TampaTom package arrived today and since there was a humipak in the bag I decided to start right in.

Review on cigar #5

5x50 dark brown wrapper possible maduro or just light enough in color to be a dark natural. Triple cap and just a small blemish with a wrinkle right near it on the wrapper. Starts out with a strong bitter chocolate taste to it. Initial impressions is that it taste just like a young Le Bijou I once smoked. Just a few minutes in and I decide to do a retro and I pick up some cedar and just a touch of pepper from that. Knocked the ash off at 3/4 inch mark and burn line is pretty straight. Not much change in this cigar besides about midway the pepper picked up ever so slightly but it did always remain in the background and dropped back down shortly after. Towards the end the chocolate lost that bitterness for just a few minutes but then it came back. I would almost swear that this is a young Le Bijou but I know that it is not. Something is telling me that I have smoked one of these before but can't put my finger on what it is.

I could go a couple ways with this one as a local roll or midrange but I think I will go with midrange because it seems like with a little more rest this would be a good. Also if I were to guess on wrapper I would definitely think this is a mexican san andres maduro.

shaun341 wrote:

Well... i needed to check in here and say that dr. Dan has some good hot sauce. Blis hot sauce is aged in founders beer barrels and damn is it good. Not rippin hot but really adds some beautiful flavors.

As for the smokes, i hope to get to them this week or next, been running around like a mad man and havent been able to dedicate the time to smoking them correctly for the reviews.

Package outbound for an Alabama smoking monkey as well.

frozenphoenix1 wrote:

Smoking BGZ's #3

By process of elimination i know its the yard gar but...


lightly box pressed robusto with a light brown smooth wrapper. good firm construction with minimal veins.

Pre-draw is kind of a sweet vanilla caramel, very uncommon flavor,almost like a vanilla coffee energy drink.

First few puffs have a nice cedar sweetness with a bit of pepper on the retro.

Progressing into the first third the burn is perfect, flavor is still a sweet cedar though the pepper has faded from the nose, a mildly bitter (not overly so) finish has developed.

At the halfway point the sweetness has faded into an earthy cedar with a long finish that is still a bit bitter. burn is still razor sharp though the cigar has begun to violently rebel against its box pressed upbringing. While it has not ruptured the wrapper it is definitely not square anymore 🙂 ash held solid for more than an inch.

Into the final third no appreciable changes in flavors, and no growth of the bitterness. Burn stayed perfect and the rapid rounding of the once square cigar never ruptured the wrapper. I had to clip the end again as the draw closed up due to a bit of tar formation at the head but after a trimming i smoked it down to about 3/4 of an inch.

Not a bad yard gar at all, I would definitely smoke more and probably stock them if the price was decent.


So, what was It?

dharbolt wrote:

OK, i cant hold out anymore......this was the local rolled La Faraona maduro from an Ybor City 7th Ave. storefront. Nice description. Oliva Tobacco Co. provides most of our local leaf.....dont think they grow any San Andreas though but maybe? I like the tooth. Odelma used to work at Partagas (and also does a nice little culebra). These maduros are 4-5 bucks. Not quite a le bijou but your comments make me want to sock some of these away for a few years and see what happens.

You said you smoked #3 and I look forward to your review. Its not what you think.

tamapatom wrote:

That makes sense that the most of the tobacco would come from Oliva Tobacco Co. because it did have a good taste to it and any brand I know that uses leaves from Oliva is pretty decent. If I have time befroe work this morning I will post my reviews for #4 and #3. I was going to wait until this weekend cause I figure to finish this up then but now is as good a time as any.

shaun341 wrote:

Excellent review, I must say, you are a much better reviewer of cigars than I am.

Technically, I don't think the cigar can be classified as a yard gar, but I really don't have many true yard gars any more, and the rule of the game, was to send as a cigar that you smoke while screwing around in the yard so to speak... and what I sent you is my goto for that. Actually, it's one of my main gotos period...

Fuente Magnum R44 is what that was, a very good, cheap cigar.

bgz wrote:

Excellent review, I must say, you are a much better reviewer of cigars than I am.

Technically, I don't think the cigar can be classified as a yard gar, but I really don't have many true yard gars any more, and the rule of the game, was to send as a cigar that you smoke while screwing around in the yard so to speak... and what I sent you is my goto for that. Actually, it's one of my main gotos period...

Fuente Magnum R44 is what that was, a very good, cheap cigar.

bgz wrote:

Ok, I smoked Shaun's #2 mid range smoke (I know, said I would wait, yadayadayada)...

It was a petite corona with a dark wrapper (guessing a dark habano wrapper).

Anyway, the whole pre-light draw thing... yeah, I'm not good at picking things out of the pre-light draw, so I fired it up.

Big pepper blast right out of the gate that held for several puffs.

Once it started to mellow a bit, it got a little salty, and still a lot of pepper.

Then it's character started to build after I worked through it a bit, this puppy was definitely full body.

It mellowed a bit and when it did, it had that deep, dark tone to it with a lot of character. It appeared to be a little looser on the burn as the ash never really held long and the burn line wasn't razor sharp or anything, but it did burn good. It didn't require any touch ups through the whole smoke.


As far as flavor goes, it pretty much held that same profile I would say up until the half way point where it changed slightly. It still had pretty much the same profile, but just changed a bit, I'm not sure how to describe it.

Then when it moved into the final third a slight citrus flavor crept in while pretty much keeping the same original underlying profile. It pretty much held there till the end... which I smoked it till it got hot.

I enjoyed this cigar, though the flavor was a very familiar flavor, I don't believe I've ever had this particular cigar before.

If I had to guess, I would guess that it came out of a Pepin factory, maybe a Tat or a L'Atelier.

Good smoke, thanks Shaun.

bgz wrote:

I missed seeing this review somehow yesterday. I think we enjoy pretty similar cigar profiles judging from your reviews. That cigar was an Illusione MK Ultra from a box I have had for maybe about 2 years now. They were a touch harsh when new so I thought some time would do them well.

shaun341 wrote:

Finished up my reviews this weekend so here we go

#4 7x46ish oily milk chocolate colored wrapper with a sweet chocolate aroma coming from the wrapper. Just a slight toothiness to the wrapper as well.
1/3 starts off with leather the dominant note and hints of chocolate in the background. Short ways in a retro has some spiciness to it. The ash is tight and white and holds strong but I knock it off at around 3/4 inch. Pepper enters into the mix as it enters into the
2/3 Burn line has stayed pretty sharp. The pepper note disappears and leather is definitely dominating the profile again. As I burn through this 3rd the pepper comes and goes and further in the leather note becomes more crisp. I would call this a medium and maybe pushing into the bottom end of full.
3/3 The cigar smoke becomes a little airy which could just be due to the fact I don't normally smoke this big of a cigar and my palate may not be able to handle it. Close to the end the I did get some more leather but for me it was a struggle to finish this cigar because of the airy feel I was getting from the smoke but I would not attribute it to the quality of the cigar.

My guess for this cigar would be the top shelf smoke as it was decent until the final third and I think it was more me then the cigar that dropped in quality.

#3 5x50 dark chocolate in color single cap. I noticed some real dark leaves int he middle of the foot when looking at it which makes me think this might have some latakia in it. I don't get that aroma though that they say you would when smelling it.

Starts off real spicy which makes me think it really does have latakia in it as it has been a while since I picked my pipe up but if I can recall the blends I liked were spicy like this. Not much goes on in this cigar until I hit the midway point and start to get some of those maduro flavors like a sweet earthiness but it fades in and out with the spiciness. That spiciness tones down from what I would say was an 8 to a 5 while the earthiness fades in and out. It finished pretty much the same as the it was from the midway point on.

I am just guessing on this one and Tampatom has hinted that I am off on it but I would say this is the yard gar which if so I would definitely keep some on hand and the only cigar I know with latakia is Spectre.

#2 5x52ish Dark maduro wrapper almost black in color with a closed foot and pigtail cap. This is a pretty familiar look to me cause I like the Kristoff liger maduro and have a few on hand but only smoking it will tell if it is indeed a Kristoff.

Starts off with a deep dark chocolate taste right away and I enjoy that taste very much. Short way in I gets notes of earth, chocolate, and just a touch of cedar. Ash is a strong white color and nice and tight with a perfect burn line. Midway through cedar takes the forefront with chocolate and earth fading to the background. I have not picked up any pepper so I am thinking this may not be a ligero. Cedar fades a little towards the end but all three flavors are noticeable still. Pretty much ends that way and I really enjoyed this cigar.

I would say this the mid-range and am definitely thinking it was a Kristoff and lean towards the maduro line since I don't think there was ligero in it.

#1 7x54 Torpedo with a medium brown wrapper, nicely rolled no visible seems and smooth wrapper.

1/3 Starts off with a taste I am not too familiar with in cigars but best I can describe it is like a charred piece of meat. That taste falls off about 1/2 inch in. It gets mild at that point but I do pick up some leather in there. The ash is grey in color and is holding up nicely but I knock it off about 1 inch in.

2/3 Cedar makes an appearance for the first time. This flavor takes over the 2/3 but becomes bitter towards the end of this 3rd.

3/3 At this point in the cigar the smoke production dies way off. It isn't plugged but I just can't get enough smoke out of it to taste anything. I struggle with this for a bit but pitched this one a little early around the 1 1/2 inch left mark.

I would guess this one to be the $1 cheapo as there was not a lot going on in there for me and the quality seemed to have fallen off at the end.


Thanks TampaTom for the smokes and the fun you provided me in reviewing these. Now lets see how far off I am on this reviews because the only one I felt super confident in was the mid-range.

shaun341 wrote: