Saturday 23 June 2007

Review - Cohiba Robusto - 95/100

If i ever should be so lucky to run into a better cigar than the Cohiba Robusto, i might have to rate it full points. It is amazing how good a cigar can get when every single detail just hits perfection.

This is just one of those things that cannot be put down to words. I really think you should experience this yourself. Anyway, i'll try to describe this marvel to you a little.

I have often heard said, that Robusto sized cigars do not offer as wide and interesting experience of flavor as bigger cigars. In my opinion, what robusto loses in lenght it gains in ring gauge. And as far as Cohiba Robusto is concerned, it is not in any way a lesser cigar compared to other of the Cohiba. The immense amount of pleasure that i got from this cigar is beyond description. Perfect from the first draw to the very last, when i burned my fingers.

All the exiting flavor and spicy aroma rounded by creamy tunes, offering extremely well balanced, full bodied Cuban Luxury, that everyone should try to experience some day.

What i really liked about this cigar was, that when i first lighted it, it gave a great balanced tobacco flavor as distinct to the Cubanos as it can be (and i thought WOW).
Then via some interesting corners, the taste turned out to be spicy, peppery and somewhat woody or cedary. And still around all this was the nice creamy flavor (and i thought WOOOOW).
Then, as i came to the point, where most cigars turn sour (3/3), the taste just got more intense but never harsh, not even close. All the flavor just got amplified by the oils gathered around the end, and the pleasure kept on going (and i thought WOOOOOOOOOOOOW).

Then, long after i had enjoyed the cigar, i had a great lingering after taste in my mouth. pleasant, creamy and gentle. (And i thought, that i do not have to think anymore, just feel it.)

This is why i love this cigar.

Oh yeah, there are also the facts such as perfect burn and draw, beautiful light grey ash and arousingly awesome touch, feel and looks of this cigar that cannot be overlooked. Perfect.

ADDED ON APRIL 13th:

I am terribly sorry, but due some experiences of inconcistency i have to lower the scores for the CoRo. The more CoRos i smoke the more they seem to vary in construction, draw and somewhat in flavor too. Two points off... cheers

Origin: Cuba

Construction 19/20
Appearance 19/20
Smoke/Ash 9/10
Burn 19/20
Draw 19/20
Aroma 10/10 (9,10,10)

TOTAL POINTS 95/100

Tuesday 19 June 2007

Implementing new scale for reviews

Hey,

Implementing 1/100 scale is almost complete, all but the my humidor page behind the link is done... enjoy sorting the new system out ;)

i you have questions or suggestions, throw me a mail to mikko.eriksson@welho.com, and i'll answer it asap.

Saturday 16 June 2007

Review - Arganese Presidenté Cameroon Robusto - 85/100


The Cameroon wrapped Presidenté blend of the Arganese family has many similarities as well as many differences compared to the Maduro Chairman. The Robusto size is more to my taste than corona, although there is not anything wrong in the corona.

The Presidenté blend is stronger and more spicy than the Chairman, and the cameroon wrapper is not even close to the same sweetness of maduro leaves. This makes the Cameroon Presidenté a more intense smoke. There is no hints of vanilla or burnt sugar as in the Chairman. To replace that, the Presidenté is peppery and spicy with a hint of dark roasted cofee in it.

The coplexity of this cigar makes it less an everyday smoke compared to the Chairman, but offers a variety of flavor that require more concentration. All the qualities are similar to the Maduro Chairman, smooth wrapper, nice even color, no veins, even burn and perfect draw. I have to rank this cigar high. You'll know why when you try.

Origin: Dominican Republic

Construction 17/20
Appearance 17/20
Smoke/Ash 8/10
Burn 18/20
Draw 18/20
Aroma 7/10 (7,8,7)

TOTAL POINTS 85/100

Strenght 8/10
Aroma 7/10

Review - CAO Criollo Pato - 64/100


This Nigaraguan Cigar was a huge dissapointment to me. I have heard both good and bad things about the cigar, but i had created my expectations towards a positive experience. Which this certainly was not. There can be a lot of reasons for this, and i cannot exclude a faulty structure, bad torching or poor cutting as reasons for this mayhem of my taste buds. But here goes what i experienced:

The construction of the cigar was not even close to standards i expect to find in a quality smoke. The cigar gave in as soon as you tested for the hardness of the filler, finger tips almost touching each other in the middle of the cigar. (well, not really but to make my point). The smooth, veinless wrapper anyhow seemed fine and the pigtail cap succeeded to save some points for this cigar.

The Fragrance of the cigar was kinda blunt and gave no hints of what to wait for. Overall appearance was average to good, excluding the awful structure.

The cigar lighted up nicely and easily and revealed what seemed to be a good draw - not too tight but not too loose either, considering the loose as hell structure. The ash was beautiful and firm enough and the smoke had a beautiful silver shine in it. The burn was even throughout the first half of the cigar. At the end the wrapper started to unravel its insides, so i had to finish the cigar a little bit earlier than usual.

1/3 of the cigar was bitter in taste, which gave me reason to believe this was a bad specimen of the brand and make. The flavor reminded me of lime or lemon with a hint of fresh leather in it.

Reaching the 2/3 the taste developed to become a lot smoother and sweeter than the start, but nut so much to hide some ugly bitter flavors. It kind of just got rounder from the edges and revealed nothing more.

3/3 was a brief encounter for me, due the fact that the cigar began to kill itself in between my fingers and i had no time to pick up any new flavors in there.

So this is it really. Honestly i think that i have to try another one when i have the chance to gie this fine looking cigar a chance to clear its reputation. Hopefully the next one will approach me begging for mercy and humbly give me something better to remember instead.

Origin: Nigaragua

Construction 6/20
Appearance 14/20
Smoke/Ash 5/10
Burn 15/20
Draw 18/20
Aroma 6/10 (5,6,5)

TOTAL POINTS 64/100

Review - HdM Petit Robusto - 89/100


Again i have come across an excellent cigar from Cuba. The Hoyo de Monterrey Petit Robusto is a great cigar to my collection. The size makes it a perfect smoke, if you do not have all night to enjoy your cigar and are looking for a quick satisfaction. The Robusto ring gauge makes up to every single part of an inch that this cigar might lack in length.

Near perfect to eye, even more so when judging unlit aroma. Very complex and even mysterious in flavor from the start to the very end of the cigar. The taste builds up in a creamy way, which endures through the cigar, although sometimes clearer and sometimes giving more room for other flavors to reveal itself. Another distinct flavor is Roasted pepper and other spices. changing from one moment to the other, never quite giving your taste buds time to rest on one single flavor. My mouth is always watering when i even see this cigar.

There is something even a littlebit decadent in this cigar. High points!!!

Origin: Cuba

Construction 19/20
Appearance 19/20
Smoke/Ash 8/10
Burn 17/20
Draw 17/20
Aroma 9/10 (9,9,8)

TOTAL POINTS 89/100

Strenght 5/10
Aroma 7/10

Paris, Paris...

I just got back from Paris, France a few days ago. I really love the city. Not least for the fact that you can still smoke almost wherever you want, atleast until th end of this year. the other fact is that the Tabac shops are well equipped with Cuban delicasies with a more affordable price than in Finland. I grabbed myself a couple of Cohiba Robustos and Partagas Serie D No.4. Not much but the top line...


As far as enjoying cigars in Paris, i was a little off, since i did not want to smoke near my wife. I got to slip out for a couple of smokes tough, that i will review here soon...

Our time in Paris was great. Just enjoyed the ambience of the romantic city and spending time with my love. There was luckily no need to run from one sight to another, since we both have been there already. We spent the new years eve 2003 in Paris, so this summer trip showed us another side of the beautiful city. I highly recommend spending some time there...

Sunday 3 June 2007

Storage

here is my new humidor. It is the Capri Glasstop from Reiter Humidors. I have seasoned it and plan to keep it for Cubanos only. as i get my deliveries gathered from around the world.




Here is also the rest of my storage system, in which i will keep the rest of the cigars, along with the boxes. Little something in there already...

New Cigars

Just had some additions to my humidor. 15 HdM Petit Robustos from CigarsofHabanos.com and some samplers from Camino Viejo Tabacos. Have to write more when i have the time...