Cigar Reviews http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:09 +0000 60 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63583-padron-1964-anniversary/
The 1964 Anniversary Series was a very well constructed cigar in my eyes, this one had no soft spots what so ever and only one vein that really caught the eye. But im still a noob and still learning.

The burn started right at 11:40 a.m. at the first draws there was lots of spice through the nose, but not to much to push me away. And huge clouds of thick white smoke. Approaching the half hints of nuts began with the pepper still the same. From start to finish of this 64' Anniversary it stayed full bodied, any every draw was an enjoyment. The cigar ended with just less than inch at 12:50.

The burn of this wonderful Padron was almost flawless through the whole cigar until i approached the last third and had to slightly touch it up. The ash wasn't flowery or flaky in any way, is was a very light grey powdery ash that didn't drop until it was well over an inch. And last the draw, the draw was one of my favorite points of this cigar, it was PERFECT wonderful flow with just the right amount of resistance.

Price- $11.50

Blake.

P.S.- My first post and my first review.]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:09 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63583-padron-1964-anniversary/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63570-westchester-cigar-smokers-club/
Let me introduce ourselves to all of you.

The WCSC is a bunch of good friends that love to smoke cigars, we want to see new good cigars enter into the cigar world and we would love to help this happen - Let us help you get the word out about your great cigars to our local shops in NY, CT & NJ.

Send us a box or sample pack of your product and our club will review and share our reviews with our local smoke shops and lounges plus leave our reviews on numerous cigar web forums. We will post our reviews on this FB page plus Cigar Pass Forum & Cigar Outcast Forum among others.

AT NO COST.

There is no better advertisement then word of mouth.

Our recent reviews include two GREAT Cigars:
Reserva Miraflor by Guillen
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Cigars, Lighters, Cutters, Humidors - Whatever, we will review it for you and help you get the word out to the local shops and lounges.

If you would like us to review your product here are the steps:
1 - Contact us by email.
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Check us out on our Facebook page: Westchester Cigar Smokers Club.
__________________
Thanks
Joey Oneway]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:42:12 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63570-westchester-cigar-smokers-club/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63545-don-pepin-garcia-serie-jj/ Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ

Format : Robusto
Size : 5 x 50
Origin: Nicaragua
Price : ~$6-7 each





Today was yet another beautiful day in my tundra paradise. Not feeling like a particularly long smoke I reached for the Don Peppen Garcia JJ white label that has been resting in my desktop for just over a month. I had been looking forward to this one for a while because I cannot seem to find enough smokes in the shorter Vitolas

First inspection shows a wrapper that is a bit more vein laden than I would like. Some of them are quite pronounced begging to affect razor edged burns. Despite this, the seams are unpronounced and the cap is nice and secure. Moving to the foot I notice two fairly pronounced dents that can only be described as pencil eraser sized divots. This leads me to believe that this one is under filled. Pinching from the head to the foot reveals a solid cigar with slight give. Unfortunately, there are two very significant soft spots. One is 2 inches from the foot and the other is right about where the larger band is located.
Moving onto the olfactory inspection reveals a fairly neutral smell at the foot. A slight note of grass or hay is present. Using my punch to pierce the cap produced two 1/16th inch cracks in the head. One on each side of the punch. Taking a prelgiht draw I find it to be quite loose. In fact there is no resistance at all on this one, almost like sucking through an empty straw. The neutral flavors from the front come across during the prelight draw as well. There is nothing very eventful. I notice a slight hint of cherrywood but other than that not much.

Pulling out my single torch I toast the foot and get a few puffs in. A very light leather flavor comes across. I enjoy the density of the smoke that this stick is producing at this point. After several more puffs a tasteful white pepper flavor shows itself but only briefly. It is at this point that the burn decides to take off on a horrible sprint. It begins to become quite wavy and visably skewed on one side. After much turning and angeling I manage to help it correct itself some but it still maintains its jagged appearance. Shortly after I managed to get this under control a subtle sweet flavor shows up akin to brown sugar. This smoke is very dry and I find myself reaching for water more than usual. Grassy tones join the party just under an inch in.

At the one inch mark I find myself puffing on a stick that had somehow managed to go out despite my having nothing else to distract me and giving it plenty of attention. Tapping off the ash I torch the foot again and begin anew. Despite relighting, the uneven burn remains quite prominent. Most flavors have subsided at this point except that of the cherry wood, which is still faint. At about 2 inches in, the smoke again went out; much to my frustration. We have all been guilty of leaving a smoke unattended or allowing it to go out because of distractions but this smoke does not fall into that category.

Repeating the ritual, I get this one going again in the hopes that making it past the halfway mark will solve these problems and somehow redeem the stick. After half an inch more, I observe smoke coming from areas other than the head and foot. It turns out that the stick has developed three ¼ to ½ inch cracks in various places along the shaft, thus venting smoke out the sides. I wrestled with the burn and failing wrapper for a few more minutes and decide this one is no longer worth the effort. Disposing of it I reflect on what went wrong.

Overall, the construction of this stick appears to be its downfall. The channels, soft spots, and loose draw are all evidence that this stick was under filled. The lack of flavor may be attributed to that as well but overall it was fairly uneventful and bland. I really wanted to like this stick, especially after enjoying its larger blue label brother, but found it extremely lacking. What surprises me the most about this is that although hand rolled cigars are prone to defects, this one seemed to have several blatantly and outwardly visible indications that this one should never have passed inspection.

Overall rating: 4/10

]]> Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:45:12 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63545-don-pepin-garcia-serie-jj/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63544-berger-argenti-classico-torpedo/ Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:19:15 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63544-berger-argenti-classico-torpedo/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63528-la-aurora-barrel-aged/
Fast forward to 6 mos. later. Its been nice out and I've been doing some outside work so I figured Id torch one of them and see if it had gotten any better with time.

This is where the problems started.

The first one I grabbed was well constructed from what I could see, although the foot was a little tight. It had a decent feel and there werent any hard spots. The wrapper was uniform and had a slight oily sheen to it.

It lit well but about 1/3rd in I started getting some tunneling. I tried to correct it but it just wasnt working out and the stick ended up going bitter on me. My humi is kept at 65% so I figured it couldnt be from uneven humidification. I let it go out and then I pulled it apart to inspect. Well much to my dissapointment there were tons of stems and it just seemed like poor bunching. Could this be attributing to the uneven burn?

I grabbed another one and lo and behold I had the same issue!

I gave up and grabbed a padilla series '68 and had a much more pleasant experience.

So I guess my review is: giving up on the La Aurora BA and sticking with better quality!

Anyone else have the same issues?

edited to delete a random sentance that I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say!]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:05:13 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63528-la-aurora-barrel-aged/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63526-la-aurora-1495-series-churchill/
The foot lights easily and after a couple quick puffs I take my first draw that brings an abundance of medium strength smoke through that is smooth over the palate. A nice white pepper spice hits the back of the tongue perfectly with the flavors rich and full, tastes of vanilla, toasted nut, and cocoa coming through. There’s a lasting finish left on the palate after slowly exhaling the delicious, smooth smoke.

Everything is working perfectly for the first inch or so with sharp burn and strong, compact ash forming that is medium gray in color, however somewhere around that point, I began having a difficult time getting smoke to flow through. I tap off the ash and sure enough, there’s a gaping hole down in the coal, which is obviously the culprit. I puff and purge for about another quarter inch before the cigar started to burn well again with the same medium strength smoke and spice coming through. Unfortunately it started again after the quarter inch where I was puffing quite a bit and no smoke being produced, the cigar wanted to go out on me a couple times. I tapped off the ash again and more tunneling could be seen down through the coal.

Finally, around the halfway mark, the tunneling issue ceased and volumes of medium to almost full strength smoke began to flow effortlessly through the perfect draw. I would say at this point, the spice actually picked up in strength slightly not becoming overpowering, but still spot on for my palate. Flavors continue to be full bodied and rich, smooth over the tongue and very tasty with a delicious, lasting finish.

The remainder of the cigar was excellent with sharp burn, perfect draw and very rich, smooth smoke that after exhaling slowly left a lasting finish on the palate. I have to add that there was a nice twang in the finish that I thoroughly enjoyed. With the exception of the tunneling issues, this was an absolutely fantastic cigar and again, must give thanks to Jimmy for sending!

Smoke time: 2 Hours




]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:02:58 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63526-la-aurora-1495-series-churchill/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63515-arturo-fuente-opus-x-robusto/
I step out into the yard and can see noticeable oils glistening in the reddish brown wrapper of the Opus; one prominent vein runs the length to the triple cap on top. I find a couple of soft spots close to the band, however other than that the cigar is quite firm, has a good weight in the hand and good bunching in the foot. Using the largest ring on my knife, I punch a perfect hole in the cap and test the draw to find a perfect resistance with taste of straightforward tobacco.

With the foot torched and burning even, I take a couple quick puffs and find not much smoke is coming through. The burn begins to run to one side, and I keep puffing with not much results. I’m thinking the fire is tunneling down in there, so puff a couple times, wait a few seconds, and then purge. This is pretty much how it went through the first three-quarter inch, however the burn finally started going and at about an inch, smoke began to flow well. Strong black pepper spice is what I received in my first full draw with the smoke quite powerful, full strength to my palate. Flavors were decent albeit a bit acrid at first; however after a few more draws began to mellow out a bit.

It was probably right around the halfway mark before the cigar really started smoking well with the powerful spice mellowing to a perfect amount; however the strength remained quite full. Flavors were that of a typical Opus profile; cedar wood, roasted nut, leather, and a hint of citrus zest. The finish was good upon initial exhale, however short on the palate.

I’m finding myself thoroughly relaxed and very much enjoying the warmth of the sun soaking into my jeans and shirt, think maybe the scotch is working its magic as well. I continue on with the Opus, taking my time and trying not to get too much of the powerful, full strength smoke, which is now flowing quite well through the perfect draw. The burn is sharp with a light to medium gray ash forming that holds strong and flavors are as previously described with the same good finish, however short.

Through the final third, the draw began to tighten up and I found squeezing the cigar with my teeth helped the smoke flow. It continued to be full strength with a good amount of spice on the back of the throat and flavors more of a straightforward tobacco taste and the finish quite short on the palate. I have to say this wasn’t the best Opus I’ve had, however still not a bad smoke for a relaxing Saturday afternoon.



]]> Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:15:00 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63515-arturo-fuente-opus-x-robusto/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63510-por-larranaga-petit-corona/
Holding the cigar in the sunlight, I can see noticeable oil throughout the medium brown wrapper that is somewhat coarse with small veins throughout, one looking like patchwork. It has a good weight in the hand, is very firm when squeezed with a nice crunchy sound, and what looks to be possible overfill from the bunching in the foot. I punch the cap and find the draw has very little airflow, however isn’t completely plugged. I go ahead and use my Palio to clip a bit off the head, and hope that once lit, the tobacco will warm and loosen up.

Using my S.T. Dupont, I torch the foot slowly until there’s an even burn, take a few puffs to get the smoke flowing, and then a slow, long draw. Although the draw is still tight, there’s more than enough medium strength smoke coming through with a nice spice on the back of the tongue and throat. The body has a thick, somewhat oily feel on the palate with incredibly rich flavors tasting of sweet, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, roasted nut, and cocoa. I exhale slowly through the mouth and nose, savoring the richness in the smoke, enjoying the long finish.

Through the first third and into halfway, the burn is sharp with a mottled dark and gray ash forming that holds well until tapped off revealing a flat coal. Taking long, slow draws brings a perfect amount of medium strength smoke to the palate, cinnamon spice tingling the tongue and throat. The flavors are intense and deeply rich with a finish that makes me smack my tongue and lips, thoroughly enjoying the taste that is pairing perfectly with my coffee.

The cigar performed perfectly through to the end with sharp burn, good draw that produced a perfect amount of rich, medium strength smoke leaving a long finish on the palate that was simply incredible. I’ve always enjoyed the profile of the Por Larranaga marca, regardless of vitola, however the petit corona is a favorite size. Again, thanks so much Dave for sending, thoroughly enjoyed this cigar!



]]> Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:25:18 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63510-por-larranaga-petit-corona/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63498-tatuaje-j21-reserva-12007/
As previously stated, the wrapper is a lighter color almost looking natural next to the 2009. It has a couple of prominent veins, noticeable oil, and a nice triple cap on top. There’s a good weight in the hand, and squeezing the cigar I find it a bit spongy. After punching the cap with the largest ring on my knife, I find a perfect draw with taste of sweet, well matured tobacco.

The foot lights easily enough and volumes of smoke pour from the embers, a delicious aroma wafts to my nose, and I can’t wait to get a taste. After a couple quick puffs, I take a long draw and get a nice white peppery spice on the back of the tongue that is just right. The smoke itself is a good medium strength and very smooth over the palate with rich, delicious flavors; that of cedar wood and sweet roasted nuts with just a hint of cocoa and vanilla. The finish is fantastic, long and lasting well after exhaling.

A third in and the burn is razor sharp with a medium to light gray ash forming that holds strong until tapped off. The smoke continues to be a good medium strength and quite smooth, almost creamy over the palate, flowing effortlessly through the perfect draw. Medium white pepper spice still hits the palate just right, initially fairly strong however dissipating shortly after. Flavors remain rich and incredibly delicious with a very lasting finish, especially after exhaling slowly through both mouth and nose.

I can’t really describe how very much I’m enjoying this cigar. Through the final third, the burn remained sharp with an absolutely perfect draw and rich flavors coming through. Medium to almost full strength smoke flowed effortlessly in abundance, leaving a lasting finish on the palate. Compared to the 2009 release, this was without a doubt a better smoke by far, thoroughly enjoyable.




]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:37:34 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63498-tatuaje-j21-reserva-12007/ http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63490-opus-x-forbidden-x-lost-city-lancero/
I inspected the cigar and the construction was great. I didn't see anything wrong with the Lancero at this point. Before I even lit the cigar, I smelled the cigar and my first impression was of Raspberries off the wrapper.

At 2:54pm I put flame to the cigar. The smoke is very strong which I have found that this isn't a typical trait of a Opus X Lancero. I have over the years of my Opus X cigar smoking, I've learned one thing. They usually tend to open up around the first 1/2" to 1" mark. Especially on the Lancero. The draw is fantastic which I have become accustomed too.

Now the first white peppery notes come out at 2:57pm. The smoke starts mellowing out at 3:01pm with subtle notes of raspberry and possibly a brandy taste at this point. This occurred at the first 1/2" mark. The ash is pretty compact while the wrapper has a sweet sugary note to it.

I first ashed at 3:04pm. The burn has stayed pretty even and a little hint of a woody note comes out at 3:07pm. My first impression of the woody note is that its a cedar taste. I've come to the realization that this cigar still has a "young" taste to it at 3:10pm.

Now at 3:15pm, I had a revelation of just eating Chocolate covered raspberries. I'm noticing that the cigar has a undertone of strength to it and once again, a cedary notes that is very subtle.

Here comes the fun part. At 3:21pm, I had for the first time a black licorice taste. Not the same experience as drinking Absinthe either. Pretty mild actually. I've decided at this time that the "Lost City" Lancero isn't like any other Opus X Lancero I've smoked.

Till 3:45pm, the cigar pretty much stay the same with no real changes to it from what I've already made notes about. The cigar is still strong, but enjoyable. Again, I stress this Lancero is different from the others I've smoked.

Again, till 4:17pm the cigar is the same as previous notes. I decided to inhale some of the smoke and yes, a young cigar and burns the hell out of my nasal passage. I still can not compare it to any other Opus X Lancero made by the Fuente Family. For some reason, I get an impression that it reminds me of a couple of cigars from the CFCF 2008 cigars. I just can't place my finger onto which ones it reminds me of since its been over 6 months since my last reviews of the CFCF 2008 box I started doing. I did get a raspberry/peppery not at this time.

At 4:38pm, I took off the small band perfectly. Again, the cigar stays pretty uneventful. Burn is great with plenty of smoke and still trying to figure out which cigar this reminds me of from the CFCF 2008 box. It nags at me like an old lady. Yet, still can not put my finger on this mystery. Maybe when I smoke the CFCF 2008 box again, I will pay attention to it. Then revisit the "Lost City" Lancero after.

Finally at 4:59pm, I take the big band off perfectly. The cigar stays pretty much the same till the very end which I think was between 5:25pm to 5:36pm.

I will sit on a full box and see what time does for these. I think they have great potential, but something nags at me with the reference to the CFCF 2008 box. No idea why, just that is the case. For a Opus X Lancero, it is different. I had bought a couple for some friends birthday in Kansas City. Opus XKC can verify that this is one different Opus X Lancero as I have given him a few to smoke over the years. Its always great to have something different than previous experiences since it will be a trip into unknown territory for me.

PS "I think I took pictures of it but not for sure. I will check later on and see if I have any. Not feeling to hot right now with looks to be the start of a nasty cold."]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:42:21 +0000 http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/topic/63490-opus-x-forbidden-x-lost-city-lancero/