81742 Fugazi COTY Compare to Fuente Opus Fuente Fuente.

It's not an Opus but it's really good. Rich caramel and coffee with some aromatic spice on retro. My first one I thought had more rich Dominican earthy tones. This one's a lot more caramel and coffee than earthiness. Edit Nope. Dominican earthy tones are here at halfway. Sweetness subsides to more spice and earth.

Well Dan, iffin you figure it out, I'd like to know. Caramel, coffee and aromatic spice sounds delicious

81743 - Ramon Bueso exclusivo CT toro

81744 LA Palina KB part one.

I bought a single, the blend info seemed right up my alley for the 1 and 2. It's decent but I don't think I'll get more. Red pepper on retro. I don't mind a black pepper bite but the red pepper/cayenne burn is too much. There's a strange anise note in there. Kinda reminds me of one color of those necco wafer candies. Don't remember what color, but it's like that. Excellent butter rich texture lingers long time. Burn, draw, appearance all perfect. Halfway the necco wafer anise note faded but the pepper remains strong enough to make my eyes water. A little woodiness in there. For such a tiny cigar, it has a lot to offer. I'd smoke another but I don't think I'll buy again.

81745 Oliva V.

Dark oily habano. Peanut shells, woody, cinnamon and cedar thankfully not dry. Been a while since I've had a regular V. Like every Oliva, it's a nice pleasant cigar but not exciting.

81746 AF Don Carlos Robusto: Sweet on the cold draw. Heavy cedar notes with a touch of leather and that DR minerality.

81747 - Padron 5K NT

81748 - Oliva connecticut reserve

81749: Macanudo Cafe Hyde Park (Robusto)

Creamy black pepper on the kickoff, black pepper gently faded to deep cover, creamy texture hanging in there with occasional hits of cedar, nuttiness and gentle notes of lemon balm or lemon peel w/o the astringent properties. Burns like a champ which is what I expect from Macanudo. It is not built to deliver a punch but I wish the flavor and general “body” of the cigar was a bit more substantial. Very mild but excellent for what it is.


81750: Arganese BP Churchill

Beautiful Habano wrapper, dark and oily, gleaming in the sun light. Starts off with leather and black pepper and maybe a bit earthy. All flavors quickly vanish. Smoke production very low. I’m tugging at this sucker just to keep it lit. A charcoal hunk develops and lasts for over an inch. The cherry buried itself inside the cigar and the wrapper isn’t burning. I got the Delta1 approved Eagle single torch and cut that dude in half and knocked off the hard char. Creamy nuttiness with a touch of mild leather. I’ve had this in storage for 6 weeks. I think I’ll put the rest of them back in storage and try again in another 6 weeks. I think I have an excellent cigar if I can figure out how to age it properly. I think it boils down to patience.

PS - I think a BP is hard to pull off on Churchill or Figurado vitolas

Me too, danm!

🇨🇮

81751 Enclave Broadleaf byAJFernandez

81752- Padron 4000 Maduro

measured and figured out. updated post

81753 EPC La Historia

This one I looked up before I bought. MSA wrapper, full flavor. And the first light flavors are straight MSA filth. Not in a bad way, I just think the earthy note from MSAs is do gritty and unrefined it's not soil, it's not silt, it's filth. Black pepper stings the sinuses but the sting is fleeting, not a burn. A few puffs in the texture is pleasantly rich and creamy, the underlying flavors are sweeter and are balancing out the MSA quite well. Well see how the rest goes. This one's my first.

Halfway settled into less sweet more "bitter" like dark chocolate covered espresso beans, burnt marshmallows, and more of a nicer soil note than the MSA started with. Plays nicely with my root beer. It's not gonna be an every day smoke for me, but I'll mark this one down for when I want a full flavor medium strength cigar. Don't think I'll buy more. I'm finding myself shying away from a lot of MSAs when they used to be something I wanted. I think my sober palate vs one being washed out by strong booze is less tolerant of the big flavors. It's a good cigar though.

Yessir, those are definitely not hard to smoke. Glad you enjoyed it !!

81754 - Diesel Shorty Unholy Cocktail
81755 - 5 Vegas Series A archetype

81756: Macanudo Cafe Hyde Park
Just as expected and in the back half I caught a couple draws that had quite an unusual flavor. The closest thing I can compare it to is a sour pickle but in the best way imaginable in a cigar.

danm, thanks for the edit. I think someone sent me one of those “compare to” Opus

Was it me?

I have two sizes of compare to opus. Haven't tried the fatter one.

The compare to Don Carlos and the compare to Cuban Montecristo both are some of my favorite budget sticks. Do I think they actually compare to these sticks? Nah. Nonetheless, good smokes though

I’ll have to go down to the dungeon and crack open the cask. I’ll let you know.