Java Latte by Drew Estate

This is a very aesthetically appealing and overall fun looking cigar. It is also very square beyond box-pressed there is little curvature - it felt a bit odd in my hand due to this and how light the cigar was by weight.

As expected this was a very open airy and light smoke.

It produced a good amount of smoke. The flavors were a bit less Latte than expected. It just didn't deliver for me and at the most hinted at coffee.

The aroma of the actual cigar and the smoke at times was howerever a Vanilla caramel latte.

Coffee taste was mostly just in the beginning then it faded to a plain light smokey taste with some wood or leather.

The wrapper ash was light while the insde was a bit darker.

Scratchy on my mouth/throat and cardboard box tasting and texture. Dissapointing final third.

Fianl thoughts are that this is a fun little treat but nothing special to seek out or stockpile. It seems a little under packed and lacking in a latte flavor consistently.

Enjoyable and very cool looking smoke. Cardboard flavor at the and was a let down.

Good Smokin,

Dave

La Gloria Cubana

My first thought lighting this puppy up was finally a great full cigar. The construction was nice it had a beautiful dark chocolate hue and smelled great pre-light. Some dark woods and chocolate or cocoa with tea.

Very heavy solid cigar that was fairly firm and a big ring guage which i like.

The smoke is spicy and deep to start. Red pepper spice on the sinus that lingers. A very chewy smoke thick and rich.

My burn line is a bit messy but i had a little trouble with a match. A lot of area to get lit properly. It is correcting itself howerver and i don't think there are any lop sided flavor issues.

Meaty comes to mind. Pepper blast in the sinus even more than when i lit it at a few minutes in. I can't see the ash very well in the moonlight but it seems rather white.

This is what i call a good smoke after heavy Italian or a Steakhouse dinner. Still it isn't crazy powerful by any means.

The smell is robust and complex. The flavors are almost licorice and very dark. No butter which is disappointing. A woodsy lush mahogany. Aged bitter and minute sour like a rocky patel 1990 on steroids.

Center of ash seems to have darker spots suggesting ligero but i am not sure.

Spice abruptly moves into creamy almost butter.

The ash is strong and not flakey.

The smell at the head of the cigar is sweet honey and salty.

Not much to say with three inches left - flavor is the same if not a little more toned down.

Sort of fizzled out in flavor department. Burnt toast and tea. My throat is scrathcy and the burn for the final two inches is miserably lopsided.

Great overall despite troubles near the end.

Good Smokes,

Dave

    

Yes i cut this cigar in half. I don't ever recomend this but this was a cheap little guy and very long for how small of a ring guage it had. I basically wanted to make two shorter smokes that i could have in thirty minutes on seperate occasions.

These put out tons of smoke. The smoke was a bit dry and woody mostly cedar.
It was also a bit harsh and acidic. The burn on my tounge seemed to be a major part of the finish and it wasn't a premium burny taste just more harsh and chemical-like. It was very similar to tounge bite from pipe tobacco.

It remained sweet smelling throughout but never exactly tasted sweet.

Tang comes to mind and thats not exactly the flavor but it is exactly what i don't want. Admittingly my expectation for this (these) cigars was not much and they were simply a cheap grab to try.

The smoke is heavy and offensive.

There is some bitter tea and leather but thats nearly all it had.

Good Smokes,
Dave
   

Montecristo Serie C

The first thing i noticed about this stick was the banding - it reminds me of a chocolate bar. The aroma is of coffee and chocolate - not surprising. I am wondering if this has anything to do with it being called a Serie C.

There are a couple of hard spots but nothing major.

The appearance also has some interesting light spots - see pic below.

Oily hairy peach fuzz. This was a tricky match light - it is pretty cold outside in the low 40's. The moonlight is spectacular. Great chocolate smoke first puff. Spicy chocolate in sinus.

Rock solid cigar. Great draw but very open. Very hard to overheat however.  Nice big ring guage.

It is like daylight at night with the moon - you could read a newspaper. The ash is medium light grey but might be a bit lighter in better light.

Earthy not overpowering wood.

A bit of a sewer smell. A lot of people say this is the smell a cigar puts off but i rarely think this is the smell or a bad smell as for the conotations it brings.

Finish is smooth and dry but lasts a while with coccoa but not all that strong.

Band was very tight and at the beginning of the final third the cigar literally popped and exploded. The wrapper snapped and cracked along the rolled seam. This was weird. I never had this happen before but it is cold so maybe that played a factor. It still burned decent - just a bit crazy because the wrapper separated  in parts and would not burn.

Overall C - nothing special to me.

Good Non-explosive Smokes,

Dave 

   

Macanudo

I am not even exactly sure of the variety and size of this Macanudo. It's pretty small and a little over three inches. This is the cigar i was given to make up for the horrible Isabella (see Isabella review).

Not a whole lot to say. This is a great quick morning smoke with coffee. Lasted maybe 35 minutes if that and had decent mild flavors of coffee and coccoa.

Only spice i got was throught the sinus.

This smoke was nice and toasty.

I would pick up a little five pack tin if a quick smoke is what you want.

This is a very small cigar  - it burned really well.

Good Smokes,

Dave

 

Punch

This cigar cost me 6.25 and was bought at the same place as thae Isabella if you have read that review. I was not expecting much beyond gargbage. I have come to find out that Punch is a big brand and well known and liked in fact I have come to discover my father in law liked them too. I didn't care for this cigar but i have a few more from another place and i am curious to see how they turn out.

Anyways, this started harsh and spicy in the sinus. Sweet tea spice plus chocolate and cedar.

An excellent draw with minimal cutting. Plenty of smoke yet not too much or too little.

Nothing really flavorful or flavor intense on the palette. Burny or spicy acid.

Ash is light color grey.

Average plain smoke, a bit fruit and not ashy like my last smoke (Big Butt).

Sweet scent. I could smoke these if they were laying around but wouldn't seek them out.

My throat is a bit irritated and scrathchy.

Some vanilla notes come and go.

My buzz is strange and anxiety a bit high.

This smoke is burning very fast and has a nice nicotene kick.

When i bought this stick the guy told me about the process of making them. I have no idea whether this is true or not but he said that this cigar is rolled from everything that is left over after a days worth of rolling cigars by the cigar roller. This causes the tabacco to be more potent for some reason and gives it a punch. Also something about sweeping the floors and then rolling it up. Sounded like bs to me but it was interesting.

Smoke is pungent and heavy on my clothes.

A bit sweeter last third. Vanilla latte.

Good jolt like an energy drink. A more calmed high at the end.

I would smoke this if i had to cram all night for an exam or for some lunch time pep.

Stick has the zing of an uncleanded pipe.

Kind of want a lager or strong wine.

All in all not my cup of tea but i can see where they might have their place in a good cycle/rotation of cigars.

I am more about something with robust nutty or buttery flavors.

I stink and need a shower afte this one.

Smoke on,

Dave

 

 

 

Big Butt mas gordo

This cigar looked pretty cool and had a funny name so i picked it up at the store. It has a nice torpedo shape at both ends and was densely packed as you can see from the pics.

To start the flavors pre light are dark tea. After lighting the flavor is again dark tea, although i am drinking tea with this smoke.

Below is the head after cutting

Nice easy light since there is less area to get going. It is airy and goes through sinus no prob. A better smell than taste to start. It is much lighter bodied than i expected. Something about the name suggested to me it might be powerful. Seems to be developing every few millimeters while puffing away. Burn is even.

The draw keeps tightening but a good bite on the head lossens it up.

Pepper spice then very salty. Kind of different. Very Ritz cracker aftertaste. Smoke is good volume and might be offensive to non smoker.

A bit of a rustic taste and slightly ashy. Honestly this cigar just gets a solid C halfway through. Tastes bitter when tounge touches the head.

 

To me this cigar dosn't scream pick up a box but i would smoke em if they were around.

Last two inches are spicy. Somewhat like a less earthy Cuban Reject with less dry flavor but heavier tea rawness. This flavor again conjures that image of Terminator 2 biker bar like i talked about when reviewing the Cuban Reject.

Yes corn can grow in Oregon in case you were wondering.

Smokes out,

Dave