Showdown: Tatuaje Reserva Noellas – 2006 vs 2009 Wednesday, Sep 9 2009 

Cigar Reviews and Features and Matt's Favs and Pepin Garcia and Tatuaje , , , , , , Matt 9:00 am

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Country: USA
2006 Wrapper: Aged Nicaraguan Corojo Ligero (Cojonu Wrapper)
2009 Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Broadleaf
Binder (both): Nicaraguan
Filler (both): Nicaraguan
Size: Corona 51/8” x 42 ring

2009 has seen an exciting expansion to the Tatuaje brand with lots of new cigars including some new additions to the Reserva line of the Brown Label Tatuajes.  Pete Johnson’s seemingly ever broadening use of the sun grown broadleaf wrapper found its way onto two new Tatuaje Reserva cigars.  The Reserva Regios and the Reserva Noellas.  The new Reserva Noellas are particularly intriguing to me because this is not the first time there has been a Reserva Noella.  Back in 2006 Tatuaje offered to a number of its best accounts boxes of  Noellas cigars with a Reserva label on the box.  This label was applied just as it has always been on the boxes other Reserva cigars like the J21 and SW.  There were only about 200 boxes made.  The cigar is the same size as the standard Noellas but it has a different wrapper.  Instead of the standard Corojo wrapper that is used on the regular Noellas, these cigars are wrapped in an aged oscuro ligero wrapper just like what is used on the Cojonu line of Tatuajes and the Reserva J21.  Unlike other Reserva cigars this incarnation of the Reserva Noellas did not sport the second black and gold Reserva band.  They only had the normal brown Tatuaje band on them.  The only way to know it was a Reserva is to have seen the box it came from, or if you put it side by side with one of the regular Noellas you would see that the wrapper is much darker in color (note: I have found this to be truer of older Noellas which seem to have gotten darker in more recent vintages).  The 2006 Reserva Noella was tagged with a nick name, often referred to as a Noella Oscuro in online forums and websites.  After that initial run in 2006, Tatuaje never made this cigar again.  That is still true today even though we once again have a cigar bearing the Reserva Noellas name…

Here we are in 2009 and we once again have the Reserva Noellas available at many Tatuaje retailers.  But this 2009 edition is not the same cigar that was made back in 2006.  It is still the same size and same blend, but the wrapper has changed again.  The 2009 edition sports a sun grown broadleaf wrapper just like the Tatuaje Monster Series released last October.  It also wears the black and gold Reserva band unlike its predecessor and this one, while somewhat limited, is not restricted to just a one time run of 200 boxes.    I believe that this cigar is meant to be a mainstay in the Reserva line.  It along with its cousin the Reserva Regios have been nick named by some as “little monsters” because they share a very similar makeup to “The Frank” with their broadleaf wrappers around the original blends for those vitolas.

I thought it would be fun, since I happen to have a few of those old Reserva Noellas from 2006 in my humidor, to go ahead and do a side by side comparison of the two different cigars which bear this name.  I started with the 2006 edition… (more…)

 

‘Gar Tunes: Paris to Cuba by Mario Grigorov Monday, Jun 15 2009 

Features , , Matt 11:39 pm

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a sampling of new music from the composer and musician Mario Grigorov.  His new album is called Paris to Cuba.  This is what Mario has to say about his inspiration for the album…

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Every time I go to Paris, I get inspired. I start thinking about ways I can embrace the city and absorb its magic…

This album takes me back to my time there, and I reflect on how I have always enjoyed traditional and classical French music – been intrigued by the use of melody and sultry textures.  I started playing with some melodies on the piano; inspired by the Parisian mood and architecture, I was trying to re-create the buildings I had seen that stood like frozen compositions. The compositions I began to write would soon lend themselves to a melding with the energy and simplicity of the music I also love from Cuba, along with all of its influences.

It’s not always easy to combine styles of music from their technical anatomies, but I was in no way trying to do that here.  This album, inspired by my appreciation of both styles, came about from the feel-good spirit that both Paris and Cuba share. I must admit, working with my good friend Melissa Newman brought it all together; she embodies the spirit and beauty of these musical cultures.  Her voice created the perfect accent for this project.

The four songs I had the opportunity to listen to were great. Two were instrumentals, “Cuban Soil, Cuban Sun” and “Ice Hotel”, with a decidedly Latin sound but with a “big band” jazz feel to them. The second two songs, “Every Little Movement” and “Snake Eyes” had female vocals that were were sultry and classic.  Those two songs sounded just like something you would hear in an old school smokey jazz club and they were a lot of fun to listen to. From what I have heard from this album, it is an excellent accompaniment to a relaxing evening sitting back with your favorite cigar and sipping rum. I would recommend checking it out especially if jazz with a Latin influence sounds like something you would enjoy.

Here is some more “official” information about the album and the artist… (more…)

 

Updated Top 5 list Friday, Mar 20 2009 

Features and Site News Matt 11:28 am

I was looking at my Top 5 List and figured it was far enough out of date that it warranted an update.  There is a new number 2 and a new number 5 resulting in two very good cigars falling off the list.  The original Oliva Master Blends and the Perdomo Edición de Silvio Cameroon still rank among my favorite smokes, but the Hoyo and the Cruzado that now rank in my Top 5 are superb cigars.  Truth is, trying to rank cigars that are this good is a difficult exercise so really this list reflects my feelings at the time I am writing it.  As I have said before, it is a very fluid thing that changes in my head far more often than it does on this site.  If you are interested, you can find Version 2.0 of my Top 5 the same place it has always been.

 

The Edge Series Wrap-Up Friday, Mar 13 2009 

Features , , , , Matt 10:30 am

A couple interesting things came from this mini series of cigar reviews.  One involved the results of my “What’s your Favorite Edge?” poll.  The other has to do with what I experienced when smoking these cigars.  First, here are the links to the reviews if you haven’t read them already…

I found all three of these smokes to be decent cigars, and I’d even go a little farther with the Lite and say that The Edge Lite is a very good cigar.  It was my favorite of the three.  I thought the flavors were well balanced and crisp.   It was a very flavorful mild to medium bodied cigar and the construction as with the other two was impeccable.  The Corojo and Maduro just didn’t live up to the hype in either fullness of flavor or strength.  Although they are certainly robust and strong smokes, the hokey warning label cautioning that these cigars are for professional smokers is a little silly and inaccurate.  While not necessarily an ideal choice for someone new to cigar smoking, I have had plenty of cigars I would deem stronger and more robust than these.  That said, they were still decent smokes, just not something I would plan to revisit.  The Lite however is something I plan to smoke again.

As for the poll, response was a bit tepid, but there were still some interesting results I think…

For one thing, it appears that the petite “Missile” format is not a favorite among those that responded. Neither version received a single vote. The rest seem pretty much split evenly amongst you.  The exception being the maduro.  I actually tried to find the Sumatran this past week so I could add it last minute to the series, but I was not able to find it locally.  I did find a review of it over on StogieReview, so click on over there and check it out if you are interested.

Thanks to CigarsDirect.com for providing the cigars for this mini series of reviews.  This was fun.  Perhaps if another line of cigars jumps out at me as a fit for this kind of feature, I’ll do it again sometime.

 

Poll: Which Edge is your Edge? Tuesday, Mar 3 2009 

Features , , , Matt 9:00 am

Since I am doing a mini series of reviews based on a line of cigars this month, and since this isn’t something I’ve done before, I figured I should really mix things up.  I anticipate doing this mini series will be fun, but to make it even more fun I want to make it even more interactive than just the normal post and comment format.  It is a perfect opportunity for another poll.  So Poll No.2 at Matt’s Cigar Journal asks this simple question.  Which Edge is your favorite?  The poll will remain open until the sometime after the last of the three reviews in this series is posted.  Lets see which one is the most popular amongst my readers…

 

Rocky Patel – The Edge Monday, Mar 2 2009 

Features , , , , , , , Matt 9:17 am

This March I have decided to do a mini series of reviews on Rocky Patel’s “The Edge” line of cigars.  I will be smoking The Edge Corojo, Maduro, and Lite.  These reviews are all made possible by my friends at CigarsDirect.com.  I have decided to get all the fluff out of the way first and provide the background info on the cigars in this introductory post so when the reviews go up, I’ll be jumping right into the meat of it, writing about the construction and flavors of the individual cigars.

Believe it or not, at the time of this writing, I have never smoked an Edge cigar of an variety.  Surprising perhaps because of the immense popularity of this line of smokes, but also maybe more surprising to those that know me and my preferences in cigars.  I love a good, powerful, robust smoke.  So how is it I have made it all the way to 2009, 5 years after the release of this line of cigars, to get around to smoking them?  I don’t have a good answer for that one except to say I just never got around to it.  I have smoked other of Rocky’s cigars over the years and truth be told I have never found them to my liking.  A lot of his cigars are highly regarded and they are very popular but something about them has never really suited my palate.  As a result, I have never made it a priority to try The Edge.  I have been curious though and had planned to get around to them eventually.  Eventually is now it would appear.

The original release of The Edge included a Corojo and a Maduro wrapped version.  Later the line was added to with the Edge Lite wrapped in an Ecuadorian Shade Grown leaf and a Sumatran wrapped version was also added.  In addition to these line extensions, Rocky also added The Edge Missile which is a smaller, shorter torpedo version of the cigar.  I am excluding the Sumatran and the Missile from this series for now.  I may visit those two cigars at a later date.

The Edge Corojo and Maduro from Rocky Patel are touted as ultra full bodied, ultra powerful cigars.  The box even has a clever marketing gimmick on it in the guise or a warning label stating “Professional Smokers Only”.  Billed as being a bold, full bodied, full flavored smoke that will leave even seasoned smokers “weak in the knees”, these cigars have a bit to live up to in terms of their strength and the hype around it.  The binder is Nicaraguan and the blend for the filler is a secret.  According to Rocky, if you watch the flash video for The Edge on his website, the blend for the original two Edge cigars utilizes tobacco from an undisclosed country which apparently no one else uses tobacco from.  Seems like yet another clever marketing gimmick used in what looks to be a very gimmicky line of cigars.  The Edge is a large cigar too, each size being six inches in length and boasting beefy ring gauges.  They are available in three sizes:

  • Toro 6.0″ x 52 ring
  • Torpedo 6.0″ x 52 ring
  • Batallion 6.0″ x 60 ring

I will be smoking the Corojo and Maduro each in the Toro size.

The Edge Lite came later, though I am not sure how much later after the 2004 release of the original Edge cigars.  The Lite seems like an odd choice for a line extension for cigars whose main theme is power.  Power in strength and power in flavor.  The full bodied cigar market is only a very small portion of the cigar smokers market so I guess economics may have played a role in this one.  The Edge only appeals to that 15 to 20 percent of cigar smokers that enjoy bold full bodied smokes.  To reach out to the rest of the market, i guess it would make sense to offer a toned down version of the cigar, thus giving it access to all the revenue available by appealing to that other 80%.  This is all speculation on my part.  Truth is I have no idea the real reason behind the addition of The Edge Lite to the line.  Besides being wrapped in a shade grown Ecuadorian wrapper this cigar also has its own blend for the filler consisting of Nicaraguan and Honduran long filler.  It shares only the Nicaraguan binder with the original Edge cigars.  On his website Rocky boasts that The Edge Lite is the perfect Golf Course cigar.  He says you can sit this cigar down for 10 to 15 minutes and when you pick it back up it will still be lit and ready to smoke.  I may just have to put this claim to the test because I have to admit I am skeptical.  We will see first hand if the cigar can live up to the claim.  The Edge Lite is reported to be a smooth, mild, and creamy cigar with rich flavors and excellent construction.  It is available in four sizes:

  • Robusto 5.0″ x 50 ring
  • Toro 6.0″ x 52 ring
  • Torpedo 6.0″ x 52 ring
  • Double Corona 7.5″ x 52 ring

For this series I will be smoking The Edge Lite Torpedo.

So that’s the run down on these cigars.  My plan is to knock out these reviews in short order so they will be available over the next week or two weeks so stay tuned in.  And remember, you can pickup your own Edge cigars online at CigarsDirect.com.

The Reviews:

 

Blind Review Wrap-Up Sunday, Jan 25 2009 

Features Matt 12:00 pm

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So now it is time to reveal the results of the Blind Reviews.  A big thanks to Jamie of Zen and the Art of the Cigar for doing this with me.  The project was a lot of fun.  Jamie and I had a great conversation this past Thursday night as we went over the cigars and talked about the results of the blind tastings.  The results were very interesting and made for some great conversation.  One thing we discovered is that even when doing blind tastings it is possible for other influences outside of just knowing what the cigar is that can bias a review.  We also learned some of the things that make blind tastings so challenging.

Let’s start with the outside influences.  I believe the fact that I have such a strong preference for Pepin made cigars and have smoked so many of them, may have had me looking for some of the things I expect for those cigars.   By the same token, Jamie explained to me that the fact he knew I was such a big fan of Pepin had him looking for the same things and influenced him on how he approached the cigars he was smoking.  Much to his surprise I didn’t include any Pepin made cigars in the samples I gave him to smoke.   But more on that soon.

Now as for the unique challenges of a blind tasting.  I think I discovered that a big part of tasting cigars is in fact knowing what to expect.  When smoking a Pepin smoke you look for the black pepper at the start and the robust earthiness at the core of a lot of his blends.  If you smoked a new cigar from him and it didn’t have those tell tale flavors you’d notice it right off and start to focus in on what it was you are tasting.  It is a different game when you have no idea what to expect, no idea what to look for.  It raises the degree of difficulty in confidently identifying what it is you are tasting.

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Going Blind Saturday, Jan 10 2009 

Features Matt 12:00 pm

Fuente, Padron, Macanudo.  As you read those names what went through your mind?  Maybe you thought something like “great cigars, good cigars, …ewww yuck” or maybe it was something like “Overrated cigars, Fantastic smokes, …what’s that doing there?”  OK enough beating up on Macanudo. The point I am belaboring to make is that the sight of a brand name or cigar band can instantly color your perception of a particular cigar as can knowing how much it cost.  Do these preconceptions come to bare on cigar reviews?  We’d like to think not.  Do they color my reviews?  I hope not, but I am human just like the rest of you so maybe in some circumstances it does.  I know I am predisposed to like a Tatuaje cigar.  I have enjoyed so many of that brand.  When I smoke one and review it I try not to let that predisposition come into play as I evaluate my overall experience with the smoke.  Am I successful?  I’d like to think so, but I can’t say for certain.  To do so would be arrogant and disingenuous.

Many cigar enthusiasts say the best way to review a cigar is to do so blind.  A blind review is one in which the reviewer doesn’t know what he or she is smoking.  The band is removed prior to the reviewer receiving the cigar so that they can eliminate any of those prejudices that may be invoked by the site of the band and knowledge of the maker. In fact several of the professional reviewers, i.e. Cigar Insider, claim that all the reviews are done blind. (No need to debate these types of claims here).  I was talking with a good friend of mine, who also happens to have his own cigar blog , about this topic and we had an idea.  We have decided to team up for a short series of blind reviews to be published on our sites.I will be working with Jamie of Zen and the Art of the Cigar on this project.  We will each exchange three cigars.  Prior to exchanging the cigars we will remove the bands and relabel them with numbers to hide the identity of the cigars from each other .  I will know what cigars he will be reviewing and he will know which I will be reviewing.  In the end we hope to bring you six relatively bias free reviews.  We may also attempt to identify the cigars we review before revealing their identities to each other . I might take a stab at country of origin, maybe wrapper type, and if I feel I really have a bead on it, I’ll put a name to the cigar as well.  In the end I will probably just end up embarrassing myself with how far off I am with my guesses, but it will be fun to give it a try nonetheless.

Once we begin, we will post our blind review on our respective sites.  The review will of course contain a link to the blind review on the other site.  Once all six cigars have been reviewed we will post a recap of the project revealing the identities of all the cigars along with summaries of the reviews and our guesses about the origin and identity of each cigar. The exchange of cigars has already taken place so be sure to check back often for updates.  The first two reviews will be up later this week.

-Matt

The Reviews:
(Links will be added as reviews are posted)

 

Matt’s Top 5 Cigars Wednesday, Aug 27 2008 

Features and Site News Matt 1:36 pm

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I have gone and done it.  I have added one of the most cliched cigar website pages there is.  I have created a Top 5 list.  To the left you will see a link for Matt’s Top 5. Click it and it will take you to a page where I detail my 5 favorite cigars.  That is my 5 favorite cigars at the time I was typing up the page.  It is a list that is always changing so it seems silly to even write it down but I did it anyway.  It is a conversation that we all as cigar smokers love to discuss.  What are our favorite cigars and why?  I’ll update it occasionally, meaning when it changes enough to justify the effort, and assuming I remember to do it.  Go ahead and check it out, and if you want to share your comments about my list, or share your own list just use the comment box on that page to leave your feedback.