Don Fernando's cigarblog

Right after the El Cobre torpedo we tried an El Cobre robusto, 127mm long and ring 50, and while the torpedo builds up to a powerhouse, the robusto is a slap in the face. If you’re not ready for this cigar it will blow you away and make you run to the toilet. The cigar has a dark oily wrapper, a strong aroma and it feels hard, well constructed.

As mentioned, the cigar is much heavier and more of a powerhouse then the torpedo, the smoke is thick, much thicker then the torpedo and the first flavor that I could taste were herbs and a little bit of chocolate. Later on I could taste something I have never tasted before in a cigar, liquorice combined with some notes of wood. When those flavors disappeared the cacao came back and grew in strength until the turning point. Even though this cigar started much heavier then the torpedo, you can still notice a growth in strength to the end. This is by far the biggest powerhouse I’ve smoked so far.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, if it becomes available in Holland or online.

The El Cobre by Oliva is a very special and unknown cigar, it is the personal blend of the old man Oliva, the father of current Oliva CEO Jose Oliva and they are only sold at the shop of Brian Shapiro in the USA. The blend was used for family use only and was named after a little mining town in Cuba and is nicknamed ‘the lobotomiser’ and ‘el muerto’ while discountcigars mentions on their website that this cigar should come with a warning label because it’s such a full bodied and full flavored cigar.

A friend of mine met Brian Shapiro and Jose Oliva at a dinner in Amsterdam and Brian Shapiro was kind enough to send a bundle of torpedo’s and a bundle of robusto’s to the Non Plus Ultra shop in Den Bosch, as the owner of NPU is also the official importer of Oliva cigars in The Netherlands. My friend invited me to come to Den Bosch to try the El Cobre torpedo & robusto in the smokers lounge at NPU. And I gladly accepted that invitation, my curiosity was bigger then my fear of the reputation of this powerhouse.

We started with the 6.5 inch ring 52 torpedo, which has a heavy scent of manure, a nice dark wrapper and a distinctive band that compliments the cigar. The predraw released some sweetness.

While we all expected a big bang right at the start, the cigar surprised us with a nice, easy coffee flavor, not a powerhouse at all, but we could feel that the cigar was building up to something heavy and something special. The coffee was replaced by herbs and pepper and about halfway I discovered dark chocolate, my favorite. At the end of the cigar the pepper made a comeback.

The El Cobre torpedo produced a lot of smoke and light gray ashes. The draw was fine.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, if it becomes available in Holland or online.

Recently I bought a couple of boxes of Romeo y Julieta No.2 tubos from a bankruptcy auction, box code POS DIC06 which means that this 127mm ring 42 cigar is quite young, especially for a Romeo y Julieta who usually need some aging. The cigar looks a bit rough, medium brown oily wrapper with a manure and hay aroma. The construction isn’t superb, the draw is pretty tough.

The flavors are great, lots of complexity, lots of different flavors. It starts with leather and wood, but after 2 puffs the leather disappears and the wood becomes stronger. Pretty soon the leather returns with some cacao on the background. Halfway there is a distinct pepper with again cacao on the background. At the end of the cigar I could taste some herbs.

The cigar is medium to full bodied, the smoke starts with a light gray color but turns to white as the cigar progresses, the ash is dark but firm.

Would I buy this cigar again? I still have 3 boxes in my humidor.

Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 20 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 14 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 8 / 10
Aroma (head) 8 / 10

Price / value: 17 / 20

I reviewed 3 out of 4 Costa Ricans Vegas de Santiago torpedos so far, and here is the 4^th. The Vegas de Santiago Originales torpedo, 153mm long ring 50 made of 3 year old Costa Rican filler and binder with a Habano seed wrapper from Nicaragua.

What a nice cigar, light wrapper, good construction, a close to perfect burn, light draw, thick white smoke and a firm ash. The flavor is leather and wood which are accompanied by a hint of toast and some cacao. Halfway the leather and wood are decreasing while the cacao grows stronger and near the end some herbs show up, combined with the cacao. The turning point is very late.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, this one is just as good as the Vegas de Santiago puros torpedo.

Construction: 18 / 20
Draw: 18 / 20
Appearance: 16 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 9 / 10
Aroma (head) 8 / 10

Price / value: 17 / 20

This cigar is all about quality and class. Packed in nice cedar, with a red band on the foot and the prettiest cigar band in the world, the cigar has a nice medium brown Dominican wrapper, bit oily and very light veins. The appearance is great and the nice aroma of hay completes the pre-smoking experience. The cigar feels good, nice construction and the predraw is light and easy.

The flavor is light leather, with some flowers, warm and creamy and pretty soon the nice chocolate flavor which I like so much. Halfway there is a flavor of tobacco and pepper, bitter and not as pleasant as the first part of the cigar. The bitter taste disappears and I can taste the same sweet leather again.

I spend an hour and a half with this nice cigar and its full white smoke and its firm gray white ash.

Construction: 18 / 20
Draw: 17 / 20
Appearance: 18 / 20
Smoke && ash: 9 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

Price / value: 10 / 20

Vegas de Santiago from Costa Rica is one of my favorite cigar manufacturers, and they have 4 different brands, the Puros, Originales, Don Luis and the Chaman. The Chaman is made out of filler and binder from Costa Riga and Nicaragua with a Connecticut wrapper from Ecuador.

I smoked the Torpedo, a 153mm ring 52 cigar which has a nice oily wrapper and the aroma of straw and hay. The first flavor is mild leather and halfway I could taste a pleasant sour which is gone pretty soon. There is not a lot of progress in this cigar, the flavor is very even. The smoke is thick and white and the ash is firm.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, I prefer the other Vegas de Santiago brands.

Construction: 18 / 20
Draw: 18 / 20
Appearance: 15 / 20
Smoke && ash: 9 / 10
Burn: 19 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

Price / value: 15 / 20

The first flavor that comes to mind is sweet full bodied leather, but the sweetness disappears soon and the leather also becomes milder. This cigar has a strong full bodied start but grows into a mild bodied cigar pretty soon. There is not a lot of progress on the flavors, the cigar is pretty consistent.

The smoke is full, the ash is dark and firm.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, it’s a nice snack cigar for a small price.

Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 12 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 6 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

Price / value: 17 / 20

Manilacigars.com was kind enough to send me a sampler with some Philippians cigars. The Alhambra Vegas is a 135mm long ring 41 corona with a Java wrapper and Philippine binder and filler.

The wrapper is ok but not pretty, it has some irregularities and some veins. The smell is a light hay and the cigar feels pretty hard.

The draw is fine, just like the smoke and the ash. The smoke is full and rich, while the ash is firm. There is not a lot of development in the flavors, the flavor is consistent, a medium creamy flavor combined with leather.

Would I buy this cigar again? Depends on the price.

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 18 / 20
Appearance: 13 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 6 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

Price / value: 14 / 20

Today I visited a tasting in the beautiful Non Plus Ultra shop in Den Bosch and we smoked a Flor de Oliva robusto and an Oliva serie V double robusto. As it was a social event too, with members of sigarenplatform, I didn’t take notes, so no real reviews. All I can say is that the Flor de Oliva robusto is a very nice budget cigar, a bit milder then the maduro version and the Oliva serie V double robusto is a powerhouse, full bodied cigar which is also very affordable. I got a bundle of Flor de Oliva maduro robusto and I got an Oliva serie V double toro in my humidor, real reviews will follow soon.

I would like to thank everybody who made this tasting possible.

Last week I received 2 Octavo III from the unknown cigar maker havanacigar.nl, a 150mm ring 52 cigar made in the Dominican Republic out of Dominican tobacco with a Connecticut shade leaf. The cigar looks fine, pretty light brown oily wrapper and feels firm. The smell is a bit like being in a stable and the predraw is just the way it should be.

The first flavor I get I can’t describe, I don’t recognize it but it is a nice flavor. I think I tasted some hay mixed with some other unrecognizable flavors. It’s not an unpleasant flavor though, I like it. It becomes a bit sour but again, not unpleasant. Way on the background I get some chocolate and the overall taste is warm & creamy. Halfway the cigar gives a bit of burn on the tongue, but doesn’t become bitter.

The smoke is full and the ash is white and firm. Too bad that I had to correct the burn a few times.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, it’s a good cigar for its price.

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 17 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 12 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

Price / value: 13 / 20