La Perla Habana Black Pearl Review

I must start by saying this cigar is a sleeper cell! When I first started seeing this cigar appear in the catalogs it was a low cost cigar that at that time you would think was a low quality cigar. Then the masses started to like it and the price went up a bit, and now I know why. It's a pretty good cigar!

The description reads : An uber-tasty maduro with lip-smacking, deep maduro flavors galore. Black Pearl brings a jet-black Brazilian Arapiraca maduro wrapper which disguises a meaty long-filler blend of aged tobaccos from Nicaragua, Mexico, and the Dominican to create a rich, brawny smoke that’s medium in body and balanced throughout. Complex notes of toast and wood mingle with a subtle caramel sweetness, while the rich aroma fills the room with deep charcoal scents.

This cigar came compliments of FratBoy in another triad of cigar swaps. This cigar will surprise you as it did me. It was firm to the body with a nice oily sheen to the wrapper, which was very nicely wrapped. The cigar itself smelled like horse shit, but dont let deter you from what greatness this cigar has which lies ahead! Prelight draw was effortless and had a slight caramel like sweetness. I was greated with a pleasant nuttiness upon light, with a slight sting to the tongue and lips. The nicotine in this one is quite up front and noticable. A little pepper was noticable through the nose with earthy characteristics on the palette. The cigar produced nice billowy volumes of creamy smoke, always a great visual effect for your smoking pleasure. The burn was slightly uneven with a nice white ash which seemed firm but had that layered look of a flakey ash. Flicked the ash off about a little over an inch through, and it produced no cone.  Definately medium in body.

I paired this cigar with Bully Hill Sweet Walter Red wine, a dessert wine. Nuts and earth were prevailent throughout and that slight sweetness on the back of the palette from the smoke, was complimented by the wine. My palette didnt pick up on the toasty notes.

Buzz rating I give this one an 8 out of 10: The sting was the first indicator as what to expect and it didnt disappoint.

Overall I give a 4 out of 5: Very good cigar that everyone should have in thier humidor. I am really considering trying out the Mega Sampler at Cigars International just to try out the other varieties.

These cigars can be had from Cigars International for $50-60 per bundle of 20 or you can go with 5-pack samplers for $18-20. But my true suggestion would be to try the Perfecto Mega sampler for $60. With that you get 4 each of the 5 different blends. Trying the regular blend made me want to try them all and I feel you wont be sorry if you by the sampler shown below.

Well thats all for today, time to eat lunch and then enjoy another cigar with the Missus, until next post.....Peace.

Rocky Patel Mulligans Review

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With that being said, Today I'd like to review a decent cigar from Rocky Patel called Mulligans. I got this from my buddy FratBoy and smoked it on Fathers Day.

The cigar is described as having an oily Habano wrapper, medium-bodied,toasty and cedary.

The cigar was slightly spongy to the touch in hand and had a straw like smell to the body. The foot was sweet smelling and had a generous cap to the head. Not sure if this was wrapped by experienced torcedors as you could see a rough cut all along the cigar wrapper from the Chaveta (knife), you could see the "peaks" that someone unexperienced could make. Here is a pic of a chaveta:

There were a couple thick veins in the wrapper. It had an effortless prelight draw which tasted like sweet raisins.

Upon light I was greated with a little pepper through the nose, but not strong. What I mean by through the nose is quite self explainitory. This is done by a technique called "rolling the smoke". It's where you take in the smoke to your mouth and blow or roll some or all of it over the top palette and out through the your nose. Doing this will expand the flavor profile you get from the cigar.

The cigar started off mild with slightly sweet woody tones and became a little more medium, but not much, as the cigar progressed. It was smooth throughout with a creamy feel to the smoke in the mouth. It had a fairly even burn with a tight grey ash and blunt cone. On the last inch it got a bit more peppery with a dash of chocolate to last few puffs.

Buzz Rating for this one I gave 7 out of 10: Slight buzz but not non-exisitent.

Overall I give 3 out of 5: Lingering tastes on the palette but still clean to the mouth. A bit unusual break away from the normal Patel profile as far as tastes and strength are concerned, but not in a bad way.

Depending on you size preference, you can buy these from www.holts.com for $40-55 for a bundle of 20.

A couple more reviews on the way in the next few days as I am playing catchup on what I have in my cigar diary. Until next post........Peace.

Xikar Cutters

Ok, here is my third attempt to try and post this time. Every time I have tried to write this post, I get to the end and something happens (i.e. accidental key slip) and I lose the whole post. They say third time is a charm!

Ask anyone about cigar cutters and almost always the Xikar name comes up. Xikar makes a very good cutter in thier trademark teardrop shape.

I can from personal experience say these cutters are top notch, even for the basic model shown above, like the one I own. They are super, and I mean SUPER, sharp and durable . I have had mine for three years now and never had to have the blades sharpened. At one time it seemed like the cutter was getting dull, but a quick reference to the Xikar website had me clean the blades with rubbing alcohol. Tadaaaaa! The cutter was back to slicing the cap off my cigar with ease. Must be the oils or tar from the tobacco can gum up the blades.

I have literally dropped my cutter to the floor a thousand time with no problem, till about a month ago. That time it hit the floor and came apart! Now there isn't much to these cutters in the way of parts, but in my case, a little spring was lost. Fortunately for me, Xikar has an Iron Clad no questions asked lifetime warranty. If your cutter becomes dull or broken, just send them the cutter and they will sharpen, fix, or replace your cutter free of charge. And they will return it to you within a few days of getting it, so I have read. I have yet to send mine in, you know how it goes, you keep putting things off, but I will update this post when I do.

Basic models like the one above can be bought around the net for around $30 each or you can get 2 for $50 at a few online vendors. But if you have a little extra cash, you can get really fancy models, like the following, from $50-$100!

And for about $300 you can get one made with 10,000 year old mammoth tusk.

These are but only a few of what the company offers and they all carry the lifetime warranty.

Now it benifits you to register you cutter with Xikar Via thier website, not only for the warranty but because they will send you a nice little leather pouch for the cutter for free!

So there you have it! I finally got to the end this time! I truely recommend this cutter and if you purchase one, I know you wont be disappointed! Till next post.........Peace.