9-4-08 been in humi since 3-14-08
Gran Habano, Habano #3
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano seed.
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Mexican
This cigar is a reddish brown in hue. A toothy feel is brought on by a few dominant veins. The band is red, gold and green with a white background. The secondary band is black. All of this seems to compliment the cigar in every way. It also appears to have a triple cap. The cigar looks magnificent.
Cut with a punch. Very good draw. I wouldn’t call it perfect. Though close, I find it a bit loose. It is a bit barnyard on the unlit taste.
The 60 ring gauge takes some effort to light.
The first draws are round and a bit sweet. It puts out a ton of smoke. There is a bit of leather on the taste and aftertaste is a bit on the grassy side. I think that this has to do with the light. The wind outside meant the lighter was to close to the cigar. The aroma is good and on the woody side.
As the cigar settles from the light, an earth flavor begins to develop. It is on the sweet side. It sort of reminds me of “woody moss” the burn isn’t even but it is not to the point of corrective lights. . Again, there is a ridiculous amount of smoke coming off of this cigar.
The first ash drops at about an inch and a quarter. The taste now has a great depth of flavor. There are leather, wood, and earth notes. Each of the flavors fades in and out and has dominated the palate at one puff or another. The other two flavors at the moment the third flavor dominates are there, not competing, but complimenting. Balanced is the word I’m looking for. The finish is short leaving only a hint of leather behind. When the aftertaste is leather a short finish seems to work well IMHO. Well done on that point.
The burn is very slow and somewhat irregular but by the half way point only one corrective light is needed. Earth and leather dominate the palate at that point as well but with a vegetable-like sweetness to them. The cigar has more depth per puff than most. However the flavor profile does not deviate through the length of the stick. It is still putting out an astonishing amount of smoke. Very fun. Very satisfying.
By the last quarter the cigar has developed to a full body. It slows my puffs per minute even more, and makes the cigar hard to keep all the way lit. Somehow I manage.
I think I have found another cigar to keep in my humidor at all times.
Overall: 9.3
5 smoke rings -- an exceptionally good cigar
Recommended to:
Those who like a cigar that develops, not only in flavor, but in body as well
Those who have the time to smoke it (100 min Toro)
Everyone.
It sure does sound like a good cigar. The flavor profile and progressive nature of the cigar sound very appealing to me, this one's going on my list. I'm anxious to try the #5 Corojo, I'm sitting on some of the Gran Robustos now, but I want to give them a decent bit of time to settle in and get used to the place before I burn one.
9-9-08 been in humi since 1-19-07
CAO Sopranos Edition Associate. (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Colombian
I’m not so much a fan of the show but of cigars… And this one looks good. The red and black color scheme against the dark cigar looks pretty B.A. The smell is on the coffee side of barnyard. The lick on the cap has a strange bit of sweetness to it. The draw is perfect. The unlit taste is on the coffee and chocolate side.
The light is quick
The first few puffs are very coco and coffee. A hint of toasted rye is noticed through the nose. There is a good depth of flavor on the finish as well. It has a red wine like flavor and maybe a woody note.
The first ash fell at one and a half inches. The ash itself is firm. It landed on the end and is standing like a little ash tower. The taste has eased into a light coffee with plenty of coco. The rye is still in there as well. The wine flavor has now become the oak taste that shows up in many oak aged red wines.
At the half way point the cigar is more coffee than ever. The rest of the flavor is about the same but with less rye. The burn so far is perfect.
I’m noting that the cigar burn extremely slow. This is good. It makes it last longer.
Nearing the end, the coffee taste is dominating. It is in the taste and in the aftertaste. The coco is there but it is very light. The oak only exists on the aroma off the lit foot of the cigar.
Burned to the burn.
Time: 1h 35m (I told you it burned slow)
because this was compared to the Mx2 on another thread that will be my next review. Its been a while since i have had one of those and its about time anyway.
i did one a while ago (6-28-07) on the Mx2. at the time i gave it an 8.7 thats not a bad rating. alot has changed in that year and two months. ... plus the one i will be smoking will be from 12-12-06. i figure thats fair given that the Soprano veviewed here was put in the humi about a month after this Mx2.
Sounds fair. I like the Soprano too but it has no wow factor I agree, but neither does the MX-2 its just a good smoke. I'd almost be willing to bet the younger Mx-2 will rate better than this aged one you're about to smoke. I bet it mellows to the point of beginning to lose flavor.
True, very true. Not extremely oily but it has a little to it. I just think it doesn't have a lot of bite as is the time on it may mellow that out of it. IDK I look forward to the review though.
Not really new to cigars here, but rather new to consistantly smoking them and appreciating the flavor and depths of cigar smoking. I love the reviews Kuzi!
Anyway, I have a couple questions about your cutting and humidors.
You mention you use a punch and a guillotine.... What makes you decide what to use? Any figurado gets a guillotine and any regular tube cigar gets a punch? Do you have a preference why you use a punch? Do most us a punch vs. a gullotine?
2nd on the humidor. I am just getting to stocking up my humidor. I have just a standard humidor I got in a package from another cigar distributor a while back. It works well and currently holds all my smokes no problem. I think it is a 25-50 ct. humi. But after starting to stock up I will be quickly at mass capacity shortly and was wondering what all the newly experienced newbies were using to store there smokes.
If this is in the wrong thread and I should post in 101 vs. your review post let me know.
i use a punch for the standard round ended parejo cigars. A topedo shape gets a double guillotine. i prefer the punch because i seem to get less loose tobacco in the mouth after the cut. since i usually tend to the larger ring guage cigars i use a larger punch. this means that anything under a 40 ring i also use a double guillotine. (panatella, petite carona...) Im not sure how many people use a punch. it doesnt really matter to me as long as we are all enjoying the cigars we are smoking.
for overflow a bunch of people use tupperware. personally i just dont overflow. I have my humidors and when they are full i stop buying. my stock is actually getting low because there are a bunch of cigars that i would like to buy but i had no room.
feel free to ask me questions about my personal set up and my tastes in cigars and accessories in my thread. thats why its here.
So for my smokes I just use a generic humidor - ahem - thompson - that I got many years ago with a bundle. so far it works just fine, keeping the humi fairly regulated between 70-75 RH. Not sure if that is ok for the time being. That being said do you just use standard humidors or have you upgraded to nicer ones? I see that you have a storage 'aging' humi and smoking humi at different RH. how do you keep them regulated and are they just off the rack humis?
im not exactly sure what a standard vs nicer humidor is. Price? iduno... as long as its spanish cedar lined and it hold RH whats the point on wasting more money to get a more expensive humidor? I could buy cigars with that money! Ive never paid more than $50 on a humidor... ever.
both my aging and smoking humi are at 65% RH. i only have them as seperate humidors for the sake of organization. to keep them both at proper humidity i use humidity beads that are set at 65%. ive never had a problem with them.
for those who follow my cigar smoking a bit closer than others... i now only have two humidors. one is a 150ct and the other is a 50ct. i sold the other to a friend of mine. I wanted to keep my selection to the best of the best only. the more space i have, the more garbage i tend to buy on a whim. I may upgrade again sometime but im sure that it will only be to make my aging humi my smoking humi and then a 300+ humi for aging. I dont see that happening soon. Im going to try and concentrate on guitar building for a while now. I know you are all let down, but that wont stop my reviews or stop me from almost living at the forum. I just wont buy as many low end sticks.
9-12-08 been in humi since 12-12-06
CAO Mx2 Belicoso (7x56)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Brazilian Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Peru, Dominican Republic.
This cigar is dark and still ahs an oily feel to it even after 5 months in the humidor. The lick on the cap is coco and a bit on the sweet side, much like you would expect off a good maduro. It feels oily on the lips and tongue. Cut with a double guillotine. The draw is a tiny bit on the tight side.
The first few puffs bring on a classic maduro flavor: a bit earthy a bit coco and a bit of mild sweetness. The cigar is unbelievably smooth. The main flavor is earth with a tiny hint of coco. The finish is on the coffee side.
The first ash fell at just under two inches and the burn is very even. The flavors are the same as before just with a bit less of the coco.
At the halfway point the burn is still even. The cigar still feels medium to full body in nature even though it has spent 21 months in the box.
During the final inches of this cigar the flavor is unchanged. The cigar is good but not all that complex. I feel that this cigar on this day would have been better if it were a bit shorter. The lack of complexity lends itself to getting old after a while.
… I still nubed it.
7 inches. 3 ashes. Burn time: 2 hours.
the sopranos edition robusto (5x52) and the Mx2 (same size) are comparable in size. the thought expressed about them is that the Mx2 is a better value. on cigar.com the Mx2 is elling for $6.25 a stick and the sopranos edition of the same size is selling for $10.50
do i like the Sopranos edition more? yes.
is it worth the price?
nice review, kuzi. I found a 4 set, 1 of each of the sopranos and am eager to try them to see which one I like more. your review inspired me too! ;-) . The Mx2 sounds good as well though. Are there very many good cigars out there that have more coffee and coco as the more dominated flavor? Just curious as I'm always on the lookout..
The cigar is a medium red/brown in color and firm from head to foot. It appears to have a double (maybe triple) cap. The smell is of earth and leaves. There is a slight fuzzy feel to the wrapper but it is oily at the same time. The lick on the cap has some spice to it. Cut with a punch. The draw is very good with an unlit taste of very dark chocolate.
A light and a puff bring on a toasted almond flavor with a sweet finish. The first impression is a very good one. The sweetness on this stick is amazing. Smoke pours off of it. A very slight spice is noticed, maybe on the clove side.
The first ash fell at almost 2 inches despite some burn issues. The flavors on each draw are as such: the initial taste is sweet almond and a caramelized soy sauce flavor. This turns into a mild sweet and tea flavor. The finish is still sweet and almost on the fruity side. If I had to place it I would say fig, though this is a reach.
There are still plenty of burn issues. It canoes fairly badly. I’ve corrected the same side more than once. Usually this implies a rolling issue.
At the half way point the flavor on the whole has mover to the hay side of things, but all in all is still nutty and sweet. There are still burn problems. A hint of leather has shown up in the finish.
Nearing the end of the cigar the flavors remain about the same but now more “toast” than ever. Still with the burn issues.
This cigar is both very good and amazingly frustrating. Minus the construction/burn issues, this cigar was great.
Recommended to:
Those who prefer a cigar to be sweeter
Those who don’t want a heavy earthy/leather cigar.
Those who own a lighter with a large reservoir.
I've been busier than a one legged man in an @ss kicking contest. I've been reading but haven't had the time to make researched responses so I haven't posted to much.
I really thought you'd like the Nording. Very, very good cigar. However it is only a Rocky Patel in the sense that Patel is producing the cigar. It was actually blended by Erik Nording, the famous pipe crafter. I've heard about three different variations of what this wrapper/binder is. I've heard Nic, Honduran, and Costa Rican. So who knows and Nording and RP seem to be keeping their mouths shut about exactly what it is.
One thing I thouroughly enjoyed about it was it managed to be sweet and nutty without being mild in body. IMO its a medium to medium-full. What would you place the body at?
Did the one I send you have a pig tail on the cap? I guess not since you said it looked double or triple capped. The pig tails are cool and apparently are meant to be bitten off.
Also the burn issue appears to be common with this cigar, as are gigantic veins, although it sounds like yours had more than the typical burn issues canoeing rather than just being a little uneven. Nonetheless a top notch first attempt at a cigar by Erik IMHO.
I've heard about three different variations of what this wrapper/binder is. I've heard Nic, Honduran, and Costa Rican. So who knows and Nording and RP seem to be keeping their mouths shut about exactly what it is.
I don't think they're being THAT secretive. From the Rocky Patel website:
I've heard about three different variations of what this wrapper/binder is. I've heard Nic, Honduran, and Costa Rican. So who knows and Nording and RP seem to be keeping their mouths shut about exactly what it is.
I don't think they're being THAT secretive. From the Rocky Patel website:
Dammit, here we go back to that being too busy to research before I post. I was on Patel's site about this cigar the first time I got one and it wasn't on there. Haven't looked since and didn't take the time to research before I posted. DAMMIT.
Comments
Gran Habano, Habano #3
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano seed.
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Mexican
This cigar is a reddish brown in hue. A toothy feel is brought on by a few dominant veins. The band is red, gold and green with a white background. The secondary band is black. All of this seems to compliment the cigar in every way. It also appears to have a triple cap. The cigar looks magnificent. Cut with a punch. Very good draw. I wouldn’t call it perfect. Though close, I find it a bit loose. It is a bit barnyard on the unlit taste.
The 60 ring gauge takes some effort to light.
The first draws are round and a bit sweet. It puts out a ton of smoke. There is a bit of leather on the taste and aftertaste is a bit on the grassy side. I think that this has to do with the light. The wind outside meant the lighter was to close to the cigar. The aroma is good and on the woody side.
As the cigar settles from the light, an earth flavor begins to develop. It is on the sweet side. It sort of reminds me of “woody moss” the burn isn’t even but it is not to the point of corrective lights. . Again, there is a ridiculous amount of smoke coming off of this cigar.
The first ash drops at about an inch and a quarter. The taste now has a great depth of flavor. There are leather, wood, and earth notes. Each of the flavors fades in and out and has dominated the palate at one puff or another. The other two flavors at the moment the third flavor dominates are there, not competing, but complimenting. Balanced is the word I’m looking for. The finish is short leaving only a hint of leather behind. When the aftertaste is leather a short finish seems to work well IMHO. Well done on that point.
The burn is very slow and somewhat irregular but by the half way point only one corrective light is needed. Earth and leather dominate the palate at that point as well but with a vegetable-like sweetness to them. The cigar has more depth per puff than most. However the flavor profile does not deviate through the length of the stick. It is still putting out an astonishing amount of smoke. Very fun. Very satisfying.
By the last quarter the cigar has developed to a full body. It slows my puffs per minute even more, and makes the cigar hard to keep all the way lit. Somehow I manage.
I think I have found another cigar to keep in my humidor at all times.
Burn: 8
Draw: 9
Taste: 10
Aftertaste: 10
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 10
Overall: 9.3
5 smoke rings -- an exceptionally good cigar
Recommended to:
Those who like a cigar that develops, not only in flavor, but in body as well
Those who have the time to smoke it (100 min Toro)
Everyone.
sorry. thats all i could think of after i typed that.
its late. gimme a break.
but seriously. this is a good cigar.
Excellent review, as always.
9-9-08 been in humi since 1-19-07
CAO Sopranos Edition Associate. (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Colombian
I’m not so much a fan of the show but of cigars… And this one looks good. The red and black color scheme against the dark cigar looks pretty B.A. The smell is on the coffee side of barnyard. The lick on the cap has a strange bit of sweetness to it. The draw is perfect. The unlit taste is on the coffee and chocolate side.
The light is quick
The first few puffs are very coco and coffee. A hint of toasted rye is noticed through the nose. There is a good depth of flavor on the finish as well. It has a red wine like flavor and maybe a woody note.
The first ash fell at one and a half inches. The ash itself is firm. It landed on the end and is standing like a little ash tower. The taste has eased into a light coffee with plenty of coco. The rye is still in there as well. The wine flavor has now become the oak taste that shows up in many oak aged red wines.
At the half way point the cigar is more coffee than ever. The rest of the flavor is about the same but with less rye. The burn so far is perfect.
I’m noting that the cigar burn extremely slow. This is good. It makes it last longer.
Nearing the end, the coffee taste is dominating. It is in the taste and in the aftertaste. The coco is there but it is very light. The oak only exists on the aroma off the lit foot of the cigar.
Burned to the burn.
Time: 1h 35m (I told you it burned slow)
Burn: 10
Draw: 10
Taste: 9
Aftertaste: 9
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 8
Overall: 9.1
4 smoke rings -- an above average cigar
Though this was a great cigar the “feel” was low because the “wow factor” was not there.
thats not a bad rating. alot has changed in that year and two months. ... plus the one i will be smoking will be from 12-12-06. i figure thats fair given that the Soprano veviewed here was put in the humi about a month after this Mx2.
Not really new to cigars here, but rather new to consistantly smoking them and appreciating the flavor and depths of cigar smoking. I love the reviews Kuzi!
Anyway, I have a couple questions about your cutting and humidors.
You mention you use a punch and a guillotine.... What makes you decide what to use? Any figurado gets a guillotine and any regular tube cigar gets a punch? Do you have a preference why you use a punch? Do most us a punch vs. a gullotine?
2nd on the humidor. I am just getting to stocking up my humidor. I have just a standard humidor I got in a package from another cigar distributor a while back. It works well and currently holds all my smokes no problem. I think it is a 25-50 ct. humi. But after starting to stock up I will be quickly at mass capacity shortly and was wondering what all the newly experienced newbies were using to store there smokes.
If this is in the wrong thread and I should post in 101 vs. your review post let me know.
Ill just blame it on being a blogging newbie too!
Ha
for overflow a bunch of people use tupperware. personally i just dont overflow. I have my humidors and when they are full i stop buying. my stock is actually getting low because there are a bunch of cigars that i would like to buy but i had no room.
feel free to ask me questions about my personal set up and my tastes in cigars and accessories in my thread. thats why its here.
Cool beenz,
Thanks for the warm welcome.
So for my smokes I just use a generic humidor - ahem - thompson - that I got many years ago with a bundle. so far it works just fine, keeping the humi fairly regulated between 70-75 RH. Not sure if that is ok for the time being. That being said do you just use standard humidors or have you upgraded to nicer ones? I see that you have a storage 'aging' humi and smoking humi at different RH. how do you keep them regulated and are they just off the rack humis?
both my aging and smoking humi are at 65% RH. i only have them as seperate humidors for the sake of organization. to keep them both at proper humidity i use humidity beads that are set at 65%. ive never had a problem with them.
for those who follow my cigar smoking a bit closer than others...
i now only have two humidors. one is a 150ct and the other is a 50ct. i sold the other to a friend of mine. I wanted to keep my selection to the best of the best only. the more space i have, the more garbage i tend to buy on a whim. I may upgrade again sometime but im sure that it will only be to make my aging humi my smoking humi and then a 300+ humi for aging. I dont see that happening soon. Im going to try and concentrate on guitar building for a while now. I know you are all let down, but that wont stop my reviews or stop me from almost living at the forum. I just wont buy as many low end sticks.
CAO Mx2 Belicoso (7x56)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Brazilian Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Peru, Dominican Republic.
This cigar is dark and still ahs an oily feel to it even after 5 months in the humidor. The lick on the cap is coco and a bit on the sweet side, much like you would expect off a good maduro. It feels oily on the lips and tongue. Cut with a double guillotine. The draw is a tiny bit on the tight side.
The first few puffs bring on a classic maduro flavor: a bit earthy a bit coco and a bit of mild sweetness. The cigar is unbelievably smooth. The main flavor is earth with a tiny hint of coco. The finish is on the coffee side.
The first ash fell at just under two inches and the burn is very even. The flavors are the same as before just with a bit less of the coco.
At the halfway point the burn is still even. The cigar still feels medium to full body in nature even though it has spent 21 months in the box.
During the final inches of this cigar the flavor is unchanged. The cigar is good but not all that complex. I feel that this cigar on this day would have been better if it were a bit shorter. The lack of complexity lends itself to getting old after a while.
… I still nubed it.
7 inches. 3 ashes. Burn time: 2 hours.
Burn: 10
Draw: 8
Taste: 9
Aftertaste: 9
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 8
Overall: 8.8
4 smoke rings -- an above average cigar
Note: last time I reviewed this cigar it got an 8.7 all the scores were the same but burn and draw. Burn was a 7 and draw was a 10.
Recommended to: Maduro fans People that don’t need the complexity at the time
do i like the Sopranos edition more? yes. is it worth the price?
id say "just read through my reviews" but on this forum and the old one i have i think a collective 20+ pages. in general think maduro.
next time i buy cigars ill add those to my list.
Nording by Rocky Patel
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Colorado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican.
The cigar is a medium red/brown in color and firm from head to foot. It appears to have a double (maybe triple) cap. The smell is of earth and leaves. There is a slight fuzzy feel to the wrapper but it is oily at the same time. The lick on the cap has some spice to it. Cut with a punch. The draw is very good with an unlit taste of very dark chocolate.
A light and a puff bring on a toasted almond flavor with a sweet finish. The first impression is a very good one. The sweetness on this stick is amazing. Smoke pours off of it. A very slight spice is noticed, maybe on the clove side.
The first ash fell at almost 2 inches despite some burn issues. The flavors on each draw are as such: the initial taste is sweet almond and a caramelized soy sauce flavor. This turns into a mild sweet and tea flavor. The finish is still sweet and almost on the fruity side. If I had to place it I would say fig, though this is a reach.
There are still plenty of burn issues. It canoes fairly badly. I’ve corrected the same side more than once. Usually this implies a rolling issue. At the half way point the flavor on the whole has mover to the hay side of things, but all in all is still nutty and sweet. There are still burn problems. A hint of leather has shown up in the finish.
Nearing the end of the cigar the flavors remain about the same but now more “toast” than ever. Still with the burn issues.
This cigar is both very good and amazingly frustrating. Minus the construction/burn issues, this cigar was great.
Burn: 6
Draw: 10
Taste: 9
Aftertaste: 9
Construction: 7
Appearance: 9
Feel: 8
Overall: 8.3
3 smoke rings -- an average cigar
Recommended to:
Those who prefer a cigar to be sweeter
Those who don’t want a heavy earthy/leather cigar.
Those who own a lighter with a large reservoir.
im waiting for the world to explode!
no seriously, where are ya? havent seen you on in a bit.
I really thought you'd like the Nording. Very, very good cigar. However it is only a Rocky Patel in the sense that Patel is producing the cigar. It was actually blended by Erik Nording, the famous pipe crafter. I've heard about three different variations of what this wrapper/binder is. I've heard Nic, Honduran, and Costa Rican. So who knows and Nording and RP seem to be keeping their mouths shut about exactly what it is.
One thing I thouroughly enjoyed about it was it managed to be sweet and nutty without being mild in body. IMO its a medium to medium-full. What would you place the body at?
Did the one I send you have a pig tail on the cap? I guess not since you said it looked double or triple capped. The pig tails are cool and apparently are meant to be bitten off.
Also the burn issue appears to be common with this cigar, as are gigantic veins, although it sounds like yours had more than the typical burn issues canoeing rather than just being a little uneven. Nonetheless a top notch first attempt at a cigar by Erik IMHO.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan "Colorado"
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican