Verde | CigarCraig's Blog

Everything seems to be going crazy with this pandemic thing, I gotta tell you, it isn’t helping my job search any! Hiring freezes, forget getting an interview, places that are open don’t even allow people in the building, let alone have interviews. Pennsylvania has closed schools, liquor stores and has asked that non essential businesses shut down. It’s crazy, and it’s not going to get better real soon. Right now, as frivolous as it might be, I’m going to keep doing what I do, write my blog about the cigars I smoke. Back in January, Fratello Cigars announced a budget line of cigars being made at La Aurora with camo bands. These come in three wrappers, a Maduro, Habano and Connecticut, and in Robusto and Toro in bundles of 15. These have a retail cost in the mid $3 range. You can see the press release I published HERE. As I remarked in that post, there were a few companies who had budget offerings at the show, not as many as I thought. Alec Bradley was one that comes to mind, they had a Caribbean Classic that was not too bad a cigar for a similar price. So, I set out to smoke the three of the Fratello “Camos” over the last few days, here are my thoughts.

I suppose you thought I’d smoke the Maduro first? You’d be right. I just thought about this, when I smoked cigarettes, I smoked menthols, because I always smoked the cheapest ones I could get (no sense going broke killing yourself), because the menthols pretty much all tasted the same. I wonder if I unconsciously apply this same logic to lower priced cigars? Does the stronger flavor of the maduro leaf compensate for other shortcomings? Just a theory. Anyway, the Fratello Blu is the maduro in this line, and has a nice, dark wrapper of unpublished origin, just like the rest of the blend. All we know is that it’s a cigar, and it’s made at La Aurora, which is pretty much enough for me. I trust Omar and La Aurora. The maduro is what I expect from a maduro, a nice, medium, chocalaty cigar. The burn was good, I expect it’s mixed filler as the ash didn’t hold on particularly long, but I could be wrong. Overall, a nice cigar.

Next up was the Rosso, which has a Habano wrapper, and again, we don’t know where this comes from. Contrary to my usual preferences, this was actually my favorite cigar of the three. Again, the burn was very good, although the ash retention was less than spectacular. In fairness, it was windy, and I took a walk, mindful to keep my distance from other people. I think cigars are good for that, for the most part, especially in public. Much of my walking is done on a trail operated by the county parks department, which they threatened to close due the the whole virus thing. I would likely have been a scofflaw, as I would have used the trail anyway. It remains open, because it’s actually a thorofare, and what are they going to do, barricade it off? what a waste of resources that would be! Anyway, The Fratello Rosso has a nice, sweet flavor that I found appealing, more akin to a Sumatra wrapper than a Habano, I thought. I dug it, and for a sub $50 bundle of 15, I think this is a nice smoke.

Finally, I smoked the Verde last night, which is a the Connecticut offering, and we have to ASSume this is Ecuador Connecticut, because expensive cigars can’t afford USA Connecticut, we aren’t going to see it on a bundle cigar. This wrapper was a darker Connecticut, not claro, it was only a shade or two, by my eye, lighter than the Rosso. I’m sure the trained eye sees this differently, there’s something like 67 different shades of tobacco leaves. This one was, for me, noticeable milder than the previous two, with the other two being solidly in the medium camp. Again, the burn was good, not going to win any longest ash contests, and the flavors were typical of a shade cigar, some nuttyness and cream. These were stored together since I got them, oddly this particular one could probably have smoked better had it been a little drier. This is a littler counter-intuitive, but just my observation. Anyway, there’s my take. For me, they are in order of preference, Rosso, Blue and Verde, but all are a great value, and I think they are due in stores over the next few days barring Armageddon.