Smoke on the Horizon...

It's been almost two years since I last posted to this blog. What could have caused someone so passionate about cigars to just drop off the face of the cigar blogging universe, you ask? Well, I'll tell you: I managed to meet the woman of my dreams, I married her, and just recently became a father of the most beautiful little girl in the world, my daughter Nina.

This was a lot to accomplish in two years, and though I never stopped smoking, I lost much of the late night hours I had used before to work on my blog posts and forum whoring.

But now I'm back.

Ready to begin again. Only this time, I've decided to take it to the next level. For some reason, a renewed sense of urgency burns within me, and now I am no longer content with where I was before. I'm now working on a site to incorporate blogs on not just cigars, but the things cigars go best with. At least in my life. Wine & Spirits baby. Wine & Spirits. Because let's face it, we never smoke without something to drink. I also have a love and passion for writing with vintage fountain pens so, if I can, I'll even try to find a way to work that in. Video blogging will be a staple on my new site as well, for those of you too highbrow to read.

So I guess just take this post as a heads up. As I move closer to broadcast, I will give all the details on the new domain so that those of you, all six of you, who actually care will know where to go.

Illusione cg:4

PLEASE NOTE: This blogger and blog has moved to his new home: http://covetry.net

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.4

Tonight's cigar was like jazz; smooth, sweet, and unpredictable. It is the Illusione cg:4. A new cigar by a new company. They are unlike any others out there right now and boy is it refreshing. Created by Dion Giolito, this boutique brand is made in small batches. The tobacco used is from first generation Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98 seeds and Cafe Colorado leaf. They are made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras and are finished with a beautiful cuban style triple cap. All the tobacco is aged for about three years prior to rolling.

Lets start with the wrapper: One word comes to mind immediately: aged. The wrapper is a silky smooth texture and a beautiful dark brown color. No blemishes on mine. It smells suspiciously like a cuban. But of course it’s not. Or is it?

Pre-Light: As all cigars should be it is triple capped and it guillotined without a shred or tear. Draw is perfect and I know I say this about alot of cigars because I’m really not that picky, but with this cigar it truly is as smooth and easy as ever. Before lighting it tastes of heavy tobacco, maybe hints of nutmeg.

Taste: The first inch or so is strong tobacco and spice right out of the gate. But then, almost instantly, it hits you with this sweet, caramel taste for a bit. Around the halfway point heavy tobacco notes come back framed by that same candied sweetness. You really don’t want it to end. The finish is long and spicy, coming back full circle to the taste of the cigar at first light.

The ash is not strong at all, it can and probably will fall into your lap if your not careful, but really who cares? This cigar is really something special. Just after burning my fingers on the nub I ran upstairs and ordered myself a box from the place I ordered the samples: New Havana Cigars. I love this company, the cigars came completely sealed in plastic with a humidipak for freshness. Great guys there, always ship my order same day. After smoking this cigar I am not one bit surprised it was rated up in the top ten cigars of the year by Cigar Aficionado.

Arganese Maduro - Robusto

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Wrapper: Brazilian
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.0

This company has become a very recent addition to my cigar vocabulary. Created by a land developer and avid cigar smoker, this new company is really producing some spectacular smokes right now. The cigar reviewed here is from the Maduro line. The thing I really love about this company is that they break up their cigars into three blends, Mild, Medium, and Strong. And they are all really fantastic, with the Medium line (the Maduro's) rising to the top. With an introduction like that, I should just get down to business.

The only reason this cigar did not score higher was due to some of its cosmetic problems. The wrapper is veiny and toothy, not the best looking maduro wrapper I've come across, but its not ugly by any means. The cigar band is a bit tacky and cheap feeling, which wouldn't be an issue if this was just another cheap house brand smoke but this cigar can compete with the best of them, and I found myself longing for a band that said as much.



The cigar cut clean and pre-light draw tasted of chocolate and aged tobacco. The draw was perfect for my taste, the burn was even but I should note that the ash tends to curl and get blown off on this cigar, which is something I don't come across often. The first inch or so of this cigar tastes heavily of cappuccino. Further smoking brings in dark chocolate underlined by a hint of spice. This keeps up until the midway point where the chocolate fades to a heavy tobacco taste. The finish is short, in fact the whole smoke is short, and ends on that heavy tobacco taste with hints of spice throughout. Fabulous cigar, I currently have a few boxes on order and for the price, $6 a stick, I can't imagine why I haven't bought more...

Romeo y Julieta - Vintage III

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Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican

Cigar Stars Rating: 8.0

This cigar has a long and sometimes troubled history. The vintage line was started back in 1993 and was hailed as one of the greatest cigars from the R & J line until around 2000. Since then, for some reason the quality and consistency of this cigar has been routinely called into question. Perhaps it is due to the fact that around that time the factory, which was located in the Pisano Free Zone of Santiago, was relocated to La Romana on the eastern end of the island. Some believe this is when the quality and consistency began to decline. These, of course, are rumors and are to be taken as such.

The wrapper on this cigar is a skin tone color, very light brown, with no imperfections whatsoever. The tobacco used in these cigars are usually aged between 2-3 years before production. I should say before I start that my box has a consistency problem, the wrapper colors vary slightly as does the flavors the sticks produce. That might make this review a little less useful, but hopefully not. The construction on this cigar was really fantastic, the head is nice and long and even with a guillotine cut there were no unravelling issues. Pre-light draw tasted of nuts and licorice. Once toasted this cigar drew well and burned perfectly even the whole way through. The first inch was heavy on the nuts and licorice taste with a hint of sweetness, but by halfway that sweet turned sour and a tad bitter. After the middle point, the nuts were accompanied by heavy doses of cedar and this underlying bitterness that I honestly was not expecting. The finish is long and a tad metallic. I was a bit disappointed by this cigar and wish I could have given it a higher rating as I am a long-time fan of R & J's (my first cigar was one) but this one was a little bit of a disappointment.

Arturo Fuente - Hemingway Signature Maduro

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Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.0

This is a limited release cigar by one of my favorite makers out there. Let's start with the gorgeous maduro wrapper, covered in the classic sandpaper-like bumps it smells sweet and musky. The construction on these cigars is always perfect, as would be expected from the Fuente rollers. Pre-light draw tastes of tea leaves and honey. After the first minute of puffing the draw opens up and the flavors come in. Mellow is the key word in the first half of this cigar. Lots of tea, honey, maybe some cedar. The smoke is very mild mannered and elegant. And if I'm honest, I loved every minute of it. At the halfway point it strengthened up a bit, with cedar and nutty flavors coming in stronger, always holding on to that initial sweetness. The finish is short and a tad warm, holding onto the sweet taste of cedar till the last puff. This is a mild to medium-bodied cigar, but it is complex and sweet and balanced. I could smoke it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you're lucky enough to find these in your local store do yourself a favor and purchase more than one. Once you try it, you'll be happy you can go back for more.

Padron 1926 Series - 80th Anniversary

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Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.2

If there is such a thing as 'hype' in the cigar world, this was the cigar that may have started it. I have had the unique privilege and pleasure to have already smoked four of these bad boys. Every single time the cigar's construction was perfect, the draw was literally perfect, the burn was perfect. And at over $30 a piece, they damn well better be. This is far and away the strongest cigar I will probably ever review on here. Pre-light draw is heavy on the tobacco and licorice. Once lit, this cigar exudes a sharp and potent, almost unmistakable, Padron smell. It can literally sting the nostrils. Not that its a bad smell at all, just potent.

The tastes are strong and a tad spicy right out of the gate. An older aficionado with an acute sense of taste could, I believe, pull many different flavors out of this cigar. It's that complex. I am not blessed with such a sense of taste, so I will just stick to what I could put my finger on. Leather and nuts, and lots of both, danced around on a stage of spicy nutmeg the entire smoke. I could have sworn I tasted berries for a bit as well. For most of the cigar the strong leather notes fight with the nutty notes, almost as if they are pushing each other back and forth for my attention. This is no short smoke, took me over an hour, and if you try to rush it down I can guarantee you will walk away reeling from cigar buzz. Overall, this smoke is superb. Simply one of the best around.

However, I fear the Padron's reach may have exceeded their grasp when you consider the price. At $32 MSRP, this is one of the most expensive smokes on the market, and with such limited quantities made this stick is now almost impossible to find anywhere close to the original price. A quick search on the Internet today revealed a online retailer charging over $40 a stick. I don't even want to think of what they are charging at tourist stops in Vegas or Key West. The fact of the matter is, the price of this cigar is beyond unreasonable. Look at my last review, a five dollar cigar that gives me just as much pleasure as this one. Sure this cigar is far more complex and has that certain "snob" appeal, but I can smoke six Hoyo Epicure's for the price of one 80th Anniversario. The math speaks for itself.

Hoyo de Tradicion - Epicure

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Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican blend

Cigar Stars Rating: 8.9

This little cigar was quite a surprise. Lets start with the beautiful Honduran-grown Viso Rosado wrapper which was cultivated from the Jamastran Valley. Its reddish-brown, toothy, and visually beautiful. The draw was good, with just the hint of drag. It is medium sized and medium bodied, with heavy leather notes for the first inch or so accompanied by subtle nutty, spicy undertones. This cigar burns perfectly, nice and slow. About midway this cigar begins to open up, the leather begins to fade into the background and the nutty, cedary tones really come out, with that same tickle of spice on the back of the palette. The ash is peppered white and holds strong till the halfway point. The finish brings back the original leather note but the spicy undertones that were present throughout the cigar come on strong and keep building until the last puff. This smoke is really fantastic, and CHEAP! At a little under $5 a stick, you really can't complain. Overall, very pleased.