“QUICK PUFF” – Davidoff Colorado Claro Special R
Nov 27, 2009 Cigar, Quick Puff
Today’s “Quick Puff” review is the Davidoff Colorado Special R.
The sun-grown Connecticut Ecuador wrapper on the Colrado is reminiscent of the Cuban varietal dark, reddish-brown in appearance and stronger in taste. The genetic structure of its seed produces lower yields and only a limited quantity of these harvested leaves meet Davidoff’s strict quality standards, making this extraordinary offering highly sought after. The four exclusively selected Davidoff Colorado Claro formats have been given a unique second band, are protected in cellophane and presented in distinctive 10-count boxes.
I picked up mine at the Davidoff shop in the Time Warner Building in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle.
The construction on the Colorado Claro was the first thing that stood out to me. I generally assume Davidoff cigars are going to have excellent, if not perfect construction. While the Colorado wasn’t bad, it was certainly not the blemish free and smoothly wrapped stick I generally get from Davidoff. The wrapper had a few veins and some areas that looked like miscuts. Again, not horrible, but when I think of Davidoff, I think of perfect construction.
The wrapper had a distinct Graham Cracker aroma with some earthiness. The stick lit and burned beautifully. The stick started out with a nice burst of spice that’s also not very traditional in the Davidoff cigars I’ve smoked. There were predominantly flavors of cedar wood and some leather all framed with a nice mild spice. Finish was clean and very pleasant. Body was medium to full and flavor was very rich.
Overall I enjoyed this stick very much. A nice balance of flavor, body and strength. A little more strength and a little more spice than I would expect from Davidoff and both were welcome. For the Davidoff smoker, these are a no-brainer. Go out and get one to try. For those of you who feel Davidoff cigars aren’t as complex or as full-bodied as you might like, try these. You might be surprised it’s a Davidoff.
Tags: Colorado Claro, davidoff
Tatuaje Monster Series 2009 – Drac
Nov 21, 2009 Cigar
Tonight’s review is the Tatuaje Monster Series Drac.
The Tatuaje Drac is the latest Monster Series Halloween release from Pete Johnson. The Monster Series started in 2008 with Pete’s release of the Tatuaje Frank. It’s followed up this year with two sticks, the Boris (Frank Out of Costume ) and the Drac.
The Drac is a 6 2/4 x 52 inch Torpedo and is dressed in a Dracula motif including shellacked black coffin. It has a Habano Maduro wrapper and there are 1,300 boxes of 13 cigars produced. Pete is also inserting 13 “Spooky Tickets” is the boxes for a Willy Wonka style contest in which one winner will recieve a beautiful Ducati Motorcycle. A brilliant marketing tactic and a fantastically fun experience for smokers who were put on a quest to find not just the smokes, but the Spooky Tickets. Brilliant!
And now, on to the review.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Size: 6 3/4 x 52 (Torpedo)
Origin: Most Likely Nicaragua
Wrapper: ??? Habanp Maduro
Binder: ???
Filler: ???
APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION – (17 of 20 pts.)
The Drac has a beautiful dark chocolate wrapper and is a Maduro in every way. The wrapper is very brittle however, and will lose a few points for that. In my box there were 2 sticks with cracked wrappers. Being the good guy he is, Pete has offered anyone with damaged cigars to contact Tatuaje and he will do his best to get replacements out to you. It is apparently somewhat of an issue and Pete has responded tremendously to it. The wrapper is very oily and a clean, vein free beauty. The band is at the foot of the stick which is a first I believe for Tatuaje. Overall the construction is pretty good other than the brittle wrapper
SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS – (22 of 25 pts.)
The wrapper has an aroma of sweet mint and spice. My buddy barry over at ACigarSmoker.com nailed it when he said the Tatuaje Boris had an aroma of Valentine’s Day candy heart mints. I found that aroma on both the Boris and the Drac. It’s a sweet mint spice aroma. Very interesting. The stick cut perfectly and had a perfect draw. The burn was perfect throughout the whole smoke. It had a thin burn line and a very light, white ash. Very voluminous smoke and overall wonderful nice burning stick.
FLAVOR – (26 of 30 pts.)
The Drac started with a woody flavor that had a twinge of unsweetened espresso. That flavor carried over from the first to the second third where it picked up a little spice and some strength. The second and final third also added a slight cocoa flavor and a more pronounced wood flavor than in the first third. Overall nice, but not overwhelming flavors.
OVERALL IMPRESSION – (21 of 25 pts.)
Overall I thought this was a good, not great stick. I am a HUGE fan of Pete Johnson’s work and I smoke Tatuaje cigars as much as any other stick in my humi. I found the Drac to be decent but not anything I would seek out other than it desireability as a “rare” or collectible stick. A good smoke, but considering availability and price (MSRP around $13) I would not scour the earth for one unless you are one of those smokers (like me) who is drawn to the harder to find cigars.
TOTAL SCORE – 86
Tags: Boris, Drac, Frank, Halloween, Monster Series, Pete Johnson, Tatuaje
“QUICK PUFF” – Casa Magna Oscuro Robusto
Nov 13, 2009 Cigar, Quick Puff
Tonight’s Quick Puff review is the Casa Magna Oscuro Robusto.
After the hubbub Casa Magna enjoyed over the Colorado Robusto which was named Cigar Aficionado’s cigar of the year for 2008, many people were eagerly anticipating this latest release.
The Casa Magna Oscuro has an incredibly dark Oscuro wrapper. As dark as any stick I’ve seen in a long time. The wrapper is very oily and very nice looking.
Aromas on the wrapper were faint, but the foot had a chicken coop or barnyard smell.
Flavors included some light woodiness, raisiny sweetness and some asian spice in the second third. A solid medium body throughout.
Burn was decent. A little uneven in the first third, but corrected by the second third.
Overall this stick was pretty good. Not overwhelmingly good, but a decent buy for the price. I found the flavors to be a little too muted for me. They were nice, but they were at a volume of 4 and I wanted a volume of 7 or 8.
Tags: Casa Magna, Oscuro
Padron Family Reserve 45th Anniversary Maduro
Nov 11, 2009 Cigar
Tonight’s review is the Padron Family Reserve 45th Anniversary Maduro.
To celebrate the milestone of reaching 45 years in business, the Padrón family released the Padrón Family Reserve No. 45, a six-inch long, 52 ring gauge, box-pressed cigar made from very old Nicaraguan tobaccos. The cigars will be made in very limited quantities, and shipped at various times.
Most of the cigars in this initial shipment are maduro, but some have natural wrappers. “The tobacco inside is aged for 10 years,” said Jorge Padrón. The cigars will retail for $25.80. And now, on to the review.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Size: 6 x 52 (Toro)
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION – (20 of 20 pts.)
The Family Reserve is a benchmark that all torcedores should be forced to study and understand. The stick is absolutely perfectly constructed. The dark chocolate wrapper simply glistens with oil. The stick is dark as night and has no visible veins, blemishes or imperfections. It is firmly packed, yet not hard. The Padron’s seem to take box pressing to another level with their cigars and the Family Reserve is no exception. It has almost sharp corners forming a perfect box press that’s a pleasure to hold. A work of art.
SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS – (25 of 25 pts.)
The wrapper has a faint aroma of cocoa and some spice. The foot has a more pungent nose of earth, cocoa and pepper spice that made my nose tingle. Cut the head with my usual punch cut. Cold draw was perfectly resistant and had notes of creamy coffee and some woody components. The Family Reserve lit flawlessly and burned like a dream. Box pressed cigars can sometimes present a burn challenge but this stick burned evenly, slowly and held a firm, tight ash. Smoke was dense and full-bodied. Overall the strength was medium bodied and very, very smooth.
FLAVOR – (29 of 30 pts.)
The Family Reserve took 4 or 5 puffs to really open up, but once it did…wow. The stick started off with some earthy cocoa flavors. After the initial 4 or 5 puffs I mentioned, it opened up into a mixture of fantastic flavors. Within the first third, I got flavors of cocoa, earth, wood, sweet spice and cloves. Around the middle third, the Family Reserve got meatier and offered flavors of dense chocolate cake and solid earthiness. Final third gained some spice. Not a tremendous amount, but just enough to balance this amazing stick.
OVERALL IMPRESSION – (24 of 25 pts.)
This stick is why I started smoking cigars in the first place and it reminded me of that. It’s everything you want in a cigar and more. Beautiful construction, amazing flavor profile and wonderful smoking experience. Other than the $26 price tag, this stick could be considered an almost perfect cigar. As it is, it gets the highest score we’ve ever give a cigar and is a lock to be on our Top 10 Cigars of the Year list.
TOTAL SCORE – 98
Tags: 45 Year, Family Reserve, Padron
New Section – “Quick Puff”
Nov 7, 2009 Cigar, Quick Puff
We’ve added a new section on SmokeScore.com called “Quick Puff”.
Quick Puff reviews are basically quick un-scored reviews where we review a cigar that’s been smoked only once. Generally, most of our standard reviews include cigars that are smoked at least 2 or 3 times. These Quick Puff reviews will be less formal and a quicker read. Despite being shorter, they should still give you a good idea of what the smoke is about and what it might have in store for you.
We hope you enjoy them.
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