Disappointing Box of CAO Italia Novella

About a year ago I won a box of 25 CAO Italia Novellas (i.e. petite corona size) in a cigarbid auction. I had smoked 5 of these before and found them to be incredibly full, rich and flavorful and thus unusual for their small size.

My excitement about this blend has dulled since then. Out of the 25 cigars in the box, 10 were prohibitively tight in draw. Out of those 10, five were wrapped so tight as to be completely unsmokable. The other 15 were excellent, as I expected.

To my mind, 15 out of 25 is a poor batting average for a box of expensive cigars. Luckily I won them for only $55.00, because their list price has skyrocketed since then - a whopping $116.00 at Famous!

I am wary of ever buying these again - even though when correctly rolled, they are one of my favorite cigars.

Carlos Torano 1916 Corona

It's been more than two years since I smoked a Carlos Torano 1916 Cameroon Corona. I gave it a good review the first time, and now after a second try I can simply say that it is one of the best coronas you will currently find at ANY price on the market.

Slightly reminiscent of an H. Upmann cameroon corona - but infinitely better. Better-performing than the Rocky Patel Vintage 90 or 92 petite coronas (sorry Rocky!). As zesty as a Tatuaje Havana IV Angeles- but more refined and half the price. As full-flavored as an Indian Tabac maduro tepee - but better tasting and well worth the extra buck. As tasty as an Alec Bradley Maxx Nano - but cooler and more complex. And certainly, hands-down better-drawing and tasting than the two underwhelming Cuban coronas smoked by my friend Hank in Germany a year ago.

Although small in ring size, this cigar delivers a wallop of flavor. Medium in strength, it tastes great from first light and continues to billow you through realms of ecstasy until the last inch. The profile is nutty with hints of caramel, fruit and hard wood.

In narrow-ring cigars you are right to expect a bit of fiery zing. In the 1916 corona, the zing is in evidence but not overpowering. It gives you the initial rush of a small cigar and then eases back and builds in character over time. Folks, this smokes like a big cigar. Or very darned close. And, since it is 5.5 inches long, it lasts for an hour, or just about as long as a fat robusto.

You are a fool not to try this cigar. At $69 for a box of 25, this is likely one of the best 3 dollar smokes you will ever encounter. Give 'er a try and see if you agree.

Nice! RP Edge Corojo toro

Wow, what a pleasantly strong and sweet surprise! Rocky Patel The Edge corojo (toro) is nothing fancy to look at, but boy is it an excellent smoke. Great, powerful flavor and cool easy draw. If you close your eyes, you could swear you were smoking a maduro - there's a tell-tale tinge of sweetness, not cloying at all, but just right - that takes this cigar over the top.

I'm putting this very close to the Olde World corojo robusto in terms of quality. The Edge sells at a much lower price point - incredible bang for the buck.

On a side note - I must say that I first tried an Edge corojo toro a few months ago, and that stick was simply awful. A dry and bitter flavor, not enjoyable at all. So there may be consistency issues, or just poor humidification at the CI warehouse. Or my taste buds might have been off that day. It happens occasionally - you try 2 or 3 cigars and none of them tastes right. A week later, a cigar from the same pack tastes wonderful.

In sumary: One excellent Edge corojo toro, one horrible Edjge corojo toro. I would hope that the positive experience described in this review is the definitive one.
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5 Vegas Miami Churchill: Best of the Bunch

Of all the 5 Vegas Miami sizes, the narrow (48 ring) Churchill is the best. It has a perfect draw (easy but not loose), a pleasing aroma, and excellent medium-strength favor from beginning to end.

In my experience most Churchills, especially the thicker-ringed ones, waste the first inch warming up. You might as well buy yourself a Toro and save yourself the wait. I've had better luck with 48-ring Churchills, which are easier to light and tend to bring on the flavor right away.

Case in point is the 5 Vegas Miami, whose Churchill offers a wonderful combination of woody, spicy flavors - a nice warm broth which gets slightly stronger as you smoke away the inches. High performance and no bitterness to the very end - another outstanding feature, since many Churchills tend to peter out with two or three inches to go.

You can tell I'm not a Churchill fan. Which goes to show just how special the 5 Vegas Churchill is. It won me over despite my preconceived notions.

If you have never tried a 5 Vegas Miami, start with the Churchills, which capture the best flavor characteristics of the other sizes and are superior in construction and burn. The Churchill stands up to other medium-strength Pepin Garcia blends, and is more affordable than most of them.

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RP I-Press: Earthy as it Gets

You never know what to expect with a Rocky. I figured the RP I-Press would be a subdued smoke due to its length and the fact that it is box-pressed.

Not so. This is a powerful maduro cigar with a strong flavor kick. Question is whether you will enjoy this particular flavor, which I would describe as deep, stark and earthy, and just on the border of souring into charcoal.

You may love this cigar or hate it, depending on your tolerance for peat, yard-leaf and the like. It has a coarse, middle-brow quality rather than one of refinement. If you are in a coal-shoveling, stoke-up-the-furnace kind of mood, it might just be what you're looking for.

Compares favorably to:

• Cu-Avana Intenso
• Quintero maduro robusto
• Indian Tabac maduro toro (the I-Press is superior)
• 5 Vegas Cask Strength II

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5 Vegas Cask Strength II

The naming convention of this cigar is accurate: The 5 Vegas Cask Strength II is a rollicking, heavy cigar which I would describe as relentlessly strong and gravelly. What it lacks (slightly) in the flavor department, it makes up for in full-body mouth feel and hazmat-grade cloud production. It is simply a pleasure once in a while to smoke a cigar this bombastic.

This cigar is intense and unvarying from beginning to end. By the last inch, it was almost too much. I love strength and it takes a lot to humble me. By the end, I was relieved to put it down, like a kid getting off a carnival ride that turned out out to be a bit more than he reckoned for.

That's not to say I didn't like this cigar. It was wonderful on its own rough-hewn terms. You will probably find something to like about the Cask Strength II if you have enjoyed any of the following:

• Graycliff Espresso & Double Espresso
• Cu-Avana Intenso
• Rocky Patel I-Press toro
• Rocky Patel Super Fuerte maduro toro

I like some of these cigars more than others (especially the Graycliffs) but they all share body and flavor characteristics that I found to some degree in the Cask Strength II.

Happy trails. Don't be surprised if this horse kicks you in the ass.

5 Vegas Relic - Fairly Classy and Worth a Try

The 5 Vegas Relic is a well-constructed dark brown perfecto of medium-to-full strength that performs and tastes considerably better than the 5 Vegas "A" series... and is light years beyond the crappy "classic" blend. It burns with a musky fullness and tones of pepper and maple, putting it on the spectrum between the 5 Vegas Miami line and the stronger, coarser "Cask Strength II" series.

Something tells me the Relic is not going to be a gangbusters, bid-to-the-stratosphere hit, but a solidly respectable smoke whose price may relax a bit in the months ahead. If you want extra flavor, choose the Miami. If you want sand-blasting strength, choose the Cask Strength II.

I myself prefer the Miami, but the Relic is almost as good, and is priced appropriately in the $100/box range. You get what you pay for - a decent but not miraculous five-dollar cigar.

Just remember to stay away from the "classics"... they stink. Cigars International should stop misrepresenting them with rave blurbs written 6 years ago.

Camacho 1962 Lonsdale - Adequate at Best

Not much to say about this cigar. It has a good light, burn and draw, and brings occasional flavors of robust wood and earth for a nice quick 45 minutes. For a narrow-ring cigar, it produces a hefty and satisfying volume of smoke. However it is a bit on the dry side, and veers into bitterness now and then. Not the Camacho you dream of.

If you manage to win a 5-pack of these on cigarbid.com for 7 bucks, like I did, consider yourself well-served. But do NOT pay full price expecting a luxurious smoke. It's just not there. Great for doing yardwork or snarfing down in your car with the top down. Or whiling away an hour in the garage on a rainy day.

For a much better lonsdale-sized Camacho, try the corojo cetros.

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Perfection: Padron 1964 Maduro Imperial

What a difference a shade makes! About a year ago I wrote a negative review of the Padron 1964 Imperial (natural) which drew several comments along the lines of "are you out of your frigging mind -- this is a great cigar!" Well, that was a natural, and I stand by my word.

Now for the maduro. This is, simply put, one of the finest cigars you will ever smoke. If you like maduro flavor and medium-to-strong intensity, you will not find a smoother, finer burning, more perfect drawing, cloud-of-smoke-producing pleasure stick. The flavor is rich and, although not especially tantalizing at first, soon develops very pleasing characters of nuttiness, wood, chocolate and spice which peak in the middle and continue to the very last inch.

This cigar is extremely expensive ($14 per stick online, last time I checked -- assuming you can actually find it in stock anywhere) but in this case you are actually getting the perfection that the extra dollars imply. Very few expensive cigars live up to their hype.

Padron, I'm a believer. Maduro, that is. Black gold. Superstar.