Cigar Review

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

Protocol 5 Families

Protocol 5 Families

Pennsylvania, Monday, September 14th 2020

Protocol is proud and excited to present a very special limited edition cigar called the 5 Families. This cigar is special because it marks the company’s first ever 6X60 cigar size. It is a project that is giving homage to the fundamentals of the company. The 5 families is a project to showcase consumer based cigar clubs. Protocol has chosen 5 Cigar Clubs that support the company and has again partnered with Famous Smoke Shop to release the cigar. 

Fat Ash was founded in 2014 by Dax Single and Brad Weidenhammer, but later rebranded in 2016 where they brought in David Papp. Fat Ash has over 2,700 members on their facebook group page. Protocol created a Fat Ash Cigar for them in 2018, which has grown to become a yearly release, with the latest installment being Fat Ash Year 3 in 2020. 

Smokehouse Gorillas was founded in 2017 by Al LaPeter. They have 1,300 members on their facebook group page. They consider themselves a HERFing Community. Protocol Cigars have done Smokehouse Gorilla events with the club in the past and maintains a great relationship with them. 

Distinguished Ruffians was founded in 2014 by Mitch Rockwell. Distinguished Ruffians have over 10,000 members nationwide and with 15 chapters, they are the largest Cigar Club in this project. Learn more about them at https://distinguishedruffian.com/

BOTL PA Chapter, Brothers Of The Leaf is a term we have all heard before and it is a testament to the brotherhood that is shared for the love of cigars. The BOTL movement has chapters in every state. The BOTL PA Chapter was founded in 2017 by Rick Riley. They have grown to over 1,700 members. 

Last but not least is the Sheepdog Cigar Club, founded in 2018 by Brian Peck. It is the youngest cigar club in this project, they have about 200 members and a facebook group. Sheepdog Cigar Club is a Non-Profit 501(c)(3). Sheepdog Cigar Club brings six distinct groups of people together (Police, Fire, EMS, Dispatch, Corrections, and Military).  However, Sheepdog Cigar Club members share two things in common, a passion for the fine art of hand rolled cigars and a dedication to public service. Sheepdog Cigar Club raises funds and collects essential supplies to support local Police & Fire K-9s Units. Learn more about Sheepdog Cigar Club and how to help out K-9 units at https://sheepdogcigarclub.org/ 

The 5 Families will go on sale on Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 at Famous Smoke Shop from Protocol 5 Families1pm to 5pm, located at 90 Mort Drive, Easton, PA 18040. The event will be held outdoors with the Leaf Cigar Bar and Restaurant working at a 50% Capacity as per PA CDC/DOH Covid 19 regulations. There are 100 ten count bundles available. The blend is a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler. This vitola marks the company’s first ever 6X60 size. They will come in 10 count paper bundles with an MSRP of $99.99. The initial 100 bundles will be available at the time of the event. If there are any left, they will go on sale via Famous Smoke Shop: telephone 610-559-8800 starting Sunday, 10/04. Part of the proceeds of this event will go to Cigars for Warriors. While the FDA has put an end to cigar companies donating cigars to this incredible organizations, they have no say in monetary support. To learn more about Cigars for Warriors or to make a donation, please visit https://www.cigarsforwarriors.org/

“We are excited to do something special for these 5 cigar clubs that support us!” said founder and owner Juan Cancel. Kevin Keithan, owner added; “For this special project we wanted to do a special vitola. Everyone has been asking us for a 6X60 offering… so here they go, but they will go fast!” Nicole Patoki, General Manager of Famous Smoke Shop explained; “We are so happy to be teaming up with Protocol Cigars once again, along with these 5 phenomenal Cigar Clubs in support of Cigars for Warriors!” 

5 Families:

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano

Binder: Nicaragua 

Filler: Nicaragua 

Vitola: 6X60

MSRP: $99.99