Montecristo No. 4

Montecristo No 4

5 × 42 

Made in Cuba
Paid: $15 CDN

Drink: Water

I can't believe this wasn't my first blog review.  I've had a several of these, and right now it's my go to cigar.  I ended up buying a box, dated OCT09, and while I don't know the box dates for the few I smoked before it, the experience has always been consistent.  That's part of the reason why I love them... No surprises.

These things are made great, and smoke great.   From start to finish I find you get a perfect balance and blend of earth, and wood.  It's never overwhelming.  As long as I keep my draw slow and smooth, on the exhale I  get the tasty aroma of the wrapper, mixed with a kinda chocolate/cocoa taste that just sites on the back of my tongue on the exhale.  Makes me salivate.

It doesn't produce a whole lot of thick smoke compared to a lot of other cigars, but the aroma is pleasant.

The only downside I consistently find with this cigar (and quite a few other Cubans), if I draw to fast, and let it burn to hot, it will get this bitter, varnish type flavour, that takes the place of the chocolaty taste I mentioned earlier.  Completely ruins the smoke.  I really have to take my time with it, and not ever rush it.

I think this is one of the best cigars I can recommend to a beginner, as its flavour is smooth, and the tobacco kick is mild.  You just can't go wrong here.

Partagas Mille Fleurs

Partagas Mille Fleurs 
Petite Corona 5 1/8 x 42
Made in Cuba
Paid: $10 CDN from Cigar Studio (February Special)
Drink: Diet Pepsi


Lit this one up today, on a whim.  Wasn't planning on smoking but found myself with some down time so I grabbed this Partagas, as I have yet to try anything from the brand yet.

On a side note, this cigar is a corona, don't know why a 42 gauge cigar over 5" is deemed Petite.  Yet they call a 4" x 42 cigar petite as well.  Whatever, its a size I enjoy all the time.

It lit, and burnt great, and the pre-light aroma, like with the majority of Cubans was nice.  The construction felt, and looked good..

The taste is a different with this one.  The dominant flavour was a rich woodiness that I couldn't pin down to a specific wood.  It didn't have a remote hint of earth, that I find almost guaranteed in Cubans.

Now I had read a few reviews before lighting up, and quite a few mentioned a floral taste.  Not sure if the name 'Fleur' influences that, and in turn influenced my own taste; but I actually did get a hint of what I would describe as light floral taste.  If I didn't read that going in, I'm not sure I would have picked up on it, or if I just made it up, as it was in my mind.

I found it to be mild to medium strength.  Nice rich creamy smoke.

This was a decent smoke.  If I could find them by the box for significantly less then the $10 a stick I paid, I would certainly consider getting a box, or splitting with someone.

Cohiba Siglo II

Cohiba Siglo II

5" × 42

Made in Cuba
Paid: $17 CDN from local B&M.  Just cracked open the box for me.

Drink: Diet Pepsi

After trying my first Cohiba last night, the Panetela, I was very excited to get this one lit.

Once again, the construction is perfect.  The draw is great, and smoke is very creamy.  This cigar pretty much gave me the same experience as the Panetela.  The taste is identical, of rich tobacco, leathery flavour, though the Panetela seemed to have a stronger flavour.  The same spice was left on the tip of my tongue when it was finished.  The only addition was that of wood to the profile.  Again, no harshness, or ammonia at all.

Very nice cigar from start to finish, though I expected more in the way of flavour.  That may be due to how young the cigar was.  Definitely a medium strength cigar, that needs to be taken slowly to avoid getting overwhelmed by the tobacco.  I will try, and get my hands on several of these to put away and age.

In my opinion, as a new cigar smoker, I would recommend these to others new to cigars.  You won't be turned off.

Noris Corona

Conona 4 1/3 x 38

Made in Dominican Republic
Paid: $60 USD for a box of 25

I picked these up last year from the local shop on resort in Punta Cana (Barcelo Premium Resort).  I tried a few local brands like Vista Real, Santa Ana, and this one, Noris.  Noris is a local cigar company in the Dominican Republic, in the Bavaro area near Punta Cana.

The construction is very nice.  The wrappers are a claro color, perhaps a Connecticut shade wrapper, but I couldn't confirm that.  Some of the cigars have a blue/green tinge in spots on the wrapper, mostly seen in the vein lines in spots.  A little google research shows this has something to do with chlorophyll retention, and does not appear to affect flavour.

I've had about a dozen of these, and they burn great, and seem to get better every time I smoke one. The draw is always perfect.

For the price, these are great cigars.  Very mild.  The flavour is very sweet, with no harshness.  The aroma they give off is great.  A sweet, almost vanilla flavour is in the smoke,  like burning incense.  

Shortly after starting the last third, I find they tend to get harsh quickly, possibly from me drawing to hard on them.  Seeing as you end up paying only a few bucks per stick, it's not hard to put it down, and walk away.

If your in the Dominican Republic, and see them kick around, I suggest you grab a few for a couple of bucks, and give them a shot.  I found all the local brands I tried were decent.  The price of cubans isn't much cheaper there, and the chance of counterfeits is high, so you might as well go for something different.

Bolivar Corona Junior

Bolivar Corona Junior 
4 3/8 x 42

Made in Cuba

Paid: $7 CDN
Age: Purchased yesterday from local B&M

Drink: Water

In my hunt to find a petite corona to buy a box, and put away, I'm giving this one a try based on good reviews.

The draw, and construction looks perfect.  The burn was was fairly uneven, and had to be corrected drastically twice.  The smoke was really thick, and cloudy.

The inhale was much better then the exhale.  The dominant flavour was a toasted sawdust aroma, much like cutting a bunch of 2x4's.  Not quite that pleasant but close.  I could tell this cigar was young, as I did detect a slight ammonia aroma throughout, but it didn't nearly detract from the smoke, like I had with the Montecristo Open Junior the day before.  Pretty one dimensional flavour wise.

This cigar left a mild mushroom after taste on my tongue, which I was unsure if I enjoyed or not. (EDIT: I've finally come to learn that mushroom taste is earthiness.  Had a buddy help me out with that, cause he thought I was crazy, so we shared a cigar.)

It felt like a mild strength smoke, and the last third seemed the most enjoyable.  Despite the burn issues, and slight ammonia odor, I found this smoke pleasant, and would consider revisiting again down the road.  I think a little time on this cigar would make a huge difference.

Right now I would rank the Montecristo No 5 way ahead of this one, but I have still yet to try the Partagas Short, or Siglo I, which are next on my petite cigar hit list.

Montecristo Open Junior

Montecristo Open Junior
Petite Conona 4 1/3 x 38

Made in Cuba

Paid: $10 CDN
Age: Purchased today from local B&M
Drink: Diet Pepsi

These have been sitting at a local B&M in an open box for awhile.  I've checked out the reviews, and the common theme was it's a beginner cigar.  As such it's received poor reviews from everyone who is a seasoned cigar smoker, but I've never heard from a new smoker... which I am.  My local B&M tried to steer me away from this purchase, as he thought it was too mild, and has not had good feedback from customers.

The draw was fairly tight, and the burn was uneven from start to finish.  Gave off decent smoke.  It burned quick, and lasted about 45 minutes.

The first half was OK.  It's very mild.  There was no harshness to it, and has a predominant woody flavour, and that's about it.  By the second half, it went out about 4 times, which ruined it for me.  I ended up putting this cigar down at the last inch.  The second half appeared to have no flavour at all.

I don't know if I would call this cigar smooth.  My main beef with this smoke was the unbelievably strong ammonia odor it gave off.  I have heard people complain of the smell with other cigars, but yet to ever experience it myself.  Made it very difficult to be around the lingering smoke, and made the experience on the whole unpleasant.  I understand this is from being a young smoke, but it's been sitting in his humidor for about a year now.

I simply cannot recommend this cigar.  If this was handed to me a year ago as an intro to cigars, I would not think to continue, and assume cigars were not for me.  Perhaps with a few years of aging the ammonia will go away, and become enjoyable. With the Montecristo No. 5 in the same size and price range, the Open Junior is disastrous, and really doesn't have a niche if it lack's flavour for a seasoned smoker, yet to young to be enjoyed by a new comer.

Quintero Londres Extra

Quinter Londres Extra

Petite Conona 4 7/8 x 40
Made in Cuba

Paid: $5 CDN
Age: Purchased  about 6 months ago at Holy Smokes (Run out of Loblaws Superstore)
Drink: Ice Water & Diet Pepsi

I'm not going to bother going long on this one.  It's a piece of crap. Move on with your day, if you don't care to read more. 

The guy recommended these, along with the Guantanamera brand as a 'good beginner smoke'.  So I bought two.  I smoked one that day, and I was disgusted.  Had this been my first cigar, I would have never picked up another cigar again.  Anytime I here someone at a cigar shop recommend me these, or the Guantanamera brands, I immediately do not trust their opinion.  I think they are just trying to move a crappy product out on the back of my inexperience.

Six months did nothing to change my opinion, or make this cigar any better. It's really, really bland, and flavourless.  By the end you just taste cigar ash.  It's very mild, and if you told me it was filled with paper, I would not be surprised.  I didn't even taste a hint of tobacco, nor feel the affects. 

I will give it some positive feedback.  The smoke is super thick, and the ash hung on till the half way point, as you can see in my pics.  The smoke left no lingering bad odor (Thank God), and it left no bad after taste in my mouth.  It didn't hurt the pocket book to much either.  

Another positive... it's no longer in my humidor!!!; There will never be another.  I still have two Guantanemera's left, and I'm not looking forward to smoking them. 

In my opinion, if your new to cigars, spend the extra $5 to $10, and go with the respected names, like Bolivar, Montecristo, etc...  The Por Larranga Panetela's, while slightly smaller, are super cheap in this cigar's price range, and far superior, if your looking for an everyday decent cheap cigar.