Torano Reserva Selecta Robusto

Size: 5 X 50

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade

Binder: Indonesian

Filler: Dominican / Honduras / Nicaraguan

Being a fan of the Torano cigars I have smoked so far, I was excited to smoke this cigar given to me by John Torano at the IPCPR a few weeks ago. I enjoyed talking with John and he is a class act. This cigar is the Torano family's flagship brand and recently received a facelift. It is a very nice looking, well constructed, honey brown stick with minimal veins.  I will be paring it up with a glass of iced coffee.

I sniffed the foot and smelled hay and barnyard. The stick had an aroma of a mild vinegar and barnyard. I clipped the cap and tasted a little spice. I toasted the foot and the smoke immediately was flowing full. Cedar and wood notes are what I tasted. Later in this section a hint of spice and tanginess added to the cedar and wood notes. The light and dark grey ash held firm and the smoke continued to flow out full.

As the burn passed into the second third of the cigar the ash remained attached and the smoke continue to pump out full. The burn was a little uneven. The hints of pepper, leather and wood that I tasted were very mild in flavor. A mild note of sweetness was also detected but disappeared instantly.The band slid off without incident of tearing the wrapper. There wasn't any splitting, glue or defects underneath. Passing the halfway point I tapped off the ash as it began to favor bending one way.

The last third and the flavor note began with citrus and got bitter from there on. The smoke was still kicking out full and the burn evened out. The ash never fell again.I put the cigar down soon after as it got too bitter for me.

I reviewed and smoked the, Torano Signature Collection Robusto, Torano Single Region Serie Jalapa Robusto and Carlos Torano Casa Torano Maduro Robusto which were all fine cigars. This Torano Reserva Selecta fell a little short for me in comparison to their other cigars. The flavors notes I was able to detect were very mild and the last third became to bitter for me. If I get a chance to smoke another, I will revisit this review and update it if the smoking experience is different. - July 31, 2013

Video Review

Matt Booth Room 101 Namakubi Ecuador Ranfla

Size: 5 1/2 X 30/50/19

Wrapper: Ecuadoran Habano

Binder: Honduran Corojo

Filler: Honduras / Dominican

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of sitting with Matt Booth at ShamLux Cigar Lounge in Granda Hills, California and smoking his latest cigar, the Room 101 Namakubi Ecuador Ranfla. My friend Shane accompanied me and as we walked in Matt came over and offered us a cigar. A man so confident in his product that he placed one in our hands to try for free. I was impressed with the cigar. So, I purchased a box and smoked another before I smoked one for this review. I paired this cigar up with a Virgil's Micro Brewed Cola and a Sweetriot Dark Chocolate with Coconut Bar.

Each cigar has a wrapper of white tissue paper covered by a black piece of paper with red Japanese characters. I slid the cigar from the cover paper and unwrapped the cigar from the tissue paper and pulled out a well-constructed, minimally veined, chocolate brown perfecto cigar. It had a light sheen to it and was double banded. The top band was red and black with the word Namakubi written along the middle and Room 101 toward the bottom. The second band was red, gold and white with the word Ecuador in gold across the middle.

I sniffed the foot and smelled hay and a little spice. I smelled barnyard from the stick. I clipped the cap with my new Room 101 Knuckle Cigar Scissors. Nice even cut. I took a dry draw of hay and a hint of spiciness. I toasted the foot with my Jet Line 3 torch lighter and tasted mellow cedar and an earthiness from the first few draws of full creamy smoke. The ash fell for the first time about a quarter of the way in. During my other two times smoking this cigar, the ash held on for over a third of the stick. The burn was even in this first third and notes of honey added to the flavors.

The full creamy smoke continued to pump out full and the burn line was even for the most part. Hints of saltiness, cedar and sweetness were the flavors I tasted in this second section and the grey ash fell again. I took the first band off without incident of tearing. There wasn't any cracks, glue or defects underneath.

As I smoked into the last section, saltiness, sweetness along with roasted coffee were the dominate flavor notes in this section. The burn remained even as the smoke continued to kick out full and creamy. The second band also came off with incident of tearing the wrapper. I smoked this cigar until I couldn't hold it anymore.

This is a great cigar that I really enjoyed smoking all three times so far. My friend Shane also smoked two with me and really liked them. This cigar is a limited edition cigar and a Cigar Assessor's Approved Cigar. If you get an opportunity to purchase this cigar or a box or two do it. You'll be glad you did. -July 29, 2013

Video Review

Alec Bradley Mundial No.5

Size: 5 1/8 X 52

Wrapper: Honduran Trojes

Binder: Honduran/Nicaraguan Double Binder

Filler: Honduran/Nicaraguan

Going to the Alec Bradley booth at IPCPR to see my friends Barry Blonder and Casey Aldulaimi was a good thing for many reasons and one of them was Barry placing a Alec Bradley Mundial No. 5 in my hand. I wanted to smoke it then and there but decided to save it and I'm glad I did.

Today was the day, I decided to pull the world out of my humidor. Alec Bradley's Mundial (Spanish for world) was the tasty treat I was going to smoke. I paired this stick up with a refreshing glass of iced coffee and a Dove Dark Chocolate bar. The beautiful artwork on the band of this stick was multi tonal and very eye catching. The second band has the cigar's name on it. The stick's shape is called, Punta Lanza which means "point of the lance". This cigar was chocolate in color and well-constructed with minimal veins. I smelled hay from the small pointed foot and barnyard from the stick.

I clipped the cap and took and open dry draw of hay and earth. Toasting the tiny foot and clouds of smoke pumped out instantly. Cedar was the first note of flavor I tasted. Later, I also tasted hints of cinnamon, leather and wood as the light grey ash with it's even burn line made it past the first third without falling. The smoke was full and creamy in this first section.

The second section and the burn line remained even and the smoke full and creamy. The dense ash fell in this section and broke into only two pieces when it hit the table. The flavor notes were cedar, spice, leather and honey. Once I tasted a hint of barnyard for a couple puffs. I took off both bands without incident of sticking, tearing, glue or defects. The first smaller band I peeled off and I slipped the second bigger band off the cigar.

The last third and the dense grey ash fell for the second time and the burn remained even. This was even with a slight breeze blowing. Sweetness, nuts, citrus and spice notes rounded out the last third. The smoke continued kicking out full and creamy. I smoked this cigar until I couldn't hold it anymore.

This was a great smoking experience and a Cigar Assessor Approved Cigar. I am looking forward to smoking more of these cigars when I can get some. From what I was told they won't be available until the end of September of this year. However, when they become available, I wouldn't hesitate to grab a few of them. You'll be glad you did. - July 22, 2013

Video Review

MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured - Just A Friend

Size: 6 X 52

Wrapper : Kentucky Fire Cured

Binder: Kentucky Fire Cured

Filler: Kentucky Fire Cured

Today, I was quite excited to break this cigar out of it's cellophane for a review. I was at IPCPR a few days ago and met Jonathan Brooke at the Drew Estate booth and he was kind enough to put this stick in my hand for me to review. I also had the pleasure of meeting the man himself, Jonathan Drew, a cool cat who put out his hand and took a picture with me and my friend from Philips & King International, Sergio Montolfo.

 
I took this cigar from my humidor and set up shop by the pool. A well constructed, chocolate brown rustic looking stick with minimal veins. The brown paper band is simple and elegant in its own way. It also had a nice oily sheen to it.

I pinched the cigar from it's wrapper and smelled hickory BBQ from the foot and beef jerky from the stick. I clipped the cap and took a dry draw of hickory smoke and BBQ. I toasted the foot with my new Jet Line torch lighter and tasted spicy oak, cedar and a mild sweetness. Full creamy smoke was coming from this stick right off the bat. Notes of mesquite and molasses added to the other flavors in the first third. The burn was mostly even and the nice grey dense ash help on for this first third.

The ash decided to fall as the even burn entered the second third and held it's form after falling into the ashtray. The smoked continued to pump out full and creamy as the burn continued to be even. Hints of hickory, molasses, salt and BBQ were the flavors I tasted. I was able to just slip the band off without incident. No tearing, cracks, glue or defects underneath.

The flavors continued to be mesquite, hickory, molasses and BBQ. The smoke was still full and creamy and the burn remained burning evenly throughout the rest of the smoking experience.

This cigar is a winner and Cigar Assessor Approved Cigar. I smoked this cigar until my fingers couldn't hold it anymore. I really enjoyed this smoking experience and wish I had a box of them. If you see this cigars in your local shop make sure to pick up as many as you can. You'll be glad you did. - July 19, 2013

Robert Anthony Meyers

robert@cigarassessor.com

Video Review 

 Thank you David St. James for the Jet Line lighter.

In the video I talked about Smoke Odor Extermination's product for eliminating cigar smoke in the car. You can find the product here:
  http://www.smokeodorcandles.com