cigar review: Cuaba Piramides Edicion Limitada 2008

This weekend I was craving for an absolutely great cigar as I was going to watch one of the best movies ever made..

This made me look in my humi for a cuban, perhaps something I never smoked before. It had to be one with a lot of flavour and a lot of body. That's when I opened my drawer with my special smokes..This drawer is my meeting place for all limitadas and special cigars I collected up to now.

I bought all the limitada's a few weeks ago in a little cigar shop in Lier. I immediatly saw the beautiful and big Cuaba smiling at me..

I picked it up and smelled it..a great odeur rose from the big torpedo. A smell that would later on become the main flavor when lit. The cigar felt good. lots of big veins, very oily outside and perfectly rolled.

I took my cutter and cutted the point away on about 1cm. The draw was perfect, and I could feel the cigar's spice burn on the tip of my tongue. All the signs were there to point out this was going to be a full cigar with a lot of body and flavours.

I took some matches and after the second match the cigar was properly lit. From the first puffs on, I could taste the primary taste in the fat, creamy smoke: wood. The cigar wasn't really balanced, but the wood taste was very much there and it hided all the other flavours. It also had some leather taste next to the wood.

The ash was very flaky, and the burn very uneven. Just the thing I would imagine in a cigar like this.

From the second part, a hint of flowers and moss came up next to the wood and leather. What an incredible taste! Such a power..

The last third came at the end of the movie and I was fully satisfied. I picked up a magazine after the movie to enjoy the cigar a little more, but I just couldn't take it anymore..I was completely exhausted after all that power.. I didn't enjoy it that much anymore and decided to toss it out.




Conclusion:
What a powerhouse!! Main taste is definitely wood and leather, a lot of full body tasty creamy smoke. Just a little too long for me. Definitely worth the money, while it is a costly smoke.

I am going to keep the others for a few years, to see how they age.

cigar shop visit: Plumes et volutes

The people of the little town Braine-le-compte in the frech speaking of Belgium finally have a place nearby to purchase their smokes!

I met the owners a few days ago in Antwerp on the Navarre evening and they told me they opened up their shop nearly a year ago. They had the opportunity, and chose to open a store that sold cigars, pipes and tabac, as well as fine pens and writing equipment.

They were very friendly and invited me to come take a look at their shop. They also mentioned their 23 year old daughter was also working there, who (they said) was really pretty..another reason to go ;)

So, I was in the neighborhood when I decided to take the detour, because I didn't have anything to smoke in the 1 hour drive home.
Funny thing though, to get in Braine-le-compte you have to take a small dirty road for about 15 minutes..which was really great in the dark with the Mercedes..put the automatic gearbox on "sport" and the drive was thrilling!




So I arrived in the main shopping street (tres chouette as they say in french) and I discovered their shop. It is not that big, but it does have a lot of class!
I was greeted by a young blond and beautiful girl (so the owners were right ;) ) who took me to the humidor. She really knew her stuff and pointed me directly to the new limitadas when I asked which new specials they had. I choose 3 cigars payed and left the store very happy for another great shopping experience!

I can't link to the website, as they don't have one right now, but they are working on it. The humidor is not that big, but they do have all the great stuff! They also have Navarre's for sale.

If you are in the neighborhood of Halle or Waterloo, take the detour down, it really is worth it!

Cigar evening with Noel Labourdette of Navarre

Yesterday I was joining the cigar evening by Huis Verloo at Salle Jeanne (in English you could translate that to "room Jeanne" or "dirty Jeanne"). It was a special evening, Noël Labourdette of the Navarre brand was speaking!

For those who don't know Navarre: This is a cigar company that creates French handmade cigars. The cigars are entirely produced in France, with cuban seeds. They are grown, collected and fermented in France. For the rolling of the cigars, they had cuban rollers teaching their trade to french workers. Their market is mostly Europe and Japan. They have a limited quantity of tabacco, and really only want the best.

Together with about 30 people we listened to Noël talk about his cigars, while puffing away a petit-robusto from his brand. Very enjoyable cigar, which to my opinion tastes a lot like Partagas cigars: very earthy and cedary, with a hint of floral touches. I did notice on mine and other cigars an very uneven burn, and I had to relight the cigar a lot when in the last third.

Noël was talking about the fact that he clearly wants quality over quantity and I really believe him. He found a little place in France where the micro-climat is exactly the same as the famous Pinar-del-rio in Cuba.

The second cigar of the evening was the limited edition maduro version, which I found even more enjoyable. Less earthy, and more complex flavors on this "not-too-dark" maduro version of the robusto.

Noël was a really cool guy, he answered all questions with a lot of humor and honesty. He did say that they are going to release some new sizes in the future.

We also has a little premiere: the existing Corona Gorda, combined with notes of Armagnac. Noël also gave us a glass of Armagnac, coming from a friend in the neighbourhood where he lives. This pairs really great with the maduro!

My first smoke

ah, I still remember my first smoke! I was still studying at that time, and I was with a friend in a used-bookstore, strolling around looking for good books. My eye catched a few books about cigars (one of them an old book “the gentle art of smoking” by Dunhill). I said to my friend that smoking cigars would be a great hobby, because all people that were smoking cigars all looked really pleased and relaxed.

I bought the books and that same afternoon we visited a local cigar shop, and I told the story to the clerk. He smiled to us and was eager to help the young and unexpirienced boys. He gave us a great speech about what, why and how to smoke a cigar.
He invited us in the humi, and my eyes opened with excitement!

I left the shop with a case of “The heeren van Ruysdael” shortfillers and a sampler pack of “Private stock”, the low budget Davidoff line. The sampler pack contained 5 cigars with different sizes.
The clerk also gave me a cigar cutter.

As soon as I smoked one I was hooked.. I visited that shop many times over to try almost anything he had.

Visit at La Casa Del Habano in Luxemburg

Armistice day (November,11th) in Belgium is one of those holidays here, where we remember the Great War from 1914-1918.

Sara and me took the opportunity to pay a visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. I read on one of my RSS feeds that they had a visit this week of one of a cuban cigar roller who would be there all week.

So we took out the Benz for a spin and drove about 2 hours from Antwerp to the city of Luxemburg in search for "La casa del habano". Thanks to the GPS we found it quite fast (though we had to park on the opposite side of town ;) ).

When we first entered the shop, a lot of smoke was hanging there from a few guys who were happily watching Señor Saùl Jorge Gonzalez de los Rios perform his cigar miracles. Together with a 7 year old rum, I enjoyed a freshly rolled cigar.



Boy, that really is something else: seeing the cigar being made, it really enhances the experience. It smells great, feels so soft (other than usual cigars that are harder), and smokes really fabulous! I must say, Saul really did a fantastic job on creating gran robusto's and other sizes.

We watched him during the smoke as he continued displaying his craftsmanship while smoking a great one himself. We really had a great talk with the owner and some of the other guests. It was a really fun opportunity to smoke a freshly rolled cigar.

The shop itself is also great. Close to the shopping streets, the shop offers a place to sit, renting of cabinets and a lot of great accesoires. They only sell a few single cigars (which isn't a problem because they sell all the major ones by piece) and a great humidor for the boxes.
The people that work there are also a great help: they offer a lot of knowledge and information about the goods you want to buy.

So if you are Luxemburg neighborhood or visiting there, be sure to drop in the shop!

All about my mother

This post has nothing to do with the famous Almodovar movie, "Todo sobre mi madre", but I wanted to dedicate a post on this blog to my mother.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, things were looking pretty grim in the family. She went in surgery in spring, and is still taking lots of heavy medication.

But that doesn't stop her from enjoying life to the fullest. As we speak, she is on an adventurous trip with other people like her.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, at the poetry exhibition of Jan, her husband. She is smoking a small Cohiba, and you can clearly she is loving it.

Thanks mom, for being there for me and with me, and I hope we can share a lot more good times (and great cigars!)

Xikar lighters: Free leather sheat if you registrate your product !

A few weeks ago I bought this great new lighter, a Xikar EX in chrome silver (so I can check if my hair is good on the reflection ;) ). My old one was totally scratched from sitting in my pocket next to my keys.

This lighter is a combination of a regular flame and a jetflame, so you can light your cigars while standing in the wind! It is fuelled by butane, so no benzine smell on your cigars. The people from Xikar also offer a lifetime warranty on all their products, so the Xikar is really a good choice, not only for lighters but they do offer great looking cutters as well! (I am already saving for a mammoth cutter ;) )

Now, what was I going to do to not get this scratched as well? I was looking at keychains or pouches to put my keys in..both designer brands as normal brands offer really good looking ones, but I still feel like they belong to my grandparents..

Well, Xikar solved my problem in another way! They send me a free leather sheath to put my lighter in..As a way of saying "thanks for buying our product" I think this is a really good message!

And I even got it really quick..they send it from Kansas,USA to Antwerp, Belgium in 2 weeks..really great!

Thanks guys and girls at Xikar, I will definitely buy more of your stuff!

De Compagnie Sigarendiner editie 5

It is the time of the year again! Anneke en John from the Compagnie in Breda are having another of their Sigarendiners: 3 courses of dinner accompagnied with great cigars. Be there on Oktober 19th.

De Compagnie en Publieke Werken nodigen u uit deel te nemen aan een gezellig siga­ren diner. De culinaire kant van de avond wordt verzorgd door eetcafé Publieke Wer­ken, in Cubaanse stijl.
De Compagnie selecteert de sigaren. Dit diner hebben we gekozen voor een combina­tie van oud en nieuw. De gekozen sigaren doen het bijzonder goed in proef panels en aan u de gelegenheid te proeven of u het daarmee eens bent.
Wij ontvangen u met een echte Cubaanse Mojito cocktail op basis van Cubaanse Hava­na-Club rum. Tijdens de ontvangst kunt u genieten van een aperitief sigaar en kennis maken met de overige gasten. De sigaar is een “Ramón Allones small club corona”. Deze werd door Cigar aficionado in 2007 als een van de beste kleine corona’s geko­zen.

Na het voorgerecht is het tijd voor de tweede sigaar een “Montecristo Petit Edmundo”. Dit is de iets kortere ver­sie van de Edmundo met dezelfde diameter. Uitermate geschikt als er wat minder tijd is voor een langere sigaar.
U heeft de keuze uit een hoofdgerecht van vlees of vis.
Na het dessert gaan we genieten van een klassieke after-dinner sigaar. De derde sigaar is een “all-time” winnaar. Een “Partagas Série P N˚2” pyramid. Hierbij wordt kof­fie geserveerd en een mooie 7 jaar oude Havana– club rum.

We hopen u graag op het sigarendiner te mogen verwelkomen.
Anneke en John Bodar
bodar@decompagniebreda.nl

La Aurora 1495 Series 4

My parents brought me a lovely box of La Aurora 1495, Series 4 for me from Canada.

The box looks very different from "normal" boxes, but I do enjoy it very much, with the lion. Also the closing mechanism is a double pass, which gives the box an authentic medieval look!

 

 

These Dominican cigars are a bit darker, and have a strong, great perfume.

  

After trying one, I am really feeling good. These are decent cigars, especially for the price tag! Too bad I cant get them in cigar shops in Belgium, or these would be my next favorite everyday-smoke !!

A lengthier review will be due in a few weeks.

Does this Parking lot remind you of any cigars?

The first time I entered this parking lot, I immediately saw a stunning resemble of a great cigar logo ;)

Passatore double bullet cutter

I purchased this bullet cutter in Schneiderwind (see previous post).

You have these cutters in two versions: the single cutter with a 7mm cut, and the double cutter with both a 7 mm and a 10 mm cut. With my love for robustos, it wasn't a difficult choice ;)

Schneiderwind has them in shiny black or aluminium. I chose the aluminium one, because it will be on my keychain.

 

What a difference with my old one, which I purchased in Seattle a few years ago. That plastic cheap item got lost from my chain because the cutter part fell of. That will not happen with this one because it has "screw on" parts. And with a retail price of 49 euros it is just right. The single cutter is 10 euros cheaper.

 

Passatore is made in Germany, but I couldn't find their website. They also make really great humidors.

I already love it ;)

Cigar shop visit: Schneiderwind Aachen

This weekend I was in Aachen with Britt and her lovely dog Emma to spent a day in the lovely town. It is also the closest town that has a Starbucks ;)

The Schneiderwind shop is located in the Krämerstrasse, one of the nice parts of town, enclosed by many shops. They have two entrances, the historic one for the room with liquors (they have a great collection of single malts, vodka's, rum's, and much more!) and the modern one for the cigar shop.

Inside the cigar shop you are helped by one of the very friendly people. My german isn't that good, and the guy who helped spoke quite slowly and helped me making the perfect choices.

The store itself looks very nice! it has glass lockers with Davidoff accessories and much more.

The humidor isn't that big, but big enough to hold 140 brands.

 

They also have one of the best cigar websites I have ever seen:

- downloads: you can download their catalog, kalenders, brochures, cigar journals, ...

- order cigars in many ways: by email, fax, post, phone

- new items: a large list of new items and meetings

- virtual tour around the shop!

- large list of historic cognac's and Armagnac's

Quai D'Orsay Gran Coronas

Well, this cigar let me down..
To be short, it didn't burn well and I couldn't draw any smoke through the cigar! When I looked at it, I could clearly see it was way to overpacked with tobacco. I even cut it in halve, to see if that would help it, but it didn't. Did I pick a bad one ?
To be honest, my humidor was around 78-79%, so it could be that that was the problem..

I 'll try another one later ;)

St.Dupont with a glass of Chateau Petit Bocq 2004

A few weeks ago, Thomas arrived at my place, carrying a bottle of red wine. So instead of studying, we decided to enjoy our sunday in a different fashion. He told me he bought the bottle at Magnus, a famous place in Antwerpen for the wine afficionado, it was their 2006 selection of the year.

From the moment I took the first smell, I immediately noticed that it was of great quality! A very refined bouquet,  and after a first sip, this feeling got conformed: this is a top wine! Subtle honey flavors, wild flowers, and a hint of pineapple gave this miraculous drink a hefty kick!

Of course this called for a cigar to match the wine, but not any cigar. No, the cigar of choice had to be a real winner, a top notch cigar which would integrate best with the wine.  A very hard and difficult task indeed! I decided to go with the St. Dupont, which was taking up his space in my humidor for a few weeks now, while I was desperately finding an occasion to smoke it!

The band is on the end of the cigar, I dont know it this was intended or not, but I surely thought it was remarkable. The Dupont feels like a charm, it looks lively with a lot of colors on the wrapper.

After a clip, a dry tasting of the cigar confirmed my hopes, this was an excellent cigar to accompany the excellent wine.

So, up to the smoking of the cigar. I lit it up, it got on fire very quickly, leaving  a nice gray ash. The smoke was cool, not overwhelming, leaving subtle notes of butter and flowers, and a hint of coco.

I ended up smoking it until my fingers almost got burned, a sign this cigar never reaches the point were the fumes become heavy and nasty. I loved it! The taste is never overwhelming, so it leaves a lot of room for the taste of the wine. An ideal companion!

C&G leopardos

Found this cigar at Vierstraete, the box looked really cool with the leopard skin, like a cigar for the "Hugh Heffner"-types ;)

I never heard about the brand, Condal & Peñamil, a canary island brand (tenerifé, to be exact), which has produced these Leopardos, a 1000 box limited cigar.

So, how could I resist one? I took it home, and waited for the perfect time to smoke it.The corona did feel perfect in my hand, the cigar was sleek and looked perfectly rolled.
A dry puff before lighting the cigar gave me courage, it tasted like a nice cigar.

I put the lighter to it, and took some puffs. Great tobacco flavor, combined with wild flowers gave a very nice taste. It burned slightly uneven, but it corrected itselve.

Then, with about 2/3 to go, all went wrong. The cigar went out for no reason, and after reliting it, it tasted quite bad, and it burned very uneven. I tried to correct it a few times, but the taste was really bad, so I tossed it away with about half way to go.

Too bad, the cigar was building up quite nice, but I think a roller error confronted me with a harsh reality.

Really too bad!

sigarendiner editie 4 @ De compagnie

De Compagnie en Publieke Werken nodigen u uit deel te nemen aan een gezellig sigaren diner. De culinaire kant van de avond wordt verzorgd door eetcafé Publie­ke Werken, in Caribische stijl. De Compagnie selecteert de sigaren.
Dit diner kiezen we voor Aston sigaren. Ashton is een nieuwkomer in de sigaren markt. Gestart in 1985 vanuit Philadelphia. Het grote succes kwam met de introductie van de “Ashton VSG” serie. Een volle sigaar met een dekblad uit Equador. Het dekblad wordt 4 tot 5 jaar gelagerd en geeft de sigaar een complexe smaak. De mening van de vak­pers was juichend en de sigaar werd uitgeroe­pen tot de beste van het jaar. Aan u de gele­genheid te proeven of u het daarmee eens bent.
Wij ontvangen u met Caribische cocktail. Tij­dens de ontvangst kunt u genieten van een mooie corona uit de “Aston Classic” serie en kennis maken met de overige gasten.
Na het voorgerecht is het tijd voor de tweede sigaar een donkere “Ashton aged ma­duro ” robusto. Het Connecticut maduro dekblad krijgt de donkere kleur door een dubbele fermentatie. Bij aanvang van de sigaar geeft dit een beetje zoetigheid. De sigaar komt dan mooi op smaak met wat notige tonen. De sigaar blijft mild tot het omslagpunt ondanks zijn donker uiterlijk.
Voor het hoofdgerecht heeft u de keuze uit een vlees– of visgerecht.
Na het dessert gaan we genieten van een heerlijke after-dinner sigaar. De derde sigaar heeft een van de hoogste scores ooit behaald. Een “Ashton” virgin sun grown sorcerer. Hierbij wordt koffie geserveerd en een heerlijk digestief.

We hopen u graag op het sigarendiner te mogen verwelkomen.
Anneke en John Bodar
bodar@decompagniebreda.nl

De prijs voor deze bijzondere avond bedraagt € 59,95 per persoon.
U kunt toegangskaarten kopen bij:
De Compagnie Torenstraat 15 Breda tel.: 076-5212244

Cuba's 2008 Edicion Limitada's

The word is out of the 2008 Edicion limitada's:

Cuaba Piramides
Montecristo Sublimes
Partagas Serie D No. 5

Coming soon to a humidor near you !

2008 Regional cigars

As listed on Cigar Afficionado's James Suckling's blog, these are the 2008 regional cigars:

Spain: Ramon Allones Grandes (49 ring x 180mm)
Asia Pacific: Por Larranaga Belicosos Extra (52 ring x140mm) and Bolivar Short Bolivar (50 ring x 110mm)
France: Ramon Allones Especial de Allones (52 ring x 140mm) and Bolivar Petite Libertador (50 ring x 102mm)
Lebanon: Ramon Allones Phoenicios (54 ring x 164mm)
United Arab Emirates: Punch Robustos (50 ring x 124mm)
Hong Kong: Bolivar Amonia (57 ring x184mm)
Portugal: Vegas Robaina Petit Robustos (50 ring x 102mm)
Switzerland: Bolivar Legendarios (50 ring x 155mm) and Juan Lopez Maximo (48 ring by 157mm)
Caribbean: Juan Lopez Short Torpedos (50 ring x 12mm)
Adriatic: La Gloria Cubana Marshall (50 ring x 124mm)

if anyone is visiting these regions, drop me a line ;)

new Cabinet

Last week I encountered Ron De Kok 's website, and saw he was offering handmade humidors.

Because of my desktop humi is just filled ( I really cant smoke the limitada's, I just want to keep them), I really needed another one, and a big one!

That's why I bought a cabinet, 5 drawers, good to keep about 500 cigars!
It looks great in my living room, and I am sure it will attract many curious looks.

He even gave me a digital hygrometer, which is just awesome! It keeps the max and minimum temperature and humidity!

So I spend all evening preparing it, to store my sticks in..washed it inside, all the trays with distilled water, threw in my old humidifying device. The humi also contained crystals, the new way to humidify the humi.

So, now waiting for a few days, and then I can transfer my smokes!

By the way, anyone interested in a desktop humi ? ;)



Just look at that beauty standing in my room, next to the big screen..This way I will never hesitate to light one up when watching a movie.

Thanks Ron! And I hope you like the Fonseca !

Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill Tubos

In november last year, I was in London. While visiting Harrod's I was guided by one of the most impressive shopkeepers I have ever seen :)

Anyhow, I bought myself 3 Romeo Y Julieta Short Churchill's, and I didn't feel like lighting one up, untill last week.

This tubo has the new Romeo y Julieta colours, not the silver anymore but the red and white. Only, this tubo doesn't open on the top, but in the middle. Great distinction! It also doesn't have a screwcap to open, but you can just pull it apart.

The smoke itself was great. I really like robusto shaped cigars, because they give a lot of flavour for a short time. This one was a bit too mild for me though..but I tend to like heavier cigars.


The smoke was beautiful, the Churchill burned great and evenly, and it was a heaven to hold in my hands because of the soft wrapper.

Light hinds of pepper and leather, this cigar keeps its mild flavor from the first puff to the last, while showing no bitterness in the last past. Well rounded taste, and definitely great quality for the price!

I hope I can hold the others long enough in my humidor to last untill the summer, I bet these will smoke superb while laying in the sun!

"Luxurious" is the best way to describe them...

Discovery of a new cigar shop: Vierstraete in Oostende

While I finished my day at a customer in Oostende, I wasn't really looking forward to the 90 minutes trip back home. Therefore I asked around if there was a cigar shop in town, so I could get something for the ride back home. Thankfully, one of the employees knew exactly what I was looking for, and pointed me to Vierstraete.

It looks very small from the outside, but man...it is big!!! A very wide range of pipes and attributes is very nicely stalled for viewing pleasures...but I was mostly interested in the humidor ofcourse.
The humi is not the biggest I have ever seen, but it is packed with a lot of cigars of various cigar brands. They also had a lot of brands that you dont find in most other stores, so definitely a must for guys like me, who are still trying out a lot of different cigars and tastes in order to refine the palette.

Though I didn't had the pleasure to meet the owner Jos Vierstraete (who is a member of the select group of European Maitre-Pipiers), I was guided in a very friendly and professional manner by one of the other employees who graciously took time to answer all my questions and showed me around the humidor to find the specific types I wanted.

Definitely a must for all Belgian cigar lovers, and a place where I will return very often!!
Now if they would just finish their website ;)

H. Upmann Coronas Major Tubo

I still remember my first Upmann. I just bought a whole box ( my first box that I bought actually), and remembering they werent that great. They were definetely not bad, but something in the taste just doesn't appeal to me.

So when I bought this Coronas Major Tubo, I was quite convinced the same flavor would fill my mouth and nose. And it did.
But, wait, first, let me give you some info about this tubo:

It is not expensive, ranged as the Romeo tubos. About the same size and diameter.They smoke great, good draw, but tend to burn uneven. They are spicy ( and that's what I dont like about them), even when you just taste the cigar before liting it. Other flavors that come to mind are toast and dirt. They produce a full flavor, and give a good consistent ash.

So, it definitely is not a bad cigar, but they just dont do it for me. The taste is not my style.

Cuesta-Rey Centenario Pyramid No.9

When I visited the cigar shop Tabaco in Hasselt ( a great website, a big shop, one of the biggest humidors I have ever seen and very friendly host!), I inmediately saw a couple of large boxes with Cuesta-Rey cigars. As they are one of the oldest cigar brands, I never smoked one. So I picked up both a Pyramid No.9 and the maduro version.

So when I got home, I lighted it up quite fast, with a lot of hopes to watch "The war of the world" on tv. Beautiful, grand cigar, with the impressive torpedo, it just looked great in my hand.
Upon lighting it up, it got smoking really fast, leaving me enjoying it right away. Puff after puff, it burned evenly, and all the signs of a great cigarmaker were there.

For the taste, I was somehow dissapointed. Not a powerhouse, but for this expensive big cigar it lacked complexity. While the taste was consistend during the 2hours the cigar lasted, it was too light, leaving notes of earth and wood.
To my opinion, I think it would grow to a heavenly cigar when I would leave it aging in my humidor for some time. Too bad I didn't pick up another one ;)

So, conclusion: A really big torpedo shaped cigar, beautiful to behold, soft to hold, great to draw, but too light on the taste. In a few weeks I will light the maduro, of which I expect a great deal!

Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Churchill

On New Year's eve I was looking for a grand smoke. So I was aiming for a churchill size or Toro size cigar, and while browsing through my humidor ( reminds me I need to create a good cigar database for maintaining my humi) the Arturo Fuente came up. It had a green velvet band around it, and it was just looking pretty.
One smell on the cigar, and I had made up my mind!

I clipped the top off (I dont use my bullet anymore, no specific reason) and lit it...Wauw..
While not a powerhouse on taste (like the Gurkha), it surely did pack some punch. Nutty flavors, and a hint of leather enriched the buttery aroma, while the solid burn made a lot of smoke that created a dark layer of mist on my ceiling.

Definitely a great cigar, though a little too big for my taste. I didn't get bored with it, the taste was consistent through the whole cigar, but I am just not that 2 hour cigar man..A definite must for each humidor!