Kuzi's Cigar Catalog

the P1 IS a great value. I had a few of these in the past and this one was much better than the last few. I think it is beccause i let it sit for a while. I may have to buy more and jut let them all sit.

as far as makin money off of my reviews...

im waiting for cigar.com to make me a job offer :lol:



igsfly:

Macanudo Porofino

11-9-06 been in humi since 4-4-06
60* sunny slight breeze
Macanudo Porofino (panatela) (tubo) 7 x 34
Filler: Dominican
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade.

This cigar has a light cedar smell to it unlit. There is one soft spot just over half way through. Uncut taste is slightly creamy and very light. Cut with a double guillotine. Draw is tight and tasted woody. Not easy to light due to the wind

First few puffs are a strange woody bitter sweet. I think this is because of the way I had to light the cigar. I had to have the lighter almost right on it so the wind wasn’t a problem. This long thin cigar feels strange in my hands compared to the 48-55 ring I am used to smoking.
First ash is almost an inch. The taste is Cedar and maybe a hint of sweet. There is no spice at all. The smaller ring size is making it burn hotter and therefore more bitter. If it wasn’t for the bitter this first inch would actually be good. All around it’s a light taste.
Half way point: Taste is about the same but a bit sweeter. Aftertaste is cedar in a slightly bitter kind of way. No burn issues yet but I’m coming up on the soft spot.
Last two inches: No burn problems through the soft spot; just a faster burn. The taste is still the same. Draw is even tighter. Still no spice.
Last few puffs: I still have one inch or so left and I have to put it out because the smoke is now too bitter and too hot.

Burn time: 1 hour

Burn: 10
Draw: 7
Appearance: 7
Taste: 8
Aftertaste: 6
Construction: 7

Overall: 7.5

Gurkha Centurion

11-22- 06 Been in Humi since 8-24-06
52* sunny
Gurkha Centurion
6 x 60 Perfecto.
Filler: Cuban seed Nicaraguan grown Ligero
Wrapper: Connecticut, Dark natural
Binder: Cameroon

Pre light smell is earthy and rich. The draw unlit is a definite dark chocolate with rich earthy notes. Good draw.

First few puffs: Very leathery with light spice. Tons of smoke the spice is mainly on the aftertaste. Smooth draw

First ash at about 1.5 inches. I think the perfecto shape is helping it hold together. Seems to have a bit of an uneven burn. The taste and draw are very smooth. The taste is very rich but not over powering. Leather, spice, dark chocolate, earth, maybe a hint of sweet. Very complex. A lot going on. Very good. Maybe a hint of floral. A light cedar can be found in the aroma.

By the half way point it has simultaneously built in flavor yet evened out and mellowed. It’s like the flavors have emerged. Spice and an earthy chocolate seem to dominate. Leather sneaks in there. The flavors have mellowed but the spice has built but in a good way. The burn is uneven though. It seems like a cigar that tastes this good should burn better.

2 inches left: Past the fattest part of the cigar. The spice has mellowed a bit and it’s now picking up a toasty taste maybe even a hint of butter. There is so much going on with this cigar that it is hard to grasp every nuance. This is a very complex cigar and well balanced. The spice is definitely cinnamon.

The last few puffs: The aroma is still Cedar. The spice is coming back strong but there is no harshness. Still smooth in all ways. Seems to have a warm sweet taste to it.

I’m amazed by this cigar. I think that more time in the humi will alleviate all the burn issues. I was gifted this cigar in August for my wedding. I think it was either DBRAD4D or doc-t. (One gave me this and the other a legend) I have not bought more due to price. Now I think that price isn’t so unreasonable.

Burn: 7
Draw: 10
Taste: 10
Aftertaste: 10
Construction: 10
Appearance: 10

Overall: 9.5

La Vieja Habana Fumas from Drew Estates

11-27-06 been in humi since 11-3-06
La Vieja Habana Fumas from Drew Estates.
Bombero 6 x 50
Cuban seed Nicaraguan grown Corojo Wrapper
Nicaraguan filler.

Pre light smell is a classic tobacco smell. If you have ever been I a tobacco barn this is how it smells. Uncut taste is light with a hint of sweet. Cut with a punch. The draw has some resistance but in a good way. Taste is chocolate and maybe coffee.

First few puffs are very sweet chocolate coffee with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

At 1 inch or so the first ash fell. The chocolate taste is gone now it is just a nutty sweet coffee thing going on. The coffee is now in the aftertaste. The burn is good so far and the draw is getting lighter.

At the half way point there is more of the same. The bitter after taste is becoming more earthy than bitter and the draw is back to where it should be.

2 inches left. Coffee is becoming stronger. Burn is still ok. Very nice taste overall. The after taste isn’t as good but not bad.

The last few puffs are getting warm and are bringing a tiny bit of harshness.

Burn time: 1h 20 min

Burn: 9
Draw: 9
Taste: 9
Aftertaste: 8
Construction: 8
Appearance: 8

Overall: 8.5

Perdomo 2

11-29-06 been in humi since 9-7-06
56*
Perdomo 2 (Perdomo squared) exponente 6x43
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro (yellow band)
Filler: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan

Pre-light smell is light and sort of woody. The taste before I cut it had a spice to it. It had a strange almost sticky texture.
Cut with a punch. The draw is smooth and woody.

First few puffs: Spice and intense Cedar. Much like you can have a sharp cheddar, this has a sharp cedar.
First ash at almost an inch. Sweet, black pepper, and cedar taste. All three elements are clear but the cedar is not a good cedar. It’s almost pungent. It doesn’t match the other flavors at all. It may be even a little of a grassy cedar.

Half way point: Still sweet, still cedar, black pepper is milder and maybe switching to white pepper. The after taste is now a bakers (unsweetened) chocolate and coffee. There is a lot going on. The problem is that the flavors don’t seem to match themselves. But they are trying to. I think the best way to describe the flavor is this: In a vocal group (a capella) everyone has a part. Some are louder some are softer and each has their own pitch. When you put them together you get music. If this cigar was a choir then everyone would be singing their own song. On an individual basis each person would sound good. Throw them in a room together and it’s a hot mess. The flavors in this cigar are screaming. They fight with each other and aren’t in the same song. If the flavors were isolated then each of them would be good. But they aren’t isolated.

2 inches left: The flavors are finally starting to melt together. I wish this would have happened about 3 inches ago. It is now starting to work for me. The sweet and the cedar were the first to align. Once the pepper moved to the aftertaste it made the cigar more round. This makes me think that the first part of the cigar was somehow tainted or bad.

Last few puffs bring a warming note on the sweet aspect of the cigar. A touch of harshness signals the end.

Burn time 1h 15min

Burn: 9
Draw: 9
Taste: 7
Aftertaste: 7
Construction: 9
Appearance: 8

Overall: 8.2

Cusano 18 Double Connecticut

12-1-06 been in humi since 10-20-06
Cusano 18 Double Connecticut Churchill 7.2 x 50
Wrapper: Connecticut shade
Binder: Connecticut shade
Filler: Dominican Oro

Pre-light smell is light and woody. The cap looks a bit on the crumpled side. The uncut taste is creamy and tangy. Cut with a punch. Draw is very easy, almost too easy. The taste pre-fire is creamy.

First few puffs bring sweet cream. The aftertaste has a note of bitter on it. This may be my own fault due to lighting too hot. I’m not used to lighting a cigar indoors.

First ash is at ¾ of an inch. It’s starting to settle down a bit now. It tastes of slightly sweet cream followed with a light spice. All of it is fairly light. Very even burn.

Half way point. IT is building slightly in flavor. The cream taste is still there and maybe a bit of leather. It has a good earthy aftertaste that I find quite pleasant. The smoke is cool. I have always found this cigar to be quite relaxing and this one is no different. The quality of the burn contributes to this.

The last two inches are still a cool smoke. There is a slight increase on the spice. No burn issues and the flavor is still round.

Burn time 1h 35 min

This cigar is my “worry free” cigar. I know it will burn well, taste good, and be very relaxing. It isn’t the best cigar ever, not the most unique, and definitely not the strongest, but it IS consistently good. It’s like the Olive garden of cigars… not amazing but you know what you will get every time: a good solid experience.

Burn: 10
Draw: 9
Taste: 8
Aftertaste: 8
Construction: 9
Appearance: 8

Overall: 8.7

Montecristo Afrique

12-90-06 been in humi since 9-7-06
Montecristo Afrique
Jambo Jambo 6 x 50
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Filler: African, Nicaraguan, Peruvian.

The Pre light smell is of rich tobacco and earthy. It feels oily and smooth. The wrapper tastes creamy and almost buttery. Cut with a punch. The draw is great and has an earthy cream taste. Tastes so good unlit I almost don’t want to light it.

…But I will.
The first few puffs are nothing like the pre-light taste. It has a strange little coffee taste but burnt. I can’t put my finger on the other tastes but it isn’t good. I hope it changes. I hope this was just a lighting issue. It seems harsh.

The first ash fell at ¾ of an inch. It is starting to mellow to a leather and coffee taste with the same burnt feeling. Still harsh on the back of the palate. The smoke is thick in my mouth. It has more texture than most cigars. The burn is great so I don’t think the poorer taste is from a humidification problem. (Plus my hygrometer is reading exactly 65% RH)

Half way point. It is finally getting better. Very leathery with a bit of soft spice. Still a very thick smoke. The taste has rounded out. And I’m starting to like it. There is no harshness anymore.

2 inches left. The cigar has become very smooth but still nothing special in my mind. The draw is getting tighter and a cedar note has developed.

The last few puffs are starting to warm and I’m still unimpressed.

Burn time 1h 15min

Burn: 10
Draw: 8
Taste: 7.5
Aftertaste: 7.5
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9

Over all: 8.5

I’m noticing a trend with the past few cigars. The first half is more or less harsh and does not have a good taste. As the cigar moves on it gets better. Maybe I am lighting too hot.
Maybe the one side isn’t getting the humidification it needs somehow.
Any thoughts?

still a newbie

As I have said from the beginning, this is a learning experience…

I found myself rereading a bunch of my reviews, and to my dismay I feel that (with some exception) I have been not giving reviews that I think are good. Many of the cigars have qualities that are very similar to each other in taste but the tobacco is very different. This leads me to believe that I may not be as developed as I once thought.

I may be looking too hard at a cigar and working too hard at something that I should be enjoying. I also believe that I should be spending more time looking at the cigar on the whole as apposed to breaking it down so much into different stages. I should be letting the taste come to me, not me trying to find taste.

When I started this catalog I thought it would be better if I kept as much personal opinion out of it as I could. This led me to the analytical system that I have now. I have been leaving out the subjective as much as I could. This means that I am trying to study an art as a science. This also makes a very dry read. With those points in mind, I am going to go in search of a new way to review cigars in a more subjective way. I will talk more about how it makes me feel and if I personally like a flavor or not. I will talk about how it feels in my hand, and about the way it fit into my day. The reviews will probably be shorter (and with any luck less boring to read).

I will still try and give the standard information and the first few lines will be the same:
The date and how long it has been in the humi, the name and type of the cigar, what filler, binder, and wrapper are used. But from there, all bets are off. I will write what comes to mind. The end will probably be the same as it is now (a numerical ranking on the burn, draw, appearance, taste, aftertaste, and construction) but with a slight change. I am going to add an “overall feel” to the list of attributes.

If I type any more in this post this will become “the post that ate your face”
I’m here to learn and share my thoughts, not bore the crap out of you.

Vuelta Abajo Pre-Embargo

1-2-07 been in humi since 11-3-06
Vuelta Abajo Pre-Embargo Churchill 7 x 50
Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Pre-Embargo Cuban

I bought this cigar on a recommendation from my local tobacconist. He knows that I like a medium to full bodied cigar and that I go for a good maduro. I didn’t know that it had Cuban tobacco when he handed it to me. I found out after I had paid for it.

It’s got a very oily texture to it and it feels soft. It’s not squishy… just so smooth that it feels soft. It smells very earthy, but the taste before I clipped it was almost nonexistent. The draw is a bit on the firm side- just how I like it. I’m not usually a fan of the Churchill size cigar but that’s all they had in the shop.

I have never actually smoked a cigar from the 50’s or 60’s let alone a Cuban from the pre-embargo period but this cigar somehow gives off an “old school” cigar feeling. It’s a very classic maduro taste. It is a smooth and cool smoke with a dark chocolate note on the aftertaste. I wish that the smoke itself was a bit thicker. The lack of thickness to the smoke makes this on the lighter side of medium bodied. A few minor burn issues kept my lighter close.

I find myself surprised at the lack of spice. I think this cigar isn’t as good as expected. It isn’t a complex cigar by any means but it isn’t expressly a bad cigar. It’s just kind of there. As the cigar went on the flavor got more intense, but it never changed enough to be a “great” cigar. I’ve definitely smoked better cigars with no Cuban tobacco in them.

Burn time: 1h 40min

Burn: 7
Draw: 9
Taste: 8
Aftertaste: 9
Construction: 9
Appearance: 8
Overall feel: 8

Overall: 8.3

i was trying to get a place that everyone knows. If i would have said it was "the black squirrel" of cigars everyone would have been like... "where?"
I am hard pressed to find anyone who has never been to the olive garden. I am also hard pressed to find someone who doesnt like to eat there.

on this forum i am hard pressed to find someone who has not tried the Cusano 18. I am also hard pressed to find someone who does not like to smoke one.

you will like it.
I promise.

HighPSI said:

I've never been to the Olive Garden :dunno:

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freak...

:roll:

you should go. you wont hate it... its like the cusano 18.

webesmoked said:

The "Red Lobster" of cigars has been released it is available from Thom@*%&#.

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not a seafood fan i take it?