H Upmann Cedar Aged Cameroon Robusto

This little gem was given to me several months ago and has been sitting in my humidor waiting to be selected as my smoke of the day. Yesterday afternoon was its day!

As you would expect, Upmann always provides a quality cigar. You've got to love the presentation of the gold end band, cedar sleeve and additional cigar band that slides off with the sleeve. The Cameroon wrapper (not generally my favorite) has a nice mild flavor and does not detract from the overall pleasure of this cigar.

This was a very nice mild smoke with a steady and even burn. I sensed more of a wood or nut flavor early, but that seemed to give way to a kind of leathery, earthy flavor at about a quarter of the way through. The mild leathery taste lasted to the very end and the draw remained cool and even throughout.

Thompson Cigar carries this at just under a C-note for a box of 20. That puts it at a good price but a little more than what I spend on a daily smoke. It is definitely one to keep in mind when I'm in the mood for a bit of an upgrade, though!

John

Escudo Cubano 20 Minutos Perfecto Connecticut

I have been slowly working my way through the meager selection of cigars in my small humidor.
I have never considered myself to be a big cigar smoker. I just enjoy a good smoke every now and then. Unfortunately, good smokes tend to cost more than I am willing to pay on a regular basis so I usually have something a little less often and a little more affordable.

I had tried to order these little Escudo Cubano 20 Minute Perfectos from Thompson Cigar when I was still working, thinking that they would be perfect to enjoy on a meal break. However, they always seemed to be out of stock. Maybe everybody else had the same idea. Still looking for the occasional short smoke, I decided to try again -- and they had them in stock!

They arrived yesterday! Unfortunately, I had already enjoyed a stogie and I rarely smoke more than one in a day. With the rainy week forecast, it may be a few days before I get to sample one of these little gems (I never smoke them in the house).

These little 4" x 54 perfectos may be just right while taking a break to enjoy the view somewhere while out on a long motorcycle ride!

I'll get back to you with an edited version of this post when I have a review.

John

Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro

When I retired at the end of January 2015, one of my (former) coworkers presented me with a gift of a few Davidoff cigars. As you can imagine, I was very pleased!

To celebrate my one year retirement anniversary, I decided to enjoy another fine Davidoff cigar and headed to the local cigar store to make a selection. This was my choice:

I wish that I had written a review of the other Davidoffs from last year. The only thing I remember about them is thinking, "This is a cigar!"
And the same is true of the Winston Churchill Toro.

Its darker Connecticut wrap gives this a medium taste with a little bit of piney or cedar taste as well as bit of earthiness. It burns cool and long and is truly a fine cigar. Because I am in the habit of regularly smoking decent cigars and not really fine cigars, I really savor the moments with these exceptional smokes.

I wish my cigar budget allowed for more of them!

John

Romeo y Julieta 1875 Reserva Real

I was able to enjoy this little gem on the beach in Cancun!

Oh my. It was a very relaxing day and a fine place to enjoy this little Dominican cigar.
This was a part of the Rocky vs Romeo sampler from Thompson Cigar Co. While I have enjoyed both the Rocky Patel and Romeo y Julieta cigars, so far I am going give the edge to the Romeo y Julietas.

This one was a medium to full-bodied, burned evenly and had a nice warm draw. It represented the label quite well and was everything you would expect from the well recognized name. It is always nice when others enjoy the aroma of a quality smoke.

John

ACID Atom Maduro Robusto

Wow!
Why have I not tried these ACID cigars before?
I have to say this is one of the best samplers that I have purchased from Thompson Cigar Co. I have enjoyed everyone that I have sampled and may be regretting that I have shared a few (not really). At least I know that I have shared a quality cigar.
If you have not tried ACID Cigars, I highly recommend the sampler tin from Thompson.

This Nicaraguan long leaf with the lightly herbal infused Maduro wrapper is great. It burns cool and has a subtle sweet taste that is left on the tongue from the infusion. Even though I am becoming more of a fan of the lighter wrappers, I will consider this dark robusto for a future purchase.

I have a number of reviews to catch up on, so you can expect regular posts for a week or so.
For now, I'm going to sit in the sun on my Ozark deck and enjoy the warm February afternoon and a good cigar.

John

Rocky Patel Vintage 1999

This little beauty is the definition of mild!

What a wonderful smoke from beginning to end. Cool, even burn, long ash, mild taste.
I enjoyed this late afternoon, before dinner on the beach.
Life is good!

John

ACID Old Infusion

I have to admit that I have not cared for infused cigars in the past. It has always seemed that the flavor infused into the wrapper had a way of over powering the taste of the cigar. Now I would say that I had never had a properly infused cigar.

I am really enjoying the ACID sampler that I got from Thompson Cigar!

Today's Old Infusion was a very mild smoke with a pleasant, but subtle flavor from the infusion. It wasn't even strong enough to really identify the taste. It was just a hint of flavor on the tongue and then gone. So far, this one has been my favorite.

There are a few in the sampler tin that have darker wrappers and I expect to have a much bolder flavor. I am looking forward to them and will let you know about them when the time comes. But I will definitely consider these babies for a future purchase. A very good smoking experience!

John

ACID Sampler

It has been a little while since posting here about my cigar sampling.
The truth is that I generally smoke a decent, everyday cigar and smoke much less often in the colder weather. I smoke when I am able to sit outside and enjoy a long smoke or when I'm up for a smoke as I walk three of four miles.

Recently I purchased a Rocky vs Romeo sampler (Rocky Patel and Romeo y Julieta) and a ACID sampler tin.

I'm getting ready for a beach vacation and want to have a few good cigars and enough to share with a friend. Knowing that I won't be smoking all of these on the beach, I've started sampling the ACID cigars. So far I've had the Blondie and the ACID 1 as well as one of the little cigarillos.

The Blondie was a nice surprise. The subtle flavor in the wrapper was a nice accent to the otherwise mild smoking cigar. It burned cool and even and held a nice ash for a small cigar.

The ACID 1 was also a very pleasant smoke, as was the little cigarillo.

I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of them and to break out the Rocky and Romeo smokes once I hit the beach!

At one point I was posting reviews on the Thompson Cigar site and they were automatically posting here on my blog. For some reason, that stopped happening and so I just post here. I wish my cigar budget allowed me to sample better cigars more often, but I am happy to just enjoy a good smoke as life allows and will share those here on a more regular basis.

John