I wanted to compare my last two cigars, an Excalibur II and a Helix 748, both CTSH.

The Excalibur was mild, yet had a great flavor (actually several nice flavors) and a nice creamy character to it. In all it was a very pleasant, mild but flavorful smoke.

The Helix was also quite mild, but that's where it stopped. I have to say now I really like the Helix Maduro. I don't mind 'mild' cigars thrown into the batting order as long as they have good flavor(s), as this maduro does. The CTSH though, at least to me, had little to no flavor. Rather than trash the cigar I will leave it at that, just my impression. The cigar never called to me with any flavors, so I won't be back for any more (I will though continue with the Helix maduros, mmm).

To sum it up, I literally burned my fingers with the Excalibur, and didn't get even close with the Helix.

Now for my question: How do the 'relatives' of this Helix CTSH compare? I'm thinking of the Astral and Don Tomas (all with CTSH wrappers). Any thoughts?

Never tried an Astral and the only Don Tomas I've tried is the Candela and I like that one a lot. Which is weird because, like you, I lean toward full bodied/medium smokes.

The Astral and Don Tomas are okay mild smokes (better than the Helix nattie) but neither compare to the Excaliber, IMHO.

428cj -- i LOVE the helix nats and thought the excali was eh... okay.

if you want to trade out the rest of your helix natties, shoot me an email. i'm sure i could find something you'd like a lot if you liked the excalibur.
BBELTRISI at ec.rr.com

btw, i liked the one astral i had a lot -- probably because it reminded me of the helix nat. same factory and all, who knows. but i wasn't a fan of the astral talanga valley; seemed to be a lot harsher than the original astral.

helix = yuck

1066 = good value gar. try the dark knight.

Good info all, thanks for your input.

That's funny Cavallo, I guess we prove that people have different tastes! I'd love to give you the rest of the Helix cigars, but I bought only one to try. Sorry!

428 - hey, no biggie. 🙂 i just thought that if you had any left, we could trade; get'cha something you DO like.

it's a funny thing -- seems that folks either really like helix nats or really hate 'em. the maddies, though, seem to be an "okay" smoke with those who don't care for the nats. seems to be the same way with the toraño reserva selecta nats and mads.

Funny you should say that cavallo because I love the Torano exodus 1959 and the signature, but I hated the selecta reserva. Smoked half and threw the rest of it in the "green" bin. (where all my grass clippings go)

hey, shawn -- just posted this under the Signature thread, but... give the RS maddie a try. talk to anyone who's had both, and they'll tell you that it's like smoking an entirely different cigar. i don't care for the natural myself (similar reaction on the one i did have), but i'm going to give it another try. ya know what they say, always smoke 2, yadda yadda. but seriously, the maduro RS is a totally different ballgame than the natural. the golds and signatures are my favorites, and the RS maddie is right up there with 'em. the natural... eh, not so much. at all.