Blind Cigar Review Thread #2

[Tall Paul]

Looks like hes working on his cooling system or swamp cooler like you call then down in AZ. Too funny that hes up there.

Paul.

 

[punk_lawyer]

What did it say......PUNCH! I couldn't believe it. Punch?? The "good ol' London club" Punch. I had never had a Punch cigar before and didn't even think much of the brand because I thought of it just as a mainstream brand. Wow! I looked up the price and I couldn't believe all that flavor was in a $2.50 cigar. Crazy.

Thanks punk_lawyer for opening my eyes!

Sometimes beauty can be found in strange places. We can all be quick to dismiss the mainstream lines but the truth is that there is some good tobacco in some of those lines...

Now go get a box of 25 of those Punch London Club for about $60 or so.

 

[chiefmd]

Haha I will have to get a box of the London Club's which I saw for about 41 dollars. Oh and the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor, Cooper, is actually a Robusto. Sorry for the confusion. Just saw the box under my humidor and misthought the size. I love the Mi Amor's!

 

[coopsdeloops]

So I'm out here enjoying a fine Padron 6000 and the guy is still up there... It's a little creepy.

 

[Backslide]

So I'm out here enjoying a fine Padron 6000 and the guy is still up there... It's a little creepy.

is he in the same outfit? You should take daily pics of him lol.

 

[BGlover]

Ok, here goes nothing on the review. It was too dark for pics with my iPhone unfortunately.

Received the pass from Cooper last Friday and let it rest in my humidor for a few days at 65%. I finally had some time to sit down tonight while out of town on business. My pre-smoke meal with a customer of mine at Pappadeaux's consisted of some boiled crawfish (nice and spicy), some grilled shrimp stuffed with cream cheese & jalapenos and wrapped in bacon, and several Maker's on the rocks.

I sat outside my hotel to light up and it was nice and cool with a slight breeze blowing. I've looked at this cigar several times over the past few days and every sniff reminded me somewhat of an Anejo but when comparing it to the Anejo's in my humidor, it just doesn't match up in size or wrapper condition. The stick is just over 6" and looks to be maybe a 46-48 ring gauge. It has some significant veins and a fairly oily wrapper. I sat down with a nice pint of Yuengling Lager and gave the cigar a cut with my new JDN cutter I got the other night at a Drew Estate/JDN event.

The first few puffs show medium body with a bit of sweetness on the lips from the wrapper. I don't pick up any real spice at all on the front of this smoke and I'm wondering if maybe the crawfish I had at supper might have killed my taste buds a bit. The most prominent flavors in the first third are leather and cedar with more sweetness on the lips. The ash is fairly flaky and the burn is consistent. My inital opinion is that this is a Dominican cigar due to the lack of overall pepper/spice but again I'm wondering if my buds are ripped already.

The second third continues to yield more leather and the cedar is coming through more. The wind has picked up a good bit and I'm smoking a bit faster wondering if it's going to rain. The burn is now a little uneven, likely due to the wind but it is correcting itself pretty well. Still getting the sweetness on the lips.

The last third is yeilding some flavors of coffee and a little bitterness, likely due to the fact that I'm smoking faster than usual.

Overall impression is that it's Dominican and I'd compare it to a slight mix of what you smell in an Anejo and some of the flavors of a DC Maximus but it can't be either because Coop's envelope says it's a "reasonably priced stick - less than $10). So, at this point I'm at a loss as to a guess!

And the envelope says.......................................
Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro Flor Fina. No chit??? I have to say, I've only smoked one 8-5-8 before and hated it. I don't believe it was a maduro though. I smoked maybe half of it and tossed it. Maybe I got a bad stick that time because I'd definitely spend $4-5 buck on one of these in Maduro. Thanks again Cooper! Very enjoyable smoke and a great pass.

 

[coopsdeloops]

Ok, here goes nothing on the review. It was too dark for pics with my iPhone unfortunately.

Received the pass from Cooper last Friday and let it rest in my humidor for a few days at 65%. I finally had some time to sit down tonight while out of town on business. My pre-smoke meal with a customer of mine at Pappadeaux's consisted of some boiled crawfish (nice and spicy), some grilled shrimp stuffed with cream cheese & jalapenos and wrapped in bacon, and several Maker's on the rocks.

I sat outside my hotel to light up and it was nice and cool with a slight breeze blowing. I've looked at this cigar several times over the past few days and every sniff reminded me somewhat of an Anejo but when comparing it to the Anejo's in my humidor, it just doesn't match up in size or wrapper condition. The stick is just over 6" and looks to be maybe a 46-48 ring gauge. It has some significant veins and a fairly oily wrapper. I sat down with a nice pint of Yuengling Lager and gave the cigar a cut with my new JDN cutter I got the other night at a Drew Estate/JDN event.

The first few puffs show medium body with a bit of sweetness on the lips from the wrapper. I don't pick up any real spice at all on the front of this smoke and I'm wondering if maybe the crawfish I had at supper might have killed my taste buds a bit. The most prominent flavors in the first third are leather and cedar with more sweetness on the lips. The ash is fairly flaky and the burn is consistent. My inital opinion is that this is a Dominican cigar due to the lack of overall pepper/spice but again I'm wondering if my buds are ripped already.

The second third continues to yield more leather and the cedar is coming through more. The wind has picked up a good bit and I'm smoking a bit faster wondering if it's going to rain. The burn is now a little uneven, likely due to the wind but it is correcting itself pretty well. Still getting the sweetness on the lips.

The last third is yeilding some flavors of coffee and a little bitterness, likely due to the fact that I'm smoking faster than usual.

Overall impression is that it's Dominican and I'd compare it to a slight mix of what you smell in an Anejo and some of the flavors of a DC Maximus but it can't be either because Coop's envelope says it's a "reasonably priced stick - less than $10). So, at this point I'm at a loss as to a guess!

And the envelope says.......................................
Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro Flor Fina. No chit??? I have to say, I've only smoked one 8-5-8 before and hated it. I don't believe it was a maduro though. I smoked maybe half of it and tossed it. Maybe I got a bad stick that time because I'd definitely spend $4-5 buck on one of these in Maduro. Thanks again Cooper! Very enjoyable smoke and a great pass.

Glad you found it worth your time! I couldn't agree with you more on all of your observations of the stick. Faint resemblance to Anejos, lack of spice, very smooth and a touch of sweetness. I also get a bit of cocoa.

 

[Ttison]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:9399] Here is the initial picture I posted when I got the sticks.
Well here goes the blind review. I apologize for the lack of pictures but my camera has seemed to disappear on me in the last week.

When I received my smokes in the mail I was very impressed with the selection Glover sent me. In his words it was a "college affordable plus some splurges" bunch of sticks. So I went to my local shop to sit down enjoy some coffee and smoke this lovely looking stick. It had a very nice looking dark wrapper and it was a pretty big stick. It smelled wonderful and the pre light taste was a bit out there. It almost seemed to taste of tortilla chips. I don’t know if I just wanted some chips or if this was actually what it was moving on to the light and first impressions though.

When I toasted the end and lit her up it was a very smooth draw and I could definitely detect some spicy notes along with cedar hints for about the first third of the cigar. It was very enjoyable and burned at a nice even pace. You could tell that it was going to be an enjoyable smoke for sure. As I progressed into the 2nd third of the cigar the cedar began dominating the flavor. I think due to the Dr. Pepper that I was drinking that I could taste some subtle sweetness but either way it was enjoyable. Moving in to the final third of the stick I could still taste cedar but it was a little more spicy and earthy. This continued all the way to the nub. Overall I really enjoyed this smoke and I was almost a 100% sure of what it was.
So I guessed that it was a Carlos Torano Master and sure enough it was. The reason I was really sure of this is due to sheer dumb luck I had smoked one two days prior to smoking this puppy.


I’d like to thank Mr. Glover for the sticks and thanks all for reading.

 

[chiefmd]

So I thought I'd give this cigar that Ttison sent. After a long day at school and a bike ride in a severe head wind it's time to study and smoke a cigar. Not the best combination but got to work with what I have, right?

So first off this is about a 5 inch or so robusto cigar. Appears to be mild from the color of the wrapper. Earthy notes on the nose. If I had to take a first guess I would say it is somewhere between a 5 Vegas and a Padilla or Arturo Fuente. Not really sure what brand but by the judge of the selection Ttison sent this would be my uneducated guess.

So first third is showing some earthy notes. Maybe some leather in there. Still can't really put my finger on what it could be.

Down to the last third and I am still getting those earthy notes. The flavor is mild. I'm more of a maduro person but this is a nice change.

So eagerly waiting to figure out what this was..I open the envelope and bam! Arturo Fuente Chateau Series Natural Rothschild. I'm usually an 8-5-8 maduro smoker or WOAM, etc.. So I defintely would have not guess this line. Great selection Ttison!

 

[coopsdeloops]

So I played a church gig, then I went to two recitals of my friends and by the time I got home, I was ready for a smoke. I smoked a Rocky Patel Prodigy this morning, which despite my dislike for most Rockys, this one really rings true with my palate. I would compare it to a Warlock with a bit more strength.

Looking through my humidor, I was interested in something different, and low and behold, I saw the unbanded stick from YellowSmoke. I quickly counted the days, and today is day five, and according to his envelope, I was supposed to let it sit at least five days, so I decided to cut the last day short and light it up anyways.

It was 102 in my back yard so I grabbed a cold glass of water and headed out. The stick looked a light brown shade. It was a classic robusto size, about 52 gauge and 5.5 inches. The thing smelled SO TASTY. A prelit whiff smelled of sweet cocoa, and when I cut it open, the prelit draw tasted of tobacco and raisins. It definitely smelled different than any other smoke I've smelled before, so this was intriguing. The construction looked very good, with a good leaf that wasn't too veiny. The triple cap made me suspect a CC knowing YellowSmoke's affinity for the type, but I wanted to give the stick an unbiased evaluation first.




The initial light was SPICY, in fact so spicy my tongue went a little numb. This spice lasted the first inch. It began with a solid chocolatey taste with pepper on the tip of my tongue and back of my throat. A retrohale revealed a distant fruit flavor, which got stronger with every puff. Despite lighting it up perfectly, the burn went crooked immediately, but eventually would correct itself. It went back and forth between crooked and straight. The ash was flakey and wanted to crumble, but held on for a long time.



The 2nd third got smoother and the fruity flavor, while still there, subsided and the prelit flavors of sweet cocoa and vanilla started to kick in. I was starting to enjoy it more, The final third of it began to get syruppy and flavors of burnt wood and marshmellow began to appear. This was a nice evolution and a smooth finish.

The raisiny fruity flavor never did go away, and began to come back at the very end, but was smoother and blended better with the flavors at the end than in the beginning.


I'm not really sure what this stick is. I don't think it was a Cuban, but rather some kind of DPG mix, Maybe a blue label. I think this stick would be great with a bit more time as the flavors might intermingle a bit better and blend together, rather than having onions on ice cream.

I did enjoy this stick. It started out a bit harsh but smoothed out. So I opened the envelope and...


WTF. a Custom roll? How am I supposed to guess that! You cheated! I think that's worth half a box of Monte 2's!

Just for future reference, it might be nice to including something that's guessable.


Thanks Yellowsmoke!

 

[Yojimbo]

Great review Coops.

 

[chiefmd]

Good review coops. Yea we should probably stick with NC or CC that people can find. Even a HTF I suppose but we'll let it slide this time.

 

[coopsdeloops]

Good review coops. Yea we should probably stick with NC or CC that people can find. Even a HTF I suppose but we'll let it slide this time.

Package received with a wide variety of cigars. Looking forward to perusing such sticks. Thanks YellowStick!

Now... WHO WANTS SOME?

Who is YellowStick?
Your are welcome!

DOH!!! YELLOWSMOKE!!! YELLOWSMOKE!!!

I guess a Yellow Stick has probably been in some ugly... well... nevermind...

Guess the stick correctly and I'll send you a box of montey 2...

That probably means it's not a commercially available stick, or something you pooped out of your butt. :thumbs:

I'll look forward to trying it and writing a review. Thanks!

You never know

Seriously, how can I win a box of Monte's if they're not commercially available to the public? :angry:

 

[YellowSmoke]

Ahahaha good smoke right?
No worries brother I'll make it up to ya, I am ordering 5-10 box next month I'll send you some your way! The whole reason for the custom roll review was just to share this amazing stick!

 

[coopsdeloops]

Ahahaha good smoke right?
No worries brother I'll make it up to ya, I am ordering 5-10 box next month I'll send you some your way! The whole reason for the custom roll review was just to share this amazing stick!

It was indeed a great stick! no need to send me more sticks, you've been very generous. So, can you tell us more about the stick? Who wrote it? where did you come into contact with the roller? Where the tobacco was from? Any bit of info helps. I'm guessing it was Nicaraguan.

 

[YellowSmoke]

Sorry buddy I myself don't know much about it... I group buy them with a coworker of mine... He is kinda hush hush about it cause I think he is trying to start in the cigar biz. I'll try to ply more
Info out of him next time I buy a couple of bundles from him. But for 6$ at stick I really cannot complain! Very good everyday smoke!

 

[thechenman]

Nice review Coop...

 

[YellowSmoke]

Sorry guys for the delay... Was gonna do a review today but I have developed a sore throat... Overworked =(
Will get it up!

 

[Yojimbo]

So fair warning before I start, I'm pretty vague in my flavor descriptions, so bear with me.

My blind review stick cigar came from coops, with a host of other great sticks.

Looking at the cigar, I have a good bead on what it is. It has a unique "rocket" shape that very few cigars share. I'm thinking xXx power ranger right away, as I ran across a box in a B&M a couple of weeks ago.

Pre light draw is good, puts a bit of a sweet taste on the palate, kind of like dried fruit. Toasted and lit, the taste is still a touch sweet, with more of a roasted nut feel sneaking in.

First third is much of the same, and the second third moves to a leathery with smoothness like cream I guess. The final third keeps the leather but drops the cream, and picks up an earthy taste. I smoke it to just over a nub and it gets hot on me.

The taste is similar to other ffox I've smoked, so I'm going to stick with my assessment of xXx power ranger, because the only one of these I've smoked before kicked my @$$ with nicotine, much like this one did.

I open the envelope, and my guess is confirmed.

Thanks Coops, for a great stick to review.

 

[coopsdeloops]

So fair warning before I start, I'm pretty vague in my flavor descriptions, so bear with me.

My blind review stick cigar came from coops, with a host of other great sticks.

Looking at the cigar, I have a good bead on what it is. It has a unique "rocket" shape that very few cigars share. I'm thinking xXx power ranger right away, as I ran across a box in a B&M a couple of weeks ago.

Pre light draw is good, puts a bit of a sweet taste on the palate, kind of like dried fruit. Toasted and lit, the taste is still a touch sweet, with more of a roasted nut feel sneaking in.

First third is much of the same, and the second third moves to a leathery with smoothness like cream I guess. The final third keeps the leather but drops the cream, and picks up an earthy taste. I smoke it to just over a nub and it gets hot on me.

The taste is similar to other ffox I've smoked, so I'm going to stick with my assessment of xXx power ranger, because the only one of these I've smoked before kicked my @$$ with nicotine, much like this one did.

I open the envelope, and my guess is confirmed.

Thanks Coops, for a great stick to review.

Glad it was worth your time. Just wanted to give you something quality to enjoy. Hope you had a great Honeymoon.