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|  | The Annual “Cigars for Troops” drive is under way. This is a great opportunity to give back to those who protect our freedoms and earn the coveted "Troop Supporter" badge at the same time. You can find information here: http://www.cigargeeks.com/community/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5385... A special thanks goes out to Nathan (nwb) for running the drive again.
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| | The 2020 The Marine Toys for Tots drive is under way again this year. This is the way to earn the Toys for Tots badge for being a contributor. If you give a kit for auction, win an auction, or donate at least $20 you will be awarded the badge A special thanks goes out to Emerson (McBryde) for stepping up to run the drive again this year.  |  |
| | | The points contest is under way for the month of June. The 26 members with the most points for the month have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Famous Smoke Shop. You can read the details HERE. To view the previous month's contest results see here. |
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| Camacho Liberty 2020 | September, 2020 | 90
CG Rating |  | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Joe McDowell (MacMac) | | The Camacho 2020 Liberty Cigar was a pleasure to smoke. The cigar presented well with its golden wra... Read More | | Camacho Liberty 2020 | September, 2020 | 49
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: nirab | | Well, I am disappointed with my first Liberty 2020. The construction issues took away the brief enjo... Read More | | Camacho Liberty 2020 | September, 2020 | 90
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Brian (ninfiction) | Thank you David at egars.com and to Kevin(wescat)for sponsoring this critique again this year.
Read More | | Camacho Liberty 2020 | September, 2020 | 89
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Don Miller (DonM) | | Once again, Camacho put out a good Liberty this year and it was an enjoyable cigar. In sc... Read More | | Camacho Liberty 2020 | September, 2020 | 92
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: klamm143 | | I liked this one a great deal - not what I expected, but sure glad I got a full box, because I see m... Read More |
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| Punch Kung Pow! |  | druid | 6/21/2021 9:21 AM | | Semi-firm, dark brown wrapped, shaggy footed, one long vein & vey oily. PLA faint baking aroma; PLT faintly barn-y earth; PLD moderate. An easy light (for the open foot), an even burn, a moderately easy draw, & a light earthy smoke. Notes of earth, earthy spices (anise, cumin), cedar & coffee start off. There is a little spice on the palate but a distinct red pepper burn in the retro. Chocolate comes early on & there is a kind of nuttiness. The earth remains atop the profile but the spices stay on board. The finish is earth, cedar, coffee, earthy & herbal spices, & hints of chocolate & nuts. The body climbs up to the full line. A very decent Punch. (92) | | Gurkha/ K. Hansotia & Co. East India Rogue Bamboozle | | tuck0411 | 6/20/2021 6:24 PM | Humidor time: 503 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 67, foot - 45
Appearance and construction: A couple minor veins, a light sheen, a soft pack with no soft spots, a closed foot, and a kind of "bread loaf" box-press (flat on the bottom, rounded on top)... Gave it a wide-ring punch, which resulted in the cap cracking on one side, but to no ill-effect. PLD was open. (12/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of tobacco. The light gave a full-bodied profile with a spicy retro and notes of black pepper, black coffee, leather, and spice. The spice in the nose mostly faded with the other flavors mellowing only slightly and staying mostly consistent throughout, although the already strong black pepper note seemed to ramp even more in the 2nd third. I also got a hint of dark chocolate at about the same point. Pretty tasty, overall, although the pepper was very strong even for me and it could have used a bit more balance in the flavors. Strength was about medium. (22/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced an easy draw, decent smoke volume, and a wavy burn to start, the latter mostly because I lit this in my sunny backyard and couldn't quite see where the flame was hitting so it was kind of an uneven light. The burn evened out through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving a cone. The burn was a bit wavy through the 2nd third and finally got lopsided by the beginning of the last third and needed a touch-up. More lopsidedness in the last third but it was close enough to the nub that I didn't bother applying a 2nd touch-up. Draw was good throughout with smoke output being on the low side of optimal. (20/25)
Overall impression: I recently had this blend in the robusto and my review of that one shows a similar experience, both with flavors and construction. It's not a bad smoke and pretty good if you like lots of black pepper in the blend, which I do, but this was pushing the envelope even for me.... And this wraps up my Gurkha Gordo sampler and now I can get back to smoking some real cigars... (27/35)
Burn time: 1:14
Rating: 81 | | A.J. Fernandez Bellas Artes Robusto |  | junglepete | 6/20/2021 12:06 PM | | A great smoke all around. Perfect construction, draw, straight burn, and smoke output. Started off medium with a slow build to medium full. Not too heavy, not too mild, and a nice balance of creamy notes aside leather and wood. Very enjoyable. | | Gurkha/ K. Hansotia & Co. Ancient Warrior Emperor |  | tuck0411 | 6/20/2021 10:25 AM | Humidor time: 503 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 71, foot - 58
Appearance and construction: Several prominent veins, an oily sheen, and a moderately firm pack with no soft spots... Gave it a wide-ring punch and PLD was open. (12/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of rich tobacco. The light gave a full-bodied profile with a slightly spicy retro and notes of dark chocolate, black pepper, and a hint of wood. Not as tasty as it sounds, but those were the notes I picked out...The spice in the nose faded quickly with the other flavors mellowing a bit but staying consistent throughout. Not too bad at the start, but the overall experience deteriorated quite a bit by the 2nd third and didn't improve through the remainder. Strength was about medium or a bit better. (10/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced an easy draw, OK smoke volume, and an even burn to start. The latter quickly went south as the burn line got wavy, then lopsided through the first third and needed a touch-up followed by the ash dropping at 1 1/2" which left a cone. The stick tunneled in the 2nd third with smoke output decreasing and it got a 2nd touch-up. And a third touch-up in the last third when the burn got lopsided again. (10/25)
Overall impression: This one was pretty bad all the way around even for a Gurkha. Mediocre tobacco (and that's being generous...), lousy construction, elevated struggle factor, what's not to dislike... The bright spot here is this was the only one I had, so there are no more to suffer through on the commute, yay. (5/35)
Burn time: 1:36
Rating: 37 | | Plasencia Alma del Fuego Flama | | Rnoyes1 | 6/19/2021 9:56 PM | Very nice! Smoked lancero size
Started off very smooth, well balanced so nothing jumping out crazily.
1/3 background flavors (harder to get due to being so well balanced) but leather, cedar, earthy, graham cracker cinnamon bread/yeast and some pepper along with espresso
2/3 getting some orange citrus/ orange peel into the original mix. With a feint cocoa or cocoa/coffe
3/3 woodiness picking up a bit, and getting a sweet citrus orange juice
Very nice
Really like cigar, expensive so you decide
I think different enough to try another | | Nomad Martial Law |  | ljlemer | 6/19/2021 4:03 PM | | Sat many months in my humi. Bitter flavor from the beginning, but bearable. Plenty of retrohaling complexity, but all on the bitter end, thus blocking out for me all the other advertised notes, which are undetectable, unless you count expresso, black coffee and the like. Great construction, draw, even burn. Contains 4 different local strains. I suspect one of them is the cheap not-for-export one that poor campesinos can afford, but maybe I'm just prejudiced against bitterness. I give this a 3, but if you love bitterness, you'll love it. Maybe. | | Gurkha/ K. Hansotia & Co. Beast XO | | tuck0411 | 6/19/2021 3:38 PM | Humidor time: 502 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 67, foot - 58
Appearance and construction: A few veins and bumps, an oily sheen, and a moderately firm pack with no soft spots... Gave it a wide-ring punch, which caused the cap to come completely off, but the wrapper stayed in place. PLD was moderately open. (11/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of tobacco. The light gave a medium/full profile with a slightly spicy retro and notes of charred wood, black pepper, and a hint of coffee. The spice in the nose faded quickly with the pepper mellowing to the back ground in the first third, the coffee ramping a bit, and the wood becoming predominant through the remainder. I also got a hint of chocolate in the 2nd third. Pleasant enough, but not really close to my wheelhouse... Strength was medium at best. (18/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced an easy draw, OK smoke volume, and an even burn to start. The burn quickly got wavy, then lopsided in the first third and got a touch-up after which the ash fell at about 2" leaving a cone. Things were then uneventful down to the nub. Draw and smoke output reached optimal after the first ashing and stayed there for the duration. (18/25)
Overall impression: Another typical Gurkha in terms of both mediocre construction and flavors. Neither were horrible, just not great or even particularly good. Fortunately, I only had one of these, which came in a very inexpensive Gurkha gordo sampler from JR some time back... (21/35)
Burn time: 1:40
Rating: 68 | | 22N-83W Belicoso Finos |  | tuck0411 | 6/19/2021 9:49 AM | Humidor time: 505 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 62, foot - 58
Appearance and construction: A few minor veins and bumps, a light sheen, and a moderately firm pack with no soft spots... Gave it two clips with the guillotine and PLD was moderately open. (12/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of tobacco. The light gave a medium/full profile with a slightly spicy retro and notes of wood and spice and a hint of coffee. The spice in the nose faded quickly with the other flavors remaining mostly consistent throughout although the body decreased towards medium by the 2nd third. The coffee hint ramped just slightly in the last third. Pretty tasty, overall, although not at all complex or what I'd call amazing. Strength was medium at best. (21/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced a moderately easy draw, decent smoke volume, and an even burn to start. Draw and smoke output gradually improved and both were optimal about a half inch in. The burn stayed even through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving a small cone. The burn got wavy, then lopsided after the 2nd ashing and needed a touch-up at the beginning of the last third, but things were otherwise uneventful down to the nub. Draw and smoke output remained optimal throughout after the 1st third. (20/25)
Overall impression: This was another stick that arrived with the Cigar Authority Care Package COTM club last year. Probably my least favorite of that initial package, but it was a pretty decent smoke for the most part. Not amazing, just pleasantly enjoyable with no struggle factor to speak of while having my morning cupa joe and watching some Netflix. This was my only one, but I'd smoke it again if it were handed to me. (26/35)
Burn time: 1:22
Rating: 79 | | Foundry Time Flies 550 | | junglepete | 6/18/2021 4:45 PM | | Since this stick was a collaboration with AJ I thought I would give it a try. Smoked ROTT. Peppery and strong right upfront until the end. Lots of earth and coffee notes, not my favorite flavors. Tasted young. Decent burn and draw. I was hoping for something better but will put them away for a long rest and hope they mellow and develop some. | | Southern Draw Cigars Cedrus Gordo | | druid | 6/18/2021 10:30 AM | | Semi-firm, softly BPd, dark brown wrapper, no veins & very oily. PLA sour earth & barn; PLT damp earth & mulch; PLD easy. A fairly easy light, an even burn, an easy draw, & a chalky smoke. Starters are leather, earth, mild cedar & black pepper felt as much on the lips as on the palate & retro. Chocolate, nuts & a light sweet molasses come on in the 1st 1/3. Later some creaminess appears & the profile settles in the rest of the way. The finish is the chocolate & pepper first; the cedar, earth, nuttiness, leather & creamy sweetness follow as the finish slides along. The body is upper medium near full. A nice, long, tasty smoke. (93) |
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