Shortly after the Dark Knight was laid to rest, I started on another one!
This time I chose the Carlos Torano Exodus 1959, which is a 54 RG, 6.5-7" long, box pressed torpedo. It has no raised veins and was a 7/10 in firmness. Immediately after lighting it, I could smell and taste pepper and spice. After a few minutes the pepper and spice dissipated and the cool draw brought me hints of coffee and cocoa. I could also taste what seemed to be cedar.
One thing that's interesting about this cigar, is that you can smell chocolate while it is resting, from the end that you smoke from. I have had a handful of these and this wasn't near as good as I recall. I did have to relight it around the 60% mark, as it went out quickly.
A: 18/20
C: 27/30
L: 12/15
T: 27/35
Overall: 84/100
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
1st Official Cigar Club Smoke Out - 8/30/2009
Well, the first Official Cigar Club smoke out began with the New Release of the Dark Knight, which is made by Hoyo De Monterey (Seen to the left). This particular cigar is a Tubo (which does come in a silver aluminum tube, hence tubo) and is 5" long (like the average man), with a ring gauge of 52-53. It is Maduro in color, however the wrapper is a Cameroon.
When I first looked at this one, it reminded me of an old Pre-50's baseball glove, with a dark leathery appearance and many raised veins throughout. It was very firm and tightly wrapped, however the outer cap was loose and just fell off on it's own, prior to me punching it.
After lighting it, there was a heavy ripple of smoke that appeared the same whether I was drawing on it or while it was resting. I could definitely smell sweet chocolate from the others being smoked, then I could taste chocolate that reminded me of the Semi Sweet Baker's Chocolate my mom would bake with.
The burn was very even throughout the smoke and it had a cool draw past 50%. Somewhere in the 50% - 75% range, the flavor disappeared and was gone forever. RIP...
Appearance: 19/20
Construction: 28/30
Lighting: 14/15
Taste: 27/35
Total: 88/100
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A relaxing evening with the Perdomo P-Squared Red Label
The other night I was relaxing on my brother's patio alongside Mark and My Brother while Jimmy lay inside on the couch passed out on a hefty dosage of Benadryl. I was able to snag a wonderful cigar from Matt's humidor, as I had neglected to provide my own yet again.
The cigar I smoked was a 6.5" x 50 toro Perdomo P-Squared Red Label with a natural wrapper. I've had a few Perdomo cigars before and I don't recall being disappointed by any of them yet, and this was no exception. Before I even picked up a lighter, I was impressed by the nearly flawless craftsmanship of the stick. The entire cigar was very smooth, with a slightly oily wrapper (which is usually my preference), and a perfectly constructed cap. The only drawback was that there was a slight vein on the leaf of the wrapper, not very noticeable in the feel of the cigar, just a slight aesthetic note. To go along with my cigar, I poured about 2 fingers of Tallisker 10 Year aged Scotch, with 3 cubes of ice, and a twist of lemon.
On my brothers recommendation, I decided to punch the cigar, which I believe was the right move, as the cigar had a perfectly smooth flow the entire smoke. The cigar lit very well and burned more evenly than any cigar that I can recall smoking in the last year all the way through the end. Right from the get go, I knew that I would enjoy this smoke. The P-Squared has a very nice medium to full flavor, with definitive tones of peanut butter, black pepper, almond, cumin, and chalk. The flavor profile stayed very steady through most of the cigar; there wasn't any noticeable change until about 75-80% through the smoke. At that point, the flavor of chalk became much more prominent, and a slight bitterness began to creep it's way in. Once the bitter taste began to grow, I decided to finish my smoke. As I've been told many times before, the best way to determine when a cigar is done, is when the smoker stops truly enjoying it.
The ash of the cigar was very white the entire time, and at rest the smoke was smooth and steady, if maybe a little on the thin side. Start to finish, I believe the cigar took approximately 45 minutes to smoke with an average of 3-4 good pulls every minute or so.
I can't really think of any legitimate complaints about this cigar, other than the bitterness toward the end of my smoke.
Overall, the Perdomo P-Squared Red Label is a cigar that I very much look forward to smoking again and will most definitely recommend it to anyone with a broad pallette and a preference for medium to full bodied cigars.
Scoring:
- Appearance & Presentation: 16/20
- Lighting & Burning: 15/15
- Construction: 28/30
- Taste: 31/35
- Total: 90/100
Event: First Official Meeting of The Bad Ash Herfers Cigar Club
To the members of the Herf: We will have our first official meeting tomorrow, Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at the home of "Groomzilla". Please arrive promptly at 5:00 pm. You will need to bring your $25.00 monthly dues. Cigars and beverages have already been purchased.
Friday, August 28, 2009
A Cigar with the Green Boys
A little out o
f season with this one, the Rocky Patel Spring 2009 Collection at the end of Summer. Better late than never.
Size: Robusto
Length: 5 inches
There is something to be said for properly toasting the foot of a cigar, as the in ital light was even all around and stayed as such the entire length of the cigar. The construction proved to provide easy loose draw, which produced full, rich, white plumes of smoke.
Now before i delve into the flavors I found in this cigar let me make one note, ALLERGIES are BITCH when trying to determine the essence of a cigar. That being said,
f season with this one, the Rocky Patel Spring 2009 Collection at the end of Summer. Better late than never.Size: Robusto
Length: 5 inches
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Sumatra
Binder: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Wrapper: Sumatra
Binder: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Filler: Nicaragua
Of course after the crushing loss the M's were dealt by the F**king Royals of all t
eams, we needed something to soothe our sorrows. So while the Benadryl King slept on the couch in the fetal position, my wife, myself and the Green Boys adjourned to the patio for the some fine stogies. Matt had a Rocky Patel Vintage Connecticut, while Josh had the P-squared Red Label by Perdomo (which I am still waiting to see the review of by the way), and I partook of a wonderful Rocky Patel 2009 Spring Collection.
eams, we needed something to soothe our sorrows. So while the Benadryl King slept on the couch in the fetal position, my wife, myself and the Green Boys adjourned to the patio for the some fine stogies. Matt had a Rocky Patel Vintage Connecticut, while Josh had the P-squared Red Label by Perdomo (which I am still waiting to see the review of by the way), and I partook of a wonderful Rocky Patel 2009 Spring Collection.This beautifully crafted stick from Patel had a nice smooth Sumatra wrapper with no prominent veins, a clean cap, and was silky and dry. The construction had just the right amount of firmness, which tells me I'm keeping my humidor at the perfect levels seeing as how I purchased this cigar back in May.
There is something to be said for properly toasting the foot of a cigar, as the in ital light was even all around and stayed as such the entire length of the cigar. The construction proved to provide easy loose draw, which produced full, rich, white plumes of smoke.
Now before i delve into the flavors I found in this cigar let me make one note, ALLERGIES are BITCH when trying to determine the essence of a cigar. That being said, the first third of the cigar tasted bland, though I could pick out cedar and leather notes. When it finally opened up there was a rush of chocolate and mocha notes, which were intensified by the Remy Martin VSOP Cognac I was sipping. Every now and again I would get a nice hint of licorice and vanilla on the finish.
Even being congested, I none the less thoroughly enjoyed yet another fine medium bodied creation of Rocky Patel. While not as complex as some of his smokes I would give this a rating of 90 points.
Article – Tasting Cigars from cigar.com newsletter Feb 28th 2007
This was a very informative article:
Cigars are like any other delicacy, an indulgence for the palate. You often hear sommeliers describing a fine wine, or epicureans a plate of food. Like all luxuries, cigars embody a variety of flavors and aromas that are unlocked over the course of a fine smoke.
Having been an avid cigar lover from a relatively young age, I consider myself to have a well-developed palate, and in 2006 I went to what I thought would be "finishing school" for cigar tasting in the Dominican Republic. What I learned almost immediately was that I knew very little about truly tasting a fine cigar.
There are few people in the world that have what I would consider a highly developed palate for tasting tobacco. However, Hendrik Kelner is perhaps the most respected cigar aficionado and blender in the world. His Santiago-based factory known as Tabadom (Tobaccos Dominicanos) is home to well known brands like Davidoff, Avo, Griffins and Cusano. As any devotee will tell you, these brands are recognized for their exceptional consistency from box to box and year to year. As the tobacco changes with each year’s crop, Hedrik relies on his well trained palate to select new leaves to maintain the flavor profile of his cigars. What I learned from my time with Hendrik or "Henke" as he is known by his friends changed my entire outlook on cigars. Suddenly things like flavor, balance, finish and body took on new meaning.
A cigar is judged on those 4 main qualities, balance, flavor, body and finish, and each component builds to a final impression. To get started you need to draw a volume of smoke from your cigar. To do this, take several short pulls followed by one final long draw. Allow the smoke to envelope your entire mouth. Push out your cheeks slightly to distribute the smoke and swirl it around your tongue. Before blowing out the smoke, draw it to the rear of your throat and gently release it from your mouth and nose. Releasing smoke from your nose can be difficult to get used to, so start with a cigar that is traditionally mild.
Balance: The majority of the tasting takes place on the palate. Your palate (or sense of taste) is divided into four regions which detect different flavors. The very front of the palate detects sweetness, on the sides toward the front is where you find your salty flavors (typically very dry), the sides on the rear of the palate detects acidic flavors (typically wet) and finally the center toward the rear which delivers the bitter flavors. Think of the smoke as having no definable flavor by itself, but rather the flavor should be something you sense or feel as it reacts with the palate to give you the impression of a flavor. A well balanced cigar will utilize all areas of the palate evenly and the competing flavors should be in unison with one another.
Flavor: Now that you have tackled what regions of the palate the smoke is stimulating, it is time to look for discernable flavors. The art of blowing the smoke through your nose becomes your biggest asset for this task. Specifically, the characteristics you identify on your palate are often referred to as "flavor", and the characteristics you sense from your nose are referred to as "aromas", however, many enthusiasts will use these terms interchangeably. Cigars are described by hundreds of underlying terms which commonly include: wood, nuts, earth, peat, spice, vegetal, citrus, sweet, salty, sour, wheat, bitter, flinty, grassy, burnt, cinnamon, vanilla, butterscotch, coffee, espresso, cocoa, chocolate, caramel, garlic, bread, pepper, honey, licorice, musk, pine, metallic, floral, cedar, charcoal, toast, etc. The overall richness of the flavor is described from mild to full.
Body: The body of the cigar is often confused with flavor. Simply put, body is the strength and feeling of the cigar. It is not the level of richness of the flavor. The body is something you feel in your gut and throat as you smoke a cigar. Think of the body of a cigar as its power and like flavor, it is graded from mild to full. For example, a powerful cigar that you might smoke slowly after a big meal is "full bodied".
Finish: In the simplest terms, finish is the aftertaste you get from the cigar. After releasing all of the smoke from your palate, wait about five seconds and shift your tongue around in your mouth. Chances are you will detect the finish toward the rear of your palate. While the flavor you detect in the finish may be one you picked up on when the smoke was on your palate, it is often something entirely different that you did not notice when you were first drawing or tasting the cigar. The finish should have a discernible flavor and it is described by its staying power, which ranges from short to long.
The key to training your palate is practice. As your palate develops you will begin to detect more of the nuances of your favorite smokes. While a great number of aficionados like to pair ports, wines and whiskies as they sample their cigars, I recommend a more neutral beverage like water or club soda so you can get the full, unadulterated cigar experience. For more information about tasting cigars, or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to speak with any of our highly trained cigar consultants at 800.357.9800
Cigars are like any other delicacy, an indulgence for the palate. You often hear sommeliers describing a fine wine, or epicureans a plate of food. Like all luxuries, cigars embody a variety of flavors and aromas that are unlocked over the course of a fine smoke.
Having been an avid cigar lover from a relatively young age, I consider myself to have a well-developed palate, and in 2006 I went to what I thought would be "finishing school" for cigar tasting in the Dominican Republic. What I learned almost immediately was that I knew very little about truly tasting a fine cigar.
There are few people in the world that have what I would consider a highly developed palate for tasting tobacco. However, Hendrik Kelner is perhaps the most respected cigar aficionado and blender in the world. His Santiago-based factory known as Tabadom (Tobaccos Dominicanos) is home to well known brands like Davidoff, Avo, Griffins and Cusano. As any devotee will tell you, these brands are recognized for their exceptional consistency from box to box and year to year. As the tobacco changes with each year’s crop, Hedrik relies on his well trained palate to select new leaves to maintain the flavor profile of his cigars. What I learned from my time with Hendrik or "Henke" as he is known by his friends changed my entire outlook on cigars. Suddenly things like flavor, balance, finish and body took on new meaning.
A cigar is judged on those 4 main qualities, balance, flavor, body and finish, and each component builds to a final impression. To get started you need to draw a volume of smoke from your cigar. To do this, take several short pulls followed by one final long draw. Allow the smoke to envelope your entire mouth. Push out your cheeks slightly to distribute the smoke and swirl it around your tongue. Before blowing out the smoke, draw it to the rear of your throat and gently release it from your mouth and nose. Releasing smoke from your nose can be difficult to get used to, so start with a cigar that is traditionally mild.
Balance: The majority of the tasting takes place on the palate. Your palate (or sense of taste) is divided into four regions which detect different flavors. The very front of the palate detects sweetness, on the sides toward the front is where you find your salty flavors (typically very dry), the sides on the rear of the palate detects acidic flavors (typically wet) and finally the center toward the rear which delivers the bitter flavors. Think of the smoke as having no definable flavor by itself, but rather the flavor should be something you sense or feel as it reacts with the palate to give you the impression of a flavor. A well balanced cigar will utilize all areas of the palate evenly and the competing flavors should be in unison with one another.
Flavor: Now that you have tackled what regions of the palate the smoke is stimulating, it is time to look for discernable flavors. The art of blowing the smoke through your nose becomes your biggest asset for this task. Specifically, the characteristics you identify on your palate are often referred to as "flavor", and the characteristics you sense from your nose are referred to as "aromas", however, many enthusiasts will use these terms interchangeably. Cigars are described by hundreds of underlying terms which commonly include: wood, nuts, earth, peat, spice, vegetal, citrus, sweet, salty, sour, wheat, bitter, flinty, grassy, burnt, cinnamon, vanilla, butterscotch, coffee, espresso, cocoa, chocolate, caramel, garlic, bread, pepper, honey, licorice, musk, pine, metallic, floral, cedar, charcoal, toast, etc. The overall richness of the flavor is described from mild to full.
Body: The body of the cigar is often confused with flavor. Simply put, body is the strength and feeling of the cigar. It is not the level of richness of the flavor. The body is something you feel in your gut and throat as you smoke a cigar. Think of the body of a cigar as its power and like flavor, it is graded from mild to full. For example, a powerful cigar that you might smoke slowly after a big meal is "full bodied".
Finish: In the simplest terms, finish is the aftertaste you get from the cigar. After releasing all of the smoke from your palate, wait about five seconds and shift your tongue around in your mouth. Chances are you will detect the finish toward the rear of your palate. While the flavor you detect in the finish may be one you picked up on when the smoke was on your palate, it is often something entirely different that you did not notice when you were first drawing or tasting the cigar. The finish should have a discernible flavor and it is described by its staying power, which ranges from short to long.
The key to training your palate is practice. As your palate develops you will begin to detect more of the nuances of your favorite smokes. While a great number of aficionados like to pair ports, wines and whiskies as they sample their cigars, I recommend a more neutral beverage like water or club soda so you can get the full, unadulterated cigar experience. For more information about tasting cigars, or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to speak with any of our highly trained cigar consultants at 800.357.9800
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Post #2, during the M's game...
A couple nights ago, I decided to try the CAO Cameroon cigar, which I have been very intrigued by, because I really like CAO Cigars, and have come to be very fond of Cameroon wrappers. I've smoked a few H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Wrappers in the past month and they have been great too. I need to write my thoughts down and specifics about the cigar while I'm smokin' it to be more of a beneficial contributor to this blog.
The CAO Cameroon was a torpedo, roughly 6-inches and probably a 52 ring gauge, I'd guess. The burn was great all the way through and the flavor was very consistent throughout. I'd rate it a 92+ overall.
The CAO Cameroon was a torpedo, roughly 6-inches and probably a 52 ring gauge, I'd guess. The burn was great all the way through and the flavor was very consistent throughout. I'd rate it a 92+ overall.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Finally, the first post
I am, if you will, a virgin blogger, so here goes. We all smoke cigars for different reasons. For me cigars are a chance to slow down the world around me, to stop and enjoy. So it is always nice to get the added bonus of a good cigar. For instance:
Cabaiguan Robustos Extra
From the Tatuaje line, so of course by Don "Pepin" Garcia for Pete Johnson
From the Tatuaje line, so of course by Don "Pepin" Garcia for Pete JohnsonLength: 5.25"
Ring Gauge: 50Wrapper: Ecuadorian Shade Grown
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
I received this cigar for free from work, Remond Fine Wine and Cigars, because a customer returned it due to damage at the foot. 
Of course I couldn't let such a fine stick go to waste, so Sunday night my wife and I sat on our tiny porch shared and some Moscato D'Asti while I enjoyed this great cigar.
Of course I couldn't let such a fine stick go to waste, so Sunday night my wife and I sat on our tiny porch shared and some Moscato D'Asti while I enjoyed this great cigar.The Robustos Extra has a beautiful, silky Ecuadorian Shade wrapper, with one or two slight veins running through it. The pre-light aroma was that of cedar and dried fruit. Being a Garcia product, it had a triple cap, signature of his cigars. This particular stick was a little tightly rolled, and slightly hard construction, which made cutting more difficult than it needed to be.
Even with the damaged foot, the intial light and burn was even. In the first few minutes the damage had completely burned away, without affecting the rest of the stick. 
As you can see in the picture, the ash burned to spotty gray color, yet burned at a perfect rate.
As you can see in the picture, the ash burned to spotty gray color, yet burned at a perfect rate.On the first draw there are definite cedar, leather, and dried fruit, like raisin note on the palate as well as the signature spice/pepper prevalent in most if not all of Garcia's creations, but especially the Tatuaje line. At 50% the burn rate still holds up while the cigar is 
even all around. The taste mellows, the sweetness of the dried fruit is still present, the spice diminishes and the cedar/woody notes are replaced with more of a nutty, almost sunflower seed flavor. All the while this cigar produces a rich full smoke with a sweet smell.
even all around. The taste mellows, the sweetness of the dried fruit is still present, the spice diminishes and the cedar/woody notes are replaced with more of a nutty, almost sunflower seed flavor. All the while this cigar produces a rich full smoke with a sweet smell. At 75% the cigar is still burning evenly and at a perfect rate. The finish is that of raisin and leather. On a side note,
the Moscato D'asti that I was drinking along with the cigar balanced the spice, and complimented the sweetness in this stick quite nicely.
the Moscato D'asti that I was drinking along with the cigar balanced the spice, and complimented the sweetness in this stick quite nicely.Overall I give this cigar a rating of 89. I would definitely purchase this stick, as with all the Pete Johnson cigars, you can expect a smoke that won't disappoint.
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