Smoke

Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

IMG_6714Most times when looking through the shop I tend to skip by Romeo y Julieta sticks. Nothing personal they just never grabbed my attention. Usually they have fairly unassuming bands and nothing flashy to really catch the eye. However I got a chance to try their House of Capulet made and available only through Famous Cigar shop. While this is a lighter cigar than I normally smoke I decided I’d have a couple and see if I liked it.

When I got the cigar the first thing noticed was that while the band was the same there was a new flashier exterior wrapper printed in silver ink on a nice translucent paper to show off the House of Capulet name. The band at the foot and the wrapper come off easily leaving the top band in place. The wrapper leaf is lovely golden Connecticut with very slight veining. The construction was solid but, to the touch the tobacco is soft . Although the tobacco was very yielding to the touch there were no dead spots to be found on any of the ones I tried.

Thee body of the cigar had your usual smells of leather and cedar but also and added smell of fresh mowed grass and a bit of sweetness. From the foot the smells were the same but stronger and a hint of dries apricot in the background.

I was able to cut the cigar without a problem and the construction held together with no problems for the duration of the smoke. It light easily and evenly using just one match and needed no relighting at any point. The draw was smooth and easy. The first third of the cigar was light and reminded me of fresh bread and butter with just a hint of nuttiness. The smoke was also light on the tongue but plentiful and rewarding.

The second third was similar to the first only now a bit of pepper was starting to work its way into flavor. Usually around this time most Connecticut’s start to get a little on the warm side however this one remained the same temperature as when I started.

In the last third most of the bread and butter flavor had dissolved into a fuller more pronounced pepper taste along with a more earthy/nutty tone. It was great to have a Connecticut with as much complexity as this one did.

Over all it was a great smoke and quite enjoyable, solid from the beginning to the end. This cigar could go well as your morning stick or while sitting back watching a movie (which is what I did). I’m a pretty fast smoker and I got well over an hour with each stick so make sure you’re ready to relax when you light one of these guys up.

 

Strength: Medium

Shape: Toro

Size: 6 x 52

Country: Honduras

Wrapper Color: Natural

Wrapper Origin: Ecuadorian

Wrapper Leaf: Connecticut

Website: Famous-Smoke.com

Price: $23.00 – $29.00 a five pack

Rating: 4.7 pints out of 5

Alec Bradley Prensado

thumbnail_IMG_7177The Alec Bradley Prensado, Robusto cigar is coming in at a 5x 50 ring. The Prensado is made in the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras and utilizes a good amount of Honduran tobacco from Trojes. The Trojes region is located in the Southern part of Honduras.

Visually the Alec Bradley Prensado is like a piece of cigar art. The wrapper has a dark chocolate look to it. The wrapper is somewhat oily and smooth with virtually no veins in sight. It is well packed with no soft spots as well as being box pressed. The aroma on the foot is a combination of cedar and coffee. The wrapper gives off a strong barnyard aroma.

For my Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto, I used my a Colibri V-cut to open up the cap. With the pre-light draw the dry draw notes provided me with flavors of leather, coffee, and chocolate. Overall I considered the pre-light flavors to be enjoyable. The first draw after lighting provided me with a quick shot of pepper.  The pepper would settle quickly though and join with the notes of leather and coffee. The leather and coffee have quickly surfaced as the primary flavors of this cigar. By the end of the first third of the smoking experience, I detected some hints of nut in the finish.

During the second third of the Prensado, I detected a sour citrus in the background for a little bit. Eventually these citrus notes were replaced by some cedar spices. The cedar spices fused with the pepper note.  For the remainder of the cigar experience, the Prensado was highlighted by notes of leather, coffee, nut and spice. At no point while smoking the last half of the cigar none of the notes would overshadow the others. The finish was smooth and there were no harsh notes. The resulting nub was cool and soft.

In the end, not the most complex flavor profile, but some good flavor and definitely a dessert cigar that would go really well with a nice cup of coffee and chocolate cake. The cigar was a solid medium body cigar and the burn was close to perfect and razor sharp. My overall opinion on this cigar is that it gets a 4 star out of 5 Construction is impeccable. The flavors were very enjoyable with a solid Medium on the body. Not too much strength at least for me. I would buy another given the chance.

Review by Distinguished Ruffian member @mouthwash_cologne

Wrapper: Trojes, Honduras

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Trojes, Honduras, Nicaragua

Size for Review: Robusto 5×50

Taste: Full body.

Website: www.alecbradley.com

Price: Around $10.00 depending on location.

Rating: 4 out of 5 pints.

Leaf by Oscar: Island Jim #2

IMG_2679Until recently, in my area of Florida, it was difficult to find anything from Leaf by Oscar which of course included the Island Jim. Thanks to the cigar bombing list I’ve been lucky enough to try a few and this time when I was sent an Island Jim #2 I knew I needed to write about it for a couple of reasons. First, they are difficult to get around here, next they look amazing, and third I knew exactly which prop I was going to use, (come on you know my love of toys…excuse me deluxe action figures) and so the photos began. After the “photo shoot” with the cigar and its model it was time to smoke it. Luckily Distinguished Ruffian_Juice was free to go grab some drinks at one of our local hang outs, The House of Brews.

The initial look of this stick is delightful. The wrapper is smooth with light veining and none of it heavy. Its shape is that of almost a torpedo with an unfinished foot and an open head. The construction feels solid with no dead or open spots to be found. The smell from the body was not overbearing and gave off notes of leather, wet grass, and a bit of nuttiness. From the foot these odors were more prominent and gained slight spice and coffee notes.

Lighting is easy thanks to the “shaggy” foot that everyone seems to be referring to it as. I chose not to cut the head since it was already open. The draw offered little resistance and it was easy to get a nice, full mouthful of medium weighted smoke that delivered all the flavors this cigar had to offer.

From the first draw I immediately picked up the peppery taste that I noticed from smelling the foot. That flavor was well complemented by the taste of nuts and a distant flavor of hay. As I continued to smoke, the construction of this cigar held up to its looks. There was a consistent even burn with no runs and a tight greyish ash that held for 1.5” to 2” before falling off each time. I made it through the first half with virtually no change in flavor, which was fine by me since it was fantastic.

As I neared the second third of the cigar the spicy flavor started to take a back seat to new heavily roasted coffee tones and a bready taste becoming more prominent. While the change this late in the cigar was unexpected it was not detrimental to the smoke. It didn’t change my over all opinion of the stick rather it added a new dynamic to it that made me more interested. With this new flavor I smoked this cigar down to the nub until it began to burn my fingers and then used my knife to hold it until I could smoke no more of it.

In total this is a great cigar. Aesthetically it is a great looking cigar, the construction is phenomenal, the lighting is easy, the draw is comfortable, it provides plenty of medium weighted smoke and the flavor is well balanced and more than enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a cigar in the medium to not quite heavy range and it is great for either daytime or a nighttime smoke.

 

Wrapper: Nicaragua Jalapa

Binder: Honduran

Filler: Unreleased

Honduras
Size: 6.5 x 52

Taste: Medium body.

Website: Leafbyoscarcigar.com

Price: Around $10.00 a stick depending on location.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5 pints.