Bit of a “job lot” here, a selection of NC singles. The great thing about a job lot of singles is you get to try cigars you have not had before, and if you like them, buy more, if you dont , well you have not wasted a fortune!
As you may know I am quite a fan of Alec Bradley cigars, having enjoyed three previous Alec Bradley cigars, and having given them good scores I was really looking forward to this cigar.
Appearance 8.5/10
The wrapper on this cigar is medium to dark brown with some tooth, and a few dark spots. The band is really good looking and very well printed, giving the cigar a very attractive appearance.
Construction & Draw 8.0/10
There were no soft or hard spots on the cigar, and it was well packed with tobacco, there were some noticeable small veins but all in all this is a very well constructed Churchill sized cigar.
After cutting the cap the initial pre-lit draw was a little tight, which was a concern, but after a few good draws it opened up nicely, and the cigar produced a large volume of smoke. This cigar did have a couple of burn line wobbles, but the cigar corrected these without me having to do anything.
Its worth noting that the band is quite large, and when it came time to take it off some of the glue had got onto the cigar wrapper, it took a very delicate manoeuvre to get the wrapper off without tearing the cigars wrapper.
Flavour 7.5/10
Initially this cigar had a strong pepper kick to it, coupled with a strong tobacco taste, about half an inch in things settled down, the pepper backed off a little and this allowed some other flavours to come through. As well as the pepper I could taste a hint of cocoa, and an earthy tone.
Around half way through the cigar the pepper was dialled back another notch and the cigar took on a richer and smoother note, I could taste hints of leather, the cocoa/chocolate flavour was more intense, and there was a sweet woody tone, this was welcome as it added greatly to the overall complexity of the cigar.
The cigar did not really change its flavour profile until just before the end when the pepper picked up again. All in all a not a bad flavour profile.
I would say that this cigar was a medium strength, medium body cigar.
Value 7.0/10
This cigar retails at around 8.00 – 8.50 USD, if I had not recently had a Nica Rustica, then I would have said this represents good, if not exceptional value for money, however with the Rustica retailing at around 6.00 – 6.50 USD, this cigar starts to look expensive.
Summary 7.5/10
I think this cigar would have impressed more if I had not just had a Nica Rustica, this is a pretty good cigar, but the rustica is cheaper and a better smoke, even if it not quite so good looking. Would I have this cigar again, probably it was a pretty decent cigar, would I buy a box, probably not, and if there is a Nica Rustica around I would pick that.
This cigar was very kindly gifted to me recently, its a fairly new cigar to the UK, but should be available in most large cigar retailers at the moment. A while ago I tied the standard Terra Nova, and if you read the review I quite liked it, since then I have had a few more and they have always hit the spot, so lets see how this smokes.
Appearance 8.5/10
Being a maduro cigar the wrapper on this cigar is very dark, it has quite a bit of tooth, and in places the wrapper is almost black, the wrapper has quite a few small veins. The cigar has two bands, both are well printed and look great, both of these bands came off easily with no damage to the cigar.
Construction & Draw 8.5/10
The cigar is generally well constructed, the shape was a little flat towards the cap, and as you can see this made the band look a little loose, the cap construction was pretty good, and I got a nice clean cut from my Palio cutter. The cigar was well packed with tobacco, however it did have a slightly “easy” draw, nothing too bad but a little to loose for me. The burn line on this cigar was pretty much perfect, and required no touch ups.
Flavour 8.5/10
The pre-light draw had a slight sweetness to it suggesting chocolate or caramel, it also had a great earthy flavour. The first inch or so of this cigar matched the pre-light draw, I could taste chocolate and a slightly woody/earthy note, it initially started out with quite a bit of pepper, but this settled down and the balance between pepper and chocolate was really nice.
In the second third of this cigar the chocolate and sweet notes were stronger, with the pepper just playing on my palate, I would describe it as having a creamy taste at this point.
During the final third of the cigar the strength and body of the cigar picked up quite a bit, and the pepper note became stronger, the last third was a reminder of all the flavours in the first two thirds just with more strength and power, all in all very nice.
Summary 8.5/10
This cigar is around £11.99 in the UK, which puts it around the price range of some stiff competition like the Bolivar Royal Corona (£12.99) and whilst the BRC is somewhat of a classic the construction and draw can be a bit hit and miss, where as all the Alec Bradley cigars I have smoked have had great construction and draw.
Even if you ignore construction, then the Alec Bradly is still a great alternative to the BRC and other “classic” robsuto’s, if you want something with a bit more pepper, strong chocolate notes, and a tasty earthy quality then I am sure you will like this cigar.
You might wonder why I gave this a score of 8.5 as I gave the other Terra Nova a 9.0, well to be fair my palate has matured since then, I have wider cigar experience, and I would probably now only rate the original Terra Nova at 8.5.
In summary this is a very nice cigar, well worth trying, and I am sure a number of you will end up putting some in your humidor, I will certainly be having more.
Tonight for review we have a cigar that surprised me a great deal. Its been in my humidor for a while, because its a medium strength stick I waited for an evening when I just wanted to chill out and relax, and somehow every time I thought about smoking this stick there always seems to be an interesting maduro stick, or full strength cigar that caught my eye.
Why was I surprised by this cigar, well read on…
Appearance 8.5/10
For once my picture does this cigar justice, as you can see this is a very good looking cigar, with a medium brown wrapper with a little tooth, and a few dark marks. The cigar wrapper has some small long veins, and the cap construction is excellent. The band is very well printed and looks quite classy.
Construction & Draw 8.5/10
The construction of this cigar is excellent, when squeezed there are no hard of soft spots, and its well packed with tobacco. Pre-light aroma has a slightly sweet smell, and after cutting the pre-light draw was sweet with a slightly spicy note.
Flavour 7.5/10
The flavours in the cigar are not going to set your taste buds alight, this is a light to medium stick with a flavour profile that evolves very slowly as you smoke this stick. There is a slight taste of spice in the first third of the cigar, which picks up a little in the last third, other notes I could detect were a little sweetness, and slight caramel and coffee notes. All in all a very pleasant flavour if unexciting.
Value 9.0/10
This cigar retails at around 5 USD per stick, even bearing in mind prices in the USA that’s still very cheap for a Churchill sized cigar, you should probably expect a bit of a dog of a stick at that price, but this is anything but.
Summary 8.0/10
You just cant get away from the fact that you are getting a very nice Churchill sized cigar for not a lot of money. True this is not a flavour bomb, but the flavour profile has some nice notes, its only light to medium strength, but its well constructed, has excellent draw, and has a razor sharp burn, ohh and did I mention its only 5 dollars!!!
Seriously I am very impressed with this cigar, its amazing value for money, and is a nice relaxing smoke, its also might be a good introduction to larger cigars for a novice cigar smoker.
If you want a great value cigar, then I would recommend the American classic.
This cigar was initially sent to me by a friend in the USA, who has been sending some non Cuban cigars for me to try. Whilst many non Cubans are available in the UK, the USA has a better selection (as they cant legally get Cubans). I would probably have not tried this cigar myself, so I was very glad I was sent one, as its a great stick.
Appearance 8.5/10
This is a very good looking cigar. The wrapper is a lovely dark brown, with a few small veins, and is nice and oily to the touch. The band is worth a special mention, its bold without being ostentatious, and really well printed.
Construction & Draw 9.0/10
Construction of this cigar is top notch, the wrapper as mentioned only has a few very small number of veins, and the cap construction is first rate. The cigar is well packed with tobacco, and it was easy to make a nice clean cut. The initial draw was very earthy, it almost tasted damp, and musty, don’t get me wrong this was not at all unpleasant just strong. The cigar was easy to light, and the burn line was crisp.
Flavour 9.0/10
The first few draws on the cigar we very peppery, but this settled fairly quickly. Interestingly the strong earthy taste remained, and it gave the flavour a real body to it. As you get further through the cigar the earthy taste backs of a little and you get a really creamy, nutty taste coming through. I could also taste a slight sweetness which to me tasted like aniseed, which I really liked.
About half way through the aniseed flavour disappeared and the cigar became less earthy, but remained creamy and smooth. For me the earthy taste transitioned to woody tones, and the nutty flavour became more prominent.
I was seriously enjoying this cigar so I smoked it probably further than I would most cigars, and only at the very end did it begin to get hot. As the pepper flavour came back I decided it was time to finish.
Summary 9.0/10
I cant really talk about value for money as these cigars are around 6-7 USD which is around 4-5 GBP, obviously if you could get them for that price in the UK they would be an absolute bargain. If you translate that into UK costs I would expect to pay around 10 GBP, and the cigar would still represent very good value for money.
I really liked this cigar, I may not have described the earthy tone well, but I can assure you it was a very enjoyable flavour. I especially liked the aniseed tone, it added another dimension to the flavour profile. This is a cigar that I would have again, and I would recommend that if you can get one give it a smoke, I bet you will like it.
UK Cigarnewbie 