handyman dave
Newbie - Still old but not dead yet!
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2007
- Messages
- 661
A package arrived from "Habanos & Hermanos" containing the Pedro Estevez sticks they have offered in the Retailer Forum.
Very pretty. A couple tiny splits at the foot on a couple of them but these are very reasonably priced smokes, so I wasn't expecting too much! Let's face it, at $1.24 a stick for the Toro I smoked, I'd be thrilled if they even tasted OK.
So, only a day after they arrived, after only one night in the humi, I couldn't wait to try one. (Maybe a mistake but I was anxious, after all, aren't we all looking for an Opus at this kind of price?)
The toro, with a habano wrapper, was a pretty cigar, oily appearing with a couple of small veins, and appeared to be well made. It smelled of gingerbread and I was psyched! Looking closer, there was a 3/4" long very thin split at the head that went through the wrapper that you can see in the closeup below. (Bummer!) It was amazingly firmly rolled with no soft spots. It was so hard I was afraid the draw would be tight, but it was perfect, not too tight or too loose. I cut the cap, toasted and lit it and was greeted with significant clouds of smoke. (I'm always pleased when that happens!)
I felt a small peppery bite in the back of my throat and in my nose. No distinct flavors, but a pleasant mild to medium tobacco taste. As the burn progressed there was an unevenness to the burn that corrected itself twice but developed into serious canoeing by the end. At different times I got hints of slight grassiness and at another a whiff of cocoa. It developed into a medium - full flavored smoke and was really quite decent tasting up until the last inch when it got hot and became quite soft and loose due to the split in the head. (Which, of course, only got worse.)
I am sure it needed more rest, and this one did have serious burn issues, but for less than a buck and a quarter, it was a pretty good, that is to say, not a bad tasting smoke. I am sure that some more humi time will help.
I'll give them a couple more weeks, maybe a month, and revisit these. I'll also try the Connecticut wrapper versions. From the good looks of them, some surely will burn better than this one did.
Very pretty. A couple tiny splits at the foot on a couple of them but these are very reasonably priced smokes, so I wasn't expecting too much! Let's face it, at $1.24 a stick for the Toro I smoked, I'd be thrilled if they even tasted OK.
So, only a day after they arrived, after only one night in the humi, I couldn't wait to try one. (Maybe a mistake but I was anxious, after all, aren't we all looking for an Opus at this kind of price?)
The toro, with a habano wrapper, was a pretty cigar, oily appearing with a couple of small veins, and appeared to be well made. It smelled of gingerbread and I was psyched! Looking closer, there was a 3/4" long very thin split at the head that went through the wrapper that you can see in the closeup below. (Bummer!) It was amazingly firmly rolled with no soft spots. It was so hard I was afraid the draw would be tight, but it was perfect, not too tight or too loose. I cut the cap, toasted and lit it and was greeted with significant clouds of smoke. (I'm always pleased when that happens!)
I felt a small peppery bite in the back of my throat and in my nose. No distinct flavors, but a pleasant mild to medium tobacco taste. As the burn progressed there was an unevenness to the burn that corrected itself twice but developed into serious canoeing by the end. At different times I got hints of slight grassiness and at another a whiff of cocoa. It developed into a medium - full flavored smoke and was really quite decent tasting up until the last inch when it got hot and became quite soft and loose due to the split in the head. (Which, of course, only got worse.)
I am sure it needed more rest, and this one did have serious burn issues, but for less than a buck and a quarter, it was a pretty good, that is to say, not a bad tasting smoke. I am sure that some more humi time will help.
I'll give them a couple more weeks, maybe a month, and revisit these. I'll also try the Connecticut wrapper versions. From the good looks of them, some surely will burn better than this one did.