It’s been another busy week, lots of great cigars smoked, and making some progress putting together this year’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways. It should be another good one this year! I’ve smoked about eight cigars since my last post here, and you may notice I am only featuring five here today. If you follow my Instagram account (here) you can get a pretty good idea what cigars I smoke during the week. There are a few reasons I may not feature a cigar here, sometimes it’s one of my favorites that I go to often, other times I either feel like I need to smoke more to get a handle on the cigar, or the cigar just sucks (to me, every cigar is somebody’s baby, who am I to crap on it just because I don’t like it?). Anyway, that’s a little glimpse into some of my process, which is basically just to unwind with a great cigar in the evenings, not much more to it than that!
Last Sunday I capped off the weekend with the new Avo Syncro Nicaraguan in the box pressed toro size. This is a great looking 6″ x 54 cigar, and was in the Davidoff IPCPR sampler. I had previously smoked the Short Robusto, which was featured on The Cigar Authority show, so I was looking forward to a couple of hours of enjoyment from this toro. I received the enjoyment, and I was a little worried because my Avo track record isn’t great. This one is different with the inclusion of tobacco from Ometepe (the volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua), with the darker Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Dominican binder and other fillers from the DR and Peru. I found this to be a great smoke, although I cant really say that there’s anything that would send me back to the store for more, there are other cigar in that priced range that have something special to offer. Again, I have a record of not “getting” Avo cigars, so there’s that, but it was a very good cigar, just not particularly notable.
Tuesday I took a walk with something new from Padilla, the Reserva San Andrés in the robusto size. I had never met Ernesto Padilla until Victor Vitale introduced me to him at the IPCPR this year. The Reserva also comes in a Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 version, and they are made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras, along with some other of my favorite cigars. Of the three cigars, of course I had to smoke the San Andrés first. This was a very well constructed and slow burning robusto. At one point about half way through the cigar I got an interesting exotic spice flavor that I found quite unique. It didn’t have the tastes I expected, but was excellent anyway, this is one I would buy the next time I see it in a store, and they are priced in the $6 range, so they are quite affordable. Maybe one or both of the other others will get smoked today.
Next up was a La Flor Dominicana LG Diez Vintage 2015 Lusitano which was in a bunch of cigars I received a few weeks ago from Jonathan Carney, VP of Sales at LFD. The unique thing about this line is that it’s a Dominican puro, and to take it one step further than that, all the tobaccos are grown on La Flor Dominicana’s own farms. I don’t know what they do at LFD, but their Dominican cigars are unlike any others, in my opinion. I often forget that they are Dominican, they are full-bodied and spicy for the most part, and I really enjoy them. This also comes in a new robusto or Rothschild size that I look forward to sampling. These are pretty awesome cigars that are quite relaxing and satisfying.
Friday I went with the new Gurkha Heritage in the Toro size. This cigar comes in a cedar sleeve, and has a Rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, does it seem like Connecticut Shade wrapper just because of the green ribbon at the foot of the cedar sleeve? I guess I’m just conditioned to see green ribbon on a cedar sleeve and think Fuente Chateau (or Tortuga Connecticut) and expect a milder cigar. This was a solid medium cigar, and it was loaded with pleasant mellow woody flavors and was a really enjoyable smoke. I expected a mild cigar, and wasn’t in any way let down. Good construction, nice draw and burn, and good flavor. Say what you want about Gurkha, but they do make some great smokes, and this is a winner in my book.
Finally, yesterday I smoked the new Alec Bradley Post Embargo in the Toro size. This is a box pressed toro which measures 6¼” x 54, but the box press makes it seem a little thinner. I smoked the lancero last week and liked it, but wanted to compare it to the larger ring gauge. These have a Honduran wrapper, which in my experience, isn’t the most flavorful of wrappers. I enjoy the flavors in this cigar, it’s a medium bodied, just plain good smoke. I only picked up a handful of these a week ago, so I’ll be revisiting this as well as the lancero and Robusto in the future, but it seems like another solid line from Alec Bradley. They did a complete makeover of the packaging and bands on the line, and the finished product is quite classy. I’ve been a fan of Alec Bradley since the Trilogy line back in the mid 2000’s, they continue to produce good cigars, with all but the Fine and Rare series in what I consider the “reasonably priced” category.
That’s all for now. I also smoked a great CAO Flathead Steel Horse and another Sobremesa, this time in the Corona Grande size, and all I can say about the Sobremesa is that I wished it was longer, great cigars that deserve the accolades they are receiving. I hope all of my US readers have a great Thanksgiving celebration with your families, and pick out some great post turkey smokes! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Where do I find cigar sampler of the month club??
The Litto Gomez Diez is one of my favorites for exactly the same reasons you say. Great flavor and smooth. Have a great Thanksgiving.
I totally agree with you on the Gurkha Heritage, I found a well constructed cigar.