Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Size: 6.5×55

Pre Light

This cigar is box pressed with I pig tail cap that is more of a point than a pig tail. The wrapper is smooth with no protruding veins. The shade of the wrapper really compliments itself with the double bands and has an oily nice feel to it. The wrapper has a sweet earthy aroma to it and I get the same thing off the cold draw.

1^st Third

After the initial blast of pepper I am picking up chocolate along with a nut flavor towards the end of the second inch. The ash is a little flakey around the edges but nothing too bad. The burn is staying even and towards the end nut flavor picks up a little.

2^nd Third

After reaching the half-way point I am picking up notes of wood to go along with the wood and nuts. The flakiness I was having in the beginning stopped and the ash seems to be holding on for quite a while. There is tons of smoke coming off this cigar and it’s both thick and creamy seeming to just sit in front of your face.

Final Third

All the flavors really came together nicely towards the final couple inches. The chocolate, wood and nuts blended well together with a sweet floral undertone on the aftertaste. Construction was good and needed no touch ups or relights.

Overall

I’ve been reading a lot about this cigar for the last few weeks and I had high expectations. Let me just say they were all met. The flavors were rich and blended well together. The people over at Casa Magna have been coming out with some great lower priced sticks for the past couple years and this one is no exception. Go out there and grab some they are well worth it in my opinion but then again what the hell do I know.

Keep em burnin’

Griff

PRE LIGHT; The habano wrapper is  rustic and lightly splotchy but has an oily sheen.(never judge a book by the cover right?) this boutique blend is well packed and firm along the lenght.I decided to use a shuriken cutter to light this thick ring gauge cigar.(more on the cutter later).

FRIST THIRD; after ignition of the foot I was greeted with a blast of red pepper  and cedar. the light and draw was easy.There were notes of smoked almonds that was pervasive but over shadowed by the red pepper . While the flavor was full at this point the bodie was still medium.

SECOND THIRD; The red pepper tapered off and was now medium in flavor on my palette. with notes  sweet cedar ramping up.the ash was a bit flakey and grey/white in color,however the ash held prety firm. The draw was very good and the smoke while full was otherwise unremarkble.

LAST THIRD; The flavor profile remained that of red  pepper flake and sweet cedar . The bodie stayed medium and the ash flaked off at the halfway point. I had no problems with burn or draw. some times the burn on a 6×60 can be troublesome,but this vitola was well constructed and  I enjoyed a full hour of this blend.

THE FINISH; I’m not a huge fan of the 6×60 size.However the atilla the hun was a well constructed and flavorful cigar. I was gifted this cigar by a fellow lawdog along with a sampler of their full line. I had been un awear of this  line of cigars and I thank and applaud Chris for his gift and his choice of cigars. It’s seldom that you will see me say “you need to smoke this”. Well I am. Not only this size but all of the line is superb! these are in my book a real sleeper brand and blends. the web site is here http://nadicigars.com/index.html  I can’t say wich size and blend I like more. go get a full sampler and enjoy the “candy store” of flavors. The shuriken cutter IMO is a must have for anything over a 52 ring gauge.I just can’t get the right smoking profile with a punch or cutter on these large ring gauges. My only complaint is after 7 months one of six blades fell out. But at under 15$ for it I can live with that. ALL THE BEST-SMOKINJOE

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Size - 6 x 52

Wrapper –  Nicaraguan

Binder –  Nicaraguan

Filler –  Nicaraguan

Price - $14.95

Pre-light: For the pre-light I got notes of  cedar off the foot and a little coco with the pre-light draw.

1st half: First few puffs had a little spice like most of pete’s stuff, now just after that we seam to hit this leathery and coffee combination. Now this stays continues through out the rest of the first half with a slight detectable spice which you can only get through the retrohale.

2nd half: Now with this second half we seam to be getting a little tricky with the blending because as I finished up this stick I got coco, coffee, more leather and spice.

Overall: I enjoyed this complex cigar, now I wouldn’t make this a go-to cigar, one for its rareness and two its price. For $15 I would much rather smoke some of pete’s other cigars. Not to say this cigar was bad I would just rather smoke something else for the price. Thanks again for reading this review I truly appreciate the comments and all support. God bless and hope you all had great Valentines Day.

Binder: Panamanian Jungle

Filler: Honduran

Size: Torpedo

Pre Light

This cigar was almost impossible to get any information on. I’m hoping the information on the makeup I have up at the top of the page is correct. The wrapper is a deep chestnut color and has a nice sheen to it. I can barely tell where the seams of the wrapper are and it has and earthy manure aroma. After snipping the cap I take a few drags of the cold cigar and get a taste sweet earthy flavor.

First Third

The first few inches of the cigar gave me a slight pepper sensation on the first few drags but quickly passed. The rest of it brought me a sweetness and with notes of earth and leather. The burn stayed cool and the ash held on strong.

Second Third

Reaching the down to the final couple inches the second third hit me with the same sweetness and earthy tones met with a rich coffee flavor. I can’t believe the burn has stayed so even and burned so cool on this windy day.

Final Third

I’m sad to see the cigar go but it has come to an end. The final inches gave me that coffee flavor along with the sweet earthiness. No construction problems and good flavors.

Overall

I was very surprised by this cigar. I have never seen them in any stores locally and haven’t heard much about them. I was won this cigar from Tad on twitter from a football bet and I am very happy he chose to send me this particular cigar. The flavors were rich and thick with great construction. I have no idea about the price range on the cigar but I definitely want to get some more of these and try some of the others in the Tortuga line.

Keep em burnin’

Griff

FIRST THIRD; I was greeted with a strong sweet cedar burst.With this came  notes of spice flavor and leather.this smoke had a lot going on during the first third of this stick.The aging and melding of the filler was evident as the flavors popped on my palate.

SECOND THIRD; Through out this smoke the draw was easy and full.Plumes of grey/white smoke wafted into the air and lingered thick and sweet.the flavors gave way to a creamy spice and rich cedar. A nutty hint would surface from time to time.The ash was thick,tight,and banded.

LAST THIRD; The bodie of this vitola,wich had begun to build in the second half,continued to climb.The nutty hints continued and the sweet taste of cedar reappeared dancing on my tongue. the long finish was of black tobacco and cedar.

THE FINISH; it’s seldom that a Perdomo cigar will disapoint.This new ESV selection has lived up to its 1991 predecessor(IMO).One of the neat things about this blend is being able to purchase samplers with two of the same size and wrapper.It’s likely I may do another with a different wrapper to see the difference in taste,but I  suggest you give it a try too. After all part of the enjoyment of cigars is experimenting.Nick lets you do this and in turn showcase tabclarea perdomo. This sungrown toro is going into my rotation. you can find out more about this cigar herehttp://perdomocigars.com/  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I do writing it and reviewing it.ALL THE BEST. SMOKINJOE.

I want to thank Jeff for sending me information after this post was up regarding this cigar. It appears that the real name is the Cuba Aliados Cabinet Selection, which doesn’t say that any where on the cigar. Here is what Jeff sent me.

The wrapper,binder and filler are all cuban seed Habano,grown in Danli Honduras. It comes in three sizes the robusto,torpedo and toro. Price ranges from 6-7 a stick.

Congrats to James M. for winning the Gurhka giveaway, please email me your info and I will get your package out. hogman@mikesstogies.com

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Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Size: Corona Gorda 5×40

Pre Light

The El Rico Habano (the original version) was blended by Ernesto Perez Carrillo Sr. and was originally blended in 1970. They stopped production in 1994 due to a tobacco shortage but were relaunched by his son EP Carrillo Jr. in 2001. The ones I am smoking for this review are from the pre 1994 run but I’m not exactly sure what year. It is a full bodied stick with a light caramel colored wrapper that has a sweet barnyard aroma. The wrapper is aged and rustic looking with minimal veins. After snipping the cap the draw is free and has an earthy and slight pepper flavor to it.

1^st Third

After lighting up the El Rico I am quickly hit with some pepper but it fades just as fast as it appeared. I am then met with a rich cocoa flavor to go along with the slight pepper that still hanging around. The burn is pretty even and the ash is a dark grey and seems to be holding on strong.

2^nd Third

And I am back! The middle portion of this cigar is around the same as the first with the slight pepper and cocoa but I was pleasantly met with an underlying leather aftertaste. The burn has been excellent with tons of smoke coming off both ends of the cigar.

Final Third

I have reached the end of my cigar and I am not a happy man. Not because it was a bad experience but because I am regretting the not having another to smoke. The last inch or so the pepper kicked back up with a slight wood flavor coming and going at times. Didn’t have to relight or touch up the cigar once even though it was slightly windy out.

Overall

I really enjoyed this cigar even though it wasn’t overly complex the flavors were still there. I am interested in trying the new run to see how they measure up to the old ones. Anyone who has tried them please let me know how your experience was.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Super Bowl Sunday and stayed safe.

Keep em burnin’

Griff

Wrapper:

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Dominican/Nicaragua

SIZE; 5×50

PRE LIGHT; the parejo shaped robusto sized Excelsior has a smooth habano wrapper that is flawless and milk chocolate in color.There is a good heft to this cigar and the entubar rolling metheod is evident at the foot.I recieved this cigar from one of our advertisers,EAST COAST CIGARS, who recently began to stock this brand.

FIRST HALF;on lighting the foot there is a pleasant medium flavor of spice and sweet tobacco. about an Inch into this smoke I noticed a slight ramping up of flavors with an introduction of  pepper and toast.This ramping up of flavor continued into the second half.  over all this smoke was creamy with plumes of smoke. the ash was tight and clinged to the half way mark.

SECOND HALF;This vitola began a steady increase in flavor,the spice giving way to pepper and strong but sweet tobacco flavor.During this second half, the flavors played about from full to medium in flavor; while retaining a medium body through out.I  really enjoyed this smoke.The construction and draw were flawless.

THE WRAPP UP: The CREMO line of cigars have just recently began to roll out nationwide. I think this blend would be perfect with a double espresso Or strong robust flavored coffee due to its creamy flavor and notes of spice and pepper. At this time local distribution is on going.However East Coast cigars has them in stock w free shipping. (their link is to right). I like to mix up my cigars in both flavor and bodie.(who eats same thing every day and every meal) And this blend fits the bill nicely. More info on the line can be found herehttp://www.cremocigars.com/  I think this blend knocks it out of park.-ALL THE BEST SMOKINJOE

Let’s see what we think.

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