar. The burn had corrected itself, and was now burning razor sharp. I did notice, as I got to the end of the cigar, it was getting a little hot on the lips, but I think that was because I was puffing it too quickly.

3/3: For this last third, I slowed down the puffing, so I could allow the cigar to cool down a little bit. I was still really enjoying this cigar, and was still getting lots of chocolate, but for this third, the coffee flavors seemed to come out a bit more. I was still getting lots of billowing smoke, and a great draw. I nubbed this cigar as far as I could without burning my fingers.

Overall Impression: Overall, this is a very solid stick for the money. The burn started off a little wavy, but corrected itself over the length of the cigar. The flavors were very typical Padron coffee and chocolate flavors, but they were very enjoyable. In typical Padron fashion, this cigar did not disappoint. There are few cigars, in my opinion, that are better for the money.

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this was one STRONG smoke. I made the mistake of smoking it on an empty stomach, and even as an experienced cigar smoker, this one threw me for a loop. All in all, I really enjoyed this smoke, and I can’t wait to have another! I highly suggest picking one up.

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