La Aroma de Cuba Robusto

This time I decided to try the La Aroma de Cuba Robusto, what's known as the new blend(the Pepin one). I've actually enjoyed the smaller sizes from the original blend, particularly the interlude and petite corona. I didn't care much for the big rang gauges, however. I've tried the edicion especial (EE) LAdC, but never tried these, so I decided to give them a shot.

Initial Impressions:This was a rather meaty robusto 5X(52?). I really don't like smokes above 50 RG sometimes, they're a little too big IMO. This cigar had a dark natural wrapper that was a little mottled and bumpy, not completely smooth. The cigar was firm to the touch; there were no soft spots. The cigar had a very faint aroma prior to lighting.

Smoking:This was a perfectly constructed cigar. The draw was good with a plentiful amount of smoke each and every puff. The cigar burned evenly and burned slow and cool, no overheating. The wrapper behaved well and did not crack or unravel. The ash was firm and white, staying on for over an inch before I ashed myself.

Taste:This was a medium bodied cigar, on the lighter side of medium. Absolutely smooth, no harshness whatsoever. This cigar started out with a lot of spice! And I mean...a lot of SPICE!. I could get a very spicy coffee-like taste for most of the smoke, with some hints of leather and a good bit of cocoa, but the spice was overpowering for a little while. Surprisingly the finish was very mild and stayed on the palate for only s short time. Smoking through the nose, the spice was excessive, but I could still get hints of cocoa and chocolate. About half way through the cigar, the spice died down significantly, but this was coupled with a somewhat bland flavor. For the rest of the smoke the taste was pretty boring.

Conclusion:This started out as a typical 'Pepin' product(at least what most people seem to label as typical) with plenty of spice that was really upfront. The spice, however, may have been a little too much. While the first half of the cigar was...interesting/eventful(?) the 2nd half of the smoke was somewhat disappointing. The construction was spot on.

My Father Le Bijou 1922 Petite Robusto

Another cigar made by Don Pepin.

Well, I decided to light another new Pepin creation, the My Father La Bijou 1922 Petite Robusto. I've had the original My Father cigars, blended by Pepin's son Jaime Garcia, and really enjoyed the whole range, particularly the lancero. I haven't tried the La Bijou series yet, mostly because I thought it was just another silly line extension, but I decided to try one out.

Initial Impressions:This was a rather meaty rothschild/petite robusto reminiscent of some of the sizes made by General as well as the HdM Petite Robusto (a tasty little smoke). I believe this was the first rothschild made by DPG for any of his lines or his client lines. The wrapper was a dark natural color and very smooth, no bumps or prominent veins, and the cigar had a nicely done triple cap on top. The cigar was also firm to the touch, no soft spots. The cigar itself felt a little hefty, it seemed to be packed with tobacco. A pleasant and mild aroma came off of this cigar before lighting.

Smoking:The construction on this cigar was flawless. The draw was superb with a more than adequate amount of smoke with each puff. The wrapper stayed on well and did not crack or unravel. The cigar burned very cool and slowly as I puffed rather slowly again. The burn was excellent. The ash was firm and a beige-ish gray color, staying for half the smoke before I ashed it myself. Excellent construction.

Taste:This smoke can be best characterized as being medium -full bodied, closer to the full side. The flavor was pleasant and smooth the whole way through, no trace of harshness whatsoever. The cigar began with a blast of pepper and spice (and everything nice), but that immediately died down to a very subtle spice undertone. The dominant flavors for about the first half of the smoke were cedar and some leather. The taste of the tobacco was exceptional. The finish was very full bodied with a tasty sweetness and earthiness and stayed on the palate for a long time. As I smoked the cigar developed a very sweet coffee-like taste and some more complexity that I really cannot adequately describe. The finish continued to be very deep and pleasant. A pleasant aroma came off of this cigar while smoking.

Conclusion:Well...I'll just say it. This was one of the best cigar smoking experiences I have had in a while. A super tasty smoke with superb construction quality. This hit everything on my good smoke 'check-list'. This was one of those cigars I would recommend if someone asked me to name a good cigar. Compared to the El Triunfador from the previous review, this cigar knocked it out of the water. This cigar had amazing flavor in spades. Highly recommended, and I will definitely sample more of these.

El Triunfador No. 4

This is a cigar made for Pete Johnson by "Don Pepin" Garcia. Made from Nicaraguan tobacco in Pepin Garcia's factory in Miami.

El Triunfador No. 4

Initial Impressions: This was a svelte robusto with a beautiful dark natural wrapper that was very smooth, no bumps. The cigar was made with a triple cap. This cigar had a very pungent pre-light aroma that was very savory. This cigar was firm to the touch, no soft spots.

Smoking:This cigar had an excellent draw with a good volume of smoke. The wrapper did not crack or unravel from start to finish. The ash was firm and a marbled gray color. which stayed on for nearly half the smoke! The only issue that I encountered was that the cigar smoked a little hot at first, so I had to smoke it more slowly. Otherwise, this was a fine smoking experience.

Taste:I would describe this as a medium bodied cigar. The taste was smooth from start to finish, no trace of harshness or unpleasant flavors for the entire smoke. While smoking I got a very nice quality tobacco flavor that had some woodiness to it. There was a very pleasant mild spiciness to the flavor as well (unlike some of the other Pepin spice bombs). The finish throughout most of the smoke was mild and spicy, it only became fuller in the last third of the smoke. I could also get some hints of sweetness, but this woody-tobacco flavor predominated along with a mild and spicy undertone. The cigar gave off a very pleasant aroma while smoking.

Conclusion: A perfectly constructed cigar, as are almost all Tatuajes, which never seem to have any issues. The flavor was very pleasant, but straightforward. Not necessarily a bad thing, but at this price point I would expect some more complexity. While the taste may not have been complex, I found it enjoyable. Overall, a very good smoking experience!

Good Local Tobacco Shops

Here are some of the best local tobacco shops in the Baltimore and Pittsburgh areas.

Baltimore
1. The Humidour Cigar Shoppe: Over on York Rd. not too far from Hunt Valley. This is a very well run store with a lot of good brands and a knowledgeable staff. They have a lot of cool events during the year and its BYOB (at least it was the last time I went). The best part are the amenities. Free Wi-Fi, big flat screen TV, comfy chairs. A really chill place to come and smoke. Arguably the best in the Baltimore area.

http://www.humidour.com/

2. Fader's: On Reisterstown Rd. in the Valley Village Shopping Center(next to Cosi's). This is a smaller store, but it still has a nice selection. Lot's of pipe tobacco too. Not much room to sit around though. There are also locations in Towson and Catonsville.

http://www.faderstobac.com/index.php

3. Mt. Washington Cigar Co. : Located on Falls Rd. off of 83. Relatively big store, good selection, good place to lounge around and relax. I've only been there once, but liked it enough to recommend it to people.

http://www.mountwashingtoncigar.com/

4. Cross Street Tobacco: Downtown Baltimore over on Light Street. Easily the best tobacco store in the city itself. Very cozy, and a nice selection of pipe tobacco.

http://www.crossstreettobacco.com/#

Pittsburgh
1. Leaf and Bean: Down on the Strip. Great Coffee, cool cigars, easily the most chill place you can go to in Pittsburgh, and they have live music sometimes. One of my favorite places to smoke a cigar and drink some tasty coffee. Highly recommended!

http://leafandbeanstrip.com/

2. Allegheny Smokeworks: Out in Blawnox off of 29. A really great tobacco shop! Great staff, great selection, and the people that work their know their cigars. Very nice lounge and great pipe tobacco selection. One of the best in the Pittsburgh area!

http://www.alleghenysmokeworks.com/

3. Bloom Cigar Company A.K.A. Bloom's: Down on the Southside on 12th st. right off of East Carson. This is a Pittsburgh landmark that's been around since 1955. A lot of 'interesting' people work and smoke there and the humidor has a bunch of nudie pictures posted all over the place. Worth a visit.

http://www.bloomcigar.com/

4. Continental Smoke Shop: This place gets a mention because it's the closest to Oakland. Located in Squirrel Hill on Murray Ave., past Jerry's records. A small shop with a decent selection, but it's close and accessible.

A Word on Cigar Reviews & Ratings

Cigar smoking is a very subjective hobby where one guy's dog turd can be another man's favorite smoke. However, there are myriad ratings systems and countless reviews used and written by various websites and magazines (well one magazine, Cigar Aficionado) that give cigars a quantitative rating with a qualitative description of the smoking experience. Most of the time, however, there is no description for how cigars were rated or graded quantitatively and some of the values are just guesstimation or arbitrarily assigned. Reviewing a cigar's taste or flavor is also hit or miss, because it is extremely subjective.

There is no centralized rating system. What should you, the casual cigar smoker take from this? DON'T TRUST THE RATINGS, FIGURE OUT FOR YOURSELF. You can always go by the recommendations of others, but always try a cigar out for yourself, you are the best judge of what it is you enjoy. Reviews and ratings are helpful, but keep in mind that each person has a highly individualized palate and can taste and sense different things while smoking.

So how can you find out whether a cigar is good or not? There are two criteria, which are objective enough that everyone can understand what they mean and recognize them instantly:

1. A good cigar will have a good draw. This means that when you smoke it, it doesn't feel like trying to suck a golf ball through a straw and you are able to get a good volume of smoke out of the cigar.

2. A good cigar will have a 'smooth' flavor. A bad cigar tastes harsh. Basically, if a cigar is bad it will most likely taste like ass and smoking it will hurt you throat, and there will be a very harsh and unpleasant flavor. This usually means that the cigar has poor quality leaf (as in the case of gas station/pharmacy cigars) or the tobacco leaves have not been properly cured and aged. The cigars are harsh because the tobacco leaves still have a lot of ammonia (NH3).

If these two things aren't present, then your cigar most likely sucks. Construction is another key criteria, but that has a lot to do with how the cigars are stored rather than the cigars themselves.

So while you smoke take note of these things. I also recommend that you write your own reviews or make mental notes on how cigars taste and what flavors you can pick up. Eventually, once your palate develops, you'll get to a point where you can forget about all of the details and rate/review cigars on whether or not you will smoke them again simply if you find them enjoyable.

Useful Cigar Information

While I try to provide some useful nuggets of information to people that read this blog, there are also some other websites and books that I have carefully perused, which I can highly recommend.

1. Wikipedia's Cigar Page: This Wiki page is actually fairly accurate and on the level. Tons of information about cigar structure, marketing, wrapper colors, pretty much anything cigar 101 related. A great source for some basic info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar

2. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cigars, 2nd ed. - Tad Gage: If you're looking for books, this is arguably the best one. The cigar brands he refers to are somewhat dated (to the mid-to-late 90's cigar boom), which is strange because the 2nd edition was published in 2006, but I guess the brands were not updated. There are particularly interesting chapters covering the history of cigars, how cigars are made, how cigar tobacco is grown, harvested, and cured, and a useful discussion on rating cigars. You can pick this book up and start reading from any chapter. Highly Recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Cigars-2nd/dp/1592575919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280711087&sr=8-1

3. Cigarcyclopedia: This website is run by Richard Perlman, the author/publisher behind the yearly, Perlman's Encyclopedia of Cigars. One great part of this website is their retail comparison shopper, which is a compendium of prices from various retailers on popular brands. Also, as the name suggests, there is also a full encyclopedia of most hand-made cigar brands, which provides brand history, sizes, current production; it is very exhaustive. There is also some industry news, lots of reviews, plus a really cool "cigar school". A very comprehensive website!

http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/

Cigar School: http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/cigar-school

Does Size Matter?

Size matters a lot when it comes to smoking cigars. People have their own preferences and proclivities, which make the hobby really individualistic and exciting.

I've noticed a somewhat interesting and troubling (at least for me) trend in cigar production that threatens this individualism that, in my opinion, is an integral part of the hobby. A lot of cigars being produced today come in only a few select sizes. Toros, robustos, chuchills, torpedos are usually the main variety and they are always big, hefty and thick. Cigars used to be produced in myriad sizes and shapes, but todays smokers favor the thick ring gauges. Ring gauges of 52-60, which used to be pretty rare, are common fare nowadays.

This trend is best evinced in the fact that Habanos SA (The Cuban cigar monopoly) is paring down their catalog by removing a lot of the smaller sizes leaving only thick ring gauges. Coronas, Corona Gordas, Lonsdales, Perfectos are all going the way of the dodo. A true shame, because some of the best havanas are of the smaller variety.

I personally prefer coronas, petite, coronas, and corona gordas as I believe that they provide the best balance in flavor. Thicker cigars can be harder to light and keep lit, but they do burn cooler because they have more surface area. In thinner cigars the wrapper, usually the highest quality tobacco leaf in the entire cigar, contributes more to the flavor.

A lot of cigar producers are making cigars that come in 50 ring gauge or greater. I guess there is just something to smoking a robusto or rothschild. This is epitomized by the NUB brand of cigars, short fat cigars that claim to capture the complex and enjoyable flavors of the latter parts of the cigar. Most experienced smokers will tell you that this is purely a marketing ploy. Common sense will tell you the same thing.

Thinner cigars need more care while smoking. You can't puff on them like a locomotive otherwise they will overheat and become unsmokable. To me there is a certain elegance in smoking thinner cigars, plus they take less time to smoke. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy robustos and churchills (A good churchill is tough to top, when they are on they are on and can make for a great smoking experience), but I like variety as well. Luckily, a lot of my favorite manufacturers still produce plenty of sizes to choose from.