Monday, May 5, 2008
Cigar Review: Gran Habano Connecticut #1 and Cohiba Extra Vigoroso
0 comments Posted by Eyeluv Seagars at 9:23 AM
I went over to my buddy’s house this Saturday and we had a great night. De La Hoya fight, NBA playoffs, pasta, jokes, and cigars…did I say it was a great night. He gave me a Gran Habano Connecticut #1. I was a bit weary at first since the only Gran Habano I recall smoking was the 3 Siglos. (See that review.) I was not impressed with 3 Siglos, but I was surprisingly impressed with the #1. Granted, it is not the strong, flavorful ones that I usually smoke, so I could not help feel throughout the smoke though that something was missing. There was an excellent sweet spot towards the very end when the flavor was intensifying, but it was unfortunately short lived. The cigar war wrapped in a beautiful golden Ecuadorian Connecticut shade grown leaf. It has Nicaraguan binders and fillers. The burn was even, and the ash was nice and white. The aftertaste the morning after lingered more than I thought this mild cigar would produce. But still a good overall cigar. I would try another one just to round out my opinion of this brand.
It was also a good to try and convert a Black and Mild smoker to a real cigar. He got a Philippine brand cigar from my friend and was moderately impressed. Then I gave him my Cohiba Extra Vigoroso, red dot. He could not stop talking about how great it was. I will not say I fully made him see the light, or smoke I should say. But I think that my friend and I gave him all the tools and knowledge to make that transition. The Cohiba Extra Vigoroso is an excellent cigar that is a bit more flavor than the original red dot. It features a dark, almost black Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, fillers from Nicaraguan and Dominican ligeros, bound in a three year aged connecticut leaf. It was a great cigar that I did not mind parting with for such a great cause. Hope you enjoyed it.
Friday, May 2, 2008
There is a new fad going around. Cigar manufactures are pushing a new kind of cigar, based on the premise that the initial part and the last part of a cigar are not as good as the middle part. They are calling it, "Nub." A joint effort between Sam Leccia and the famous Olivia Cigars. It is a short cigar, around 4 inches long, but it has a huge ring gauge of 50-60. The "sweet spot" concept I must agree with. There is that special range where the cigar is at its prime. I can just taste it now. The sweet aroma of tobacco fills the pallet. It is not too hot, nor is it over powering. Just a mouthwatering powerpacked cornucopia of cedar, leaf, spice, and at times coffee taste. With each puff the favor intensifies, but the power sustains. Unfortunately the enjoyment is going to come to an abrupt halt. Aside from the veteran aficionado, few are aware what befalls. You get to the point that either you puff too frequently, and get tongue burn, or you get to the point that the flavor dissipates and the power intensifies. Thus the concept of nub. 
Sam and Olivia claim they have mastered a technique of making the first lite till your fingers burn, that a cigar will have this sweet spot for the duration of the entire cigar. To me it seems like cigar manufactures just have a shortage of tobacco to complete an entire box of 5-8 inch sticks. So they make them smaller, thus making more boxes and making more money with less material. Every companies dream! So readers, do not succumb to this diabolical ploy. It is a scam! However, if you have an extra, I would love to try one...Please.Just sold my humi on craigslist. I loved that thing, but tough times calls for tough measures. With a 100 capacity, and my shrinking wallet, I could not keep enough sticks in the humidor to keep it at the right humidity. It is the "age old problem" I smoke more than I store. So I need to downgrade. If any readers out there are in need of letting a humidor go, free99 or close to it, I would love to assist you. So for now, goodbye my humi, you have made me proud. Make your new owner just as, if not more happy than me....
