Help Identifying

[beastinem]

I bought my first humidor today and the owner of the shop threw in a handful of cigars to try and persuade me to buy it I guess. I was going to buy it anyway, with or without them. But now I have a group of cigars that I have NO idea what they are or their characteristics. I guess I could jump in and smoke them blind but I would like to know what I have here. I am sure most (if not all) of them are crap. Otherwise, I doubt he would be throwing them in a grab bag deal for a humidor. A couple of them look BAD :\ Hopefully some of you can tell me the name and maybe a little bit about some of them.

Thanks,
Zach

The whole group.....

Left to right.....first four -

Next four -

Now the first two in this pic, he "claims" are "retailer cigars"?? Said that only retailers can get them? Not sure if it's true or not.

Next -

Last and probably LEAST, the two at the top. No band, no nothing. Look like crap -

 

[LarryH]

The Tatuaje and Air Bender should be decent smokes. I have no idea about the rest.

 

[Mr Peat]

I think I had the Salazar one. It was a very long time ago so I can't remember if I liked it or not. A lot of members have raved about the Brick House so you should be good there. I've never had one so no idea. The Tat should be decent. he LFD Air Bender is a better brand than most of them in there. I personally didn't care for them. I just can't place my finger on the exact reason other than it seems to be a confused cigar. You may love them. Hell you could love any of them so think of it as a way to learn about different cigars. I found many I liked this way and found many I didn't like at all. I wouldn't have known if I wasn't willing to try them.

 

[NASTY]

There are quite a number of people on CP that love that Brickhouse cigar. I'm not one of them but give them all a try :thumbs:

 

[Shamrocker]

Looks like an Illusione Epernay on the far right, and the LFD has had some good reviews. Brick House cigars are resonable daily smokes from what I hear.

Hope you enjoy them.

 

[MadMonk]

I recognize most of those, and the one's I know are all decent for my tastes. The Salazar is a cuban crafters product.
I like Cuban Crafers tobacco.

The Casa Fernandez is a really nice smoke. I had to get about 6 months on them before they really came to shine. They are made by the same company who make Illusione and Epernay for Dion.

The Fuego smokes are really decent quality. It will just be a matter of your personal tastes.

 

[LA Kings Fan]

The Illusione Epernay was an amazing cigar I had recently and can not wait to get my hands on a few more for the future. The Tatuaje Red label is a pretty great smoke I would say. I prefer the Brown label cigars as the Red's are more on the milder side for Tatuaje. Had a Brickhouse cigar this afternoon while I was cleaning out the garage and it was pretty lackluster, I may have just gotten a bad stick. But enough of me talking, go smoke a stick and enjoy!

 

[Marine6186]

I bought my first humidor today and the owner of the shop threw in a handful of cigars to try and persuade me to buy it I guess. I was going to buy it anyway, with or without them. But now I have a group of cigars that I have NO idea what they are or their characteristics. I guess I could jump in and smoke them blind but I would like to know what I have here. I am sure most (if not all) of them are crap. Otherwise, I doubt he would be throwing them in a grab bag deal for a humidor. A couple of them look BAD :\ Hopefully some of you can tell me the name and maybe a little bit about some of them.

Thanks,
Zach

I hope I am not insulting your intelligences when I say this...

If this is your brand new humidor you need to season it, before you store your cigars in it. I am hoping you just put the cigars in the humidor for the pictures.




Just saw your post in "The Humidor" :thumbs:

 

[woodbm]

The Brick House, Tatuaje Havana VI, LFD Airbender, Illusione Epernay are great cigars! Enjoy your new humidor and start planning on buying a bigger one because it will be full before you know it.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

The Brick House, Tatuaje Havana VI, LFD Airbender, Illusione Epernay are great cigars!

Yep. What everyone else said. He gave you a few nice sticks, and some decent daily 'gars, looks like. The J. Fuegos and Cuban Crafters aren't half bad, either. I've had both the Fuegos before . . . nothing to rave about, but I didn't pitch 'em.

~Boar

 

[Goldie]

I wouldn't turn my nose up to several of those cigars.

The Brickhouse are good smokes
The Epernay is a great smoke
I have heard good things about the 7-7-7
And the Air Bender is a good smoke as well.

And don't just a cigar by it's wrapper. Or lack of a band for that matter, you might be surprised.

I don't know how much you paid for this humidor, but I think the guy hooked you up.

 

[CRQuarto]

Looks like he gave you a pretty decent selection of smokes. Brickhouse to me was a very nice everyday smoke, the Illusione Epernay is outstanding, Cuban Crafters makes nice cigars as well, Tatuaje red labels are one of my favorite go-to cigars, and I've heard good things about 7-7-7's. As was stated above, the guy hooked you up. Sounds like a good B&M.

 

[beastinem]

Wow thanks a lot everybody. Initially I wasn't really "excited" about many of these but now I definitely look forward to trying each of them. I will be sure to comment on this thread as I try each of them.

I don't think I saw anybody say anything about those JCS Cigars and I can't seem to find anything on google. I think I am most curious about them seeing as how he called them "retailer cigars". I am guessing that means you wouldn't find them all over the place. But we'll see.

Thanks again all!! Really impressive that you all can pick these out of a line-up

-Zach

 

[b.dawgson]

The JCS band looks like it is a custom band with initials printed on it. That's what it looks like to me anyway.

 

[Shamrocker]

They could be a store blend. I've seen a number of retailers both online and off with a custom blend or custom banded cigar.

Take notes as you smoke them, write down the length and ring gauge, things you liked about them etc. as you smoke. It could help when it comes to buying or trying new cigars.

 

[beastinem]

Take notes as you smoke them, write down the length and ring gauge, things you liked about them etc. as you smoke. It could help when it comes to buying or trying new cigars.

Definitely sound advice there. For now I am taking notes on the laptop here. But will eventually move to a notebook or something maybe. Not sure.

But I decided to take the dive into the grab bag today. I tried the Epernay. I gotta say, it was pretty nice. Not the best, but definitely a nice little smoke. Surprisingly mild. But I was a little worried about it. It looked like it was a bit beat up. The leaf was flaking a little in one area and the band on the inside of it had a brownish stain on it. Any idea what that might have been? Maybe what caused it?

Overall, it had a nice easy draw, didn't get hot on me (which I have had bad luck with in my last couple of smokes (Blondie and CAO Moontrance)) Not a fan of either of those btw. The start of the Blondie was really overwhelmingly sweet. Like I was sucking on a perfume bottle or something. Probably wouldn't be bad if the tip wasn't so powerful. My wife liked the smell, lol. Oops....this isn't a Blondie review thread :\

So the Epernay was nice. Any idea how much they go for usually? I would like to pick up another and compare to this one to see if there is any difference. No idea what this one had been through and what effect it had on it.

Thanks again to everybody that helped identify what I had here.

-Zach

 

[thechenman]

Take notes as you smoke them, write down the length and ring gauge, things you liked about them etc. as you smoke. It could help when it comes to buying or trying new cigars.

Definitely sound advice there. For now I am taking notes on the laptop here. But will eventually move to a notebook or something maybe. Not sure.

But I decided to take the dive into the grab bag today. I tried the Epernay. I gotta say, it was pretty nice. Not the best, but definitely a nice little smoke. Surprisingly mild. But I was a little worried about it. It looked like it was a bit beat up. The leaf was flaking a little in one area and the band on the inside of it had a brownish stain on it. Any idea what that might have been? Maybe what caused it?

Overall, it had a nice easy draw, didn't get hot on me (which I have had bad luck with in my last couple of smokes (Blondie and CAO Moontrance)) Not a fan of either of those btw. The start of the Blondie was really overwhelmingly sweet. Like I was sucking on a perfume bottle or something. Probably wouldn't be bad if the tip wasn't so powerful. My wife liked the smell, lol. Oops....this isn't a Blondie review thread :\

So the Epernay was nice. Any idea how much they go for usually? I would like to pick up another and compare to this one to see if there is any difference. No idea what this one had been through and what effect it had on it.

Thanks again to everybody that helped identify what I had here.

-Zach

Can't say for sure without seeing a picture, but it is likely the brown stain you found on the cigar (under the cigar band) was glue that they used to hold the band together. It is not uncommon to find this.

Also sounds like to me that you should stay away from the flavored cigars. Not that there is anything wrong with them...I have friends who smoke Acids, but if you don't like that sweet taste...they are likelly not for you.

Also if you have flavored cigars, keep them out of your new humidor. Flavored sticks should never be stored with your regular cigars as they will impart their flavors onto them. Also don't store your flavored sticks in a Spanish cedar humidor. The oils used to flavor the cigars will seep into the wood. Best to keep those flavored cigars humidified an a tupperware container, with other flavored cigars.