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Espinosa Cigars Presents Comfortably Numb 2
Espinosa Comfortably Numb 2

Good afternoon Ruffian family and happy National Cigar day. Today we’re going to take a look at the Espinosa Cigars Presents Comfortably Numb 2. I’ll be honest, even being a huge cigar geek, I had not even heard of this cigar until it was sent in the mail to me by the Prez himself. Even that being said, the few hours of surfing the web, not much was available, and what I did find had a lot of contradictions. What I could find was that this had a corojo ligero wrapper with Nicaraguan and Honduran ligero fillers. It was made in just the one size, 6×52 toro and made by Erik Espinosa at La Zona factory. I couldn’t find when this was first released to the market, but all signs point to 2019-2020. This cigar has an MSRP of $8.60 and from what I could find, isn’t too widely available in the present market. Enough with the filler, let’s get to the reason you’re here.

At first glance, this cigar has a dark brown wrapper with a lot of veins that stand out much lighter than the wrapper itself. It almost reminds me of Liga Privada T52 in the way of appearance. I use my Palio straight cut to nip the cap and get a sense of the cold draw. The cold draw has a graham cracker sweetness that I hope comes through when I finally light this bad boy up. The cigar has a perfect resistance in the draw, so let’s set this guy on fire. I use a cedar spill to toast and finally light the cigar fully.

The first thing I get is a crazy smoke output. It’s not quite Nica Rustica level, but it sure is close. There is a lot of caramel right off the bat with a bit of cinnamon that lingers a bit on the tongue. The retrohale has quite a bit of white pepper that makes me sneeze instantly on the first draw. If this is a sign of things to come, this may end up in the full strength range sooner rather than later. Moving further in, it has like a french toast with syrup sweetness that lingers. By the end of the third, it is burning perfectly and is about medium in strength and flavor.

Slowly moving into the 2nd third, a weird soap flavor hits the palate. It’s not pleasant, to say the least. I hope this is because of the tunnel that started up after I ashed it. After a few minutes of letting the cigar sit, I have fixed the issue with the tunnel and the soap flavor has subsided for the time being. A mix of toast and dried cherry are coming to the front now and the white pepper on the retrohale has not calmed down as I get further in. Luckily the soap flavor is completely gone as I moved toward the end of the third. The draw is still good and the burn has not waivered since the beginning. 2nd third ends at a full-strength with a medium flavor.

As we start to wrap up the end of the cigar, the retrohale still stands out as the focus of this cigar. Sharp white pepper is still quite potent with a bit of cinnamon to make it less intense. A nice wheated bourbon flavor is coming through and I was wishing it would

have shown itself earlier. A metallic flavor starts to kick in with about half an inch left, so I decide to pop it into the ashtray and salute the dead soldier. Total smoking time was 1 hours and 30 minutes.

So, quite a lot to dissect with this cigar. A boatload of transitions, which is a great thing in my opinion. However, the changes did not seem to line up with the other flavors, making it kind of like choppy waves on a calm day. I wish the wheated bourbon flavor would have come to light earlier in the cigar, as well as the graham cracker that I got on the cold draw. The soapy flavor that came through in the 2nd third was quite the turnoff, but fortunately, it didn’t last long enough to damper the cigar. With that all being said, the T Money score is 3.5 out of 5, rebuy 5 pack.

For the price, this is a cigar worth seeking out. Tons of flavors with many transitions to keep you on your toes throughout the duration of this cigar. The retrohale packs a punch, so I would not suggest it for the mild to medium cigar smokers and not on an empty stomach if you’re prone to nicotine sickness. With all of that being said, it was a quality stick that if you can find one or 5, give it a shot. Share one with a friend, a family member, or even a stranger. Remember to do something nice for someone and treat everyone like family.

Wrapper –  Nicaraguan

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Honduran and Nicaraguan

Website: www.espinosacigars.com

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 pints.

Stallone Castano

Stallone Cigars popped up on my radar in July of last year while looking for guests to have on the DR Thursday Night Virtual Herfs. Even though I didn’t know Stallone Cigars thankfully, through our network of members, we know Todd Vance. Todd had just been appointed the North American Vice President for Stallone and he was asked to be on the show. As it turns out Stallone was started back in 2014 by Tony Barrios and was being distributed in Europe and South America but was being released to the US in 08/20. After spending a couple of hours chatting with him and Tony I decided I should pick up a variety of their cigars and see what I thought. For this first review I started with the Stallone Castano toro.

The Castano has a dark brown look which makes sense as the name Castano translates to chestnut and this matches the wrapper’s color. It is a soft box press and feels firm in the hands and doesn’t have that lose kind of pillow feeling a lot of box pressed cigars can have. The seams are tight, there is some light veining and a slight bit of tooth. From both the body and foot there are light odors of earth, hay and fruit. Construction remains intact after cutting the double cap. The pre-light draw is easy draw with flavors of sweet tobacco and fresh baked bread.

In the first third I get the taste of bitter dark chocolate and pepper but shortly after lighting the spice diminishes and becomes more creamy. There is a medium resistance on the draw, with a good burn line and offers a light weighted smoke that fills the room.

Moving into the second third the flavor is mellow, creamy, a touch sweet while having some grass notes on the retrohale. The burn remains sharp and the ash hold tight until knocked off.

For the final third the spices return along with a charred wood flavor making for and enjoyable finale to the cigar. The burn never required touch ups during the smoke and construction held up until I put the cigar out as a nub.

I found the Castano to be a more mild/medium cigar vs the listed medium/full but of course everybody’s palate is different. Now this doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. I found this to be a pleasant cigar to smoke and think it would be a very approachable cigar to smokers of any variety. Easily could be paired with most anything but suggest coffee, black tea or a peaty scotch. I picked up a few of each of the Stallone blends and look forward to trying each.

Wrapper – San Andres 

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Nicaraguan

Price: $6.80 – $10.25 depending on vitola

Website: https://www.stallonecigars.com

Rating: 4.1 out of 5 pints

Plasencia Reserva Original

The Reserva Original from Plasencia had been staring at me through the glass door in one of my humidors for a while now so, I decided it was time to light it up and see what I thought. Touted by Plasencia as the first and only cigar on the market made solely with tobacco certified by the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) and in the same way Nicarao Indians did over 500 years ago. It debuted at, the then named, IPCPR show in 2017 but was originally an exclusive cigar for Famous Smoke Shop for years prior. Plasencia has been around for ages, growing and rolling tobacco for a variety of big name companies, which I touched on this in the Alma Del Fuego review written a while back, but as they continue to produce more and more blends for themselves there’s always something new to try.

Taking a good look at the cigar the wrapper is dark brown in color with small but noticeable veining and some mottling. The seams are visible but tight, it is smooth to the touch, firm when pressed and no dead spots could be found in the construction. The smell from the body was chocolate, roasted coffee beans and hay. From the foot I picked up a distinct odor of sweet dried fruit.

The triple cap cuts easily and does not damage the construction of the cigar. Of the few I smoked pre-light draw varied between light and medium in resistance. It has as a rich sweet tobacco flavor along with hints of spice.

The first third of the cigar started off creamy with a bit of spice and cedar flavors that linger on the tongue. The burn was even and it produced a fair amount of pleasant smelling light weighted smoke.

Creeping into the second third the creamy flavor stays but now I’m getting the sweeter flavors of the dried fruit noticed when smelling the foot. There is still spice and cedar on the retro hail (if you like doing that sort of thing). The burn continues in an even manner and smoke production is ample.

In the final third the flavors become a bit more difficult to describe. The cedar and spice are present but also salt and sweet when pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth. Over all it finishes as a nice mellow smoke. The burn stays even for the duration and the smoke doesn’t fail to satisfy and fill the room.

From start to finish this was a thoroughly enjoyable cigar. As it has a medium body it’s an easy smoke and could be paired with just about anything. With its intriguing story of the tobacco used it makes this Nicaraguan puro both a great cigar as well as a novelty. Priced reasonably I would definitely recommend grabbing a handful next time you’re in your local B&M shop and see them, if you don’t see them ask them to bring them in, it doesn’t disappoint.

Wrapper – Nicaraguan

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Nicaraguan

Price: $7.50 – $10.00 depending on vitola

Website: https://www.plasenciacigars.com

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 pints