Review: Cohiba Siglo III

This is a review I wrote a while ago and saved as a draft, I had completed it but forgot to publish it, so tonight I am being a bit lazy and just posting this review.

This is the third Cohiba Siglo cigar I have smoked, I really enjoyed the other 2 (Siglo II and Siglo IV), so I have decided to try all the sizes in the range.

In order to compare this cigar to the other Siglo’s I have smoked I will, where appropriate, use the same descriptions as I used for the other Siglo reviews. So here we go…

Appearance 9.5/10

This cigar has a lovely medium brown colour wrapper, with small veins, and a little tooth. The band is very classy as you would expect from Cohiba, and the overall look, like all Cohiba cigars is one of quality.

Construction & Draw 7.5/10

This cigar is very well constructed with no soft or hard spots, cap construction was excellent and I got a nice clean cut from my Palio cutter. The draw as per all other Siglo’s I have smoked was pretty much perfect, cool and easy from start to finish.

However you may notice that I have scored construction lower than the previous Siglo’s I have reviewed, this is because about half way through the burn line wobbled, and did not recover. In the end I had to use my lighter to correct the burn line, something I don’t really expect on a premium cigar.

Flavour 9.0/10

The flavour profile of this cigar is unsurprisingly very similar to others in the range, creamy with some strong coffee flavours. The cigar developed vanilla tones at around half way, and in the last third I picked up a hay/flowery note which just added nicely to the flavour profile. This is a solid medium strength cigar, and is a classy, sophisticated, and amazingly smooth smoke.

Value 8.0/10

As I have mentioned in my other Siglo reviews, there is no getting away from it the entire Cohiba Siglo range is expensive compared to other cigars, the Siglo III is no exception, however sometimes you pay for quality and sophistication.

Summary 8.0/10

As expected this cigar is very similar to the others in the range that I have smoked (Siglo II and IV), for me I would find it difficult to choose between the different sizes in the range, I would probably just decide based on how much time I had to smoke.

I did drop the final score by 0.5, whilst I hope that the burn issue was just a one off, my score has to reflect this, especially for a premium cigar. However the burn issue will not stop my smoking one in the near future.

Review: Regius Robusto – Updated

I initially reviewed this cigar 7 months ago, if you go back and read the review it did not really hit the spot, the construction was not very good, and the whole experience was very disappointing. Since that review I have continued to read reviews that rate this cigar much higher than I did, and whilst not describing it as an epic cigar, most reviews say this is a good solid cigar.

At the end of the review I did suggest that my experience may have been due to a bad stick, so I decided to give this cigar another go. In order to contrast this review and the original, the original review is in blue, the new review in black.

Appearance 7.5/10

The cigar has a light brown wrapper, with some small veins, and a couple of larger veins. The band is understated, but well printed and gives the cigar an understated look.

The general appearance of the second cigar was in line with the first one I smoked, so there is no change in score for appearance.

Construction & Draw 8.5/10 (Previous 5.5/10)

Construction was less than perfect on this cigar. The wrapper had a couple of large veins in it, but it looked loose in a couple of places, and had a small break about halfway down the stick. The cap construction was a little scrappy, and the cigar has a very short cap so I had to be quite accurate when cutting.

As I smoked the cigar my concerns about the wrapper turned out to be well founded, as it began to unwrap, and the small break opened up as the heat spread throughout the stick. It was also disappointing that the ash would only hold on for around half a centimeter before it dropped off.

The cigar seemed to be quite well packed with tobacco, which is surprising because the draw was incredibly light, it was like sucking on air, and this was a contributing factor that spoil my enjoyment of this cigar. The cigar produced a lot of creamy and very sweet smelling smoke.

The construction of the second cigar was much better than the first, the wrapper had the same mix of veins but there were no places where the wrapper looked loose, and there were no breaks in the wrapper. The cap construction was far better than the first example, and there was more of a cap which made cutting easier.

This cigar seemed to be better packed than the first, and this made the draw tighter and far more in line with other Robusto’s I have smoked. All in all it would seem that this cigar did not have the construction problems I had with the first stick.

Flavour 7.5/10 (Previously 7.0/10)

This cigar is supposed to be medium to full bodied, I would say that for me it defiantly stayed medium strength, never becoming full. Predominantly this stick has a woody, sweet tobacco taste, at times I felt I could almost pick up a slight leather taste, but it was not a strong note.

Whilst the flavours were pleasant, they did not really change as I smoked the cigar, making it very one dimensional.

The flavour profile of the second cigar was very similar to the first, however I could detect some good hints of cocoa after the first 1/3 of the stick, there seemed in general to be a little more complexity, so I have increased the rating slightly.

Value 8.0/10 (Previously 7.5)

In trying to work out the score for value I have assumed that I may have just got a bad example of the cigar, and I have concentrated on the cost vs flavour profile. In this regard its not a bad cigar, just pretty average, for me there was little change in the profile throughout the stick and although pleasant I like to experience changes in the flavour profile.

As this cigar did not suffer form the construction problems of the first, its only correct that I increase the rating, however my initial scoring did not weight the construction problems highly in the calculation so the improvement is only marginal.

Summary 8.0/10 (Previously 6.5)

I picked up this cigar as I had read a number of reviews online that said very good things about this stick, however I did not enjoy this cigar anywhere near as much as others who have reviewed one seemed to. The flaws in construction were annoying, its been a long time since a wrapper came apart on a cigar I have smoked, but the draw really spoilt the experience, it was to easy.

To be fair this is not a bad cigar, maybe I just had a bad example, and if I tried another I might have better luck, normally I would do this. Unfortunately for the Regius just after smoking this cigar I tried a C.Gars Nicaraguan Selection Robusto which is a much better cigar and slightly cheaper, and this impact my scoring…  review to come soon…

Overall I have increased the rating by 1.5, I think this is a fair rating. Now I have smoked one that has no major construction issues, this is a pretty competent cigar, and represents good value for money. I may even get a couple more to put in the humidor, just to check the construction lol.

Review: Oliva Serie O Double Toro

I am a big fan of Oliva cigars, with the Serie V Belicoso being one of my all time favourite sticks, so I was really looking forward to this cigar. Its been in my humidor for a while and was purchased in the UK, so I will rate its value in terms of the UK market.

Appearance 9.5/10

Oliva seem to have the knack of producing great looking cigars, as with the Serie V Belicoso this cigar just looks great. There are very few veins, and those it does have are very small, the wrapper is a lovely mid to dark brown color and nice and oily, the band is simple yet sophisticated. Overall this cigar is great to hold due to its size and length, and lovely to look at.

Construction & Draw 7.0/10

This construction of this cigar is truly excellent, the wrapper is beautiful, there are no soft spots and the stick is packed with tobacco. The cap construction is almost perfect, and my Palio cuter gave me a razor sharp cut line on the cap. Draw was pretty much spot on, with just enough resistance, the burn line was razor sharp and straight.

So why only a score of 7.0 for construction, well around 2/3 of the way through this cigar no matter what I did it kept going out. Normally you can re-light a cigar a few times, but as it was almost impossible to keep the cigar burning the flavours started to get bitter, so I let the stick die.

Flavor 8.0/10

The cigar kicked off with quite a bit of spice, about 1/2 an inch in it settled down and I could then detect some vanilla and sweet tones. The flavour profile changed again around half way through, when a note of leather was added, and then around 2/3 of the way through the spice reappeared and there was an additional note of leather.

Value 8.0/10

In the UK this cigar retails at around 16 GBP, in the USA these can be had for around 7 USD (around 5 GBP) which just shows you how much tax we pay in this country. Still I am reviewing this at the GBP price. The look, construction, burn and flavour profile, in UK terms justifies the asking price, as you get around 1.5 to 2 hours pleasure from this stick.

Summary 8.0/10

I was really expecting this stick to be a great smoke, and to be fair the first 2/3 of this stick were a great smoke. What I was not expecting from an Oliva cigar, especially one where the construction looks so perfect, was to experience issues keeping the stick burning.

I have to say that this did tarnish my view of this cigar somewhat, but I have tried to be fair in my overall score, so I have dropped a point and a half, if I had experienced no issues then I would say this would be a 9.0. I may well try one again in the future, and if has no burn issues I will increase my score…

Review: Arturo Fuente Anejo Reserva No. 55

This is another cigar that I dont think you can find in the UK, it comes from the same line as the 77 (Shark) which is a cigar that I really liked, indeed I gave it a 9.5 despite the high UK price tag.

As you can imagine I was really looking forward to trying this cigar, its quite a bit cheaper, and if it shares the majority of the 77’s flavour then it should be a treat.

Appearance 7.0/10

I took two pictures of this cigar so that you could see how they come wrapped in a cedar sheath, this is a really nice touch and coupled with the red fabric at the end gives the cigar an air of quality.

Unfortunately as you can see underneath all the packaging this cigar does not look anywhere as good as the 77. The wrapper looks quite scraggy (a new technical term lol!), and the overall look suggests a slight lack of care when assembling the cigar.

Construction & Draw 7.5/10

As you can tell from the pictures, the construction of the wrapper is not as good as I was expecting. Whilst its a lovely dark chocolate colour, its does have quite large veins, there were also a couple of little glue patches around the seams, and the cap construction was quite scrappy (using that technical term again!). On the plus size the cigar had no soft or hard spots, cutting the cap was really easy, and the cigar had a great draw, just the correct amount of resistance.

Flavour 8.5/10

The pre-light draw had a little bit of spice, and a nice cocoa and musty note. The cigar lit easily and produced a lot of sweet musty smelling smoke (not a cigar to smoke in a confined area).

The cigar started medium strength, and by the end had evolved to a medium-strength with a strong rich flavour. The cigar had a strong earthy taste with obvious notes of chocolate, as the burn moved into the second third of the cigar a vanilla note was added, and there was a hint of spice. As I got further into the cigar the flavours kept evolving, the strength increased as did the overall richness, this really hit the spot for me, I love a cigar that keeps building and keeps you wanting more.

Despite the less than perfect wrapper construction the burn line on this cigar was razor sharp from beginning to end, and at no point did the cigar heat up, even when I got close to burning my fingers.

Value 8.5/10

I cannot find a UK price for this cigar, so I cant compare the price of this in GBP to the shark, but the US price seems to be around 11 USD, with the Shark coming in around 16-17  USD. On balance I think I would pay the extra for the shark (especially as 17 USD is still cheap compared to cigar prices in the UK), as I think the construction and the flavours are better, however this is still a really good cigar, and is much easier to find than the Shark, and at the 11 USD price point I think this is a very good cigar..

Summary 8.0/10

I could not decide if I should give this cigar a 7.5 or an 8.0, in the end I decided that the flavour counted more than the construction, so I went for the 8.0. This is a really rich and creamy cigar, with a lovely earthy taste, its not quite a Shark, but its still an excellent stick.

If you can get hold of some sharks then I would grab them, but if you cant (and they are hard to find) then this cigar is very close, and should be easier to find. If you like your cigars rich with an interesting flavour profile I would pick some up.

Review: Alex Bradley – American Classic Blend Churchill

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.

Review: Cain Straight Ligero Maduro – Double Toro

Firstly apologies about the picture, I took it when this cigar arrived in my humidor a few months ago, and forgot to check it.

This is the first Cain cigar I have smoked, but as its from the Oliva family, and I love the Serie V so much I was pretty hopeful that I would like this. Prior to smoking this cigar I had been warned it was a pretty strong stick, so I decided to have it after some food just to make sure it did not kick me too much.

Appearance 7.5/10

The poor picture does not really show it but the wrapper had a fair few spots and blemishes. It also seemed to lack the oily sheen of other Maduro wrappers I have seen, the wrapper was like this when the cigar arrived so I assumed it was a little dry, which is why I left it in my humidor for a few months, but the wrapper did not change.

The slightly dry wrapper felt a little odd between my fingers, and gave the cigar wrapper a brittle feel.

There were also a few small veins, as well as being seen these could be felt as ridges on the wrapper, which detracted from the overall appearance.

Construction & Draw 8.5/10

Wrapper issues aside, this is a well constructed cigar, cap construction is excellent, and I got a really clean cut. I could detect no soft or hard spots when squeezing the cigar, so I was expecting a consistent draw and burn.

The draw on this cigar was excellent, it was slightly tighter than some other cigars of a similar ring gauge I have smoked, but sometimes for me large ring gauge cigars are a little too easy on the draw, so I felt the draw was pretty much perfect for me on this cigar.

The burn line on this cigar got a little erratic about half way through the stick, but it did not require a touch up, and quickly corrected itself when a problem occurred.

Flavour 8.0/10

Pre-light this cigar had a spicy and slightly musty smell, after lighting the stick I was greeted with a pretty powerful hit of peppery spice, which for me was a little over powering, but luckily it soon backed off a little.

The general flavour profile was a little bit static for me, somehow because of the strength of this cigar I expected it to have complex flavours that changed notably during the life of the stick. Once the initial pepper/spice backed off I could detect a woody flavour coupled with a slight cocoa taste, for the majority of the stick this is how the flavour profile stayed, it was only once I got into the last third that I detected some nutty notes, and the spice came back again.

I really enjoyed the flavour of this stick, it quite suited my palette, however I would have preferred the profile to evolve and change a little more, whilst enjoyable this cigar was a little more one dimensional that I would have liked.

This is a strong powerful smoke so I decided to pair it with a Whisky of similar characteristics, so I chose a drop of Highland Park 18 which turned out to be a good pairing, both adding to the flavours of the other. I think if you used a less smokey Whisky then the cigar would overpower the drink.

One interesting thing I noticed was the effect of the smoke on my eyes, if the smoke drifted directly into my eyes, I could feel the irritation, I have never had a stick irritate my eyes before. Even if you were not smoking this stick the strength of the smoke would tell you how strong the cigar is.

Value 8.5/10

At 8.50 USD you are getting a lot of cigar for your money, but just getting a lot for you money with cigars is not what you should be looking for, luckily this is a pretty good to very good cigar, which lasted around 2 hours, so I think it represents good value for money.

Summary 8.0/10

This is not a cigar to have on an empty stomach, I am very glad that I had this soon after eating, as it is a powerhouse of a cigar, probably one of, if not the strongest cigar I have smoked. What lets this cigar down is the appearance, and the slightly disappointing flavor profile.

However this is still a good cigar, and if you are looking for something to blow you away with its strength then this is a good stick. This is not an everyday smoke, and you would need to be careful when you smoke it, but if I can I will probably try to add a couple to my humidor.

Review: La Rica Churchill

I am a big fan of the Churchill size of cigar, its a great way to spend an hour and a half to two hours, the length and ring combine to give you a good draw and the opportunity for the cigars flavour to develop. I tried a Punch Churchill a while ago and really enjoyed it, but at around 17.00 GBP it was not cheap, so I have been looking for a good value Churchill.

Having read a couple of reviews on the internet I decided to give the La Rica Churchill a go, to see if it was anywhere close to the Punch. The local merchant now stock La Rica so I decided to pick one up.

Appearance 8.5/10

The cigar is contained in a well constructed tube, which is nice at this price point. The wrapper is a lovely medium brown with only a few veins. The cap is very nicely constructed which makes cutting very easy, the band is a little cheap looking.

Construction & Draw 7.5/10

The wrapper on these Cigars is quite delicate, you can tell the leaf is quite thin, and if not handled carefully could split (the one I tried was fine), perhaps this is why La Rica ship all their cigars in tubes. Cap construction is good, and I got a clean cut when I removed the cap. The cigar is firm but not hard to the touch, once lit the cigar had a slightly tight draw, but after a few puffs the draw became easier.

Flavour 7.5/10

This cigar has that spiciness that I usually associated with Nicaraguan cigars, but what I like about this stick is that it is not too overpowering, and its kept under control (a failing of some other non Cuban cigars I have tried). As you get further through the cigar you get a nice leathery taste, and some lovely hints of chocolate. The ash is silver grey and holds for about and inch, the burn is excellent, with a neat line.

Lets be clear this is not as rich, and the flavour profile is not a interesting as the Punch Churchill, however the flavours do develop quite nicely as you smoke it.

Value 9.5/10

This is a great cigar for the money, its rich with good flavours and keeps the peppery kick under control, if you were given this cigar you would not believe that it only cost 7.99 GBP.

Summary 8.0/10

You cant go wrong with this cigar, for the price it is truly excellent, its no replacement for the Punch Churchill, as its not as sophisticated a smoke, but you can get two and a half of these cigars for one Punch. I was going to give this cigar a 7.5, but I decided the value on offer deserved an extra half point.

So for me a well as the expensive Punch I will be adding a number of these sticks to my humidor, as a good value excellent smoke when I have an hour and a to half spare, I would recommend it if you want a great value and enjoyable smoke.

Review: C.GARS Inka Secret Blend – Rojo Red – Tres Petit Corona

Appearance 7.5/10

The wrapper on this cigar is quite a light brown (the picture is not very good), there are a number of small veins on the wrapper, and a couple of slightly ragged edges, but nothing to worry about. Overall the cigar feels firm with a little spring when squeezed.

The band is smart, and relatively understated.

Construction & Draw 8.0/10

This is quite a well made cigar, the wrapper is tight and well packed with tobacco, the cap construction is good, and it did not feel like it would unravel unlike some other small, low priced cigars. The draw on this cigar surprised me most, normally cheap small cigars have a very tight draw, or are so loose that that you think you are sucking on thin air, not this cigar, it has an excellent draw, better than many larger cigars I have had.

For a cigar of this size the draw is extremely impressive.

Flavour 7.5/10

The cigar starts with quite a strong peppery flavour, along with a strong tobacco taste, the great draw on this stick makes it easy to savour the flavours this cigar produces.

After about 1/2 an inch the pepper flavour backs off, the flavours mellow, and you get a stronger sweet tobacco taste. The burn was initially a bit ragged, but this corrected itself after a while, once corrected the burn was razor sharp.

About half way through the cigar I began to detect a slightly woody (possibly oak) flavour, this was a nice addition, and stopped the flavour of the stick being one dimensional.

The pepper taste returned in last third, the sweetness backed off, and the woody flavour remained. All in all the flavour profile is not massively complex, but is very good for a cigar at this price, and far better than most at twice the price.

Value 9.5/10

What can you say, this cigar is 3.59 GBP, at this price its amazing value for money. The construction is good, the draw is excellent, and the flavour is far better than you should expect at this price. This cigar is around half the price of the Winston Churchill Lancaster, and in my opinion is just as good.

Summary 8.0/10

This is a good solid stick, I think you have to look at the price when scoring it, at 3.59 this is a great value 45 minute smoke, so I think an 8 is fair. If you want a 35-45 minute smoke at a good price this is a great little cigar.

I am going to add a few more of these to my humidor for when I want a quick decent smoke, I will also see if there is a sampler pack for the others in the Inka range, if I do I will review them as soon as I smoke them.

You simply cant argue with the value for money this cigar represents, its quite a bargain.

I paired this cigar with a Talisker 10 year single malt, and the two worked very well together. I was expecting the Talisker to over power this cigar due to its peat and pepper, but the pepper in the Inka seemed work compliment the Talisker, and the pairing worked well.

Review: Winston Churchill Lancaster

When its cold outside as it is in the UK at the moment, you really don’t want to be standing outside for 1-2 hours trying to enjoy a cigar whilst freezing. Even if you can smoke inside opening a window or door will make your entire house cold.

With this in mind I have been looking for a 25-35 minute smoke, something relaxing and enjoyable that can be finished before you turn into a brass monkey.

I had not come across this brand of cigars before, although they are from Davidoff, so I thought  I would give it a try, and it did surprise me somewhat.

Appearance 7.5/10

The wrapper is a lovely medium brown, and for the price is very well constructed, with only a few veins. The shape is Belicoso,  and once the cellophane is removed (I do hate cellophane on cigars), looks remarkably sophisticated for the price.  The cigar does not have much of an aroma before you light it.

Construction & Draw 7.5/10

Construction is good, this is a slightly soft cigar, but it is well packed with tobacco,the draw is even and not too light. The burn is surprisingly good, with an even edge and about 3/4 of an inch before the ash dropped.

Flavour 7.5/10

This is a cigar of two half’s, or rather the first quarter and the rest. Initially this stick had quite a strong ammonia taste, and I was pretty sure that I was not going to get on with this cigar. Once I was past the first quarter a more subtle floral tone came through, and then as I smoked further down the cigar the strength increased, and there was a lovely woody, earthy taste with a hint of chocolate. This flavour remained all the way to the end of the cigar.

Value 8.5/10

This is a sophisticated, well constructed cigar for not a lot of money, and I think represents excellent value.

Summary 8.0/10

This cigar really surprised me, at first I was sure I was not going to like it, the initial slight ammonia taste put me off. But after the first few puffs the ammonia disappears and you start to get a really nicely balance smoke, the further through the cigar you go the richer and stronger it gets, the last half of the cigar is excellent.

For the price of around six pounds this is a good smoke, and I suspect these will get better the longer they are in the humidor, I will be buying more.