Cigar Reviews

Protocol Themis
Protocol Themis

“Themis (/ˈθiːmɪs/; Ancient Greek: Θέμις) is an ancient Greek Titaness. She is described as “[the Lady] of good counsel,” and is the personification of divine order, fairness, law, natural law, and custom. Her symbols are the Scales of Justice, tools used to remain balanced and pragmatic.” Now when Protocol Cigars named the Themis after this a female version of Thanos, wait that’s the wrong type of Titan… Originally released at the then named ICPCR in 2017 the Themis is an addition to their line blended in part by one of Cubariqueño’s partners William Agathis who worked closely with Hector Alfonso Sr., Director of Operations at Espinosa Premium Cigars. Naming this cigar Themis is a pretty bold statement given what she stands for, balance, equality, order. This cigar has a lot to live up to for this name, lets see how it does.

The look of the cigar is a muted light brown color, like tea with a bit of cream added to it. The wrapper is mostly smooth with some visible veining and a soft powdery finish. The seams are snug, the body is firm to the touch and there are no apparent dead spots. The smell from the body is faint and there’s nothing much that can be described there, from the foot I notice a some floral notes and light spices. The cold draw gives flavors of bread and butter with a hint of pepper.

For the first third there I notice some creaminess to the cigar, a bit of toasted wood and a light pepper flavor on the back. The cigar burns evenly with no issues and the smoke is light and plentiful.

Moving into the second third more of the creamy goodness from the first is there, this cigar is almost like smoking butter. The pepper does start to stand out a bit more on the back of the pallet. It’s not over powering just enough to let you know it’s there. The burn stays true and the smoke production is plentiful.

In the final third the spice picks up a bit, and the buttery toast flavor with cream remains consistent. The burn is sharp throughout the entire cigar (only one out of 4 did I have an issue with and it was a particularly windy day so I will name that as the culprit) and the amount of smoke is more than satisfying.

For me I found this cigar to be around a medium in intensity and is a great morning cigar or if you’re looking for something a bit on the lighter side to smoke in the evening. It has a flavor profile that can be easily appreciated by both the novice and seasoned smoker and would pair well with just about anything you put it up against. While I did not find much flavor change from start to finish this is not a bad thing. Perhaps that’s why it was named Themis, it’s a well balanced cigar that carries its flavor and texture from start to finish. Or maybe I’m like Mr. Fantastic and that’s a stretch. (Sorry everybody, we’ve been re-watching all the Marvel movies again recently.) Either way when you see these make sure to pick some up because you won’t regret having these on hand.

Wrapper –  Ecuadorian Connecticut

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Nicaraguan

Price: Around $10.00

Website: https://www.cubariqueno.com

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 pints

Muestra de Saka Unstolen Valor
Muestra de Saka Unstolen Valor

The Unstolen Valor from Steve Saka is part of his Muestra line and was released in May 2020. The creation of the Muestra’s was really something clever. While determining new blends for his company, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, many samples would be gone through before landing on the rite ones. Knowing how much people like the novelty of these samples, or muestras as they are called in Spanish, he decided to release some of them in limited quantities. As stated by Saka “Muestras are hoarded and coveted by not only their makers, but by the cigar smokers who seek to catch a glimpse into the cigar maker’s soul within their smoke.”

Unlike the other Muestra releases this one was not blended by Saka himself, for this one he went to of Raul Disla, the production manager at Nicaragua American Cigars S.A. in Estelí. “I challenged Raul to create his own unique series of ligas without any input or direction from anyone else including myself. I wanted him to make cigars that were personally satisfying to himself and not worry about the opinions of others, the costs involved, or creating a brand. I was curious to see him be a ligador without any constraints. One of the blends he created really captured my attention.” notes Saka. Because he wanted to be able to showcase one of the people behind the scenes and give them credit the name Unstolen Valor was born. OK enough history lets get into this cigar.

The cigar is covered in a dark brown wrapper with some noticeable veining and a nice oily sheen. Between the fingers it feels full and firm. The smell from both the body and foot are those of hay, cedar, sweet tobacco and spice. The cold draw offers little resistance and brings in flavors of chocolate, dried cherries and of course the sweetness of the tobacco.

The first third of the cigar is spicy and meaty, it lets you know its there. In the beginning it was slow to burn and felt a little tough to get it to burn, this quickly went away so I do not fault construction for this only an anomaly. Once lit properly the draw was light but in a comfortable way. The burn was even, the ash held to about 1/2 before I knocked it loose and the smoke production was ample.

In the second third there is lots of flavor. I notice black pepper that dances a bit on the tongue, dark chocolate, and some earthy notes. The burn remains constant along with plenty of heavy smoke that you can almost chew on.

For the final third flavor stay similar to to second but to me becomes just a bit more spicy. It finishes off in what I consider to be full flavor and body, the burn never falters and the amount of smoke given off never fails to satisfy.

While there is a bit of novelty behind the Muestra de Saka line they certainly don’t lack quality. The visual appeal is there, the cigar is well constructed and the flavor profile was great. While the price point is a bit on the high side for some it’s worth the investment to try some of the rare combinations of tobacco that might have never seen the light of day. These can be tricky to find so when you see them out at your local B&M don’t miss out on grabbing a couple.

Wrapper – Nicaraguan 

Binder – Nicaraguan

Filler – Nicaraguan

Price: $18.00 – $20.00 depending on location.

Website: https://www.Dunbartoncigars.com

Rating: 4.7 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