Two Guys Cigar Blog

tatuaje nobles

Decided to fire up one of these tasty NCs last night.have smoked probably a box or so of these since the initial release and i have to say though the cigar doesn’t evolve a ton during the actual smoking process, they are a fantastic example of what the right blend can be. These cigars have consistently be rated quite highly in all of the “national publications” but still are very consistent and at a very decent price point.

This particular cigar smoked fantastically ample amounts of smoke, snow white ash, and a nose that was quite enjoyable. Had lots of pepper notes on the finish but was smooth enough to enjoy all the way to the nub. If you have never smoked one of these than you really need to even if you are a set in your way Cuban smoker this cigar may surprise you and offer you a bit of an alternative especially with all the shipping issues that have come up in the last few months.

A little light reading with a Davidoff Special C and a Flor de Cana and Coke

So with the beautiful weather this afternoon i decided to sit out on my deck and enjoy a nice cigar that i hadn’t smoked in forever and read a little.  The cigar i chose was a Davidoff special C culebra. Now there are a few interesting stories out there as to why this vitola originally went into production. My personal favorite is the one that starts with thieving rollers smoking too many of their own fresh rolled cigars. Supposedly the shift bosses took three smaller ring gauged cigars and wove them together and allowed them to dry then only allowed the torcedors to smoke those bent and odd looking cigars in order to ensure that all cigars rolled in the factory that day actually went out the door instead of being smoked up by the employees.  I am reasonably sure this story was an old wives tale as i have also heard a story which i believe to be true and seems to make a lot more sense.  There was a theory that a larger ring gauge cigar would age differently than the same amount of tobacco in smaller ring gauged cigars.

The rum i chose was one of my favorites Flor de Cana 4 year aged Nicaraguan dark rum.  This particular bottle i brought back with me from a trip i took to the Rocky Patel factory in Honduras a few years back.  I fell in love with this rum on that trip and we had to have drank 10 bottles in that week long trip. Its really a perfect mixing rum and relatively inexpensive.

The book I am currently re-readingis Gary Vaynerchuk’s  “Crush it” its an awesome book all about finding what’s really going to make you happy in life and then how to turn that into your job. The guy is amazing he is high energy high intensity and most importantly spot on about how to be happy in life. i highly recommended you checking out his show on sirius/xm on thursday nights as well as his wine video blog www.winelibrary.com watch the videos even if you arent into wine he may just change your mind.

Now then on to the review. This cigar is approximately 4 or 5 years old they come in their own little coffin which is a really cool presentation.  This cigar if I remeber correctly is about 30 dollars but you do have to remember that’s for 3 cigars.  I know many look at non-Cuban Davidoff as a mild, pricey, and even a bit of a pretentious cigar, i cant disagree more. while they are a bit pricey they are comparable to many other ultra premium cigars Cuban or not.  I find these cigars to be very complex and simply enjoyable.

So this particular cigar had a great rich body to the smoke that literally seemed to pour of this rather small ring gauged cigar.  lots of great cedar and white pepper hints to the nose. Though this cigar is probably the weirdest shaped cigar ever it burns to a ridiculously sharp edge. never needed to touch up at all as well as the ash holding on quite well. A superb  example of why i don’t mind paying a bit more for a fantastic cigar. 

Ever wondered what it means?

If you have ever been having a conversation with someone over a nice cigar and they used a term that you had no clue what it meant this fairly extensive list of terms and definitions can be very useful. Who knows next time you are smoking maybe you can stump him back.  check it out http://tobacconistuniversity.org/glossary.asp

2001 vegas robina classico

This cigar has quickly became one of my go to cigars. I have yet to have a bad one of these and i believe i have gone through at least 3 boxes. This cigar is flavorful but not overpowering.  Its the perfect size, being a lonsdale, for a nice afternoon smoke.   This particular cigar had a slight veinyness to it but nothing that hampered the smoking experience.  The main flavor throughout this cigar is a cookie dough meets slight woodiness that gets stronger as the cigar goes on.  the burn on it was perfect, razor sharp with no need to touch up at all. 

Handsome Jimmy Sweet 46 Figurado from Mercer Cigars

This cigar was sent to us by Mercer cigars in Merida, Mexico.  They hosted Handsome Jimmy this past August. He is a level 9 roller from the Partagas factory. In this particular blend Handsome Jimmy was able to accomplish the best blend by forgoing ligero, and doubling up on the seco in order to bring out the sweetness of the tobacco with out making it a sickeningly sweet blend.

So I clipped the cigar and took a a pre-light draw. The best way I can describe the pre-light draw is a sweet non-descript wood. Once I lit the cigar the flavor became a bit more clear. The overwhelming flavor on it was a strongly brewed sweet tea that was served in a wooden cup.  Just a fantastic custom rolled cigar.  If you have never ventured into the custom rolled world this is a great cigar to start with as its very pleasant flavors as well as a great aroma. As with many custom rolled cigars this one was  a tad looser on the draw than many regular production cigars.  The burn was very good for such a freshly rolled cigar. The ash held very nicely and was a bit whiter than i expected it to be.

If you would like to know more about these custom rolled cigars feel check out http://www.mercercigars.com/

and if you’d like to watch a video interview with handsome jimmy check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwSXB2i0tng

Casa Fuente Corona Gorda

First off let me say this cigar was a surprisingly good cigar I tend to be a little hard on Fuente smokers mostly because in my opinion they are alot of hype and a very little amount of actual value. A little background on this cigar, to the best of my knowledge they can only be gotten in Fuente shops, I purchased this one on a trip to Vegas earlier this year.  They are an Opus X with a Cameroon wrapper.  Let me tell you if they could make every opus like this id buy boxes of them.  The first benefit to this cigar over a normal Opus is the wrapper itself. Cameroon wrappers stay lit which to me is the exact opposite of the normal Opus with out age.   It also gives a wonderfully hazelnuty finish to the cigar that is not present on a normal production opus.  This stick had a wonderful sharp burn to it that didn’t require me to touch it up almost at all.  It had a great draw and was amazingly flavorful through the nose.  The flavor most present in it would have to be a nutty cedar note that i have really never had in any other cigar.   For anyone that really wants to argue the amount of the taste that comes from the wrapper i would beg you to smoke one of these and then smoke an opus. You will be able to tell how much the wrapper really makes the cigar.  I would have to put this cigar in the top 5 or so Non-cubans that i have ever smoked.

2001 Partagas 898 and 2007 Bitch Grenache

So I decided since today is grenache day that id open a bottle of wine and smoke a cigar to accompany it.  Decided to go with a more spicy cigar due to my past experiences with grenache’s sweetness.  I went with a Party 898 mostly because it was a a cigar that i knew what the cigar would deliver.   This cigar was constructed perfectly and had no real visible veins in the wrapper.  The pre-light draw was very earthy, so i torched the foot and was hit with a great aroma to me there is very few cigars that smell like a Partagas.  The nose on this cigar was fantastic it had a creamy spiciness that was very interesting.  As i got to the middle of the cigar or so i noticed it picking up some buttery flavors which was a bit unexpected but very nice.  If i had to describe the second half of this cigar it would be like waking up in the morning after camping and making toast on the still red embers from the night before.  just a smokey butteryness  that was totally fantastic. The wine went quite nicely with this cigar.  The initial nose was sour cherries and lots of ripe red fruit.   This is one of the few wines i have drank that really delivers almost exactly what the nose would suggest.  lots of cherries and strawberrys and a decent amount of alcohol.  It was a bit thin and watery in consistency but it was a bit bigger than the way it was presented.  It was a very interesting pairing as the spiciness played well off the sour cherry notes in the wine. Overall id give the cigar a 94  the wine a 92.

Pre-embargo Dutchmaster Presidente

This cigar is old clearly.  Its Pre-homogenized wrappers, meaning its all tobacco.  I have been lucky enough to smoke a few of these over the years and it really is interesting to see how much flavor is still left in them after so many years.  The pre-light draw was a musky, old, cedary goodness.  Its an interesting balance of flavor and very smooth and mild. Its got notes of cinnamon, vanilla, white pepper.  In all honesty its a great cigar that most wouldn’t expect to smoke as well as it does. I for one would recommend that if you have the chance to try one do so.  i have never smoked a cigar quite like it. The burn was impeccable, the draw was perfect.  There was so little about this cigar to be disappointed in that i cant even think of one thing to mention. 

Oliva Serie V lancero

The Oliva serie V was a cigar i used to smoke a lot of.  There were a few reasons for this,  they were a relatively inexpensive cigar that still has a ton of flavor.  Then they blew up in cigar aficionado and every other publication out there and suddenly they were more rare than ‘76 clos du bois.  Unfortunately the backlash of great publicity is high demand, which usually leads to inferior products being rushed to market.  In the case of the serie V that didn’t happen. They continued to put out a very consistent product while stepping up their production and trying to fulfill there new found popularity.  This cigar was no exception.  Quality was there first priority when they produced this cigar. The dark chocolate wrapper had a few minor veins in it but nothing that affected the smoking process.  One of the unexpected pleasantries of this cigar was how well it drew the whole way through.  Many times with non-cuban lanceros they get rolled a bit too tight and  are virtually un-smokable without hyperventilating.  The cigar put out enough smoke but not a huge amount.  The flavors in this cigar were fairly basic but very enjoyable.  lots of chocolate notes a bit woody but for the most part it was just a raw tobacco taste. a very enjoyable cigar and reminded me why i used to smoke them so often a great value cigar.

Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Toro

This Cigar was flawless.  No noticeable veins, no sun spots just a beautiful example of what pepin can do with great tobacco.  the draw was excellent.  Pre-light notes of cedar and vanilla.  The smoke billowed from this cigar I mean literally billowed.  Absolutely perfect razor sharp burn the whole way through the cigar.  The flavors of the cigar were amazing for a young non-cuban, beautiful cedar, semi-sweet chocolate, and interesting citrus notes.  The best part of this cigar was there was no ammonia to this cigar at all. just a great specimen of what can be done if non-cuban rollers really step up their quality control.