Flor de las Antillas Belicoso

Ring: 5 1/2 X 52

Wrapper: Nicaragua Sun Grown

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

  

Late afternoon and it is time for a pre-dinner treat so I pull a My Fathers, Flor de las Antillas Belicoso out of my humidor. I gaze at my single malt scotch selection and pour a glass of the smooth caramel flavor of Glenmorangie Artein Private Edition. It is now time to go and sit in the carport while the kids ride their bikes and scooters.

What music to play? I choose Gerald Kleijn Group’s - Le Flirt De Satie. Now it’s time to relax. 

The Flor de las Antillas Belicoso is a nice looking cigar with a red ribbon wrapped around the foot. It is milk chocolate in color and had a beautiful band reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance painting. The construction is very nice and has minor veins.

The first sniffs and I get scents of hay and barnyard, a very nice cigar fragrance. I take out my cutter and clip the tip of the pointed end. Hay is the flavor I get when I take a pre-light draw.

I light the foot with the flickering flame dancing at the end of a piece of cedar. My mouth instantly fills full of creamy smoke and spicy  peppery notes right off the bat.  A few draws later and the spicy pepper fades and roasted nuts take over on my palate.

The grey ash with streaks of black falls early, a quarter of the way in and I taste roasted coffee.

 

The second third has hints of leather and coffee. The ash falls again at the halfway point.  The burn remains even and the smoke is still pumping out full and thick.

The last third arrives with notes of nuts and wood. The black burn line is still even and the smoke remains the same.

 

I am able to smoke this cigar until the bitter end and have to put it down when I can no longer hold it with my fingers. Everything about this cigar was great. It was never a dull moment with this stick.

This cigars feel, presentation, burn, smoke and flavor all rated high with me. This wasn’t my first time with Flor de las Antillas Belicoso and won’t be my last. – March 4, 2013

                                           Robert Anthony Meyers 

                                           robert@cigarassessor.com

Espinosa y Ortega Cubao Maduro No. 5

 

Size: 6 1/8 x 50

 

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Broadleaf

 

Binder: Nicaragua

 

Filler: Nicaragua

 

 

  

 

 

 

During the period of time following the beautiful Sunday with the family, I decided to relax at the common area of my apartment building  and enjoy an Espinosa y Ortega Cubao Maduro No. 5 and a glass of Talisker 12 year Distillers Edition. A single malt scotch with a smooth peaty flavor suggested by my friends at Old Oaks Cigar Company. This isn’t the first time I will be smoking this brand. I had a few others about a year ago. I consider this cigar to be a delicious, full bodied hidden treasure that isn’t a common cigar found in many cigar shops.
 

 

 

 

 

 

The music of the night will be from the Chet Baker albums, Mr. B and Chet in Chicago playing back to back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pouring a nice glass of Scotch neat, I then popped the dark chocolate Maduro cigar out of its cellophane and the prelight aroma is a pleasant fragrance of barnyard and hay. It is light in the hand and has a nice light sheen to it. The construction is excellent with very minimal nervure. This stick sports two brown and white bands that are very simple but elegant.

 

 

 

 

A quick cut of the cap with my Xikar cutter and the smooth open draw is pleasant and invokes hints of Cocoa. The stick lit very easy from a flaming piece of cedar and the first flavors emitting from its full creamy smoke was roasted coffee and a light spice of pepper.

 

 

The light grey ash fell for the first time at the first quarter mark and the pepper spice faded away.

 

The second third of this cigar had notes of coffee and leather and the stick continued to burning evenly. A spicy pepper flavor also popped in and out during this third. The smoke was still flowing heavy and full.

 

 

 

 

The ash fell again at the halfway point.

 

 

The last third and this sticks spice mellowed but the smoke was still kicking full. I tasted cocoa and hay in the flavors during this section.

 

 

 

 

 

This cigar burned evenly throughout and never needed to be relit. Full in flavor from first puff to last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t want this smoking experience to end as soon as it did even though it was over an hour smoke. If you can find this inexpensive treat at a smoke shop and they are in good condition, grab a few for your humidor. You won’t be disappointed. -March 3, 2013

 

 Robert Anthony Meyers
  robert@cigarassessor.com 

San Lotano Habano Churchill

Size: 7 X 52

Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper:  Brazilian Habano

Binder: Honduras

Filler: Dominican Republic/Honduras/Nicaragua

Today was a great friend’s birthday and he wanted to spend it at the cigar shop we love to hang at called, Old Oaks Cigar Company. So four of us committed to the hang, met up and drove over to Old Oaks. Tonight, I purchased a few cigars and decided I would review the San Lotano Habano Churchill.

 

Out of the cellophane the cigar is milk chocolate in color with minimal veins. The construction on the Habano is phenomenal and feels great in your hand. The presentation is very good. It has two bands one that is gold and light brown with gold letters spelling Habano and the other is a bigger band of the company logo with many colors.

 

 

The sniff encompasses scents of barnyard and cinnamon stick. For my friend’s birthday we got him a Xikar cutter to replace the one he recently lost so I used it to cut the cap and what a fine clean cut. The draw was smooth and effortless. Using a piece of cedar lit with a wooden match I’m able to light the cigar instantly without any trouble.

 

 

The first flavors I tasted were cacao and coffee. This Habano was already a joy to smoke. Hints of toasted nuts was now the dominate flavor with full velvet smoke filling my mouth.

 

 

The second third and sweetness appears for a few puffs and the toasted nutty flavor returns soon after.

 

 

 

The light grey ash with minor streaks of black, falls as the burn passes the one third point of this stick. This cigar is very well constructed and the burn stays even up to this point.

 

 

 

The last third and the cacao returns with walnuts ending off the last of the cigar.  The ash only fell twice and the burn stayed even throughout the whole smoking experience.

 

 

 

I enjoyed this cigar from the first puff to the last puff. I recommend this cigar to people who love a full flavored well-constructed cigar without a bite.

I purchased a box about 6 months ago and never experienced a bad stick in the batch. The cigar I smoked for this review was purchased tonight from the store we were hanging out at. - March 1, 2012

 

 Robert Anthony Meyers
  robert@cigarassessor.com
 

 

San Lotano Connecticut Toro

Size 6 X 52

Wrapper: Ecuadorian grown Connecticut

Binder: Honduran

Filler: Dominican/Honduran/Nicaraguan

The weekend came early on this first day of March. The kids were released early from school and it was 77 degrees on this clear sunny day in Los Angeles. What better than to sit by the pool with a San Lotano Connecticut Toro while the kids splashed around in the pool? Too early to break out the single malt so a Virgil’s Micro Brewed Cream Soda will be a nice accompaniment to this light cigar. Some jazz trumpet playing in the background on jazzradio.com and all is right in the world.

Examining this stick fresh out of the wrapper reminded me of a spring roll from my favorite Thai restaurant. Light brown with medium veins. Placing the cigar under my nose and barnyard hay scents filled my nostrils.

Clipping the cap with my Xikar cutter and a crack appeared close to the cap. Nothing major. I take a draw and it draws very smooth with no leakage from the crack.

Lighting the foot with a single match, my mouth immediately filled with an earthy flavor of smoke. A few more draws of thick creamy smoke and I taste hints of leather and hay.

Beautifully mingled colors of grey ash falls around the 1/3 mark. The draw and burn continues to be flawless as the flavors of roasted almonds and coffee dominate this cigar. The creamy smoke continues to flow thick throughout.

 

I didn't want this cigar to end as I pinched what I could hold onto but feeling the heat on my lips I knew it was time to place this cigar down and call it a day.

The smooth flavors of this cigar never became overpowering on this beautiful afternoon and the burn never needed a touch up.

I never was a fan of Connecticut wrappers until I smoked this cigar over a year and half ago. I have never been disappointed with San Lotano’s Connecticut cigar. - March 1, 2013

                           Robert Anthony Meyers
                         robert@cigarassessor.com

Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Robusto Maduro

Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Robusto Maduro

Rocky Patel Old World Reserve Robusto

Size: 5 1/2 x 54

Wrappers: Corojo Maduro

Binders: Nicaraguan

Fillers: Nicaraguan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The weather in Los Angeles has been warming up and a night time temperature of 65 degrees was calling my name. I sat poolside with a nice glass of Laphroaig 10 year single malt scotch that a friend supplied and a new cigar, a Rocky Patel Old World Reserve. The palm trees danced and SiriusXM’s, Seriously Sinatra, played in the background.

This cigar gives a beautiful presentation in both appearance and construction. A lightly veined dark brown wrapper with a cream colored band with gold lettering. It looked like dark chocolate candy.

 

 

The smell was reminiscent of a barnyard, which I happen to like. I clipped the cap and took a drag. It presented a very open draw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rocky Patel fired up nicely with a wood match.  It instantly created a full velvet smoke. The first two flavor notes were roasted coffee bean and cocoa.

 

 

Unfortunately, the burn became uneven and lopsided. The top was stuck at the quarter mark of the cigar while the bottom was already passing one third. At that point the ash fell.

It required significant touch-ups. I had to use the sides of the ash tray to even out the burn. I found that this stick needed constant puffing to the keep the smoke going.

 

It became nutty in flavor before reaching the halfway point at which point it faded and actually burned out. I needed to relight the cigar and the smoke became full again. 

 

The taste during the final two thirds of the smoke consisted of hints of leather and wood. When the cigar was burning, the smoke was creamy. However, this stick continued to burn unevenly and needed several touch ups including a full relighting at one point.

Overall, based on construction, taste and smoke, this was a good cigar but I had to give it constant attention to keep it going.

If you like to keep a cigar dangling from your mouth, this is the cigar for you. If you like to smoke and put it down once in a while it’s hard for me to recommend this stick, especially if you don’t want the hassle of relighting your cigar.

To be fair, I will give another a try to see if I have the same problems and report back my findings.  - February 27, 2013

                               Robert Anthony Meyers

                                robert@cigarassessor.com

 

 

Torano Signature Collection Robusto

Size: 5 X 52

Wrapper: Sun Grown Brazilian Maduro

Binder: Broadleaf

Filler: Dominican Cubano Ligero/Nicaraguan Habano Ligero

Photo by John Maldonado

While in Puerto Rico, a good friend enjoyed a Torano cigar and felt so strongly about it that he called me as he was smoking it to recommend it. That conversation paired with a well-timed email from my friends over at tampahumidor.com announcing a deal on Toranos was all it took for me to take the plunge and order a box of Signature Robustos.

 

It was a loooong day; an early doctor’s appointment, two school science fair visits, and after school activities with all three. The wife was having a girls’ night, so I got the privilege of trying to get them all to bed. Eventually, I got to sit down to relax. I noticed Sopranos was playing on HBO. Awesome! Watching some of my favorite Hollywood gangsters smoking nice fat cigars, I knew when this episode was over it would be time to break out one of my newly delivered Torano Signature 5 X 52 cigars.

I opened my humidor and grabbed a cigar, poured myself a glass of Glenmorangie Artein Private Selection, neat, and went outside to sit on my stoop to enjoy the mild weather with my old standby, jazzradio.com.

I took the cigar from the cellophane wrapper, placed it under my nose and took a nice long sniff. Ahh, it was a nice earthy smell.

The cigar has a nice chocolate color with minimal veins. I clipped the cap and took my usual pre-lighting draw. It had a very smooth open draw (and no sawdust in my mouth).

I used a long wooden match to light the end and that’s all it took. The first few draws contained hints of cacao and then a nutty flavor became prevalent. The smoke was medium. I tasted champagne as the smoke left my mouth. The first third was a flavor jamboree. 

 

The ash, with its brown, grey and streaks of black held strong almost to the halfway point before it fell. That was when the smoke kicked up a notch and the cigar became sweet and spicy. The burn got a little uneven, but not enough for a touch up.

 

The final third had a finish of roasted coffee and leather as the smoke mellowed. Magically, the burn evened out and I was able to smoke my cigar until my fingers began to feel the heat.

1. This was a great smoke full of flavor from beginning to end. Put aside at least and hour yourself to enjoy this smoke. I’m glad that these were recommended to me and I’m looking forward to smoking and sharing these with my cigar smoking buddies. -February 26, 2013
2. robert@cigarassessor.com

The comments section has been opened up, and I’m wondering what your favorite cigar recommendations are, so feel free to chime in.