MikesStogies.com

Not to long ago I was writing a private blog and looking for something different to review about.I set about contacting some cigar shops on twitter to see if they had any house brands.I was going to do a series of them for reviews. unbeknownst to me at the time that he wasn’t a B&M ,I contacted Mikesstogies. I got a reply from mike that said “no I don’t have any house brands I do reviews here, but I could do reviews for him on his site”. So it began. I took him up on his offer and went “big time”. During my stay here I have worked with some great fellow reviewers(Griff and Youngbuck) who I have had a blast with video conferencing and the general funny mayhem that goes on behind the scenes here. About January of this year I got a call from GCPuffs asking if I could help him out by writing some pieces for him. I told him at the time that I could do OP/Ed pieces and life style/Interviews to help out. I didn’t want to do reviews as Mike had given my first shot and loyalty and gratefulness is not something I have forgotten.When I called mike and asked him if he would mind if I helped GC out; I don’t think I finished the complete sentence before he said yes. It says a lot about mike and the camaraderie online reviewers have. two weeks ago GC asked if I would take over as the content manager of his site and write “full-time” for him. To say I was floored is an understatement. I called mike to tell him I was going to take the offer I had been generously given.His reply was “wow. Yeah man any thing I can do let me know.” It wasnt as easy a decision for me but the opportunity was to great to pass up. Both GC and Mike are men of  Honor and generosity.There are not enough good words to say about every one here. I won’t say goodby. Only thank you mike for taking a leap of faith and giving a guy a shot. ALL THE BEST-smokinjoe

If you are looking for a cigar review this week this is not the place to go . This week I just want to recognize all of my followers and say thank you with out all of you I wouldn’t still be here and I wouldn’t love what I do, so thank you. On another note, I have to say that today is my last day of high school and saturday I will finally be walking and getting my diploma. After 18 almost 19 years of hard work and long hours I finally will have done it ( pat myself on my back ). So with that news I just figured I would share it with all of you and hope you all have a blessed two weeks btw no school means I have time for videos

Wrapper: Costa Rican

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Size: Torpedo 6 ½ x 50

Pre Light

I received a couple of these cigars from Chris Bradley over on twitter a while back and just finally got around to smoking them. The wrapper is an oily dark shade of brown with no protruding veins. The aroma off the cold wrapper is sweet with a slight pepper to it. After slicing off the triple cap the draw is open and has the same sweet pepper taste on my palette as a take a few drags.

1^st Third

After the initial pepper up front I start to pick up sweet cocoa notes. The ash holds on for quite a long time and had to be knocked off on the side of the ash tray. The burn is even and cool. The only notes I really picked up in the first couple inches were the cocoa and pepper but we’ll see what happens as we progress through it.

2^nd Third

The flavors here in the middle portion really started to pick up. I still had that cocoa and lingering pepper but I was also introduced to some nut and earthy flavors to go along with it. Construction has been great with no issues so far.

Final Third

The last couple inches of the cigar kept the same flavor profile except once in a while I would pick up notes of either fruit or flowers I couldn’t really put my finger on it.

Overall

I was overall pleased with these cigars. I’ve never heard of them till they arrived on my doorstep and I would once again like to thank Chris for sending them my way. Flavors and construction were stellar and would definitely smoke some more of these.

Keep em burnin’

Griff

Country: Honduras
Wrapper origin: Honduras
Wrapper type: Habano Connecticut Maduro
Filler / Binder: Nicaragua and Honduras
Length: 6”
Ring: 52
Cost: 5.50 per

PRELIGHT: At Cigarfest 2012 there were quite a few people wearing a yellow sticker that asked “Who is Ramon Bueso?” with a date on them of 07.05.12. this caught my  attention. I was able to get hold of two of these for testing. This toro sized vitola was wrapped in an absolutely wonderful Maduro wrapper.Here is the web site for further reading. http://www.whoisramonbueso.com/ . notes of barnyard and peat were strong on the foot. The exterior felt smooth and very well packed. Testing various parts of the cigar yielded no areas of concern at all. The foot had some nice ligero showing.

THE FIRST HALF: This one ignited well and the wrapper produced a good flame that stayed lit for several seconds from the oils. The toro produced strong flavors of spice with notes of  espresso and cocoa. the draw was  slightly tight but after a few moments this opened up nicely.by the half way point I was getting that “nica tingle” on my toungue.

THE SECOND HALF: the second half of this toro began to exude strong notes of spice and a sweet maduro taste began to take the forefront to the espresso flavors. Of note along the length of this smoke was the burn on the wrapper. it began to outpace the filler several times and this can pose a problem. The burn corrected itself after some torch touch up and did not greatly affect the draw.I enjoyed this one. it reminded me of the classic maduro smokes of the early ninties and I will keep my eye out for them at my B&M.

THE FINISH: This toro is well priced and I enjoyed the plumes of smoke this cigar produced. the only down side is the wrapper’s thickness and burn rate as compared to the filler. A good thick, oily maduro wrapper is a smokers dream. However as a producer its a real trick to get the filler and binder and wrapper to burn at a decent rate together. Over all you should kick the tires on this one if you like a classic maduro. ALL THE BEST-SMOKINJOE

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut

Binder: Pelo de Oro

Filler: Nicaraguan

Size: Toro 6 ½ x 52

Pre Light

Last week the maduro and this week the Connecticut shade. This smoke’s wrapper has a slight oil sheen across it and has very thin veins. The cigar is well packed from head to foot and has that sweet barnyard aroma on it. After snipping the triple cap and taking a draw it seems it is a little snug but not enough to be unpleasant. I’m getting a pepper flavor off the cold draw but it’s not like that was unexpected.

1^st Third

After the initial Pepin pepper blast I get a cedar flavor with a sweet undertone. The tight draw hasn’t played a role in the cigar as yet. The burn has been pretty even and has been burning slow. The ash holds on for well over an inch and has to be knocked off.

2^nd Third

Reaching past the halfway mark on this cigar I am starting to get a sweet honey taste almost like honey roasted nuts. The wood is still on my palette and the burn still hasn’t been a problem.

Final Third

The final couple inches of this Connecticut version of this cigar were quite flavorful. The honey, the nuts, the wood and now with the pepper kicking back up along with a rich earthiness peeking its head in once in a while. No construction issues even though the cigar did start splitting round the head somewhere around the halfway point.

Overall

I think I might have enjoyed this one a little more than I did the maduro. There were a lot of flavors and they all blended together very well. There were some construction issues but none of them played a role in the smoking of the cigar. I am going to have to pick up some more of these along with the maduros.

Keep em burnin’

Griff

Strength:Medium

Size:6 x 60

Country of Origin:Honduras

Wrapper Leaf Type:Habano

PRELIGHT: This boutique blend from Romeo y Julieta is a departure from their regular lines.All the sizes in this blend are large ring gauge vitolas and full flavor/full bodie. I contacted Altadis as they have absolutely no information on their site.Given that this is a new roll out and “big” for them its surprising…well maybe not. I visited several on-line cigar sellers to se what I could glean from them for this review.The wrapper is a vein free, smooth and  creamy/ tan in color. It appeared well packed and firm.

FIRST THIRD: I decided to use a punch on this girthy stick and the triple cap was evident. Ignition was easy and the draw was smooth and crisp. I was greeted with a smoked almond flavor that was dominated by strong notes of red pepper.This is not your typical Romeo y Julieta cigar!

SECOND THIRD: I began to notice that the ash was thick grey/white with bands of black. The burn was slightly wobbly but self correcting.The The smoked almond flavor was still evident.the red pepper had settled slightly but was still prickling my tongue. I was pleasantly being surprised by this smoke. Towards the end of this third  I needed to touch up this smoke with my torch.The draw remained smooth and the smoke voluminous.

LAST THIRD:The flavor profile remained the same throughout the last third with the red pepper ramping up a bit. the bodie through out remained a medium.the flavor was definitely into the full range but just so. I needed to touch up this stick one more time during my finish and the burn was even for the most part.

THE FINISH: Over all this was a “dry smoke” for me. Something I expierance from time to time with cigars. Any one who has read my reviews knows I’m not a big fan of this size,but I have to say I really enjoyed this take on it from Romeo y Julieta. It’s worth taking it for a spin and kicking the tires. They did a nice job on this. ALL THE BEST-SMOKINJOE