OK.  Not very original, but it conveys the message…

I am teaming up once again with Jamie from Zen and the Art of the Cigar to do another Blind Review Series.  Last year Jamie and I exchanged three cigars each. The criteria for which was price range.  We each selected one bargain cigar, one mid range, and one expensive premium cigar for the other to sample blind.  We each removed the manufacturer’s band and replaced it with a plain white band with a number on it.  Then we each went off, smoked the cigars and wrote our reviews.  After that was all done, we got together and revealed what it was that each one of us actually smoked.  It was a lot of fun, very interesting, and popular among our readers.  We decided we wanted to do it again, but this time we are switching up the format a bit.

Taking a page out of Camacho’s book we are going to run this series of reviews kind of like Camacho’s Black Band Project.  Again we are going to exchange three cigars each, but this time all three cigars are going to be from one manufacturer but they will be three different blends from that cigar maker.

All of this will be happening soon.  The plan is to exchange cigars shortly after the new year begins so be sure to check back and follow the series.  These are always a lot of fun and the results are always interesting.

The much anticipated Tatuaje Tubos cigars hit the shelves this week.  The Tatuaje Blacks are a favorite of mine so I picked up a box of them and grabbed 2 of the Red Tubed Havana VI Verocus as well.  The presentation of these cigars is beautiful.  The boxes are huge (it didn’t fit in my converted wine fridge humidor)and the tubes are beautiful.  I am going to give these a few months to acclimate to my humidor and them I’ll be firing a couple of these up for some reviews.

Here is one of each cigar outside the tubes.

Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Barber Pole – Broadleaf Maduro/Connecticut Shade
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Size: Perfecto 4^1/4 x 54 ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com

The Hemingway line of Fuente cigars are hugely popular and like a lot of other Fuente cigars, very limited.  The Maduros are especially limited and are only released twice a year, one of those times being right around now, near the Holidays.  One of the more rare of the rare is the double wrapped, barber pole Hemingway “Between the Lines”.  Now plenty has been written about the background of the Hemingway cigars and I have written about them here before as well.  So if you are interested to learn a little more about them, check out my review of the Hemingway Best Seller and the Hemingway Signature Maduro.

The Hemingway BTL is an eye catcher.  The sharp contrast created by the light tan, shade grown wrapper and the dark, toothy broadleaf maduro wrapper intertwined like the stripes on a barber’s pole is a cool visual with a cigar.  They stand out among the cigars that surround them and I think the perfecto shape only enhances the beauty of this cigar.  Construction and burn characteristics are almost always a given with a Fuente cigar.  The quality of their products are superb but I wondered how this stick would fare in the burn department.  The shade grown and maduro wrappers are two very different beasts and have different burn characteristics.  I was curious to see how they would play together with this smoke.  Except for the normal oddities I experience with the burn at the beginning of a perfecto like this, the burn was even and without trouble for the duration of the smoke.  The draw was excellent and it produced thick clouds of white smoke.

Flavor is where the BTL falls a bit short of its straight maduro brothers.  I have always found the Hemingway Maduros to be delicious cigars, each one a treat to smoke.  The introduction of the shade grown wrapper on the Between the Lines has a less than desirable effect for me.  Some of the flavors I love about the Hemingway Maduros was still there.  The slightly sweet maduro flavor complimented by a damp earthiness and a subtle spice were all there but often times they were over powered by a dry grassiness and an acrid finish that I am certain was coming from the Connecticut Shade wrapper.  It really detracted from my enjoyment of the cigar.  Given that this is one of the most expensive of the “Holiday Hemingways” it is disappointing that it just isn’t as good a smoke as the others are.  It is a neat novelty, and the dual wrapper look makes it a visually appealing cigar, but flavor wise I just don’t think it lives up to the standard set by the rest of the Hemingway line.

Rating – C

Get your Hemingway & Hemingway Maduro cigars @ CigarsDirect.com

http://mattscigar.com

OK, maybe not BIG news, but it is kind of exciting to me. Matt’s Cigar Journal now has a new URL address. You can now access Matt’s Cigar Journal at http://mattscigar.com. Short, sweet, and to the point. I like it.

Feel free to update your links, bookmarks, etc. But no worries if you don’t. The original wordpress.com URL will still work. You will simply be redirected automatically to the new URL.

a.k.a. The Power Ranger
Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Chateau de la Fuente Rosado
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Size: Short Belicoso 4^5/8” x 49 ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com

Probably one of the most famous and sought after cigars not made on the island of Cuba, the Opus X is the first Dominican Puro to garner such high acclaim. The various sizes consistently produce high ratings from cigar reviewers everywhere. And as is often the case when someone or something achieves such a high level of success, it has fostered a kind of love-hate relationship with avid cigar smokers. Like the New York Yankees are the baseball team so many love to hate, the Opus is a cigar that in addition to high praise, it also elicits some vehement dislike from some in the cigar world who believe the cigar is over hyped and over priced. I have never heard anyone say it was a bad cigar though. Like or dislike the line for whatever reasons, everyone seems to agree if you set aside the hype, the price, and all the other outside “stuff” and take the cigars just by themselves, the OpusX line of cigars are pretty good smokes.

A big part of what makes the OpusX so special is it’s wrapper. Before the Fuentes managed to grow the wrapper that is used on for the OpusX, no one had ever successfully grown wrapper tobacco in the Dominican Republic. The Fuentes were the first to do it. The wrapper is grown in very limited quatities on thier Chateau de la Fuente farm in the Dominican. Here is the story on how the OpusX came to be as it is explained on the Cigar Family website:

The secret of the Fuente Fuente OpusX is the cigar’s exquisite, silken Rosado wrapper leaves that are grown of the Fuente family’s renown organic tobacco plantation, Chateau de la Fuente, which is located in a remote, tropical river valley in the Dominican Republic.

When the Fuentes planted their first crop of this outstanding wrapper leaf in the early 1990’s, the rest of the cigar industry scoffed because everyone else who had tried to grow wrapper in the Dominican had failed. However, the Fuentes achieved the impossible and the Fuente Fuente Opusx was born.

The cigar’s name is derived from “Project X” which is what teh Fuentes originally named their experimental tobacco crop. “Fuente Fuente” refers to the partnership of Carlos Fuente, father and son, and the word “Opus” was chosen to describe the cigar’s unique wrapper. “The tobacco was oily and rich, leading me to the word opulent, but that was too long,” Carlos Fuente, Jr., said. “And while studying the dictionary, I came across the word ‘opus’ – meaning creative work, masterpiece, a work of a lifetime. It was perfect.”

The limited nature of these cigars along with the high praise and abundance of press and hype that surrounds them, makes these cigars highly sought after and hard to find. The OpusX come in 12 basic sizes, but there are and abundance of special sizes and limited releases as well. Sticking to the standard sizes here, the OpusX is available in the following vitolas…

• Belicoso xXx – 4.625 x 49
• Perfecxion No. 5 – 4.875 x 40
• Perfecxion No.4 Series X – 5.1875 x 43
• Robusto – 5.250 x 50
• Fuente Fuente – 5.625 x 46
• Super Belicoso – 5.625 x 54
• Perfecxion X – 6.250 x 48
• Petite Lancero – 6.250 x 39
• Perfecxion No.2 – 6.375 x 52
• Reserva D’Chateau – 7.000 x 48
• Double Corona – 7.625 x 49
• “A” – 9.250 x 47

Although I have never personally put the OpusX among my absolute favorite cigars, they are excellent smokes and are a special treat.  I need to thank CigarsDirect.com for the Opus xXx that I am smoking today.

The Opus xXx is also nick named the “Power Ranger” due to its reputation as one of the more robust and powerful vitolas in the line.  It is a Short Belicoso and like all OpusX cigars, the presentation of this stogie is beautiful.  Dressed with the very ornate OpusX band, it also sports a handsome red ribbon around its foot.  The Rosado wrapper is smooth and oily with almost no veins to speak of.  The xXx starts off with a lot of spice an pepper which is followed up with a slight sweetness once you work your way a bout an inch in.  It is a robust and dynamic smoke delivering a mix of leather, earth, nuts, and coffee is a seemingly random pattern.  It also packs a sneaky punch.  It builds up slowly at first, giving the impression that it is a medium bodied smoke of average strength and as you make your way through the smoke you begin to realize that it is more full bodied than you first thought and the power of it sneaks up on you.  After I was about half way through the cigar, I turned my head suddenly and the effect was surprising.  I didn’t realize until then that I had a good little nicotine buzz going.

The construction is impeccable, and the burn and draw are perfect.  The ash holds tight and won’t fall of unless you tap it.  It burns slow and cool too.  Despite its short length it still takes a good hour to smoke it.  I have had the pleasure of trying the OpusX in most of the sizes listed above and the xXx is has been my favorite of them all with the Petite Lancero coming in a close second.

Rating – A

You can get OpusX @ CigarsDirect.com

Country: Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuadorian grown Connecticut
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran and Dominican
Size: 11/18 Toro 6.0″ x 54ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com

When I first heard that Davidoff was purchasing Camacho Cigars, this cigar was the first thing that popped into my head.  Davidoff and Camacho cigars had always occupied opposite ends of the spectrum.  Everything Camacho put out under the brand name Camacho was a powerhouse cigar.  All of their lines were robust, full-bodied smokes that tried to kick you in the gut.  I know that they have milder offerings under different banners like Baccarat and La Fontana, but anything labeled Camacho was going to be a monster.  SO when the announcement of the purchase became public, I immediately though to myself, “What would happen if Davidoff and Camacho got together and had a baby?”  I said to myself a Camacho with a Connecticut wrapper and Dominican tobacco in the filler.  Can you imagine!  A Camacho with that makeup?  And then a short while later we here about the Camacho Connecticut which is exactly the cigar I predicted.  Now I don’t pretend that I had any great insight or any special talent in predicting what’s next in the cigar industry.  Truth is a lot of people I have talked with had the exact same thoughts I did.  It was easy to see this coming.  SO I want to know, what exactly does a Camacho that uses a Connecticut Shade wrapper and Dominican tobacco taste like.

At the start, this cigar is a lot like its other Camacho brothers and sisters.  The first few draws are full and spicy with black pepper and a slightly acrid dry wood flavor.  It doesn’t take long to settle down.  The Ecuadorian wrapper brings what you’d expect to the party.  Creamy notes complimented by some coffee.  It is nicely balanced by a bit of Honduran spiciness from the binder and filler.  I think the Dominican tobacco kind of gets lost in the blend.  Perhaps its function is just to help tone down some of the power of the Honduran tobacco.  The result is a nicely balanced cigar with a medium bodied profile and just a touch of spice to keep it interesting.  I was pleasantly surprised by this cigar and put it up there with Oliva’s Nicaraguan Connecticut Reserve as a good slightly more robust Connecticut offering.

Rating – B+

Get your favorite Camachos @ CigarsDirect.com

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero (Jalapa, Esteli, Condega)
Size: Torpedo 6.0″ x 54 ring

My previous review was of the Cain Habano Robusto.  In that review I detailed a bit about the makeup and story of the this straight Ligero cigar so click on over and check that out as well.  Today I am smoking the Maduro Torpedo.  I was trying to find some more information about this wrapper and was unable to find anything definitive about it.  I have seen it referred to as a Nicaraguan Maduro, a Mexican Maduro, and even a Brazilian Maduro wrapper.  I am not sure which it is at this point.  I am not inclined to agree with the Brazilian label though.  As Maduro wrappers go this one doesn’t have much tooth to it, and in my experience, the Brazilian maduro is on of the toothiest maduro wrappers I have seen.  That is just an opinion and a guess though.  It could very well be Brazilian, I just don’t know right now.

The wrapper on the Cain Maduro  is dark and mottled with a few prominent veins running across its surface.  It has a slight tooth and oily appearance.  This cigar starts off very similar to the Habano.  I ti s smooth and creamy, medium bodied without much power.  It has a very nondescript, sweet maduro flavor to it .  I began to wonder if this one would pick up in the last third like the Habano did, but it did not.   It was very one dimensional.  The flavors never changed and it never developed any power.  It was surprisingly light for an all ligero cigar and flavor wise it was pretty boring.  The Habano version was much better.  This cigar just never did anything for me.  I’ll be smoking the Habano again, but I don’t have any interest in revisiting the maduro.

Rating – C

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler:  Esteli Ligero, Condega Ligero, Jalapa Ligero, and a small amount of “other tobaccos”
Size: Robusto 5.70″ x 50 ring

Cain – Straight Ligero.  For those that know what Ligero is, you are probably thinking “damn”.  Ligero is the highest priming of tobacco on the plant.  These are the leaves at the top of the plant that get the most exposure to direct sunlight and the elements.  Ligero tobacco is the thickest leaves and the strongest in terms of nicotine.  It is also generally considered the most robust in terms of flavor.  Most cigars only use a small percentage of ligero tobacco blended leaves from other primings on the plant.  The blending of the different leaves is done to produce specific flavors that the blender want as well as to give the cigar balance in flavor, strength and construction.  Now the Cain is not really 100% ligero.  It is actually around 82% or 84% (I have heard both numbers bandied around) ligero.  This is still way more ligero than is typically found in a cigar, but the addition of the non-ligero tobacco is done for construction and combustion reasons.  Ligero is the thickest leaf and as such is the slowest burning and hardest to keep lit.  The other tobacco used helps to balance things out a bit to allow the cigar to burn properly.  All that ligero still affects the burn though.  This cigar burns awfully slow but more on that later.

The Cain comes in two different wrappers.  Habano and Maduro.  There is also a Cain “F” which is a special souped up blend that is even more powerful and robust that the regular Cains are reported to be.  These are the creation of Sam Leccia and Oliva Cigar Co. who also brought us the Nub.  They are available in three sizes that I know of:

• Robusto 5.7″ x 50 ring
• Double Toro 6.0″ s 60 ring
• Torpedo 6.0″ x 54 ring

The “F” is only available in a Robusto and I believe is a limited edition.  On to the review…

The wrapper on the Cain Habano is the color of milk chocolate with a leathery look. It has lots of small veins and a slight tooth. The draw is a little firm but not unpleasant. It smokes slow and cool… very slow. I was completely surprised by this cigar at first. It was not at all like I was expecting it to be. Much was made of the fact that it is almost entirely made up of ligero tobacco. Because of that I was expecting a rich, earthy, peppery and robust smoke with a lot of power. In actuality, it begins as a medium bodied smoke that was smooth and creamy with out much of a nicotine kick at all. My specimen has no spice or pepper at all. It started off smooth and creamy with notes of cinnamon and a subtle sweetness that I want to describe as apple. Like a Rome apple or some other cooking type of apple that isn’t overly sweet. It also had an undertone of toasted tobacco. I was half way through smoking the Cain Habano and I was thinking it was a very unique smoke but it was not at all complex. In fact thought it a bit one dimensional, but still the flavors were unique and very enjoyable. The last third is where this cigar comes alive. Suddenly I began detecting a little bit of a peppery bite to the flavors and then the cigar quickly transitioned into that robust earthy, spicy smoke I was expecting and I also started to feel its power.  Although I wouldn’t necessarily describe this cigar as a “power house” it does back a nice little punch that kind of sneaks up on you.  My experience with the last third of the smoke makes me say that this is not a cigar for beginners.  Less seasoned smokers might get a little green from it.  Someone who is used to stronger and more robust cigars won’t really be phased by it. I had a bit of problem keeping it lit and it tried to tunnel on me a couple times. It took me almost an hour and a half to finish it. Like I said, it burned very slow.

At first I thought I was smoking Abel, but it was all a lie as Cain revealed himself in the end.  I enjoyed this cigar and it was interesting how it completely changed character on me there at the end.  I will be smoking more to see if this experience is consistent or not for me with this cigar.  It was also quite remarkable to me how long it took to smoke this cigar.  This was perhaps the slowest burning cigar I have ever smoked.  It took me almost two hours to smoke this nearly toro length robusto and I am not known as a slow smoker.  The Cain Habano is a good smoke that is worth a try and something I will probably keep in my humidor in small quantities for times when I want a change of pace from my Tatuajes.

Rating – B

Some other takes on the Cain Habano:

• Ben over at Cigar in Hand enjoyed the Torpedo
• as did the Cigar Inspector
• The Stogie Guys enjoyed the Toro

I don’t know why this seems to happen to me every fall, but I am sick again.  Actually I am just getting over being sick, but I have a lingering upper respiratory issue that is hanging around so I need to stay off the cigars a little longer.  That is the reason there isn’t a new review up this week.  It was supposed to be a review of one of the new Cain cigars.  I hope to be back up and smoking next week if I’m lucky at which time I’ll review one of the Cain’s.  I haven’t settled on the Habano or Maduro yet so it will be a surprise.

Country: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Criollo ‘98
Binder: Honduran Criollo ‘98
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
Size: Churchill 7.0′ x 49 ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com

The Alec Bradley Tempus is made in the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras. This is the same factory the the Illusione and Cruzado cigars are made for Dion Giolito. I mention this because of a story I heard. It is second or third hand so I have no way of knowing how true it is but it is interesting. The story goes that Dion was testing several prototype blends to use in one of his lines. Apparently Dion wants his cigars to change up on him 4 plus times through the course of the smoke so there were several blends that while good, complex smokes, they were passed on by Dion. The rumor is, that one such blend was offered to and subsequently bought by Alec Bradley to become the Tempus. Like I said, I have no idea if it is true or not, but it is an interesting story and maybe it provides some insight into what happens to some of better blends that go unclaimed during the development phase for a new cigar.

The large ornate band and the second gold band at the foot of the cigar gives it a kind of regal look from a distance, but up close the cigar looks rather rustic.  The wrapper drak brown and a little rumpled looking with a sparse scattering of small black spots on it.  It is very veiny and has a slight tooth to it.  The triple cap is sloppily applied.  It kind of looks like a Padron, only slightly better put together.  Despite its rustic appearance, it is obviusly a well made cigar as the draw was near perfect and the burn remained straight and even the entire smoke with no relights or touch-ups.

This was a nice robust smoke.  It burned slow and cool and took me close to two hours to finish.  It starts off with a peppery blast and rich notes of earth and black coffee and a subtle sweetness on the finish.  It is a full bodied start with a bit of a heady punch.  It does begin to mellow out though and the majority of the smoke is nice and smooth with creamy flavors of nuts and oak interrupted by the occasional flash of salty leather.  As I neared the end, it changed back to the robust earthy smoke that it began as with plenty of pepper on the finish.

This was a good complex smoke that was able to hold my attention for the full 90 plus minutes it took to smoke.  I don’t smoke a lot of Churchills because they do take a while to work through so they need to be complex and engaging when I do partake of one.  The Alec Bradley Tempus Centuria fits the bill.  I will certainly smoke this one again.  The Tempus is easily my favorite Alec Bradley cigar.

Rating – B+

You can get Alec Bradley Tempus cigars @ CigarsDirect.com