Cu Avana Intenso Punisher Review

Be ready for the ride! Because its just what you'll get, when you light this cigar up an savor its greatness! FratBoy surprised me with this gem in a cigar swap. The second I saw it, my jaw dropped and almost jumped for joy, as I have been wanting to try this bad boy from the second I saw it in the pages of various catologs. Buddy, I owe you BIG time for this one!

Cigars International describes this cigar from Cu Avana as: Punisher is crafted for the minority, the insatiable ligero lovers. The juxtaposition of deep, dense flavors, searing spice, and classical construction deliver a righteous blend with layer after layer of sand-pounding, toe-curling, full-bodied power.

I was almost afraid to try this cigar from the various descriptions on the net. So making sure I had a full stomach, I sat down with cigar diary in hand to take my stab at this bad boy.

First thing I noticed was the nice oily wrapper and firm body. Sweet straw fragrances could be smelled on the body and sweet chocolatey aromas to the foot. Its wrapped very nicely and has a generous cap. After clipping the cap, the prelight draw was medium with slightly sweet tobacco tastes. Then out of nowhere, before I even light, I could feel the burn on my lips and tongue! What the hell?!?!?!?!


It seems that the cigar had been treated with a bit of jalapeno pepper oil to the head! Quite the tingling surprise when your not expecting it. My first thoughts were, I better get a drink! But no! I'll take this cigar like a man!

So I lit this cigar from El Diablo, getting a little earth and roasted nuts. Lots of pepper through the nose, the spice on the head seemed to overtake any other flavors, but I was still enjoying this cigar very much! The hotness isnt so overpowering that you cant enjoy it, but I really like that jalapeno feel to my mouth. Definately medium in body, about an inch into the cigar it starts to mellow out and sweet tobacco tastes are on my palette. Black pepper notes are prevailent throughout the whole cigar.

This cigar isn't as strong as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the regular Cu Avana Intenso is stronger, but it could be the Jalapeno pepper thats throwing me off. The draw stiffened up a bit more and i find myself biting down to open it up a little. A bit of tar came to the head, so I decided to clip the head once again. Problem solved for the tar and the draw. I  would recommend cutting the head about halfway to three quarters down the generous cap.

A nice firm whitish ash was produced with a sharp pointy cone. The cigar produces a good amount of smoke.

Halfway through the spice picked up a notch through the nose and then quickly mellowed again this time right to the nub. A slightly nutty with pepper aftertaste is delightfully there. Had to break out my NUB BUDDY to get the most I could out of this great cigar!

Buzz rating I give an 8 out of 10: A wonderful medium buzz!

Overall I give a 5 out of 5: Thats right! You read correctly! A 5 out of 5! Just a hint of clean pleasing aftertaste, and not overbearing. This to me is a really good cigar! It reminded me of a Jericho by Comacho in terms of spice, but the cigar is no longer made. Also it is a bit like Comacho's Triple Maduro, my absolute favorite cigar, in terms of taste, but with a bit less buzz.

This cigar can be had from a couple internet sites. Cigars International sells it in a 5 pack for $40 or you can go to Cigars.com and get a sample of 3 Punishers and 3 Intenso's for $30. Definately worth a try if you like medium to full flavored cigars.

Thanks again FratBoy!
Till next post...................Peace.

Chapstick and Cigars?????

Hot muggy weather has struck our region this week! Great for enjoying the pool or a cigar by the campfire, but not so good if you have to work!

So you might be asking "What does chapstick have to do with cigars?" Well, I find that chapstick is an indespensible tool when it comes to cigars.

Have you ever had part of the wrapper peel or come off a bit with the band? Or have you ever clipped the head a little too much and it starts to unravel? Chapstick would be your best bet at repairing your cigar. Any chapstick will do, which ever floats your boat, I prefer something with a slight mint taste or my personal favorite Mr. Zoggs Sex Wax sold online or any Ron Jon Surf Shop, which has a slight coconut scent..

Lets take for example, you clipped the head a bit too much and its starting to unravel. Take a generous bit of chapstick on your finger and put it under the lifted wrapper. press the wrapper to it, smooth it out, and put a bit of chapstick to the outside of it. Wala! Your cigar is fixed. It acts as a glue and seals the wrapper. I find it lasts all the way through the smoke and if it is a repair to the body of the cigar, it burns no problem as the cigar progresses. What ever flavor you choose never seems to impede the flavors of the cigar, in my opinion. You can even repair a patch on the body with that cap you sliced off, so dont be too quick to toss it away!

This is a technique I have used for about a year and a half now. I got it from a cigar news letter I get in my email from Cigaradvisor.com. Every week they have a new tip along with cigar reviews. Its a very worthwhile read and I recommend it to all my Brothers and Sisters of the Leaf.

Hopefully some of you find this as usefull as me. Till next post.............Peace. 

ARTURO FUENTE Opus X The Lost City Cigar Review

Yes my fellow Brothers of the Leaf (and sisters), you read it right, ARTURO FUENTE Opus X Lost city cigars! This is a very rare and expensive cigar. You can buy a box of 10 for $300 or get a 5 pack sample box for $150, which comes with a business card holder. This my friends is a $30 cigar, which came compliments of my very good friend GMan, who came back to his roots for a visit. Thank you is not enough!

In 2004 Andy Garcia filmed the movie, "The Lost City" in part on Chateau de la Fuente in the Dominican Republic. Carlito rolled these OpusX cigars from the same crop that was filmed five years ago for Andy, also an avid cigar lover. Rolled with a Dominican wrapper grown in only one vintage harvest year, this special edition OpusX is available in only a handful of sizes with only 500 boxes shipped per year.

The cigar is described as :  The Lost City a distinctive experience for any cigar connoisseurs, no matter what their taste or preference. Lost City remains full-bodied from head to foot with a toasty character thoughout. Perfectly blended, you will find each and every Lost City smokes, burns and tastes the same from box to box as they expel earthy nuances with hints of spice. Packed full of Dominican long leaves, all limited and rare, OpusX Lost City is one of the rarest blends ever released to date.

Usually I dont like to review cigars which are this expensive, I like to talk about cigars we can all afford. But this cigar was sooooooooo good I had to review it, so that by chance if any of you lucky enough to get your hands on one, by spending the cash or getting one as a gift, you could know what to expect.
First off I would like to say that this cigar really surprised me! Usually Dominican tobacco to me is much too mild. Not this stick! The wrapper was flawless, I couldn't help notice the oily sheen staring back at me. the body firm.  It had that nice barn like aromas. Prelight draw on mine, a churchill, was medium, with slight rich tobacco tastes and chocolate.

Upon light I was greated with a nice smooth nuttiness. As the cigar progressed, it kicked up a little more twards medium with a lingering spice on the pallette. The cigar pretty much kept a level taste of earth and nuts, with that slight spice on the tongue. Large Volumes of creamy smoke filled the air with this one. It never became harsh. Like a dry wine, it left the mought a little dry, but was very clean, with good amounts of smoke. 

Buzz Rating I give a 8 out of 10 : For a Dominican I was greatly surprised.

Overall I give it a 4.5 out of 5: I know I didn't say too much about this cigar, but thats only because it was quite unchanging throughout, very consistent. I feel this is a great cigar, not for everyday of course due to the price point. But if ever get a chance to splurge, pick one of these up, treat yourself. You wont be disappointed!

Until next post............Peace!

Rocky Patel Mulligans Sale Alert!

Holts now has RP Mulligans on sale for $10 off per bundle.

 http://www.holts.com/category.html?id=201915

Remember I gave this one 3 out of 5 overall with a buzz rating of 7 out of 10. Not a bad smoke for everyday. At $30-45 per bundle of 20 you can't go wrong, especially for a Rock Patel cigar!

Till next post.................Peace.

Cigar Diary

Good day all! Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July!

Today I like to talk about keeping a cigar diary. A cigar diary can be a very useful tool in keeping track of what you like and don't like in a cigar, that you can reference back to if you forget. Personally, my cigar diary has developed into this blog and is very similar.

What I did was take an ordinary lined journal to jot down my cigar adventures. First off you have to come up with your own ratings system. I wrote mine on the inside cover so that anyone who picked up the book could easily decifer my ratings. Not only do I give it a numeral score, but I also have those stick on stars. With those, I would go the extra mile and give 1 -2 stars based on if I would by the cigar again or absolutely had to have that particular cigar.

Now if you choose, like I did, a glue stick comes in real handy. What I would do is take the label off the cigar and afix it in the journal with the glue stick, kind of like the header, so I could identify the cigar again in case I wanted to by it again or forgot what it was.

Pretty much the same information that I put in the diary is what I put in the blog. I write while I am smoking, picking up and putting down the diary periodically, as not to forget particular details later on. I usually start off by inspecting the looks and construction of the cigar. I make notes if it is firm or spongy, the looks of the wrapper and cap, and the smell of the body and foot of the cigar.

I clip the cap and take a prelight draw to see if its easy, hard, or anything in between. I note if there are any prelight tastes. Is it sweet or peppery, is it like cedar or does it sting my lips?

I toast the foot with my torch lighter. I prefer a triple flame jet lighter or one of those Ronson Tech Torches. They seem to light my cigars faster and hotter than regular lighters.

 The Ronson torch seems like overkill, but it has a nice trigger ignition, never seems to fail, and is refillable just like any other jet lighter.It makes a nice table lighter and conversation piece, and has outlasted every lighter I have ever owned.

I light the cigar and blow on the foot to ensure I got a good light. Take a few puffs and notice the initial tastes. I make notes as the cigar progresses, watching the burn to see if it is even, the color and type of ash, and any noticeable taste changes, the amount of smoke it produces, and if it is clean or does it feel like it is leaving a film in my mouth. Whew! That was a long sentence! I also take notice if it produces a cone when the ash is flicked off, I really like to see a nice cone glowing back at me. I sometimes take note if the cigar smoke gives off any noticeable aromas.

In the end I give it my numerical rating with brief final thoughts. If I am having any kind of beverage with it I list it, as a drink can greatly influence the tastes. It can enhance or suppress the flavors in a cigar, so pair wisely, even if its just soda or Kool aid.

Also dont forget to write who you got it from and where you are smoking it. That is really what cigar smoking is about, experiences. Where and whom you are with, kicking back and sharing. Many problems of the world were decided by great leaders sitting back with cigars, letting the time pass, enjoying each others company. So what better way to remember a particular smoking moment than to remember the company you were with. I can look back at a certain cigar review and remember what and who I was with.

So thats it, my suggestions for a cigar diary. A useful tool you can reference back to. Hopefully you will make it part of your routine. Until next post..............Peace.

Victor Sinclair 55 Series Corojo Cigar Review

Another day another cigar! Todays cigar comes compliments of Turk. Its one that has been sitting in humidor for some time now, about 2-3 months. So it should be good and ripe!

First off lets see how the catalogs decribe this lucious looking corojo: Victor Sinclair Serie ’55’ is an exquisite smoke utilizing a 5 country blend of tobaccos and an extensive 5 year aging process, hence the ’55’ name. ’55’ Corojo (red) - wrapped in a gorgeous dark Corojo leaf, the Serie ’55’ Red offers an incredibly smooth, complex, medium to full-bodied smoke.

Ther redish corojo wrapper is almost flawless/seemless. The body is firm and the prelight draw is very good, with tastes of sweet cedar and raisens. Upon light I was greated with nice tastes of nuts, sweet like pecans. It took about an inch in to get any noticeable pepper through the nose and on the palette. Even though this is not a sweetened cigar, there is quite a noticeable sweetness to the smoke and upper palette. The burn was even with a flakey greyish ash, and when the ash came off it produced a blunt cone. About halfway through the pepperiness kicked up just a bit, not over abundant or overbearing, but very nicely done.  About this time I started getting earthy tastes. At the begining this cigar was on the mild side but by the end it became more medium in body.

You can obtain this cigar from both Thompsons Cigar  and Cigars International  catalogs or on line at thier respective site. Thompsons though only seem to sell these as part of samplers and CI does factory seconds for $35-40 for 20 cigars.

Buzz Rating on this one I give 7.5 out of 10: A real nice low to medium buzz.

Overall I give a 4 out of 5: Nice tastes throughout. I wouldnt say this cigar is uneventful with its subtle changes as it progressed. Like I have said in earlier posts, I have never had a Victor Sinclair Cigar I didnt like. And this cigar is no exception!

Until next post........Peace!