69 replies to this topic

[wavescrashing]

I've read a lot of great reviews on this site that are extremely informative, but as I was reading and searching through a few the other night, I don't see too many on lower-end sticks. For different reasons, if someone could identify and smoke a few different <$5 sticks that they really enjoyed, I'm sure some would take that opportunity. I'm aware of some trusty lower-end sticks like the Tatuaje Series P, the Padron 2000, etc. My goal with this thread is to try a bunch of different sticks, whether unknown or popular that fall in that price range, give my review, and hopefully find some hidden treasures that don't break the wallet. Sorry for the long-windedness.

I'll keep all the reviews on this thread and link them all to this opening post.

Quintero Robusto Box Pressed Natural
REO Robusto
Benchmade Cazadore
Jose L. Piedra Cremas
La unica #600
Tatuaje Series P P4
Onyx Reserve Churchill
Oliva Serie V Lancero
Oliva Serie G Maduro Churchill
La Floridita Maduro Corona
Cerdan Chamberlain
Cupido Criollo Doble
La Carolina Gran Robusto
Cardenas Belicoso Maduro
Cigar Factory Outlet (CFO) Cheap-Ass Corojo
Tio Pepe Torpedo
La Cuna Bin No. 85 Robusto
Don Tomas Sun Grown Robusto
Por Larranaga Panatela
Perdomo Lot 23
Sancho Panza Glorioso

Edited by wavescrashing, 31 January 2009 - 12:59 PM.

[wavescrashing]

Quintero Robusto Natural Box Pressed
Wrapper: Honduran Cubano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
MSRP $4.00
Medium-Full bodied

The construction wasn't great, but the taste really made up for it.
It had a pretty rough cap, but other than that the appearance was fine.
The band itself is definitely visually appealing and adds to the appearance.

Pre-light, it had a somewhat tight draw with a taste of tea and pepper.
After torching the foot, the draw opened up slightly to reveal hints of tea and wood, and a decent amount of pepper.

A third into the cigar, there was a hint of chocolate that really added to the complexity of it. The burn was nice and even, with a flaky white ash. The draw was still a bit tight, but not bad.

Halfway though, the woodiness disappeared and was replaced with a hint of grass. Burn was still really even, and the draw opened up perfectly.

The last third maintained the chocolate and hint of grass, but it started to burn hot and the pepper became more intense. It was still a nubber and kept the good draw and burn to the end.

Overall, this is a fine smoke, that kept a nice balance (until the over-powering spice last 1/3) and complexity. Definitely a good everyday smoke IMO.

[JLAudio]

This is one of "my" diamonds in the rough. Seriously, it is a great, great cigar. I don't really agree with the medium-full body you stated, or really the flavor profile, but taste is subjective. I find it to be a solid medium bodied smoke, that is very smooth, clean, and refreshing. It carries a chocolatey, cocoa, floral-nuttiness to it, along with a hint of cedar and almost no spice to mention. Close your eyes, smoke it, and you would think it's a Padron '64 Series Natty Piramide.

Also, I get them for about $2.75 each, so that is quite a bargain. Thanks for the review.

[42]

I'm always looking for good cigars at lower prices. Padron's regular series has been one of my favorite. Looks like I'll have to try getting my hands on these Quinteros.

More reviews!

[Kingantz]

There's also some good information under Saxjazzman's **Bundle / Low Cost Cigar Review**

[wavescrashing]

REO Robusto
Wrapper: Costa Rican/Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Honduran/Nicaraguan
MSRP: $5.00 (commonly sold for $2-3 online)
Length: 5.00
Ring Gauge: 52
Strength: Full-bodied

The construction on this one was pretty solid, with a nice cap.

Pre-light, there was a bit of a tight draw with a taste of rich tobacco and pepper.
After torching the foot, the draw was perfect, revealing pepper and earthiness. A few puffs in, the burn was uneven.

A third into the cigar, the pepper mellowed out, leaving flavor of earthiness and a hint of coffee. The burn evened out, with a spotty white ash.

Halfway , the hint of coffee was no longer just a hint, the earthiness was no longer existent, and there was a hint of chocolate.

Last third, the richness and intense coffee flavor gave it a bit of an unbalanced bitterness. It definitely left an undesirable after taste.

Overall, this is a decent smoke, that wasn't complex and was a bit one dimensional after the coffee flavor started to take over. I wouldn't use this as an everyday smoke, but for the going rate of these (not msrp), it's worth it.

[wavescrashing]

This is one of "my" diamonds in the rough. Seriously, it is a great, great cigar. I don't really agree with the medium-full body you stated, or really the flavor profile, but taste is subjective. I find it to be a solid medium bodied smoke, that is very smooth, clean, and refreshing. It carries a chocolatey, cocoa, floral-nuttiness to it, along with a hint of cedar and almost no spice to mention. Close your eyes, smoke it, and you would think it's a Padron '64 Series Natty Piramide.

Also, I get them for about $2.75 each, so that is quite a bargain. Thanks for the review.

Yeah, the spice was definitely identifiable on this one for me, but as you said, taste is subjective.
Yeah, most of these I'll be reviewing can be had for half of MSRP.
Thanks for the feedback.

[Marco-Polo]

I've done at least five or six inexpensive (sub $3) cigar reviews - in fact, even my not so inexpensive cigar reviews are usually sub $5. There are about a dozen, search away.

[wavescrashing]

I've done at least five or six inexpensive (sub $3) cigar reviews - in fact, even my not so inexpensive cigar reviews are usually sub $5. There are about a dozen, search away.

I saw some of those. Nice reviews. I figured I'd do this on one thread with a bunch of different Non-Cuban and Cuban sticks that fall in this price range. A one stop review shop for cheap sticks so to speak.

[souldog]

I've done at least five or six inexpensive (sub $3) cigar reviews - in fact, even my not so inexpensive cigar reviews are usually sub $5. There are about a dozen, search away.

I saw some of those. Nice reviews. I figured I'd do this on one thread with a bunch of different Non-Cuban and Cuban sticks that fall in this price range. A one stop review shop for cheap sticks so to speak.

It's a good idea Mike, like we talked about at Zarka's the other day. I'm happy to see it lifting off! I'll be watching this closely. Happy reviewing!

[wavescrashing]

Benchmade Cazadore (Ashton cigar made by Don Pepin Garcia)
Size: Corona Grande
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
MSRP: $2.50
Length: 6 1/2
Ring Gauge: 46
Strength: Medium-bodied

This one had a slightly rough cap with a pigtail, small veins, and a nice wrapper.

Pre-light, there was a good draw with a hint of pepper.

After torching, the draw stayed perfect, revealing a small amount of pepper with earth and woodiness. The burn started out even, but the ash was pretty fragile, falling to its demise after a half of an inch.

A third into the cigar, the pepper and earthiness lightened up, while the woodiness became more intense. A hint of sweetness popped up every few puffs. The burn became slightly uneven with a spotty white ash.

Halfway through, Spice strengthened a bit noticeable at the back of the throat. Woodiness and creaminess intensified, drowning out the earth flavor. The sweetness was now detected in every puff.

Last third, spice, and creaminess are thick, with a thick smoke (but not burning hot), a tiny bit of woodiness, and spots of sweetness. The wrapper started to unravel a bit, but was burned over after a few puffs. The draw became uneven and I had to relight once.

Overall, this is a good smoke that's balanced and complex with different flavors jumping out at each third. The sweetness could be described as almost a coffee creamer taste. Bold flavor, with a lot of flavors typical to Pepin cigars. A great everyday smoke, well worth the price.






Smiley approves.

Edited by wavescrashing, 02 January 2009 - 12:07 AM.

[wavescrashing]

Jose L. Piedra Cremas
Size: Petit Corona
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban mixed/short
MSRP: $2.00
Length: 5 3/8
Ring Gauge: 39
Manufactured: machine made
Strength: Medium-bodied

The Cremas had a rough cap and small veins. The overall appearance of this stick was pretty beat up.

Pre-light, the draw was tight with a hint of pepper on the lips.

After torching the foot, the draw was still pretty tight, but whatever I was able to get out of it produced a thick smoke. The burn was even, and like the Benchmade, the ash wouldn't hold for more half of an inch. As for the flavor, there was a hint of pepper with a big taste of earth and rich tobacco.

A third into the cigar, the earthiness and tobacco stayed consistently dominating, a bit of creaminess rolled in, and the hint of spice was still there. The draw had opened up, but was still tight with a light gray ash.

Halfway , the spice and creaminess pretty much disappeared, while the earthiness and rich tobacco flavors stayed. The draw was still slightly tight, but I wasn't fighting to draw anymore.

Last third, earth and rich tobacco were virtually the only flavors standing out.
The draw finally opened up all the way, but it started to burn hot and uneven.

Overall, this cigar is pretty one-dimensional, but it's a good, balanced, everyday cigar. I was expecting to end up chewing on some of that short filler, but luckily, that didn't happen. It had it's drawbacks such as the draw through most of the smoke, but again....$2.00! For the price, it's a solid Cuban smoke and I'd say it smokes better than a few $5-10 sticks.

If you've made it this far into the reviews, I applaud you
Thanks for lookin'.

Edited by wavescrashing, 02 January 2009 - 04:08 AM.

[stevehawk]

Good idea on this. Keep 'em coming. I need to look into the Cazadores.

[Wurm]

I'm really enjoying the reviews so far... keep them coming!

Question about the JPLC

Did you change the pictures in anyway? I'm smoked my share of Cremas and I've never had one that looked like a Lanceros before...

[Eryxis]

His fingers looks smashed/stretched in the picture so I would wager it has been altered (probably unintentionally by some compression).

Ery

[Wurm]

His fingers looks smashed/stretched in the picture so I would wager it has been altered (probably unintentionally by some compression).

Ery

I thought so as well... but I was hoping that I had just missed the JPL Lanceros the last time I went to my B&M Then again most of them would end up being plugged

[Franco593]

I smoked my first Quintero Robusto Maduro yesterday and was pleasently surprised. Very nice smoke.

Thanks for doing these reviews

[wavescrashing]

I'm really enjoying the reviews so far... keep them coming!

Question about the JPLC

Did you change the pictures in anyway? I'm smoked my share of Cremas and I've never had one that looked like a Lanceros before...

I did stretch and resize them to get them to fit properly, but I think I'm about to ditch my current photo editing software and go with something better, perhaps photoshop. Maybe I gave JLP an idea for a new vitola

[wavescrashing]

La Unica #600 Natural
Size/shape: Toro
Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic (long filler)
MSRP: $4.95
Length: 6
Ring Gauge: 50
Manufactured: handmade
Strength: Medium-bodiedmild-medium

The wrapper construction was a bit rough overall, but it had a nice double cap with small veins.

Pre-light, the draw was tight with hints of creaminess.

After torching the foot, the draw opened up perfectly with an even burn. The flavor started out with a ton of cream and hint of earth and woodiness.

A third into the cigar, the earthiness became a bit stronger slowly overtaking the majority of the flavor which was barely shared with cream and woodiness. The draw was still good, but the burn became uneven. The spotty gray ash held for about an inch at a time.

Halfway through, harshness started to appear a bit from the overpowering earthy flavor. At this point the burn was still uneven.

The last third was pretty harsh with earth and a tiny bit of cream, but that went away right before I put it out. At that point, the earth lightened up a little and you could taste a hint of grassiness and more creaminess. The burn was even from this point until the end of the smoke.


Overall, it was somewhat complex, but not balanced at all past the halfway mark. The harshness at the second ½ left a bad taste in my mouth (literally). I might recommend trying one with a little age as this was straight from a B&M and was only there for about 1 month. IMO this wouldn't be an everyday smoke....or once a month smoke.

[wavescrashing]

Tatuaje Series P P4
Size/shape: Churchill
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan mixed (%60 medium-filler and %40 long-filler from filler used in Havana VI line)
MSRP: $3.70
Length: 7
Ring Gauge: 47
Manufactured: handmade
Strength: Medium-bodied

This cigar had a nice dark wrapper with small veins. It started to unravel a bit at the head after cutting.

Pre-light, the draw was tight with a taste of earth and tobacco.

After torching the foot, the draw was still pretty tight but it produced rich thick smoke nonetheless. There was a nice smooth flavor of slightly sweet tobacco with hints of earth and pepper.

A third into the cigar, the hint of sweetness reminded me of dark chocolate while the spice mellowed and the earth blended nicely with the tobacco flavor. The draw opened up a bit, but was still tight with a flaky gray ash that would consistently hold for about an inch.

Halfway , the earth and hint of tobacco remained and the hints of spice came back. The sweetness was now barely identifiable. The draw opened up nicely and the burn evened out for the most part.

Last third, the sweet tobacco flavors were dominant and the spice mellowed. It burned hot and uneven right towards the end.

Overall, this was a nice smooth smoke with the dominant flavors reminding me of a semi-sweet tobacco. It's not complex at all, but with a good taste and predictability, this cigar could suit you if your in the mood or for an everyday standby.