Cigar Pics

Ventura Cigar’s PSyKo Seven

IMG_8394I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a two pack of the PSyKo Seven cigars from Ventura Instagram a week or so ago and had been anxious to try them. From what I had been hearing about them through other people and between what I had heard and the packaging (I’m a sucker for clever packaging) I wanted to see what they were all about.

The two pack arrived to me in the small wooden box with a Boveda pack in the bottom, which kept the humidity level in an excellent range. The cigar was still firm but easily pliable between the fingers. The cigars could easily be squeezed without the fear of cracking the wrapper yet, there were no noticeable dead or empty spots throughout the body of the stick.

The Maduro wrapper of this cigar is a nice rich brown nearly matching the color of coffee beans. The veining is minimal and the seam is almost invisible. The smell of the body is a bit of hay, earth, nuts, fruit and of course cedar. The foot reveals the same notes only stronger.

The light is easy and the draw was firm but not difficult and the cigar produced plenty of smoke from each pull. The smoke was not what I would call heavy on the tongue but still dense and full. From lighting it burned evenly and held a good solid ash. The flavor from the parade of tobacco used to make this cigar was excellent. While it shared a lot of the same flavors as it did in odor the nuttiness and fruit/citrus notes were more noticeable along with a spiciness. As I work my way through the cigar the flavor stays fairly even with little change. However, the flavor does become fuller putting this well into what I would consider to be a good medium to nearly full body cigar.

I thoroughly enjoyed smoking these cigars and can’t wait to pick up some more. If you are looking for something that has complex flavors and isn’t going to kill your budget look no further than the PSyKo Seven from Ventura Cigars. At $7.00 a stick it is really a cigar to beat in both price and quality.

Wrapper: Dominican Hybrid

Binder: Mexican Sumatra

Filler: Multiple Country Blend – Nicaraguan Ligero, Peruvian Pelo de Oro, Honduran Seco, Dominican Hybrid, Pennsylvanian Ligero.

Shapes: ROBUTSTO: 5.50” X 50 – TORO: 6.25” x 48 – GORDITO: 4.00” X 58 – GORDO: 6.00” X 60

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Taste: Mild-Medium with Distinct Transitions

 

Website: http://venturacigar.com/brands/psyko-seven

Cost: Around $7.00 a stick.

Rating 4.6 pints out of 5.

Carlos Toraño Vault D-042

A few months ago I picked up a bundle of various Carlos Toraño cigars, and they’ve been percolating in my humidor since then. Recently I decided I’d try the Vault D-042, or Vault Red. The original Vault, A-008, was wonderful, and I wanted to see what else the Toraño family had deemed worthy to resurrect from their vault (yes, this is the story behind the name of these two lines).

carlos-torano-1

This cigar features a nice milk-chocolate wrapper that’s satiny smooth. No blemishes whatsoever on the wrapper, although there were a few visible veins. Not a big deal. Great aromas on the stick itself, a coffee and hay that was surprisingly potent. If there is any earmark to be found on Toraño cigars, it’s the pre-light aromas and the aromas off the head once lit.

I cut off the tip of the head with my trusty double guillotine cutter which has a covered back so I don’t accidentally cut too much off. I love the cutter, but I wish it had a hole in the middle so I could get a little deeper on torpedoes. As I generally don’t like to smoke torpedoes anyway (I find that 3 out of 5 have too firm a draw), I haven’t looked too hard for another cutter. This stick was a 5×52 robusto, so no worries there. Once the tip was off and I had tested the draw, I started toasting.

carlos-torano-2

 

First light revealed an initial burst of pepper, but not strong. It was mellow like pepper on your eggs in the morning. There was some cedar in there, too, but predominantly was earth. I called it a medium-full, but I think that depends on personal opinion. I’m sure some out there would call it a medium (all you diesel spice-dogs out there know exactly what I mean), but the flavors weren’t at all elusive. A solid tobacco core to back up the earth and cedar. The draw unfortunately was pretty loose, and I found out why as I smoked on. More on that in a bit.

One inch down and the pepper had pretty much evaporated. There was still a nice warmth on the tongue that I usually associate with pepper, but one could hardly call it prominent. The earth was still on top, but the cedar had morphed into something sweeter: herb-like with a little citrus. It wasn’t overwhelming, and it never made it to floral; It was just there – subtle and pleasant. Aside from the (still) very loose draw, this thing would have been perfect.

When the ash fell off at around one inch, I immediately saw why the draw was so loose:

carlos-torano-3

 

It’s a bummer, and maybe the other sticks I have won’t have this problem, but I was a little disappointed. Anyway, once I moved past the hole, the draw tightened up appreciably. Around the half-way point the sweetness morphed a bit into a ginger with a hint of raisin. The whole flavor profile was led by earth and tobacco, but it was enjoyable to get that little bit of complexity. And, as with every Toraño I’ve smoked, the aromas off the head while lit are superb – lots of nuts and chocolate. Delicious.

In the last third the strength started to ramp up, and I ended it at the 55 minute mark. Not the longest burn ever recorded, but certainly respectable and not disappointing in a robusto size. I would definitely smoke this again, although if given a choice between the silver or red vaults, I think I would choose the silver. Overall I gave this an 8 out of 10. Not perfect, the burn was a little wonky (no touch-ups required, though), and the very loose draw was annoying at worst, but given the price-point ($7 for a single), well worth the experience. Something every cigar smoker should try.

 

Website: www.torano.com

 

From Distinguished Ruffian member @thejfraney