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+1 on the SS Maduro. The natural is much better.

Interesting comment on the Genesis. clickbangdead sent me one. Honestly not so memorable. Enjoy the 7th Reserva a lot more (also CBL and cheaper than an LP9). Still might have to pick up another and re-visit.

Haven't had an interest in the Genesis and haven't tried the Oja.. The others are all good, though.

Well Dave, we totally agree on the Genesis, but I have to disagree with you on the SS maddie. To each their own.

^Justin,
Which one did you have? I love the robs and toros, but the one torp I had was meh. I couldn't believe it was the same blend.

I had the Toro. I guess I really can't judge it by smoking just one cigar/one size. It wasn't a bad cigar. I just said it was overrated. I guess I just expected a more complex flavorful smoke from what has been said and reviewed about it. The one I had was basically the exact same light bodied non complex no transition cigar.

Camp,
I tried two different La Duenas - rob and beli - and decided the blend wasn't for me. Not bad, just not great. Couple weeks ago I tried a PL and WOW! What a great cigar. Perfect example of how much difference a vitola can make.

I've had three different vitolas and the PL is by far the best, of course that is just IMHO.

The Oja was the same, the Anniversary perfecto. I received it in a RAOK. I have seen them at the Don Kiki site.

+1 on the PL

Recent days....

Ambos Mundos - Habano and Sumatra - one apiece - nearly indistinguishable - somewhat plain, edgy tobacco flavor - nothing to make me consider buying another of either.

Cusano 15th Lancero - started out promising - after 1/2 started to alternate between sour and bitter - not dramatic, but enough to tire of it long before it was a nub.

El Suelo - fat rob? Maybe 56x5 or so? - Very interesting - burned pretty wonky, but maybe too soon off the truck...I gotta say, on first visit, this is a pretty impressive two-buck cigar. I love Ecuadoran wrappers, not to mention CBL and Nic tobaccos, so I shouldn't be too surprised, I guess. Won't stand up to front-line Tats, but I'd put it above Ambos, ElT's, P's, maybe even just above Havanas....

CLE Cuarenta Rob - Impressive construction, nice bit of edginess - but not enough flavors that overlap my preferences; not bad in any way, just not completely to my liking -- there's probably good situation/pairing that will improve the experience, but not a home run

Tarazona Classic - nice, smooth, mild/med blend....but has a sweetened tip - these should carry a warning -- I won't try another unless I cut the entire torp taper off because I don't need that

Tarazona XTC - Great burn, nice blend - good cigar
++++++++++++++++
Revisited a few from above:
-Tarazona 305 - two thumbs up
-San Lotano Maduro - turns out the first one I had WAS the Oval Maduro - MUCH better than non-Oval maduro- sampled a few of each the last few days and I'm fully in the Oval mad camp ...had trouble with a bad stem in last Oval Mad rob which screwed up the burn, but good flavors, nonetheless
-Genesis rob - can't remember last time I bought a box after trying a single cigar -- but at $3 per, I couldn't resist. Glad I did...box sat for maybe a week before I cracked it open - these are the chit

Connecticut Broad Leaf

We should get that added to the abbrev thread -- it has only come into 'widespread' usage fairly recently

Room 101 Daruma - Various. Picked up sampler (2 each of 5 different sizes.)

Fantastic:
Mutante - 7x38 - best lancero I've had in months - rich and nice touch of spice
Papi Chulo - 4x42 - right up there between a Bombone and a PCR

Very good:
Sucio - 7x48 - smooth, med, flavorful church. Last third of both i tried didn't burn well, however.
Roxxo - 4x48 - like the church without getting to the bad burning part

Why?:
Monstro - 5x60 - It would be fine with me if I never have another 60RG. Muddled is best word to describe this.

---

Kill Bill II - Lives up to the reputation. Better than KB - Another great small smoke

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HdM Petite Rob - (was gifted a single - boxcode unk) - My first HdM - reminded me of AJF Habano-wrapped cigars that I generally dislike. Blah....

2nd that. Roughly my thoughts. Genesis is a decent yard gar. But regularly stock 7th Reserva's and Jaime Garcia's.

The La Duena's where so-so for me. Reminded me of a softer La Casita. But am curious to try the Tres Reyna's.

Dig the Daruma Mutante & Papi Chulo, and look forward to trying the Roxxo.

what size intemperance BA did you smoke? i got a couple of the pc sized ones resting. might have to try one soon.

hmmm... i wonder if the pc size will help with the "flatness"

I'll find out tomorrow lol

smoked one of my Intemperances today. Inrigue size (4 x 46 PC)

have to agree with dstieger. good burn, not quite razor sharp. slightly floral to start off, then it fades, leaving a slight sweetness up until the start of the 3rd third. despite the smaller vitola, i got a feeling of the cigar tasting "flat" as well. I would say it was missing 20% of "something". med in strength throughout, maybe a quarter of the way to full, for me.

I paid a little under $5 per (MSRP is $5 per) and would not buy them again at that price. Maybe for $3 -$3.5 (baitfish are $3.5 on FF and these are definitely better than baitfish)

DAVE I LOVE THIS THREAD! lol. For some reason I just found it for the first time :)

I've been in a "try new stuff" mood lately as well. Some brand new stuff, and some that are just cigars I haven't had in at least 18-months.

CCs:

Monte Edmundo 2008 -- Better than the fresh ones I've had. A very nice mild-medium cigar, not overly complex but consistent. These are very good cigars, will be an enjoyable morning cigar when I want the Monte profile.

Monte Petite Edmundo 2011 -- Basically a regular Edmundo minus an inch in length with the flavor profile dialed up about 2 notches. Everything I like about the Edmundo but wish was "more" present is HERE in the PE. It sounds weird, but I'd love to see the Petite Edmundo flavor profile in a Grand Edmundo size, lol!

Monte Grand Edmundo LE 2010 -- Just fantastic! There is all the expected Monte Edmundo profile, but more of it than the regular Edmundo. It's different than the Petite Edmundo as well, though, and it's also a noticeably sweeter and more complex. There is also a mushroomy flavor in there that reminds me of Davidoff. Really great cigars, must get more :)


NCs:
Liga Privada UF-13 -- Balls-to-the-wall awesome! I've only had the 18-month old versions that were up on the sister site, but they are just fantastic. This is going to be challenging the FFP as my new favorite Liga!

JdN Antano box pressed toro -- New size for me in this line, and now that they've dried out a bit (took 3 months), these suckers are STRONG! Holy balls, I've had my arse kicked twice now by these cigars, and that doesn't happen very often anymore. Retrohale only if you have insurance, lol.

Cain F 660 -- meh. I mean it was a good cigar, but nothing that stands out from the fray for me, certainly not as good as the "F" lancero or robusto.

La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amore Reserva -- Impressive. I only had the 1 to try, but I thought it compared to the regular Mi Amore much like the Mule Kick compares to the regular Four Kicks. I will definitely get more if I can find them cheaper.

La Sirena Trident -- Impressive to a point. I thought it was not complex enough for a churchill (a cigar that takes 2 hours needs to evolve), but the flavors that were consistently there were very, very enjoyable, and I liked that the spice remained for the entire cigar. I like the corona better, but I have another one of these to try.

AVO Heritage -- This was my first Heritage, and even though it was the monstrous 60-ring version, I have to save I really loved this cigar! It was nothing like what I expected from an AVO (only had the Classic and Signature), and I loved the body and complex flavors. Tasted more like a stronger Davidoff than the AVOs I've had before. This flavor profile is way out of my typical wheelhouse, but it was a great excursion and I'd like to try this blend in another size.

Man o War Armada -- This was a very good cigar. It tasted like they made a Man o War using top-quality tobacco instead of mid-grade stuff. More flavors, more complexity, not as strong as a Ruination but closer to that than the regular MoW. I'd need to try a couple more to decide how much they are worth to me, but I'd buy a 5-er for $40 right now.

Emilio AF 1 Toro -- I've had an AF 1 once, cant' even remember when. But I've had 2 this week and both were great, one of them being amazing. If these are consistently this good, I may have found a new favorite AJ blend!

Diesel Crucible -- Wow, talk about a roller coster! The first inch and a half of this cigar was frackin' awesome, to the point where I was considering paying CI prices for a box. But then it just sort of ... died. The rest of the stick was fine, but 1-demensional and more like a generic AJ stick. Objectively, the rest of the cigar was probably pretty good, but compared to the first 1.5" it sucked, lol. I believe I have another one, so I'll reserve judgement on this blend ... maybe I just got an off cigar.

Diesel "Hair of the Dog" -- I'm actually smoking my first one right now. So far, so good. Amazingly enough, I find this to be very close to the CI description so far. It's just a bit snug, so I'm going to let the other 4 rest for a month or so, but there is definite potential here.

Good stuff, Nate. Never had a Monte that wowed me. I generally avoid the marque, but I now look forward to trying an Edmundo. I'll also be on the lookout for a JDN Box Press - aside from the strength, how was the flavor?

Leccia White Toro (6x50) - I have been anxious to try this (and the Black). Even though I didn't like Nubs and only a couple of Cains, I like and respect Sam and want to see him do well.

From Press Release:"The White Nicaraguan blend uses an African Sun Grown wrapper with a binder from Ecuador. The filler is Nicaraguan Ligero with Seco leaves from Pennsylvania, Sam’s home state. It is a full body smoke that delivers tons of complex flavors. It has hints of a creamy coffee, and lightly sweet cashews, while delivering strength and spices."

I'm not sure about the coffee...or the cashews, but it was complex - waves of spiciness interspersed with hints of sweetness. I was amazed at the way this cigar was constantly changing. Begins with an all-out pepper assault and slowly mellows a little. My fiancee and I were each trying this for the first time and funny thing - right after about a half inch, we looked at each other and both got hit with subtle sweetness. I thought the sweet matched really well with the pepper and would have preferred it stick around - but, I didn't get it again until a little after the halfway point. This wasn't squarely in my profile, but it was pretty darned good. Tami experienced some pretty significant wrapper cracks as it got into the final third. I'm hoping that was largely a result of recent transportation (the shop had received these less than 24 hrs earlier.) She still gave this a strong thumbs up - I was satisfied, but maybe slightly less so.

RyJ Coronitas en Cedro (12) - ROTT from recent twofer special - I've never been a big RyJ fan -- Sometime ago I got it in my head that all I'd ever get from RyJ is 'floral'. But, I couldn't pass up that deal. Had this on leisurely drive paired with coffee. I think that was good match. I did get a bit of the floraly/soapy notes I was familiar with, but they were subtler than I recall from other RyJ vitolas (- esp. short and wide chuches.) Well constructed, pleasant, if simple cigar that was in no way harsh or young-tasting; but they will no doubt improve even more. I feel like I stole these....good purchase.

L'Atelier Lat46 - I REALLY wanted to like this...I've enjoyed the depth, complexity and dynamics of the 52 and 54 but have been looking forward to the thinner RG....Unfortunately, the 46 was had little depty, complexity or change. Maybe the darker wrapper overwhelmed the blend...I don't know - I just know that this was slightly sour with only a few shallow dimensions - one of them being not so good and overwriting everything else. Disappointing.

dstieger, if you haven't already, try a Pedro Martin Fiera Goliath (best 6x60 smoke in my limited experience with thick cigars) and an Aging Room M356 Small Batch Forte. I've been trying some "off the beaten path" cigars too, after this thread inspired me. Those two were the best of the bunch and reasonably priced.

Island Smoke Shop El Original Maduro Churchill- One chocolatey dimension - It's a good dimension, but makes for a long smoke waiting for more depth that never really comes along

Viaje Satori Karma - Gettin more of these. Truly great cigar -- This was like my first LP -- brings great stuff to the table that nothing else has. There's considerable rich varying complexity; strong without ever coming close to overpowering. Burned my fingers on this one.

LP UF 13 - Pretty darned good - but hardly $16 good...I'm getting to where I can't light up an LP without giving serious consderation as to whether it is worth the going price. I like 'em just fine, but, really...there's lots of great Cubans for less....and if I'm in the mood for more 'pow', there's also plenty of LE Viajes and LE Tats in the price tier with more bang for the buck. I paid $11 for the Satori mentioned above and got tons more enjoyment from it.

Tres Reynas (Rob and Toro) - I'd hoped for a bit more from these. Not bad, but not great. Decent enough at cbid prices for knockaround yard/fising cigar.

PDR 1878 Cubano Especial Madura Lancero - Got a bundle of these a few months ago and first couple were slightly harsh and one-dimentional. Only 3 months of rest has done wonders for these -- Incredible --- got away with murder stealing these at $3. Burned one yesterday - burn was perfectly razor-sharp and the flavor was smooooooth......

PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Oscura Red Corona - Great little oscura - deserves to be smoked slow - keep it cool and enjoy the full body of these. Wonderful cigar

Kristoff Criollo Rob - Holy crap! At 3.25 shipped, these are one of the best deals I've ever stumbled into. What a rich, chewy cigar. Called a rob, but more like a toro and burns for well over an hour. Wasn't a Kristoff fan before, but these are special

LFdC Reino Unido - Maybe best cigar I've ever had. If ever you stumble across any of these let me know. Immediately.

I love almost all of the Kristoffs and their Robbies are much larger than anyone else's. Great value in those!

I hear ya - I've only found two boxes - both north of six bills....way out of my league


46/47 - I see them up again at sub $4, free shipping -- good thing I've got storage issues; makes self control a little easier

Not impressed with the Tattoo so far.