Author: mitchrockwell76

Cohiba Serie M
Cohiba Serie M

We, as cigar enthusiasts, will think of Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and so on when it comes to discovering where a particular cigar originates from but, what about the USA? Well, here we have a cigar “Serie M” by Cohiba Cigars that is made right here in the USA; constructed at the El Titan de Bronze Factory in Miami Florida to be exact. General Cigar announced the limited edition project earlier in the year 2021. 

Some of you may know the history of Cohiba others may not. The Cohiba brand has its origins in Cuba going back to 1968. The U.S. version of the brand is owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group and has been in the U.S. since 1981. For the most part, the U.S. version has come out of General Cigar’s Dominican factory, but for the past few years, the Cohiba band has been produced by other factories owned by General Cigars including Honduras (Cohiba Royale), Nicaragua (Cohiba Nicaragua), and now the United States (Cohiba serie M). 

The Cohiba Serie M is a Nicaraguan forward blend. Nicaraguan tobacco makes up the wrapper, binder, and filler. The wrapper is a Nicaraguan Corojo, which marks the fist time that leaf has been used on Cohiba cigar. There is a double binder with both leaves from Nicaragua. The fillers contain leaves from two regions of Nicaragua (Jalapa and Esteli) and also contain some Domincan Piloto Cubano tobacco. Learning about the origin of this cigar I’m ready to light up and get into my review! 

Having a few cold draws to start this process I’m picking up some natural tobacco notes with some cedar and citrus. Very earthy which kind of dried my mouth out a little. Had a couple sips of water to get my palate ready and here I go with the light up. 

The first third of the Cohiba Serie M kicked off with notes of cedar, earth, bread, honey-citrus, and baker’s spice. Early on, the cedar and citrus notes moved to the forefront. The cedar soon became the sole primary note. The citrus settled into the background, joining the earth and baker’s spice. There were times when the earth notes popped into the forefront. A slight red pepper note emerged late while I entered the second third. 

As I continue on to the second third of the Cohiba Serie M cedar notes maintained on my palate with an increase of red pepper and earth notes. The honey-citrus notes slowly receded during this phase. By the midway point, the earth notes took over as the primary flavor with some coffee joining the party, pushing the cedar into the background with the red pepper and baker’s spice. 

Smoking right into the final third the red pepper and earthy notes were joined by cocoa powder; almost a malty taste and leather right down to the end. 

I was certainly impressed with the overall burn despite the fact that I have heard that other individuals who have tried this cigar had construction (wrapper cracking) and burn issues. The Cohiba Serie M cigar is a medium to a light medium+. This cigar only comes in a 6×52 toro size with an msrp of $29.99 and/or box of 10 for $299.90. It is most certainly one to try despite the price; I will rate this cigar a 4.5 out of 5. Since this Cohiba Serie M was made in the US as mentioned in the beginning of this review it is a “Limited Cigar” so if you are able to find them certainly purchase at least one to smoke and see what YOU come up with for your own review! Enjoy!

Wrapper –  Nicaraguan

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Dominican & Nicaraguan

Website: www.cohiba.com

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 pints.

Powstanie Habano
Powstanie Habano

Hello everyone, and welcome back for another T Money cigar review. We have a great one for you today and hope this will give you some fantastic insight into this cigar. Today, we’re tackling the Powstanie Habano. I first was introduced to the Powstanie brand about 5 years ago when my good friend had given me one. We spent the day trying to pronounce the name and it was good for a laugh. Now, you might know them for their yearly release of the Wojtek,(Voy-Tech) which is Polish for War Bear. I have a review of that one as well, but let’s do a quick backstory of Powstanie (Poh-Ston-yay). The brand was started in 2015 by brothers Mike and Greg Szczepankewicz, who both also own Cigar Hustler in Deltona, Florida. They teamed up with Estaban Disla and Skip Martin to make their cigar company a true reality. The name Powstanie is Polish for “Uprising”. It’s interesting to note that each brother blended a different cigar for their portfolio. Greg did the Broadleaf and Mike did the Habano. These cigars are made in Nicaragua at the same factory as RoMa Craft. So, let’s cut up this bad boy and get to the meat and potatoes of this, shall we?

Powstanie Habano Belicoso 5.5×54

So, first released in 2015, this were exclusively only at their Cigar Hustler store. This cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder, Dominican Criollo, Esteli Ligero, and other fillers from Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua. The tip of this belicoso comes to almost a perfect point, which is way different than most of the other belicosos I’ve seen on the market. The wrapper has quite a few prominent veins and almost looks like a cracked windshield. I used my Palio straight cut it as usual. The cold draw is super loose and has some graham cracker and wet grass coming through. I used a cedar spill to toast and light the cigar since the wind here was surprisingly at a minimum.

Right off the bat, I get a ton of earth slapping me in the face. I was not expecting that from a habano shade wrapper. The retrohale has a bit of semi-sweet chocolate and a dark roasted coffee. The smoke output is huge! I always enjoy getting a big plume of smoke from my cigars. Some grass and leather creep their way in a bit further into the third. The draw doesn’t seem to be open as it felt on the cold draw and the burn is getting a bit wonky. Had to do a couple of touchups, but nothing crazy. Towards the end of the first third, some smooth creaminess is lingering on the palate. It’s right below the medium mark in strength and the flavor is Medium/Full.

Getting into the second third, the earth and creaminess are still there. The retrohale has a bit of burnt wood. There is zero spice hitting me, which I was really surprised about. The burn has straightened out nicely and the draw is still perfect. Seems to be quite like the first third, except for a nuttiness starting to show its face, almost like a walnut or pecan. Smoke output is still impressive and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. The strength is a bit more medium and the flavor is still medium/full.

Now, for the last third… This is where the magic of this cigar comes through. Dark coffee is back to the forefront and some spicy pepper is hitting me on the retrohale. Just a huge transition from the first two thirds of this cigar. Cedar, leather, and earth come roaring back in the way a prizefighter finishes in the later rounds. I’m doing everything I can to savor this and hold on to it way too long. I grab my nubbing tool and smoke it until it’s way too hot to continue. What a finish!!!

WOW! So I haven’t had one of these in many years and I don’t know why. This was a perfect anytime smoke with great construction and just a joy to smoke. It truly shined in the last third. I love a good earthy, smooth cigar and this one aced it! My smoking time was 1 hour and 40 minutes. I don’t know how much age was on this one, as it was given to me by Prez, Mitch, specifically for this review. Seeing as these are readily available on the market, I suggest grabbing a box, or two, and sharing them with your friends. At the very least, buy some for yourself and smoke them with great joy!

T Money Score: 4.5/5. Rebuy (multiple) boxes. I hope everyone has a chance to smoke something they enjoy today and as always; Do something nice for someone today!

Wrapper –  Ecuadorian habano

Binder – Indonesian

Filler – Dominican & Nicaraguan

Website: www.cigarhustler.com

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 pints.

  • Travis Peterson AKA T Money is the Co-Captain of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapter of Distinguished Ruffians. He started his cigar journey in 2007 and hasn’t looked back. Outside of cigars he has a passion for brewing beer, playing guitar, bowling and golf. He is also a self proclaimed grilling and smoking expert. 

Liga Privada Dirty Rat
Liga Privada Dirty Rat

Good day, Distinguished Ruffian family. T Money back for another cigar review, just for your reading pleasure. This is a well-known cigar but has become kind of a unicorn due to availability and after-market pricing. I’m sure you all know the name and brand. As legend has it, Steve Saka created this cigar to have with his espresso while in Nicaragua. He has said to have over 50 boxes in his humidor and won’t smoke any that were made after his departure from Drew Estate. He even created the Sobremesa Short Churchill to replace this cigar so he could hoard his precious stash. I’m talking of course about the Liga Privada Unico Series Dirty Rat.

This has been a go-to early morning smoke for me, but they are hard to come by. This cigar has been aging since 2012. I have only a few left and wanted to get my notes down before I ran out. When I first started smoking cigars, finding the Unico Series on the shelves, was like finding the Holy Grail. The first one I had was the Feral Flying Pig. I’ve since stashed a couple of boxes of those away for a rainy day. The L40 was the next one I tried and being a hater of Lanceros, it didn’t do much for me. Then, this one came along. The corona size is also one that I had to grow to love and this is the one that sealed the deal for me. So without further ado, let’s get into it. It is a 5×44 Corona that comes with the same wrapper that is on the T-52. If you like the T-52, you’ll love this cigar. It has a Brazilian binder with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It comes in a box of 12 with an MSRP of $12, but as you know, there is a huge markup on these hard-to-find Ligas. I bought this box from Jerry’s Cigars in Tucson, back in 2012. I cut it with the trusty Palio and fired it up with the DuPont DeFi Xtreme.

Liga Privada Unico Series Dirty Rat

Starting off, the smoke output is absolutely crazy, as with all Liga Privada cigars. There is a TON of earth right off the bat. Slight amount of pepper on the retrohale, but nothing crazy. Getting further in, it has some semi-sweet chocolate coming to the forefront. The sweetness and the earth just meld really well together. The strength and body are at the lower end of medium as I reach the second third.

The second third starts to really show that semi-sweet chocolate flavor. Earth is now barely hanging on, but it is still noticeable. The retrohale is still about the same with some slight spice with a bit of cherry wood. I had a tunnel starting and had to let it go out. After letting it go out and a relight, it seemed to fix itself. It’s tough with these corona-sized cigars to fix a tunnel, but this didn’t have a problem. Strength and body are about medium for both.

Finishing up the last third, there isn’t a whole lot of change. A bit more bite on the retrohale, but that is to be expected with the smaller ring gauge. Semi-sweet chocolate,

dark earth, and a touch of leather round out the cigar. I nubbed it at about the hour and 20-minute mark.

Overall, I think the age really smoothed out this blend and melded the flavors together. I remember there being much more transitions when I first smoked the cigar. This one was crazy smooth and even the retrohale didn’t make me sneeze or eyes water as I remember the younger versions doing. I haven’t been able to find any lately, so I have no frame of comparison, other than my original notes. If you like a corona size cigar and want something with coffee in the morning, this is your go-to. Great burn, only a small issue with the tunnel and huge smoke output.

T Money score: 4/5 rebuy box. If you can find these at, or close to MSRP, grab them. You definitely won’t be disappointed.

Wrapper –  Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder – Brazilian Mata Fina

Filler – Nicaraguan & Honduran

Website: www.drewestate.com

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 pints.

  • Travis Peterson AKA T Money is the Co-Captain of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapter of Distinguished Ruffians. He started his cigar journey in 2007 and hasn’t looked back. Outside of cigars he has a passion for brewing beer, playing guitar, bowling and golf. He is also a self proclaimed grilling and smoking expert.