La Aurora 1495 Connecticut and Cameroon (Blind Tasting)

Over the last several moths I have been toying with the idea of doing some sort of blind tasting. Being the video heavy site that we are, I knew this was going to be a tough task to implement over skype with Brian, Jerry and myself. The next best thing was to go ahead and do it locally with the guys from my favorite cigar shop.

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Jose Blanco from La …

What goes on during a blind tasting?

Have you ever picked up a copy of a popular cigar magazine and wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall at their blind tasting? On many occasions I have read the blind reviews and wondered if they went about the review in the same way that I did.

Do these guys talk to themselves and second guess the flavors they are picking out of the smoke like I do? Does their instinct to reach …

La Aurora Barrel Aged

Brand: La Aurora Barrel Aged
Vitola: #4
Ring Gauge: 43
Length: 5.75
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Origin: Dominican Republic
Price: Roughly $6.00

Brand:
The Barrel Aged by La Aurora is a creation of one Jose Blanco. The Corojo Oscuro wrapper of this cigar is sealed within an oak barrel, which once contained Dominican rum. Wanting to try something different Jose first placed the wrapper leaves in barrels and allowed them to age for one year. …

Free Cuba (Guest Review)

Back once again, for another Guest Review
we have Steve aka Ratters from
our very own Fan Forum

Cigar: Free Cuba
Wrapper: Connecticut shade (Dominican?)
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican long filler
Vitola: Toro
Price: $1 if bought by the bundle. They actually make you take two bundles. Bastards.

Setting: Sun room, about 85 degrees out, 2pm, drinking a diet Sunkist that’s about to be replaced with a root beer.

Pre-light:
Well, the cigar is definitely shade grown, but with definite …

Perdomo Patriarch Corojo Torpedo

I have for you again another cigar that premiered at this year’s IPCPR. This time, we’re taking a look at the new offering from Perdomo, named the Patriarch. In keeping with the name, this cigar is dedicated to the late Nicholas Perdomo Senior, the original patriarch of the brand. In fact, the word is that the cigars are based on Perdomo Senior’s favorite blends of tobacco. The cigar is a Nicaraguan puro, comprised of leaves from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa.…

Ask the readers: Who impressed you most?

Last month Brian, Jerry, and I got to live the dream, so to speak, and attend the annual IPCPR trade show. While there I was finally able to put a face to a name in terms of manufacturers, Stogie Review readers, and other cigar blog writers. The majority of which were really nice people to spend time with.

While meeting with a few blog writers, I was most impressed with Jesse (of Cigar Jack) and his wife. It …

YQMA #35 – Off Topic Discussions

Here we go…the last 24:47 of Episode 35 brings us to the Off Topic part of YQMA.

In the Off Topic Discussion we talk about our Top 3 Cigars We’ve Smoked This Year and we discuss the one cigar accessory that we can’t smoke without when smoking those Top 3 Cigars.

Finally we close out Episode 35 by chatting about our feelings towards cigar manufacturers who link back to reviews on blogs and our own Brian Hewitt pokes a little …

YQMA #35 – Part 2

Part 2 of Episode 35 comes sponsored to us by our friends at Lighters Direct. More importantly though, during the 31:11 of Part 2, has us answering the questions below:

Luke contacts us to see if we know of any Cameroon Puros as he thinks the CAO Cx2 is a great smoke.

Patrick chimes in asking why we never drink an alcoholic beverage when we review a cigar and whether we’ve discovered any off the wall combos.

Finally …

YQMA #35 – Part 1

Alright folks, we are back! Thanks for being patient as we got settled in from IPCPR and took sometime off to enjoy the fading days of summer. Episode 35 – Part 1 runs 48:03 and along with our typical banter and follow-up questions we primarily focus on the questions below:

Our first question is a question from Paul who wants to know more about the different colors of ash. Paul’s question was a little too scientific for us to …

Sad news from the Miranda Family.

This afternoon I received a press release from Miami Cigar & Company, maker of the Don Lino line, Tatiana, and many others, that Daniel Miranda passed away this morning. Daniel was Nestor Miranda‘s son and until this morning had been fighting a three year battle with Brain Cancer.

When he was not immersed in the business, he spent time with his wife, Christina, and his two daughters, Daniela (8 years old) and Alexandra (7 years old).

In Daniel’s honor, …