Apr 11, 2010 Quick Puff
Tonight’s “Quick Puff” review is the #77 Anejo Shark from Arturo Fuente.
The Shark has an incredibly oily sheen to its box-pressed body. The wrapper is very dark and toothy. There is a nose of mahogany and asian spice on wrapper. The foot has a woody aroma along with some cocoa.
The Shark, as will all of the Anejos are usually very well packed and firm cigars. The draw was perfect as I lit the square pressed foot.
Flavors included heavy doses of wood and dark chocolate in the first third. There was also a very noticeable flavor of liquor which I can only assume is coming from the cognac barrels that the tobacco leaves in these smokes are aged in. Second third introduced a fruity flavor along with the liquor flavor. There was also a note of cocoa and more wood. The smoke was medium to full-bodied and smooth. Despite the odd “round to square” box pressing, I got a perfect burn on this Anejo with very few problems.
Overall this was an outstanding example of the Shark which is my favorite vitola in the Anejo line. These cigars can be difficult to find, but if you do find some, definitely grab a few. For my money, they are superior to Opus X and anything else in the Fuente portfolio of cigars. A real treat.
Mar 17, 2010 Cigar, Events
Come to Nat Sherman in the heart of Midtown East in NYC for the first ever NYC Cigar Tweet-Up and social media event sponsored by Camacho Cigars!
Nat Sherman will be opening its doors all-day on Saturday, 27 March and offering lots of specials and unique deals where you can meet in-person some of your social media “friends” and enjoy what we all love: great cigars. Box specials, accessories on sale, and to celebrate the upcoming start to the MLB season, spend $75 on anything and receive a limited edition Nat Sherman baseball cap (a $25 value) FREE!
In addition, Nat Sherman will be extending all specials and deals to everyone regardless of if you are able to come to the store or not: simply call 1-800-MYCIGAR or e-mail your Tobacco Consultant to take advantage of these offers all day long.
Many thanks to Camacho Cigars for being our sponsor of this first event of its kind here in NYC and Camacho will be providing a special cigar to give away with purchase for the event. Which cigar will it be?? You need to come by and find out!! Plus you tweet about your experiences & spoils during the event by using the #CigarTweetUp hashtag.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Lindsay Heller (@TheCigarChick) at lheller@natsherman.com
Mar 1, 2010 Cigar, Quick Puff
Tonight’s review is a “Quick Puff” review of the San Luis Rey Regio.
The San Luis Rey is a Cuban brand that flies somewhat under the radar among most smokers. The “Rey” is medium bodied and relatively reasonably priced cuban.
The Regio is a Robusto sized stick that has a slightly dry appearance. It is chocolate brown in color and has a strong barnyard aroma with some coffee at the foot.
The Rey had a slightly tight draw at first. After lighting and taking 6 or 7 puffs, it loosened a bit, but it was still a little too firm for my liking.
The stick had a lot of nice coffee, earth and cocoa flavors. There was also a tinge of saltiness at points.
Overall this was a good smoke minus the difficult draw. The draw was actually a problem on 2 of the 3 sticks I tried over a 2 week period, so it could be indicative of a bigger issue. Other than the draw problems, this was a nice stick at a reasonable price from my cuban source. I’d recommend it for those of you who like Padron cigars, as I get a similar flavor profile of coffee, chocolate and some earth.
Jan 30, 2010 Aged, Cigar
Tonight’s review is the first in our new section “AGED” Reviews.
Our first “AGED” Review will be the Camacho Liberty 2003.
On a trip to CigarInn on the Upper East Side of New York City, I happened to be digging through the piles and piles of boxes that Gus and his brothers have in their walk-in humidor. The space is small and jam-packed with cigars, so many times, you have to dig around to find certain things.
It was on just one of those rummaging sessions in early 2009 that I discovered a treasure. Sitting under stacks of boxes, I discovered a 3/4 full box of 2003 Camacho Liberty. I immediately grabbed 5 of them and brought them over to Gus to pay. He was astonished that he even had any left.
The 2003 Camacho Liberty is an enormous perfecto shaped cigar. It measures 8″ by 50 x 52 x 38. It has light brown wrapper and comes wrapped in tissue paper and rests in it’s custom cedar coffin. A sticker on the outside of the coffin says “Liberty 2003″ and “9,022/20000″ which indicates there were 20,000 of these cigars made. Having almost 7 years of age on it, I am very excited to dive into the 2003 Liberty.
The wrapper is a light brown and has a mild aroma of cedar (certainly from the cedar coffin) and some barnyard. Despite being almost 7 years old, the cigar is in perfect condition, I’m sure in part due to the tissue and coffin.
I cut the head with my Palio cutter and lit the perfecto foot with no problem. Both cold and hot draw were a little tight but nothing too bad. Initial flavors were of mushroom and a toasty quality. There was definitely an earthy funkiness to this cigar. The entire first half of the cigar had intermingling flavors of toast, earth and a very light spice.
Second half of the smoke turned a little woody and introduced a creaminess to the smoke that made it feel even milder than it originally was.
A huge tunnel developed at around the halfway point. It lasted for a while, but considering the sheer size of this smoke, it didn’t ruin the overall experience.
I would say the 2003 Liberty is a nice smoke, but not nearly as interesting or complex as the more recent versions of this line. I’ve smoked at least one cigar from each year the Liberty has been released and I can honestly say that the blends have gotten better over the years with 2005 and 2007 being my favorites.
The 7 years of age that this cigar has on it has certainly had an impact on the strength. The first time I smoked this cigar, I remember more of a distinct spice and a heavy dose of leather. There was almost no leather and just a remnant of that spice left. It has definitely turned into more of a toasty, creamy and smooth smoke that has a mild-medium bodied profile. Simple, but enjoyable.
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