Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature Maduro Tuesday, May 6 2008

Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Broadleaf Maduro
Filler: Dominican
Size: Perfecto 6.0″ x 47 ring

As if the Cameroon wrapped Hemingway cigars weren’t special enough, The Cigar Family makes an extra special, aged, limited release of the Hemingways with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper. Like the Anejos, the Hemingway Maduros are usually released around the holidays as a special treat for the fans and customers of Arturo Fuente cigars. I gave some more background on the Hemingway line of cigars in my review of the Hemingway Best Seller so click on over and check that out while you’re here.

The Signature Maduro has a oily, dark, toothy wrapper that is simply gorgeous. It has the look of old, well worn leather. Like all the Hemingway’s the foot tapers down to a slightly odd looking nipple. The Hemingway and Hemingway maduro provide an excellent example of how much a wrapper can affect the flavor of a cigar. The maduro is a completely different and unique experience compared to its Cameroon wrapped sibling. The Cameroon version provides a classic Cameroon flavor with a sweet spice. The Signature Maduro starts off with flavors of cedar and a slight sweetness typical of a maduro wrapped cigar with flashes of black tea. As the smoke develops it gets very creamy and mellow. In the last third it starts to exhibit black pepper with a unique earthiness that I find hard to describe. It makes me think of wet earth, almost like I am tasting the rich damp soil the tobacco was grown in.

The construction, as is always the case with any Hemingway was superb. The burn was razor sharp and the as was grey and rough looking but held firm. It produces thick clouds of white smoke with a rich aroma. There is just nothing bad to say about this cigar. It is a wonderful experience from start to end and as good as the Cammie version of this cigar is, it pales in comparison to the complex experience that the maduro delivers. The Signature Maduro and the Work of Art Maduro are by far my favorites of the Hemingway line. If you have never had one, you simply must find one and try it. I usually don’t give maduros this much love, but this is a superb cigar.

Get yours at CigarsDirect.com: Arturo Fuente hemingway Signature Maduro

Rating - A

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Ride for Kids 2008 Recap & The Winners!! Monday, May 5 2008

This year’s Ride for Kids was a great success. It is amazing to me how fast his event has grown over the past 5 years. This year we had over 1000 motorcyclists at the event and raised a lot of money. Thanks to friends, family, and all the generous BOTL that donated this year I raised $3180 beating my goal of $3000. That put me in the top 10 of individual fundraisers at the event for the second year in a row. It says a lot about the growth of the event when I can bring more than twice as much money than I did last year and yet I ranked about the same in terms of individual fundraisers this year. I will have to work hard to keep pace for next year. The event raised in total, $138,280.00 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers showed up. It was a cool treat for the kids. The top fundraiser of the event this year was a guy who is an illustrator for Lucas Arts and he brought out the Star Wars Characters. There were several “Ride Stars” at the event. A Star is a child who has either beaten, or is battling a brain tumor. They are great kids that a full of personality and do a fabulous job entertaining and inspiring the crowd every year. Here are a bunch of pictures from the event…

Click for

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Happy Birthday to Me! Tuesday, Apr 29 2008

Had a great Birthday today. My wife got me an Oasis XL Plus for my winecoolerdor and I finished off the day in style. Smoked a 2005 RASS and paired it with a glass of Remy Martin VSOP. I am amazed how every year these cigars get better and better. With 3 years on the beautiful Robustos, their youthful edge is completely gone allowing a lot of subtle flavors to come through. It is one of the most engaging smokes I have ever had. It started off with a slight sweetness and a very unique twang that I can’t put words to but was just great. As it progressed it kept changing, it was almost hard to keep up with it. I hadn’t planned on doing a writeup on it so I wasn’t taking notes, but it was such a great experience I felt compelled to write something to help me remember the occasion. Leathery, earthy, nutty and creamy… Just amazing.

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Tatuaje Havana Cazadores Sunday, Apr 27 2008

Country: USA
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Long Filler
Size: Lonsdale 6^3/8 x 43 ring

The Tatuaje Havana Cazadores come in cedar cabinets of 25 and are packaged in the old Cuban style. They are packed wet and wrapped in foil with a yellow ribbon around the bundle. Here’s some pictures I took back when I bought them. You can click the pictures for an enlarged view.

This vitola is reported to be Pete Johnson’s vitola of choice and it also happens to be one of my favorites as well. I love Lonsdales. I think it is just possibly the best size for a cigar. When used with a good blend of tobaccos, the ring gauge and length lends itself to a wonderfully complex smoke with a near perfect duration, about an hour to 75 minutes. I have a hard time picking between this cigar and the Reserva SW as my favorite of the Brown Label line. When pressed I usually end up giving a slight edge to the Reserva SW only because I find it a little more complex.

Like almost all of the Tatuajes, it starts off with a full blast of pepper. Once you work your way into the smoke a bit, the pepper calms down a little. I find this stick to be the most “cubanesqe” of all the Tatuajes. It is a heavy, full bodied smoke with some serious strength. They are hard to take on an empty stomach. The smoke progresses nicely, first with black coffee flavors transitioning into a rich nutty/earthiness with brief flashes of cocoa. It picks up a lot near the end getting spicy and peppery again with notes of wood. It has black pepper on the finish throughout the smoke.

The burn goes crooked every once and while but if you’re paying attention, you can get it to correct itself. The draw is perfect and the ash is well formed. The thick white clouds of smoke produce a room bouquet is very reminiscent of that of a Cuban Montecristo. Tatuajes produce amazing aromas and this one may have the best aroma of all of them.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Tatuajes and the Havana Cazadores are no exception. This is an exceptional cigar that I could be happy smoking everyday. I plan to make sure I never run out of these gems.

Rating - A

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Ride For Kids Update: Goal Exceeded!!! Saturday, Apr 26 2008

The last day of donations was an eventful day capped off by a very generous donation for a BOTL at SocialCigar.com. The Ride is next Sunday on May 4th and I’ll announce the winners of the cigars on the 5th. I expect a few more offline donations from family and friends to trickle in over the next week that are independent from the cigar drawing so I’ll wait until I announce the winner to post the final total on the money raised. I have a lot of people to thank for all the help, not the least of which are all the generous souls who donated. When I wrapped this thing up on the 5th I will make sure I get all those thank yous listed and done right, but right now I want to say a quick thanks to the following people…

Billy Ferriolo of CigarsDirect.com
Jeff Godfrey and Chris Harper of Tabacalera Perdomo
Dylan Austin of Camacho Cigars and Social Cigar
Bill & Rob of Tobacconists of Cary
Tom of Keepers of the Flame
Brian of Brian’s Random Thoughts & The Stogie Review
Stinkie at CigarBeat.net
The Patricks and George at The Stogie Guys
Jesse at CigarJack
Ricky & Scott at Cigar Command
Kevin at The Box Press
BlowinSmoke.net
International Cigar Club
The Herf Hut
Social Cigar
Vintage Cigar Club

The Internet is a powerful place. It gets a bad rep because of all the people that use it for bad things. I think the Internet community of Cigar smokers have shown how it can also be used to do a whole lot of good. Thanks everyone for your support.

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Ride for Kids Update: Last Day!!! Friday, Apr 25 2008

Today is the last day to get your donations in to be eligible for the drawing to win one of 4 boxes of cigars. As of this morning I have raised $2205 which puts me less than $800 from my goal of $3000. Every little bit helps so please donate today. All donations are tax deductible. Here is a picture of the prizes.

Click here for all the details on how to donate and enter the drawing.

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Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Presidente Wednesday, Apr 23 2008

Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Cameroon
Filler: Dominican
Size: Toro 6.0″ x 50 ring

I provided a bit of background on the Don Carlos line of cigars back when I reviewed the Don Carlos #4 for CigarsDirect.com in October of 2007. Rather than rehash all that here I am just going to cut to the chase today and provide you this link to go back and read the review of the #4 if you are interested. Now onto the good parts, smoking the Presidente…

The wrapper on this cigar is vieny and a splotchy brown. This is unusual for a Don Carlos. They usually have very few viens and the color is usually very smooth and uniform. The rustic appearance had no adverse effects on the smoke though. It was mellow and smooth, the flavors were creamy and refined. It was slightly sweet, typical of a good Cameroon. I found this one to be a little one dimensional compared to the smaller No. 4, but the flavor was so good it was still a very enjoyable smoke. As is always the case with the Don Carlos, the construction was perfection. the burn was razor sharp and the smoke was thick and creamy. These cigars never disappoint.

I used a new style of cut tonight and I have to say I really liked it. I used a double V-cut. This technique was shown to me by my friend Jamie who is a regular at Capital City Cigars in Raleigh. He calls it the “Butterfly Cut”. You use a V-cutter to make a small cut across the head, then you turn the cigar and make a second V-cut perpendicular to the first creating a shallow X across the head. It makes for a very clean cut and a good draw. I enjoyed it so much, it may become my cut of choice. Of course, it is best suited to larger ring gauges. I don’t know that I’d use it on anything smaller than a 48 ring. i highly recommend you give it a try. i think you’ll find you like it.

Get yours at CigarsDirect .com: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos

Rating - B+

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Ride for Kids: Broke the $2000 Mark Tuesday, Apr 22 2008

Update:

Today I broke the $2000 mark in my fundraising efforts for the Ride for Kids and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the US. Thank you very much to everyone who has donated. If you haven’t gotten your donation in yet, there is still time to do so and get in on the drawing for a free box of cigars!

Just click here for all the details on how to donate and enter.

I also want to say thank you again to the generous companies that donated the cigars for the drawing. Please feel free to pass along your appreciation to these companies both verbally and by supporting their products and patronizing their businesses. I want to thank Billy and CigarsDirect.com, Jeff & Chris and Tabacalera Perdomo, Dylan and Camacho Cigars, and Bill & Rob with the Tobacconists of Cary. Thank you so much for your generosity and support.

Get your donations in by Friday the 25th! Help me reach that $3000 fundraising goal!

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Illusione ~cg:4~ Monday, Apr 7 2008

Country: Honduras
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Corona 5-5/8 x 46 ring

The Illusione line of cigars are a somewhat unknown brand that is rapidly gaining in popularity. It won’t be long before everyone knowns about this Nicaraguan gem. The Illusione is the brainchild of Dion Giolito who is a veteran of the cigar industry. He wanted a cigar that hearkened back to the days before the Sandinistas took power in Nicaragua and nearly destroyed the cigar industry there. Since there was nothing like that available in the market, he went out and created the cigars he wanted. In an unusual twist, this Nicaraguan Puro is made in a factory in Honduras. Just another unique fact about this unique cigar. The Stogie Guys have a great interview with Dion Giolito that is a very good read. I recommend checking it out.

The Illusione ~cg:4~ is a good looking corona with a smooth dark brown wrapper topped with a cuban style triple cap. It is packed full with nicely bunched tobacco giving the cigar a good solid feel in my hand. The aroma of this cigar is rich and decadent. I could spend 5 minutes just sitting here smelling it, but the real fun is smoking a cigar so I put it to flame. Initially it is very spicy and thick. A cloud of white smoke fills the room with an amazing aroma. One of the most striking things about this cigar is how wonderful it smells both pre-light and during the smoke. It really enhances the experience. After the initial spice, my palate was filled with a robust toasted tobacco flavor with notes of leather and an underlying spiciness. In the last third of the cigar it started to develop a unique bite that is hard to describe. The ash is very dark and a bit flaky. I had to correct the burn a couple times when it went crooked and wouldn’t correct itself.

This is a very good smoke that I’d rate as one of the best in its price range, running $6 to $7 a pop. I want to say this is a medium bodied smoke if a bit on the fuller end of medium, but I wonder if that perception is skewed by the amount of full bodied, robust cigars I usually smoke. I have a feeling that to someone who typically smokes milder cigars, they would tell you this is a full bodied, more robust cigar. Whatever you want to call it, it is a top shelf cigar at a mid-shelf price.

Rating - B+

What others say about this cigar:

Keeper of the Flame
Cigar Stars

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Ride for Kids Update Sunday, Apr 6 2008

Well response has been a little slower than I initially anticipated. I thought a lot more people would be willing to donate $10 for a chance at a whole box of cigars. It’s less than a month until the event and I am well short of my $3000 fundraising goal. So I am making another plea for donations. Ten dollars may seem like a small amount of money, but when a lot of people are able to give this modest amount, it adds up really quick. Please click on over to my original Ride for Kids Post to find out more about the organization I am raising money for and how you could win one of four really great boxes of cigars, including a sealed box of Fuente Fuente Opus X Petit Lanceros. Here is a picture of all the prizes up for grabs.

(Click to Enlarge)

Every $10 you donate through my giving page earns you one entry into the drawing for these cigars. A $50 donation gets you 7 entries and the only limitation on how many entries you get is how much you can afford to give. All donations benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the US and are tax deductible. All the money donated via the giving site is delivered to the charity by First Giving. I never handle any of the money given through that site.

Be sure to read the instructions detailed in the Ride for Kids 2008 post by clicking here. There you will find the link to donate.

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Padron 7000 Maduro Thursday, Mar 27 2008

Country:Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan long filler
Size: 6.25″ x 60 ring

Among most American cigar smokers these days, the large ring gauge is king. I’ll be up front. I am not a fan of large ring gauges. Quite often I find cigars with a 52+ ring to have muted flavors and iffy complexity. Not to mention they just aren’t very comfortable to have in your mouth. I consider Coronas, Lonsdales, and Lanceros to be the ideal cigar vitolas, and consider them connoisseur sizes. That said I am a fan of the Padron thousand series cigars. Further more, it is the one line of cigars that I feel are better in their maduro version then they are in a natural wrapper. That is significant because those who have read my reviews know I’m not a maduro fan as a rule either. So this particular cigar is a bit intriguing to me because I’m curious what will win out with me, the fact that I like Padron maduros or the fact I dislike huge ring guages.

I am able to sample this monster smoke thanks to my friends at CigarsDirect.com. Padron’s maduro wrappers aren’t very dark in comparison to most maduro wrappers. In fact, the maduro cigars in this line aren’t much darker than the naturals and it can be hard to tell the difference without putting them side by side. The wrapper looks like rough leather with a slight tooth and oily sheen. The large cap put my Palio cutter to the test as it barely fit inside the blades, but it clipped nicely. It has a very light draw which I find typical with this line of cigars. I toasted the foot and it took the light nicely producing a nice even burn. The excessively large ring gauge makes it a little difficult to draw on and it feels very awkward in my mouth. I find this stogie kind of hard to smoke. Flavor wise it is very much like it’s brothers but the flavors are more muddled compared to the 3000 and even the 5000. It is very leathery with a nutty undertone. The construction is typical Padron. A sloppy cap but otherwise perfectly made with a good draw, even burn, and a well formed ash. It is a good cigar, kind of easy going with a cool burn. Those that love the big fat stogies are going to really enjoy this stick. As for me, I find the ring gauge too large and as a result the cigar is an awkward smoke.

You can get your Padrons at CigarsDirect.com: Padron 7000 Maduro

Rating - B

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Support a Great Cause and Win a Box of Opus X Wednesday, Mar 19 2008

Make a donation to a great cause and you could win one of four incredible boxes of cigars. Keep reading to find out how…

The Ride for Kids is a fundraising organization that raises money specifically for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States which is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and treatment in the area of pediatric brain tumors. The Ride for Kids organization is made up of motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the US. They are headquartered in Asheville, NC. They hold ride events all over the country throughout the year to raise money and awareness for this disease. There are a lot of children in this country that are diagnosed with brain tumors every year. No one yet knows exactly what causes these tumors in otherwise healthy kids. I am sure you can imagine though what it must be like for a parent to hear a diagnosis like that for their little child. It puts a huge emotional as well as financial burden on the families. The Ride for Kids and the Pediatric brain Tumor Foundation of the US (PBTUS) are devoted to helping these families and these children. The PBTFUS uses the money raised to do research for treatment and prevention of pediatric brain tumors as well as provide families coping with this disease with support.

I first got involved with the Ride for Kids in 2004. My wife was pregnant with our first child and with the prospect of being a first time dad I found myself thinking about things that previously had never crossed my mind. They say having a child will change your life. Truer words may never have been spoken. I have been riding motorcycles for years and in 2004 I learned about a charity ride that was starting in Cary, NC and riding on down to a small town called Sanford. It was the first year the Ride for kids had an event in my area. What caught my attention at that time was that the charity benefited sick children. I looked into it some more and learned all about the Ride for Kids and the PBTFUS. For the first time I was able to put myself in the shoes of a parent and I thought what it might be like to learn that my child was seriously ill. I hadn’t even met my daughter at this point as she was still six plus months away from being born, but the thought scared me more than a little. I felt compelled to be involved and to help out. That is the story of how I got involved with this charity. I have since been blessed with two very happy and healthy children. Ella is 3 now and my son Jake will be one year old in April. I have been participating in the ride for kids every year since 2004 and in that 4 year span have raised over $2600.00, and $1400 of that was just last year. My best year to date. I hope to improve on that number this year and with your help I will raise $3000.00 for this year’s Triangle Area Ride for Kids.

Go to http://www.firstgiving.com/matthew2008 and make a donation. For every $10 you donate you name will be entered once in the drawing for one of four boxes of cigars. A $50 donation will get your name entered in the drawing seven times. So for example, a $20 donation gets your name in the hat twice, a $50 donation puts your name in 7 times, $70 would get you nine, $100 gets your name in fourteen times… You get the idea. The only limit is what you can afford. Here are the cigars you can win and the very generous companies which have provided these great prizes for such a wonderful cause.

1 box of Fuente Opus X Petit Lanceros from CigarsDirect.com
1 Box of Hoyo de Monterey Dark Sumatra Noches from Tobacconists of Cary, NC
1 Box of Perdomo Habano Corojo Robustos from Tabacalera Perdomo
1 Box of Camacho Corojo Monarcas from Camacho Cigars

(Click to Enlarge)

All donations must be made by April 25th to be included in the drawing. The Winners will be announced on May 5th after the event. The ride takes place on Sunday May 4th.

**IMPORTANT**

When you leave your donation on the First Giving site please be sure to fill out the Display Name, and leave your email address or phone number in the “Personal Message” section. This is how I will be able to contact you if you win one of the boxes of cigars. I have setup the FirstGiving site to NOT display the “Personal Message” field so that information will not be publicly displayed on the site. If you fail to leave some kind of contact info in the “Personal Message” field your name will not be able to be entered into the drawing, but your donation will still be very much appreciated. Also be aware, each person is only eligible to win one box. So if your name is drawn once, it will not be eligible to be drawn again. Any questions can be sent to mattridesforkids@gmail.com. I’ll do my best to answer any emails I receive.

All the donations go to FirstGiving which then distributes the funds to The Ride for Kids so I never handle any of the money. It all goes straight to the charity via FirstGiving. Although donations are welcome from any and everyone, this drawing is open to US residents only. I will not be able to ship cigars internationally. Also you must be 18 years of age or older to qualify for the drawing. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the US is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit charity and all donations are tax deductible.

Thank you so much to everyone who donates. The money raised will have a profound impact on the lives of many sick children. And thank you to the very generous companies that donated the cigars for the drawing. Tobacconists of Cary in Cary, North Carolina, CigarsDirect.com, Tabacalera Perdomo, and Camacho Cigars. These are all great companies that deserve your patronage.

Click Here to Donate and Enter to Win

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CigarsDirect.com March Madness Contest Saturday, Mar 15 2008

CigarsDirect.com is holding a March madness Contest. It’s a chance to win some really great cigars so go signup and fill out your brackets. Here is the details…

March Madness is here and CigarsDirect.com is looking for
College Basketball fans and Cigar Aficionados alike. We have
come up with an unbelievable offer for the upcoming N.C.A.A.
Tournament, finish with the most points and win! We have
created a CigarsDirect.com Tournament contest on
CBSSportsline, load your teams by March 20th to be eligible
to win 1 of 5 great prizes. Your entry is completely FREE;
you are under no obligation to buy. Please be advised we are
in NO way affiliated with CBSSportsline nor will we have
access to your personal information. We will however be
able to see your name and email address to contact the
winners. We must have a total of 50 players for the contest
to be valid. If we do not have 50 unique players we can
cancel without notice.

The 5 players with the highest total points will win!

1st Place Padilla 1932 Signature Humidor completely full
with 45 Padilla Cigars…retail value: $1500.00

2nd Place is a sealed box of Fuente Fuente Opus X
Robusto…retail value of $799.95

3rd Place a sealed box of Arturo Fuente Anejo #77
“Shark”…retail value of $579.95

4th Place a sealed box of God of Fire Churchill…retail value
of $239.95

5th Place a sealed box of Hemingway Short Story…retail value
of $139.99

* The first 50 entries will also receive a FREE 5-Pack of
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Cigars*

Please don’t miss out on this great offer, pass it around to
your friends and cigar buddies. Each player will be allowed
2 brackets; each player is only eligible to win 1 of the 5
prizes. Please make sure to enter a valid email address when
signing up, we will notify all winners via email at the end
of the tournament. If you do not respond with in 2 weeks the
prize will go to the player with the next highest point
total.

First you must register with cbssportsline.com then once you
have logged in with your own username and password you will
be asked to enter the league password which is the one
below.

To accept this invitation and join the group, click the link
below (or cut and paste the link into your browser’s address
bar). You’ll be asked to enter the group’s password before
you can join. The group password is included below.

http://robusto.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

Our Group password is: cigars

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Fuente Fuente Opus X Petit Lancero Wednesday, Mar 12 2008

Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Dominican Rosado
Filler: Dominican
Size: 6.25″ x 39 ring

Today, thanks to the generosity of my friends at CigarsDirect.com I am smoking one of the elusive Opus X from the Fuente Family. The Opus X line of cigars has garnered a lot of accolades since it’s introduction in 1995. Opus X cigars routinely score in the 90’s in Cigar Aficiando and Cigar Insider. That combined with some aggressive marketing and limited supply has led to a whole lot of hype surrounding this scarce stogie. They sport a Dominican grown, reddish brown, Rosado wrapper which in the case of the petit lancero is a little veiny and lumpy. The wrapper for these Dominican Puros are grown on the Chateau de la Fuente Estate in the DR and are reported to be cured in rum barrels. Once the cigars are rolled, they are aged for a year before being sent to market.

This particular cigar is a short and slender lancero with a tapered head. I love lanceros. I think they are a connoisseur’s size and if done right make for some of the most complex smokes you can get. It’s small ring gauge that leaves no room for error though as there isn’t enough room in them to hide substandard tobacco. The Opus X Petit Lancero starts off a little peppery but settles down quickly. It’s smooth with lots of caramel, and earth with a leathery finish. It is very complex medium to full bodied smoke. I expected it to pack a stronger punch than it did though. The buzz factor was nice but not the reputed knock you to your seat strength I heard and read from others. The flavors are very well defined making for an amazing smoking experience. The construction is excellent, with a perfect draw and a razor straight burn. Those two things are not easy to accomplish when making such a small ring gauge, and it is a testament to the skill of the rollers the Fuentes have making these cigars. The ash was so well formed, it looked like a little piece of concrete hanging off the end of the cigar. Even though I was a little disappointed with it’s power, this is the best of all the Opus X vitolas I have tried so far. I am afraid its price tag relegates it to a special occasion smoke though.

Get yours at CigarsDirect.com: Fuente Fuente Opus X Petit Lancero

You can win a free sealed box of Opus X Petit Lanceros courtesy of CigarsDirect.com, or one of 3 other boxes of cigars and support a great cause at the same time. Click here for details!!

Rating - A+

One Response »

 

Showdown: Camacho Triple Maduro vs Itself Tuesday, Mar 4 2008

Country: Honduras
Wrapper: Maduro
Filler: Maduro
Size: Rothschild 4.5″x50 ring

I first reviewed the Camacho Triple Maduro back in May 2007. That review was based on a cello wrapped unbanded Rothschild that was provided to me by Camacho before the official release of this much heralded cigar. I found the cigar to be a pretty decent smoke, but I was not wowed by it. Subsequently, I have been informed by others who also tried one of these unbanded “pre-released” versions of the Triple Maduro, that the Triple Maduro which ultimately hit the shelves is much better. I don’t claim to know if there is really any difference between what is on the shelves now versus what I smoked then, but I figured I would put it to the test. It just so happens that I still possess one of the sample smokes I got way back in May. I also have myself a Triple Maduro Rothschild that I purchased off the shelf at my local cigar shop. So here it goes. I’ll smoke these two cigars one right after the other to do a side by side comparison to determine, at least in my own mind, if there really is a difference between the two smokes, and if one is actually better than the other. Don’t concern yourself about any inequity in resting time. I bought the banded edition not long after their release so it has had almost as much time in my humidor as the sample that was sent to me by Camacho. Just as a quick refresher, what makes this particular cigar so unique is that it is the first maduro puro. The wrapper, binder, and filler are all maduro leaf tobacco. This is something that has never been done before because using all maduro presents certain challenges especially when trying to get the cigar to burn right. Camacho managed to pull it off and now we have the Triple Maduro which if I go by the statistics I get from my blog here, is one of the most queried cigars on internet searches. I get more hits on my site from searches for the Triple Maduro than any other review I’ve done, even the Tatuajes, which come in a distant second in terms of hits from search engines for my site.

The two cigars look very much alike. The wrapper looks to be identical. it is very dark and rough looking with lots of veins and plenty of tooth. Both cigars are rock solid and seem almost over filled to the touch. The caps are a bit sloppy, and bunch looks good. There are no rib viens to be seen in the foot. The huge band on the production release just about swallows up the diminutive length of the Rothschild, but it is a beautiful band and the second band on the foot is a nice touch making for a very nice presentation.

So, up first is the unbanded, cello wrapped sample that the folks at Camacho (namely Dylan) so generously provided me. I clipped the head and the bunch looks just as nice on this end of the cigar. I toasted the foot and it took a light nicely. It starts off very robust and full bodied. There is lots of black pepper and a spicy bite. For the first inch I thought this would be a tough cigar to finish even in this short size because of the fullness and the punch it was packing. it leaves a slightly sweet flavor on the lips typicla of a maduro. about an inch and a half in it mellows out a lot. Its is a very smooth smoke, medium bodied with cocoa notes and a maduro sweetness. At this point it gets kind of one dimensional never changing up. I said it in my initial review and it still applies. This cigar is all maduro all the time. I see why maduro lovers enjoy this cigar as it gives that maduro flavor in abundance. The construction is superb and my concerns about it being over filled were unfounded. The draw was impeccable and it produces an abundance of thick white smoke. This cigar is packed full of tobacco and it burns cool and smooth with a firm ash that holds very well.

Now on to the final production version. Again this one is packed to the gills with tobacco giving it a slow cool burn. The construction is amazing. These may be the best constructed cigars in Camacho’s arsenal which is saying something as all their cigars are very well made. The burn is perfect, and the draw is perfect. This one doesn’t start off with the punch that the other one did and if there is any other difference at all I’d say it is even mellower and more to the mild side of medium bodied. It is a very smooth smoking cigar and again it is all maduro not just in its make up but in its flavor as well. Maduro fans will love these cigars. As for myself, since maduros are more of a when I’m in the mood kind of thing, it isn’t something I’ll be smoking a lot of, but when the mood does hit I can’t think of a better non-limited release maduro to smoke. As for which version of this smoke is better? Personally I like the unbanded sample a bit better because of it’s powerful, peppery start. It made for a more interesting smoke. So I’d have to disagree with some of the opinions I had heard about the final release being better than the unbanded samples. The triple maduro is a very good cigar and is extremely well made. These could rate a B+ for me if they just had a little more complexity to them, but as is, I give them a very respectable high B.

Rating - B

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