Piedra Blanca de Veras Diplomatico

I got this beautiful cigar from a friend at our fencing club, who had this one in his possession for a long time. The cigars have not been stored properly, so a lot of flavors have gone. After a few months of carefull rehydration in my humi, they are now smokable again.

This smoke, a dominican Diplomaticos measuring 6 by 44, branded with the number 15, is a long veiny smoke with a good constructed cap.Presented in red label, it has "Olor Dominicano" and "Piloto Cubano" filler, Dominican binder, and Connecticut shade wrapper.




After clipping, the dry draw was effortless, not even the slightest resistance. It burns evenly after lighting it, giving the feeling of a good constructed cigar.

The taste itself is dry, don't know if that has anything to do with the age and the improper storing during the years. The cigar is very light and burns quite fast at first. However, a few times a correction was necessary.

Tastes are primarely nutty, with a hint of spice. In the second halve, the spice comes out very strong, but that can also be because I had to relight it alot of times.


The ashes are not very solid, so keep an ashtray close!

Partagas Serie D no5 Edicion Limitada 2008

This morning, the sun was shining. Time for a special smoke during my daily commute to Brussels (which normally takes me about 1hour). I looked around in my humi, to look for the best smoke on this day. It should be a small smoke, to finish in the hour. It left me with 2 choices: my last RyJ Short Churchill or the Partagas limitada of 2008.

I chose the Partagas, because I have never smoked this one. It looked perfectly, no bumps. It felt sweet, not silky like older cigars, and firm.

After clipping, the dry taste left me with a tobacco smell and taste, with a really good draw. So, I lighted it up.




Immediatly a lot of smoke..puffing went great, almost no resistance!! That is how I like my cigars !! first puffs revealed a strong spicy taste, a little bit too much on my empty stumach..

Getting in my car and puffing away, I could taste also hints of leather and earth (like every Partagas cigar). After 20 minutes the spicyness was still there, not to the liking of my bowel system. For the first time in over a year, my stumach was complaining about the cigar. Not that the cigar is that heavy, but the spicyness was almost upsetting.


The taste doesn't really change, it doesn't get softer of more other tastes..Perhaps they were just cloacked by the spices..
Great ashes, but I arrived at work too early to smoke it fully. The rest is waiting for my afternoon smoke in the sun.

Would I smoke this again? Definetely, but after a good meal.It looks like they packed all the action from a big cigar into this little one..

Great smoke, but beware ;)

Romeo y Julieta 1875 Reserva Real Corona

While it has been an interesting time to smoke cigars (the sun is shining again, spring and almost summer), I havent been posting on my blog since february. Since then, NUB's have been taking the market by storm (and indeed, they are delicious) and I had plenty of cigars to enjoy.

This RyJ was laying in my humi for quite some time, and since today is the day to vote (flemish and european elections), I had the time and occasion to smoke a gentle cigar.

I just came back from balloting my vote, sitting down at my new desk to enjoy a coffee and do some research.


My sister got me this smoke from her travels across the USA. And what a smoke it is! It looks smooth, the Ecuadorian wrapper feels not so oily, wit some large veins. As used from RyJ, the cigar is fabulously rolled. No imperfections, and after cutting, the dry draw is perfect.

The Nicaraguan binder and a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers taste great when lighting. The cigar lights up perfectly and the first draws produce a lot of smoke. I was surprised how light the taste is !


It produces a greyish ash, which is not too consistent, floaks fall of every now and then. No burn troubles, although it didn't smoke even, but no touch ups were made.

Flavors are light: definitely some wood, wet bark. Yes, it tastes like a morning walk in the woods, with a hint of nuts and almons maybe.

Being so light, a great cigar for people who are starting to smoke cigars. Definetely great, and more then fair-priced !!

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.

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!

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...

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.

Cigar review: Gurkha Regent

I remember when I got this cigar: My sister brought it with from San Francisco after I gave her the Top2005 list from Cigar Afficionado. I clearly remember when she gave me the plastic bag with the cigars, the Gurkha sticking out.
It was big, it had an odd shape, not round, but squared with round edges, and it smelled a lot..not good, just a lot..I dreaded the day I had to smoke it, and I tucked it away far below in the humidor.

Then came the day I was aching to see the Godfather (Part I ofcourse) again, and I was looking in my humi for a matching powerhouse cigar.
The Gurkha laid there, with its dark wrapper.


I picked it up, and smelled it: the stench was gone, and a flowery dark odeur came flowing in my nose. This was the chosen one for tonight.
It felt perfect in my hands, and I lit it up: it drawed great for such a big and heavy cigar, and the strange shape felt quite good in my mouth. it even tasted sweet, and the smoke was very complex, feeling buttery and sweet.

Some sidenotes I found online for this dominican cigar: the blend is comprised of Dominican Piloto & Cuban Ligero, an Indonesian binder and an exquisite, Nicaraguan Havana 2000 wrapper. It has aged for 5 full years.

This was such a great cigar, I have to admit one of the best cigar experiences I ever had..But I dont know if it comes because it had laid in my humidor for 18 months or because it is a great cigar..if someone can find any, please stop by at my house to give me some ;)

Cigar review: Davidoff Entreacto

While studying with Thomas on the nature of Managerial work, in the middle of reading Mintzberg and his managerial roles, I felt like smoking a small cigar for brief pauze.

And that's where the Davidoff cigar, Entreacto comes in:
The Spanish word Entreacto comes from the world of the theatre, where it means a brief interlude between acts. As the name implies the Davidoff Entreacto wass developed for all those smokers who have very little time to spare but who do not want to forgo the pleasure of a really first-rate cigar.

It really is a small cigar, measuring only 8.9cm, which is great as a 20 minute smoke.
The silky Connecticut wrapper feels great and the blend of Dominican tobacco smokes very well-balanced. The price is a bit heavy for this small cigar, as with all Davidoff smokes, but the pleasure makes this cigar a great smoke for the time when you just want to have a pauze.

Cigar review: Davila Soldado Maduro

Well, another week, another cigar. This week I am having the Gil Conzales Davila Soldado Maduro fresh from the humi, to accompany me for Key Largo, starring Humprey Bogart.
For such heavy lifting on the screen, I needed to sport a heavy cigar to balance it out. That is why I chose this dark Honduran cigar that measures about 12,4 cm by 44 ring gauge.

The cigar only came to life after smoking it for about 15 minutes. The first part was difficult, it burned uneavenly and went out really quick. Taste here was very mild. After about 15 minutes, the cigar really came to life. As more perfume was released the taste grew and the excitement on the screen really completed the experience.

Final verdict? Not nearly as good as a Romeo y Julieta Romeo No.2 (my favorites), but nevertheless I give it an 86%.

Cigar review: Zino Classic No. 6

Long time since I smoked a Davidoff, and tonight is the ocassion. Just me, a glass of Glenfiddich Solera, a Zino Classic No.6 and "The third man" with Orson Welles.

The Zino lights up very easy, and even after a few puffs it burns equally and smooth. You instantly get the Davidoff feeling, the feeling you are smoking a great cigar (though little overpriced). The robusto with Honduran and Dominican filler gives a lot of earthy, buttery taste, and towards the end some nuts and toast came to mind. I really enjoyed the taste, though it was a little dry for me: It sucked all the liquids out of my mouth.

Really great taste though, but I do still favor the Zino Platinum over this one...