Perdomo Conmemorativo Maduro

Robusto 5 x 52

Wrapper – Nicaraguan Maduro

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – 4 different Nicarguan

MSRP – TBD

Recently I had a chance to smoke and try out the newest from Perdomo called the Conmemorativo.   The cigar also features a binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Conmemorativo is set to be released in the 2nd quarter of 2011 sometime, more then likely a month or so before the IPCPR trade show.  Perdomo is still working what sizes that will be available for the new line although I have been told that the blend is finalized and the cigars are resting but they will be changing the band a bit, minor details.  The retail on the new line is still a mystery but knowing Perdomo, it will be fair and worth every penny.  Great products at great prices.

I decided to kick back at Blew Smoke in Gilbert AZ and smoke the Maduro Robusto. The Maduro wrapper is a triple fermented maduro from Jalipa Valley in Nicaragua.  Sounds Delicious.

Appearance: The wrapper on the Conmemorativo Maduro is classic.  A very nice, chocolaty colored wrapper with minimal veins and has a slightly dull tone to it.   The cigar is triple capped and is packed with tobacco.

Burn-Construction: After lighting up, I set my lighter down and didn’t need it again.  The burn was razor sharp for the most part, and the Conmemorativo produced a mouthful of smoke.  The ash was strong and gray and stayed with the cigar for a few inches. The draw was open with a tad of resistance, just the way I like it.

Flavor / Strength: Nick Perdomo has called this cigar the strongest cigar that they are currently making and honestly, I believe it.  The cigar started medium plus in strength and by the end was nice and full-bodied.  When I first lit up, I was immediately hit with some cedar spice and hints of chocolate and some flavors that I couldn’t put my finger on.  According to Arthur from Perdomo, this blend is loaded with four different filler tobaccos, “commemorating” the four growing regions in Nicaragua, and because of it, the blend was very complex and unique.

Conclusion: First of all, I am a big fan of Perdomo Cigars.  I love the way they do business and I love the mindset and innovative thinking of Nick Perdomo and Co.  They produce great cigars and with their vertically integrated facilities, they are able to produce quality cigars at great prices and Nick is great about passing those savings right along to the consumer. Quality is not determined by the price tag. The Conmemorativo is a definite winner for Perdomo and gives the smoker yet another, great option.  It is full bodied sure, but it is also very balanced and clean.  A combination that is not easy to accomplish especially with the four different fillers and complexity that you find in the Conmemorativo.  I am looking forward to smoking more of these in the future…

Binder:  Indonesian

Filler:  Corojo and Piloto Dominicano

Size:  5 x 50

MSRP:  $6.00

www.panacigars.com

PANA Cigars was formed for the simple love of the Moment. Moments in the day… Moments in thought… Moments in life. Ultimately, we all have different reasons as to why we choose to share an hour’s worth of a Moment with a cigar. Smoking a PANA Cigar is just that, for the Moment.

– Pablo Enchinton, Owner and creator of Pana Tobacco Co.

Being that I am from Arizona I have taken special interest to the Pana Cigars.  Pablo Enchinton is a local here and his cigars have been drawing local chatter in shops. With his current distribution only in Arizona, and his launch only just in July, it is only a matter of time before he blows up and ventures out.

He currently has two cigars available, the Ligero Maduro and the Connecticut Especial, which is what I am talking about today…

The Connecticut Especial has a Beautiful Bronze Connecticut wrapper on it with minimal visible veins.  The robusto is sturdy and firm with no soft spots…  It is finished off with a perfect pigtail cap that really brings the cigar together.  The cigar has a simple band that flows well with the golden connecticut wrapper.

When I first lit up the Pana Connecticut it had a very distinct and pleasant taste.  Flavors of hay and grass were predominant with a faint mild sweetness to it.  

The Pana Connecticut lit right up with ease and the draw was comfortable, with lots of smoke.

The middle third kept up with the same great flavors as the first.  Bursts of grass and hay with a mild strange sweetness on the back end.

The final third picks up a bit with a bits of spice and  some nutty flavors.

The Pana burned great, jagged at times but never needing corrections.  It had a very nice, white, bright ash that stayed strong on the cigar.

I very much enjoyed the Pana Connecticut Especial.  It was a great mild smoke.  Lots of flavor and very smooth and consistent.  The Pana would go great with a cup of coffee or a wheat beer.

Pablo has decided to keep his cigars for now off the internet and sell exclusively to brick and mortar shops as they are the “backbone of the industry.“

It is only a matter of time before the word gets out on these great sticks…

Follow Pablo on facebook

]]> http://puffingcigars.com/cigar-reviews/pana-connecticut-especial-robusto/5121/feed/ 0 http://puffingcigars.com/cigar-reviews/savinelli-liga-especial/4666/ http://puffingcigars.com/cigar-reviews/savinelli-liga-especial/4666/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:00:30 +0000 Rob http://puffingcigars.com/?p=4666 Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Robusto (5×50)
Strength: Medium

The Savinelli company is known for making great pipes, lighters and beautiful humidors. But did you know they also produce cigars? Since 1994 Sevinelli has tapped some of the worlds best cigar makers to create amazing products representative of their high quality.

The Savinelli Liga Especial is a cigar that made by Oliva and rolled by the V rollers. Ruben Ysidron, the Savinelli CEO, considers this to be his all time favorite cigar. It is currently undergoing a re-branding process and will ship, and display, in retail shops in a baby blue box.

It is also important to note that the Savinelli Liga Especial is also sporting a brand new Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.

Construction: The very first thing I want to mention are the visible veins on the Savinelli Liga Especial. There are two rather large veins running down the entire wrapper that can easily be felt with your fingers. I just wanted to start off with that (as I could only find this on one stick) because being made in the Oliva factory the wrapper, color (milk chocolate), cap, filler and anything else you want to analyze are absolutely perfect.

Draw: I tend to favor a lot of smoke during the smoking process (makes sense right?) so even though I knew a punch would suffice, I opted for the V-Cut.

Burn: “A picture is worth a thousand words” -So feel free to scroll down towards the end of the “Flavor” section and feel free to draw your own assumptions. If you don’t want to ruin the flow of the review then let me explain: the burn was great. It created a nice white ash and I never had to correct the burn after the initial light.

Flavor: Savinelli Liga Especial immediately starts off in the medium body range with a nice creamy smoke. This smoke finishes off with a delicate spice intriguing the palate and causing me to crave another puff. Towards the end of the first 1/3 the spice becomes more peppery, stronger, and the smoke continues to be smooth as silk.

The spice again changes just passed the middle section of the Savinelli Liga Especial. It reverts back to a lighter stage you experienced in the beginning of the cigar allowing a cocoa and wood flavor to come through the tobacco. All these changes are very welcome as it is keeping my palate on its toes. Smoke is still plentiful and creamy on this great cigar.

Finishing the Savinelli Liga Especial is just about the same experience as the middle of the cigar. The body will, again, slightly increase finishing in the medium-full range. Flavors are complex, the smoke is creamy and this has turned out to be a cigar I’m already craving.

Final Verdict: Savinelli Liga Especial retails for $5.xx and can be found online in the $4.xx range. Hopefully you didn’t have to wait for the “final verdict” to figure out this is a must buy cigar. Every humidor deserves a complex cigar, a creamy cigar, a well priced cigar or how about a cigar everyone will just enjoy for many reasons!

Construction: Rustic red in color with just a slight tint of “maduro” qualities this cigar construction was top-notch. The wrapper was very “real” and not hidden with colorings, lasers (to remove veins) or any of the other tricks cigar manufacturers like to apply. There was a good amount of tobacco stuffed inside to make it impossible to find a soft spot and very few veins could be seen or felt.

Draw: If you do not prefer a lot of smoke then it’s okay to give this cigar a punch or V-cut. However for our smoking style, a cigar with a good amount of smoke, we would suggest giving this a cut.

Burn: D Crossier Imperium Class cigar creates a slightly jagged path during the entire burn process. From start to finish the ash created is pepper like and does a great job of holding on. Only on a few occasions did the ash fall off without a nice firm tap.

Flavor: Let’s begin the flavor portion of the cigar review by letting you know that the D Crossier Imperium Class is consistent from start to finish. D Crossier delivers a smooth cigar with a basic tobacco flavor profile that is spicy. As you smoke the Imperium you will notice a slight hint of sweetness that you can even locate during the retro-hale. The finish brings a small change of even more spice that is reminiscent of a Pepin created cigar.

Overall the body is in the medium range and will slightly creep up to the more full segment at the end depending on the smokers palate.

Final Verdict: With a recent shift in pricing we are not quite sure what the D Crossier Imperium Class (or Imperial as we like to say) robusto will run at the local B&M. Despite having that knowledge we still urge the smokers out there to pick this brand of cigars up and give them a try. Especially if you enjoy maduro cigars, spicy cigars or just a new cigar that is carving it’s own flavor profile path. You will not be disappointed!

Today’s cigar in review is the Carmelo Blue by Honduras Caribbean Tobacco. I was first introduced to this cigar while attending the 2009 IPCPR in New Orleans.

I was out for drinks one evening with a few acquaintances when my cigar supply had somehow dwindled down to zero. A young man noticing my dilemma offered  me the Carmelo Blue cigar and a light. After the first initial puffs I was immediately in love with the cigar and joined in a long “B.S.” conversation the rest of the evening.

While speaking to him I was unable to get more information about the Carmelo Blue. I was just told to enjoy it and seek out the Honduras Caribbean Tobacco booth if it was really something of interest to me. I was able to locate the booth and to my surprise this man, Clayton, was working. It turns out Clayton was actually the owner of the company.

Construction: The Carmelo Blue wrapper has a slightly reddish color that looks amazing against the dark blue/purple band. My eyes can visually see some veins but they can not be felt with my hands. The tobacco is packed in there nice and tight ensuring there are not soft spots.

Draw: Since the tobacco in the Carmelo Blue was densely packed I was a little hesitant to start off my smoke with just a punch. However, to much surprise, the Carmelo was drawing like a champ! Each puff required just a slight tug to pull the right amount of thick spicy smoke.

Burn: You’re not going to hear any complaints from me on the burn of the Carmelo Blue. Every single stick created a nice thick ash that was slightly gray in color. Perhaps the perfectionist might notice that the burn was slightly jagged but it never required any corrections.

Flavor: As I sat down on a nice cool evening just after eating dinner I was in the mood for a specific kind of cigar. I wanted a no-nonsense cigar that would be smooth and spicy – this is exactly what the Carmelo Blue delivered.

The first third of my cigar was medium in body and carried the right amount of spice. It wasn’t a pepper stick that would overkill your palate and keep you sipping on water throughout. It was just a medium spice that complimented a very smooth thick smoke. It was interesting how the smoke also left a different flavor of spice on your palate on the exhale and remained until the next puff.

There are not too many noticeable changes in the middle of the Carmelo Blue. If your sense of taste is sensitive enough you may start to pick up a little bit of cedar lingering in the background. Body may slightly increase to the more full range and the spice is still right in the middle. The smoke is still giving me a different flavor profile of spice on the exhale of the thick smoke.

By the time you get to the final third of the cigar the tobaccos and flavors have all married very well. Changes include a slight introduction of dry coco that can be found in the smoke. The body has increased somewhat but many will still find this in the medium range. A straightforward spice, a hint of cedar and a bit of coco make this a great finish.

Final Verdict: The MSRP on this stick is somewhere in the $6.xx-7.xx range. This is a cigar that always transitions and keeps the palate entertained with spice and subtle flavors. It comes in 8 different sizes that will be sure to please any smoker out there.  Because of this I can do nothing but recommend you give this brand/cigar a shot in your humidor!



puffingcigars.com is not only a B&M supporter but we also a support boutique cigar manufacturers. Today we are happy to introduce you to a great cigar company called Honduras Caribbean. This is a true cigar company that owns their own farms and means of production in the Honduras. Starting in 2005 by a gentleman named Clayton this cigar company strives to “offer an affordable cigar with a premium quality taste and appearance.”

The Maduro by Honduras Caribbean is the cigar we will be reviewing today. The Madruo comes in four sizes: Robusto (5×52), Churchill (7×50), Torpedo (6×54) and the Gordo (6×60). From the website the Maduro is described as “Our first 100% sun-grown cigar from the Honduras Caribbean farms in Trojes.  This natural maduro is a powerful and intoxicating cigar with a complex, rich finish.”

Construction: If there is one thing a boutique manufacturer should be able to do it’s control the construction of their product hitting the market. I am proud to announce that the Maduro by Honduras Caribbean was able to do just that. They provide you with a very dark Sun Grown Honduran wrapper that was grown on their own farm in Trojes. The tobacco, again grown on their own farms, is packed into the cigar giving it a nice weight and feel. Looking at the cigars you might be able to see a single faint vein from the toothy wrapper.

Draw: Feel free to choose whatever method you would like to open the cap on the Honduras Caribbean cigar. Regardless of choice you get the perfect draw with just a slight bit of resistance. Your palate will be greeted with just the right amount of smoke for the perfect smoking experience.

Burn: Slightly jagged from start to finish you will not have any issues smoking the Maduro cigar down to the nub. The ash is gray and perfectly able to hold it’s own until you give it a nice firm tap in the ashtray.

Flavor: Doing a pre-light smell/taste on the Maduro by Honduras Caribbean will give you a really good indication to how the cigar is going to smoke. You can smell and the earthy tobacco and wrapper you will soon be greeted with.

From the get-go the smoke is very smooth and very easy on the palate. The most memorable aspect of the cigar is that it will not deliver the “typical” maduro sweetness your taste buds can easily get bored of. Overall the cigar is just great tasting tobacco many will describe as earthy. On the exhale you will also get a slight spice that can barley be noticed but actually rounds off the flavor profile for a great experience.

Towards the end of the first 1/3 I’m picking of a little dry coffee/chocolate taste, again only strong enough to compliment the tobacco. This is exactly how the middle of the cigar will smoke. However I will say the spice has become a little bit more prominent in the finish.

The spice becomes even stronger yet as you enter the final 1/3 of the cigar. At this is the point of the Maduro by Honduras Caribbean you will officially transitions from the medium to full body range. Flavor is still a dry chocolate/coffee that just pairs well with the tobacco that’s packed inside.

Final Verdict: Retailing in the $6.xx range, and even if this cigar had cost more, it is a great buy. It is too easy to create an “okay” cigar with a typical Maduro taste. However very complicated to great a great cigar that provides you with a real sense of the tobacco as the Maduro by Honduras Caribbean has done. So, if you can look past the glitzy advertising of others and want a very solid cigar that will truly bring you enjoyment at a great price – then buy a box of the Maduro by Honduras Caribbean.

Construction: The Di Fazio Maduro looks good enough to take a bite out of. The wrapper seems to be made out of dark chocolate with a slightly rough texture.  Veins can be felt with the finger but do not play any major role in the burn of the cigar. All this rough looking dark tobacco is topped off with an elegant white band that screams for attention.

Draw: Ladies and gentleman we have perfection at its finest. The Di Fazio Maduro cigar can be smoked with a punch or cut and will provide you a great amount of nice smooth smoke.

Burn: The Di Fazio burned slightly jagged and created a peppery ash that held quite well.

Flavor: As of lately most Maduro cigars seem to produce the same sweet, coating, boring smoke that we do not find interesting in the least bit. This is exactly what the Di Fazio Maduro is not.

This Di Fazio Maduro produces a flavor profile that is best described as oaky with a very smooth clean smoke. There is no variation in this from start to finish. However towards the middle of the cigar, after it warms up a bit, you will start to get a dry chocolate taste that compliments the profile and keeps the cigar interesting. In the final section your smoke will get a slight hint of spice that may only be noticeable on the retro-hale or the lingering smoke hits your nose.

Again, not being a fan of Madruo cigars I have to compliment Di Fazio for not following the same sweetened beaten down path. To be quite frank – if we was forced to create a maduro cigar (if only we had the chance)  this is exactly what we would create.

Final Verdict: Di Fazio Maduro robusto has a retail price tag in the $8 dollar range and should absolutely be purchased. This is not the typical madruo you will find at your local B&M and would be a unique addition to any humidor. A smooth clean cigar with an oaky body that produces mountains of smoke can, and will, leave a smile on your face.  After fully reviewing both the Connecticut and the Picoso cigars I can say that Di Fazio is on the right track to stardom by creating cigar lines that do not fit the typical mold.

Construction: Sam Leccia, or we should say Oliva Cigars, have a great reputation for creating high quality products at an amazing low price. Initially hearing this cigar was a “straight Ligero” I figured we were going to be looking at a very dark, rough, sun beaten wrapper. As you can see from the video this was far from the case. The Cain was firm to the touch and the wrapper was very smooth containing minimal veins.

Draw: Let’s chalk another one up for the reputation and quality of Cain Oliva. Punch the cigar, use scissors, bite it – either way you are getting the perfect draw full of thick, butt kicking, smoke.

Burn: Has anyone ever seen the thick white ash a Nub creates? If not, you might have noticed it on the Oliva V, V maduro, or the Master Blend. The Cain cigar follows suit creating the photogenic ash everyone would love to show off. A small 5×50 from Cain took about 1 full hour to smoke.

Taste: With three different type of Ligero composing 82% of this cigar would anyone expect, or even accept, anything less than a blast of spicy power?

Initially your palate will be flooded with a very full bodied cigar producing a black pepper profile. After some initial puffing you may start get a feel for the toasty and leathery notes you will encounter later. Cain is very complex on the profile despite being extremely powerful.

Continuing to be complex and interesting the black pepper blast has finally decreased enough to enhance the overall smoke. The woodsy note will be the most prominent secondary flavor assisted with a bit of earthiness. A sweetness comes through with the thick smoke and remains on the palate until your next draw.

Finishing the cigar is an absolute joy. Much to my surprise the Cain cigar is very creamy and smooth.  You will get an equal mix of black pepper, spice, wood, and earth finished off with just that right amount of sweetness. Cain is a complex smoke that any full body cigar lover will enjoy.

Final Verdict: Price range for the Cain F is about $6 per stick at your local B&M. The F, which stands for Fuerte, is used to designate this specific cigar/package as something different from the Cain line. If you find these boxes or individual sticks online you might be required to make a regular Cain purchase but that’s a good idea anyways. I am interested to see how such a Ligero filled power house cigar will age. Regardless this is a complex and wonderful smoke now and you should go out and pick up a box.

Good evening from the Robusto Room. Tonight I have a very special treat, the exclusive black label from Pete Johnson’s boutique Tatuaje line. Many of you may be saying, “Keith, the black label is old news”. Well, on the heels of the recent IPCPR show in New Orleans, this Cigar has new relevance. Pete has announced that he will re-release the black label in a torpedo vitola and they will be available in tubos. The tubos are gorgeous, simple and elegant in classic Tatuaje fashion. And you might recognize the look of these tubos….Pete has confessed that he ripped off the look from the Partagas Serie P number 2 Tubos. Pete makes no secret of the fact that he is copying the Cuban cigar, he is just trying to do it better than everyone else. Reports say the Black Tubos will be out in the late fall, perhaps as soon as November and they will most likely be packed in boxes of 10 tubes. The perfect Christmas present if you ask me!

If you don’t know the story of the Black Label – perhaps you have been on Desert Island for the last year or so. As the story goes, the Black Label is Pete Johnson’s personal blend. You can read the story here from the Tatuaje website.

Well, as a huge fan of everything Tatuaje, I never had the opportunity to enjoy one of these limited cigars. They had been released earlier in limited edition jars, but these sold out quite quickly. How I came across a coveted 3 pack of these, a pack that is only given out at events with Pete Johnson, is a testament to why its important to build a great relationship with your local tobacconist. I stopped in to see Vartan Seferian, the owner of Ambassador cigars in Phoenix, AZ a few days before IPCPR to discuss what cigars he was looking forward to seeing. Well Vartan knows my love for Tatuaje and we got to talking about all the things Pete is currently working on. When it came up that I had never tried a Black Label, Vartan said this was something he would have to remedy and quickly came back from his personal humidor with a three pack in hand – all for yours truly. Thanks Vartan.

With no further ado, lets get back to the Robusto Room and toast this beauty.

Well, I won’t keep you in suspense friends, this is phenomenal smoke. Jumping to the end of the story – I will be buying a box or 2 of those tubos. Looking over this cigar, to Pete’s point, it’s not a beauty, but it’s unique for sure. The foot is unfinished, not shaggy, it just has some extra wrapper leaf covering the foot. My wife called it uncircumcised – I am going to avoid that terminology and stick with unfinished. Even the unclipped head of this cigar is unique. It comes to a point, almost like a pigtail, minus the twisted pigtail component. When researching this online, I found this style of head is called “Fuma Style”. Who knew?

The black band is very indicative of all of Pete’s lines of cigars – understated, simple, and classic. Pinching the length of the cigar reveals a soft spot near the foot, it doesn’t seem to be loosely packed with tobacco, just a bit soft – nothing to be concerned with. The wrapper actually feels thick and coarse and coats my fingers with velvety oils. The wrapper, although a bit rustic and rough is a beautiful milk chocolate brown. Good thing I already had dinner – I may have mistaken this for a Cadbury Milk Chocolate bar. Even the aroma off the wrapper is reminiscent of cocoa. Even with the covered foot, I am getting strong cocoa notes and toasted nuts. I find myself just savoring this cold aroma.

I clipped the head with my Xikar Multi Tool and no surprise, I get more chocolate on the palette along with rich coffee flavors. It has me really looking forward to setting fire to this beauty as the cold taste is more flavorful than any I can remember recently. Typical of a Pete Johnson and Don Pepin cigar, construction looks to be flawless, the draw is near perfect with just a slight resistance. If you have had a Tatuaje, I am sure you can relate to the description of this draw, as they are quite consistent in this regard.

I used my Blazer pocket torch to set fire to this rare smoke. Immediately my mouth is coated with a peppery spice, typical of a Pepin blend. I am taken a bit by surprise by this as I did not detect this spice on the cold taste, but the pepper tickles my tongue. The complexities of sweet chocolate and an inviting spice play well together and hint at this being a well-balanced stick.

In the first third of the cigar, the flavors are constantly changing, from sweet cocoa, to a pepper spice, to a cedar wood character. I am definitely paying full attention to this stick as I don’t want to miss a flavor characteristic as each puff brings something new. On the retrohale, the pepper tickles the nostrils, but I am able to decipher richer sweet cocoa notes. The resting aroma is intoxicating. The billowing clouds of blue gray smoke fill the Robusto Room and are just as complex as the smoke from each puff. I would classify the first third as medium to full body and the flavors are dense and coat the gums. The burn reminds me of the wrapper, not perfect but uniquely beautiful. It burns a bit wavy, but does not look like it will require a touch up at this point.

I get something very unique with this Tatuaje Black that I can’t say I have experienced before. When I inhale a large amount of the smoke, hold it in my mouth and swirl it around over my palette, I would swear I could feel the flavors melding together. The cocoa, pepper, cedar, and espresso really seem to be competing for attention on my tongue and roof of my mouth.

I can see that the cigar that Pete had back in Cuba truly inspired this smoke. Even the ash reminds me of a Cuban-esque cigar. It is firm, a mineral grey, and although it’s not flaky, its mottled and a bit rustic. The subtle resting smoke from the stick as it sits in my Don Lino ashtray produces hints of soft florals that remind me of a Cuban Romeo & Julieta Short Churchill.

In the second third, everything is still going well. The ash held on for over an inch and needed a gentle tap to escort it into the ashtray. A new flavor has emerged at this point. Green tea and ginger is now predominant along with the cocoa and peppery spice. The green tea adds a refreshing tingle on the palette and when I take a swig of water after a puff, it leaves me feeling refreshed despite the 98 degree smoking weather in Phoenix. As I look down at my iPhone to send a quick tweet, I notice that I have been smoking the Tatuaje Black Label for a considerable amount of time. My hypothesis is that this stick is still a tad wet from my B&M’s humidor, making it smoke a bit slower than most Tatuajes.

Well as this joy comes to a close, I can say it’s not a typical beauty from appearance standards, but it packs a lot of complex and balanced flavors. It already has me wanting to light up another one in the pack to see what I missed on this first go round. The body definitely built to full over the coarse of time that I smoked this, however its not an overtly nicotine rich cigar. I definitely felt a bit more light headed then when I sat down, but it was a relaxing subtle sensation. I highly recommend this cigar to anyone that can get their hands on an original. The strong cocoa complemented by green tea, cedar, and pepper makes for a unique experience and a long finish that I savored long after the cigar was resting in my ashtray. If you can’t get a hold of the original black labels, stop in your tobacconist in the fall and look for the new Tubos – I am confident they won’t disappoint.

Thank you friends for joining me in the Robusto Room and keep puffing cigars!

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This guest cigar review and pictures in this post were submitted by Keith Queen.

As I debated what to smoke on one sunny Sunday recently I asked my good friend Cliff Coen, the proprietor of Casa Fuma Fine Cigars, if he had anything special for me to try.  He thought for a second and then being the gentleman that he is he gave me an Alec Bradley SCR (Select Cabinet Reserve) to smoke.  It was so tasty that I knew that it had to be my next review after having reviewed the abominable Macanudo 1968.

My first experience with Alec Bradley was their Occidental Reserve many years ago and I have been an avid fan ever since!  Some companies produce cigars in the lower wrung of the pricing range and come up with nothing, but Alec Bradley usually strikes gold, and such is the case with the SCR.  It has a modest seven dollar price tag considering the bold medium body flavor it produces from the first puff to the last satisfying exhalation.

Construction: Tight.  That is the word that describes the construction of the Alec Bradley Select Cabinet Reserve.  The triple cap is an exemplar of strong and yet pliable cap design when it comes to a surface for punching a cigar.  The wrapper is smooth with minimal veins and has a tight filler pack, that would typically make me hesitant, but I am proud to report that even with its tight construction it allowed for great air flow through the cigar.  This cigar is truly a world traveler in its construction having a Honduran wrapper which hugs the Indonesian binder, that tightly cradles the Honduran and Nicaraguan filler.

Draw: As mentioned above the cigar construction is tight so there is some resistance on the draw, but it does allow for great air flow and ample smoke to come billowing through the channels.

Burn: The burn of the Alec Bradley SCR is even and consistent.  From start to finish it never burns too hot and consistently creates a genuinely pleasant smoking experience.  Another great tribute to its construction is the ash which is a solid light grey ash that does not dust off until one is ready to do so.  In fact I actually had to hit it hard to shake the ash loose because it had such a tenacious grip on the cigar!

Flavor: The flavor of the SCR is the unique and distinguishing factor that sets this cigar apart from others.  At first puff it starts with some gentle spice notes that gives away eventually to the rest of the flavors which are complex and wonderful until the conclusion.  The SCR interchanges between three flavors throughout the experience: sweet, leathery, and coffee notes.  In smoking the SCR the leather taste is never overpowering and reminds one of the pleasant smell of  fine leather products. When the SCR takes on the coffee notes it is the notes of a rich roast that would gently greet you in the morning, and the sweet is like a floral bouquet that gently kisses the palate!  Trying to describe the sweet factor is difficult, but when you smoke it you will definitely enjoy it and realize it is unique to this cigar, unlike anything one has probably tasted in a cigar.

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Overall Opinion: Alec Bradley has hit one out of the park again with their Select Cabinet Reserve!  From start to finish this cigar is a wonderful smoke that embodies full flavor in an economical platform.  High accolades can never be given often enough to companies like Alec Bradley that produce consistently good cigars for great prices.  So if you are looking for a flavorful smoke with sweet coffee,  and leathery notes then you need not look any further than the Alec Bradley Select Cabinet Reserve!

Retail: $7.xx
Online: $5.xx-6.xx