Cigar Taster's Reviews

The construction on these things is unbelievably poor. Every one I’ve smoked is riddled with hard and soft spots throughout. One felt like it had a branch in it, and this one spouted a blow hole about an inch back after being lit. I’ve actually never seen a cigar do something like this before. It was erupting like a BP welhead.

The flavor is pretty one dimensional, earthy.

If you’re looking to save some money on some ligeros, like I was when I decided to try a 5 pack of these, you’ll do better waiting for some premium cigars to go on sale.

Trying to clean out the humidor of some smokes that I don’t normally reach for, I came across this Helix which had been given to me. I was pleasantly surprised at its good construction and flavor. It was medium bodied, with a slight minty taste and good flavors of wood and tobacco. Not a bad smoke at all.

I decided to try this particular Fuente because I had seen it at the top of Puff.com’s list of “top 100 affordable cigars” for some time now. I was pleasantly greeted with a nice peppery start with tastes of honey and wood. The smoke has a nice spicy scent when inhaled too. Tastes familiar in fact, to some of my favorite Fuentes, the Opus X, but at a much better price point. This is my second ff 858, and both have had perfect construction. Both really nice flavor and burn. I would definitely call them full bodied. This is a definite candidate for a box purchase for every day smokes. It is an excellent cigar.

This is a well constructed Montecristo with a wrapper slightly darker than their normal wrappers. It burns very nice and even, and starts off with a nice mild to medium flavor of chocolate, coffee, and hazelnut. There is a definite creaminess to it, and it finishes off nicely, as most Montecristos do. This is a great cigar.

This is a well made cigar that starts off full bodied with a woody flavor and hints of chocolate and espresso. The burn wavers a bit, but evens itself out. It has a some spiciness and pepper when inhaled through the nose. It is a great full bodied cigar.

This is the PLR that comes in an attractive glass tube with the Partagas logo painted on it. The cigar starts off smooth, sweet and creamy, with an even burn. It has an easy draw with good volume of smoke and tight speckled ash. It has a touch of the tea like aroma I noticed in the older PLR I reviewed. It finishes off nice and is an excellent cigar.

This is a really nice mild robusto with tastes of creamy vanilla and almonds. It had a perfect burn. I forget how I acquired this cigar, but I think it was in a free sampler. The Cuvee blanc has a unique flavor, and may be a good choice for those who like milder smokes.

This cigar sat in my humidor a few months, and I took it out today to give it a try. Expecting it to be mild (based on some larger sized Upmanns I’ve had in the past), I was surprised at the full flavor this small corona had. It was creamy with hints of leather and coffee. A little pepper noted also, but really nice when inhaled through the nose. The burn was perfect, and I would definitely buy one again. This was an excellent cigar.

The first one I had was a tight draw, but this second one draws nice and seems well constructed. I didn’t write my review on the first one because I figured it was probably not the norm, and Cain’s cigars are usually well constructed and consistent in that regard. This cigar has a bit more of a flavor profile than the regular Cains. It is earthy with hints of leather and a fruity flavor. Also noted is some licorice taste. It is full bodied, and the ligero filler packs some nicotine. This is an excellent cigar.

This is an incredible cigar that was given to me by a friend. The prelight draw has tastes of cocoa amd nutmeg. It starts off very smooth and with a medium body and sweet spicy smoke that is delightful when passed through the sinuses. It has a complex flavor of cocoa, caramel, and spice. Midway through I taste some hazelnut and coffee flavors, and the cigar is more full bodied. It finishes off with some more pepper and full bodied. This is truly am exceptional cigar that I highly recommend. I am going to be looking for a box of these soon.

I will be out for a while. Check back later.

Strong prelight aroma of honey and aged tobacco. Starts off peppery with a nice aroma and spicy full flavor. The first third is very good, and reminds me of an OpusX. It stays consistently flavorful throughout and develops a little licorice in the second half. The burn was perfect throughout. I’d say this cigar definitely lives up to the hype surrounding it. It is well worth the price and if you’re an OpusX fan, you will love it. They are limited in number and may be difficult to find, so grab one at your local shop if you see them.

I smoked one of these tonight after taking the family out on the Lake for a little boiled seafood and fishing. This is one of my favorite cigars, in fact, it was the first one I ever reviewed on this blog. This cigar was the one that really turned me on to ligeros. They have a uniquely smooth but full flavor that gives a powerful nicotine buzz. These, the Oliva Serie V, and CAO Criolo’s are some of my favorite ligeros. If you know of any other good ligeros, please post them in the comments.

This cigar starts off full-bodied with an earthy, woody flavor. Slight pepper and spice to it. About midway through it smooths out a little more and picks up a nice spiceiness that is somewhat aromatic and sweet. This is a good cigar, it didn’t knock my socks off, but good, and at the price I paid well worth the money.

This cigar is perfectly constructed and starts off with a woody, earthy taste and medium to full body. Around halftime it has a nice licorice flavor with some swetness and a nice aroma. This is a maduro, and those who like full bodied maduros should like this cigar.

This restaurant rocks! I just had an awesome experience with my wife. This is about as close to the caribbean you can get in the continental US. I can’t guarantee you will be able to smoke a stogie here without interruption, but you should either go really early or late to catch it when the outside seating is sparse or the crowd is too drunk to notice. My wife and I went early and sat outside listening to Bob Marley while having some awesome Caribbean food. I had the jerk chicken, and she had the mahi salad. Both were out of this world. The Magazine Street atmosphere is incredible. I asked the waitress if I could smoke, and was delighted when she brought out an ashtray with the most beautiful mango sorbet I’ve ever had. It had chopped papaya and whipped cream on the side. Who would have known that the Padron 1964 Anniversary Exclusivo pairs perfectly with mango sorbet and reggae music? I had a truly transcendent experience at this place, and I hope to repeat it many times over. God I love the city of New Orleans!!!

This is a very minty cigar that starts off mild to medium bodied and gains some strength towards the end. For all you white ash fans out there, this cigar burns very well with a remarkably tight white ash, although ashes do little for me. It is a well constructed cigar, but I was a little disapointed because the clerk at the store lead me to believe it would be full bodied and it wasn’t at all in my opinion. It was a great cigar though, and had my expectations been more realistic I might have enjoyed it more.

This is more of a toro length cigar that starts off with a medium bodied flavor of coffee and cocoa. It is really smooth and creamy in flavor throughout. I would say it finishes off medium to full in body, and is an excellent cigar.

Starts off peppery but quickly subsides to more of a honey and spice flavor, some earthy notes, and some cedar. The flavor really opens up after the first third and is delightful. The flavor is very complex. The final third has a smoother flavor that is rich and fruity at the same time, with hints of butter. Overall this is an excellent cigar. Medium to full in body.

This cigar starts off very mild with hints of cinamon and spicy sweetness. The flavor becomes bolder as the cigar progresses. It really has a nice unique flavor, and the thing I like about it is the fact that it finishes very strong despite the mild start. It is perfectly constructed and burns nicely. This is an excellent cigar.

This is a toro sized cigar that bosts “100% Authentic Corojo” on the tube. The initial taste is full bodied, peppery, with an earthy flavor that has some hints of spice and coffee. It stays pretty consistent throughout, and is a well made cigar. This is a good choice for the smokers who prefer the peppery cigars.

This is a perfectly constructed cigar. It starts off mild to medium bodied with a smooth earthy flavor mixed with nuts and cocoa. It really sweetens up halfway through and maintains a complex flavor. A rich chocolate espresso flavor develops after halftime. It is more medium to full in body now. I’m already thinking about shopping box prices on these. This is an excellent cigar, that probably can’t be beat if you’re looking for complexity of flavor.

This is one of the box pressed cigars from La Flor Dominicana. It has a dark toothy wrapper and starts off with a peppery taste with hints of wood and coffee beans. Midway through the flavor really smooths out and develops with hints of licorice and spice. The final third doesn’t disapoint at all. This is an excellent full bodied cigar, a real finger burner. I did not want to put it down.

The first thing I noticed about this cigar was it’s attractive oily wrapper, then it’s perfect “cigar shop” smell. I thought to myself, “now this is what a cigar should smell like.” Once lit, it didn’t disappoint either. I lit it, then walked inside to get a few things. As soon as I returned to the patio, the awesome aroma of this cigar hit my nose. This is a premium cigar. They are medium bodied, and have an earthy but smooth flavor with hints of spice and sweetness. They are supposedly cuban seed cigars, and I do notice the fruitiness that I often taste in top notch cubans. This cigar burns nicely and is excellent from start to finish. I won’t hesitate picking them up again in the future.

This stogie starts off great, with classic partagas flavor, but more full bodied. This cigar has an earthy flavor with the nice aromatic sweetness I find in the partagas S series and seasonal blends. The burn and ash are close to perfection. This is a finger burner. I had a hard time putting it down.

While this cigar had some construction problems I noticed before removing the cellophane, it starts off witha nice mild, spicy aromatic flavor with hints of ginger and vanilla. The draw is very nice, but the wrapper was cracked and unraveling in a few places. Since this is my first Xicar HC though, I won’t pass judgement. The flavor starts out really nice and mild with a creaminess to it. It stays consistent throughout. This is an excellent cigar if you’re in the market for a mild robusto. Also a good one to try if you’re a Macanudo smoker looking to move up.

This is a cabinet selection cigar from Altadis that starts out mild and smooth with hints of coffee and nuts. It produces a very tight white ash on the cigar as it burns. Midway through the cigar has maintained as perfect a burn as possible. The flavor is mild to medium with hints of coffee and nuts and sweetness. The smoke is very delightful, and it is obvious that this is premium quality tobacco. This is an excellent cigar.

I guess I’m on a fuente kick, because tonight I decided to try the Opus X super belicoso. Prelight aroma is amazingly sweet with the distinct smell of honey. Funny thing was, the cigar wrapper almost felt sticky in spots like it really did jave honey on it. After lighting it starts off peppery with full flavor of wood, spice, and mild sweetness. It smooths out quickly in the first third and gets that nice aromatic sweetness that the upper end Fuentes have. It keeps its full flavor and adds some hints of cocoa and licorice. This is an excellent full flavored cigar.