Avo Lounge 7 1/2 X 50
The Avo Lounge is a Corona Cigar Company exclusive blend.
Appearance: Beautiful shiny, oily medium brown Ecuadorian wrapper with very light veins.
Construction: Perfectly rolled with tight pre light draw.
Pre light Scent: Sweet tobacco at scent.
Flavors: Very sophisticated flavorful blend of Dominican tobacco. Mild medium strength.
Razor sharp burn line. This is a very special cigar. While not an everyday smoke it is great for special occasions like a new job, new baby or new wife.
I highly recommend this cigar.
The Boris 11 from Corona Cigar Company
Jeff recently sent me some samples of Corona Cigar Company exclusives to try.
Among them was the Boris 11 Connecticut Perfecto and the Broadleaf Toro.
Here are my impressions.
The Connecticut Perfecto:
Construction: Perfectly rolled with no soft spots.
Appearance: Beautiful golden brown wrapper.
Prelight Aroma is nutty. Prelight draw is perfect.
Smoke: Right from the start this is a very refined and relaxing smoke.
Flavor: Is nutty with hints of sweet cream. This flavor profile continues throughout. It is a medium bodied smoke full of flavor.
The Broadleaf Maduro Toro:
Construction: Again perfectly rolled nice solid stick.
Appearance: Dark brown rustic broadleaf.
Prelight aroma: Sweet Manure scent at foot. For new smokers this is a very good thing. Free flowing draw.
This cigar is a step up in strength from the Connecticut with great room aroma.
Overall both these are excellent smokes and I look forward to smoking both of them again.
The Camacho Connecticut Monarca (Robusto)
I recently acquired a box of Camacho Connecticut Monarcas (Robustos) and thought I should revisit them with a proper review.
Appearance: Beautiful Golden Connecticut Shade wrapper with only the tiniest of veins.
Construction: Rock solid with no soft spots. Free flowing pre-light draw. Pre-light scent of mild smell of barnyard at the foot
Flavor: This is a medium body smoke not as strong as the average Camacho. It is creamy with hints of nuts and cookie dough and spice. There is ample pepper on the nose. Let’s not forget this is a Honduran cigar.
Room Aroma: A lot of times we can’t smell the cigar we are smoking. The Connecticut has a wonderful room aroma. As a matter of fact, whenever I’m smoking one my wife comments “What are you smoking? That smells nice”.
The Monarca has a nice solid white ash and a razor sharp bun line requiring zero touch-ups.
The cigar has a great finish with hints of Cinnamon.
Overall this is a great cigar with your morning cup of coffee which can be smoked any time of day. I highly recommend to all smokers from beginners to the more experienced.
Things to be Thankful For, my La Aurora 1495 Journey
We al have a lot to be thankful for this year. Yes, no doubt it has been a tough year for many of us. I am very thankful for my wonderful family and friends.
I am also very thankful for many of my cigar friends both at my local brick and mortar, Cordova Cigars and on Twitter and Facebook.
One in particular I would like to thank is Jose Blanco. I had the great fortune of corresponding with Don Jose and he is a great gentleman.
As many of you know I have been smoking cigars for 31 years now and while I have smoked some great cigars along the way they were few and far in between. Don Jose patiently worked with me to help develop my palate and completely change my smoking experience. I used to smoke 6 cheap cigars a day. I now smoke 1 or 2 great cigars a day.
The process started with a series of questions. ” How long does it take you to smoke a Robusto?” “What cigars have you tried?” “What do you think of this or that particular cigar?” And then the assignment. “Go get 10 La Aurora 1495 Robustos, 2 in each wrapper. They come in Connecticut, Ecuador, Cameroon, Brazil and Crojo.” This was easier said then done but after some searching I found an online sample pack that fit the bill.
I was told to 1 each morning, and 1 in the afternoon, in the order listed above and take notes so he could gauge my palate. I guess what he wanted to see if my palate was “color blind”. I was then to send him my notes so we could see where I was at. He also had some other brands for me to try.
Here are my notes for this tasting:
The Construction on all the cigars was perfect. and the taste much more complex than what I was smoking.
Day 1 Connecticut: smell at foot was sweet like swiss chocolate
Tangy Flavor with cookie dough notes
Subtle spices and mild pepper when exhaling through nose. Undertones were sweet.
Stopped at 1 1/2 inch left.
Day 2 Cameroon: Smell at foot was musky manure
Taste Sweeter less tangy than Connecticut. Wrapper oilier. Less pepper on nose.
Finish more pleasant than Connecticut.
Day 3 Ecuador: Sweet Manure Scent
Taste No tangy-nes Just mellow cinnamon taste. Bread taste.
Very good mix (for me) of wrapper leaf and blend. Very easy to smoke
Wrapper not as pretty as Connecticut but cigar tasted better to me.
Day 4 Brazil:Pre-light scent at foot Dates & raisins
Taste both Sweet and Salty at same time.
Stronger more Raw tasting than other 3.
Raw Rough Finish
Day 5 Corojo: scent meaty manure, smell sweeter at foot
Taste had sweetness on lips even before lit.
Taste hard to describe but it tasted like Indian incense smells. or sweet perfume on a woman’s neck. (see I still remember some things)
Around mid-point got a little strong for 1st cigar of the day. Had metal under tone and gave me the hiccups.
Beautiful room aroma.
Bottom line Don Jose told me that there was nothing wrong with my palate and that I should be patient that it takes time to develop.
His willingness to work with a total stranger was very humbling. His impact on my life is great. If your ever within driving distance of one of his seminars I would highly recommend that you attend.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
HTKW7QWW4YQN technorati code
Scotch Whiskey Tasting at Corona Cigar Company Orlando Florida
The Other night I attended a Scotch Whiskey Tasting at Corona Cigar Company in Orlando Florida. I had the great pleasure of sharing this experience with 2 of my adult sons, Thomas (aka @ferrarartist) and Stephen (aka @steveo9642000). This was my first time at such a tasting.
Corona Cigar Company is owned by Jeff Borysiewicz and he really knows how to put on an event. The cost was only $15 per person and for that you got 4 different glass of Whiskey and a cigar (The Corona Cigar Robusto Maduro).
Richard Paterson (aka the_nose on Twitter), Master Blender for Whyte & Mackay makers of the Dalmore Single Malt Scotch Whiskey ,conducted the event.
Mr Paterson, with his heavy Scottish accent and kilt, captivated the crowd. His depth of knowledge was astounding and matched only by humor.
Sadly, it is rare that I get to share a cigar and some great Scotch Whiskey with my sons. This is a night that I will long cherish. Oh yeah the cigar was damn good as well!
Note: Richard Paterson DID write the book on Scotch whiskey. You can get more info on it here:
Goodness Nose: The Passionate Revelations of a Scotch Whisky Master Blender
Left to Right My Son’s Thomas & Stephen, Richard Paterson, Pappy Ferrara & Jeff Borysiewicz
3 on a match: The Illusione 23 Tre In Uno Culebra
With an Illusione event coming up next Thursday November 5th @ 6:00pm at my local brick and mortar, Cordova Cigars in Pensacola FL, I thought we could have some fun with the Illusione 23.
The Illusione 23 is a Culebra. For new smokers a Culebra is 3 Lanceros twisted together and tied with twine. It is perfect for sharing with friends.
What I did was share this Culebra with 2 very good friends. One of them is Stef.
He is a young tobacconist who works at Cordova Cigars.
The other was Tom Morton. Tom is the Father of the owner of Cordova Cigars. Tom is a real gentleman and I affectionately refer to him as Don Tomas.
We each smoked one of the Illusione 23’s and then I asked them to sum of their feelings about the cigar.
Don Tomas: Easy Draw through “Crooked Terrain”. Mild Earthy Smoke
Stef: Great Draw! Full bodied, Earth Tones, with a little spice. Great Cigar.
Pappy: Draw was a little tight but good. I picked up some Chocolate and at the end some black licorice. I felt it was a medium bodied smoke.
Well there you have it. Three Brothers of the leaf. Three different Generations. Three different opinions as to the strength of the cigar. We ranged from mild to medium. The one thing we all agreed on was that this was a very nice cigar and a great shared experience.
Cigar Review: Is the La Caridad Del Cobre 1608 A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?
I first met Frank Herrera, one of the founders of La Caridad Del Cobre 1608 (1608) on Twitter (@cigarlaw) when I had a question about the legality of Americans possessing cuban cigars. We have very similar feeling on the subject and a bond was formed.
He later sent me some samples of the 1608 to try. He sent me 2 Robustos and 3 Torpedos. This review will cover both sizes as they are very similar in construction, strength and flavor profile.
It is no secret to anyone who follows me on twitter that I am a fan of Cuban Crafters Cigars out of Miami. When Frank told me that the blend was developed with Manual Medina I was excited to try some.
Like most of the cigars coming out of Cuban Crafters they are perfectly rolled with no soft spots to be found. The pre-light scent has hints of earth and molasses. I have found that scent to be a Cuban Crafters signature. It may be in the curing process but I guess that will be their secret.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? When you inspect the cigar you notice the fine mild looking wrapper. You get that awesome mild sweet earthiness. The pre-light draw is perfect, not too free flowing, not too restricted. So what the heck am I talking about?
Once you light the stick there is a power bomb that goes off. This mild manner cigar packs quite a punch. The fact that it comes in such a pretty package lets it sucker punch you. But it is a good sucker punch. Loaded with complex flavors.
It weighs in as a full flavored / medium-full strength cigar. With Plenty of pepper for the “pepper heads” but with a complexity that may surprise.
I really enjoyed this cigar and look forward to buying a box and adding it to my regular rotation.
Changes to The Ash Report
Some have noticed the subtle changes I have made to my “cigar” blog, The Ash Report.
For the new or casual reader let me lay it out.
When I started the blog I had 3 categories. They were “A Buck a Stick”, “Worth the Hype and The Price” and “Totally Off Topic”.
The stated purpose of the A Buck a Stick category was to highlight cigars that costs a buck a stick and also were smoke-able. The only restriction was that they had to be available on a day in day out basis.
As often happens in the cigar industry, a cigar manufacturer may have an overrun and decide to “let them go” for a great price. Since a blog is pretty much permant, I did not want to include these short run deals. Which can be quite good.
Sadly with little expception this everyday “Buck a Stick” cigar no longer exists without significant trade offs.
As for the Worth the Hype & the Price category, I felt, it was way too personal a judgement and did not accurately reflect my review criteria. All the cigars I have reviewed to date are (imnsho) worth the hype & the price.
I only rewiew cigars I like. If you don’t see a cigar review here it means one of the following 3 things:
1) I did not try it
2) I did not like it
or
3) I’m just too lazy to transcribe my notes.
If you want to know about a particular cigar and don’t see it here, you can send me and email at pappyferrara@yahoo.com & I will let you know which of the 3 it is. Please just include the word cigar in the subject line.
Finally, I even considered getting rid of the Totally off Topic catagory as most of my posts were off topic to begin with. I decided to leave it.
There are now going to be 2 categories. They are Cigar reviews, for those of you who only want the cigar reviews & Totally off Topic, for those of you who enjoy the stuff that pops into Pappy’s head at 3 am.
Of course, feel free to read both. I hope you do.
The New Golden Age of Cigars
It is said that we are in a New Golden Age of Cigars. Pappy agrees.
Everyday across the nation, young college persons, of legal age, walk into a local Tobaccoinst and try their first fine cigar. A week later they start their cigar review/info site.
Now this is not a bad thing. For this generation, blogging and Twitter is part of their DNA. They are totaly fearless in expressing their opinons digitally. They can design beautiful webpages in their sleep. The people of my generation are in awe of their computer skills.
It is funny, though, that some of them would think that because they can make a website that they can also give “Cigar Usage” advice. You know, how to cut a cigar, light a cigar or what beverage pairs well with what cigar and stuff like that. Let’s face it there are Cigar blogs on the internet that have been doing the heavy lifting for years. One that comes to mind is StogieFresh.com by David Diaz (aka @Doc_StogieFresh). There are others but for the sake of brevity I will cut the list short.
There is one young man that I want to pay tribute to here. That is John Brooke of theweeklycigar.com (aka @jbrookeiv & @cubancrafters1)
John is an energetic & talanted young man. He is respectful and seeks out advice. His hard work has caught the eye of a respected cigar insider. Heck his hard work has got everybody’s attention, as it should.
I have no ties to John, other than meeting him on twitter. I am happy to call him my friend.
There is a Yiddish word for a young man like John. That word is Mentsh (rhymes with wrench). Loosely translated, a mentsh is an honorable decent person.
John, you are a Mentsh.
Room 101 Cigars by Camacho Cigars for Matt Booth “David Vs Goliath” short review of the Corona and the 6 x60
This past Thursday and Friday my Local Brick & Mortar Cigar Shop, Cordova Cigars held a 2 tonight Room 101 Event. Matt Booth turned out to be a very down to earth guy. Now Pappy did not know what to expect when I met him. After all none of the people Pappy hangs out with have 2 complete arm sleeves of Tattoos.
The first night they were sampling The Robusto of this blend. I am very familiar with this size because I have already reviewed it on this blog. I was lucky to be one of the reviewers that had been sent 2 samples along with a tee shirt and a bandana prior to the cigars official launch.
Click here to read that review.
That first night I was having so much fun hanging out with good cigar friends, I finished that freebie and Matt generously gave me a 2nd so that the party could continue.
At the Friday night event, I wanted to be fair, so rather than mooch a 3rd free cigar I bought an 808 which is a very solid 6 X 60. This cigar was every bit as good as the robusto. It last the entire evening, right up to Mark Teixeira walk off homer in extra innings giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead!
On Saturday I stopped in and bought a 213, a Corona. In my opinion, a Corona is the real test of the cigars quality. Any imperfection in the rolling process will show in the smoking as there is very little room for error. I had that cigar Sunday morning along with a cup of coffee and the Sunday New York Times. The burn was perfect all the way through.
I wondered about the numbering system. Why is a 6 X 60 called 808? Why a Corona is called 213? Matt told me that each cigars number relates to an Area Code for a particular location. So the 808 is Hawaii and 213 Los Angeles. Stay tuned for my interview with Matt Booth.
I will post it in the coming weeks as soon as get some energy to transcribe it.
In a Nutshell, The Room 101 cigar by Camacho is a great cigar. I hope that they add my all time favorite size, a Petite Corona.
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