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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 February. 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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| Southern Draw Cigars Rose of Sharon Lancero | February, 2021 | 86
CG Rating |  | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Murphy223 | I'd like to thank nickthafish (Nick) for allowing me to participate.
I always app... Read More | | Southern Draw Cigars Rose of Sharon Lancero | February, 2021 | 86
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: ntanner | First off, thanks for letting me participate in this one Nick.
Now to the point, this is a s... Read More | | Southern Draw Cigars Rose of Sharon Lancero | February, 2021 | 86
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Vroomp | | In summary, this was a fairly enjoyable albeit mild smoke for me with no real wow factor, but steady... Read More | | Southern Draw Cigars Rose of Sharon Lancero | February, 2021 | 88
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Jason (jharrisx5) | | This was a very nice mostly medium bodied cigar that will fit nicely into a lot of smokers rotation.... Read More | | Southern Draw Cigars Rose of Sharon Lancero | February, 2021 | 25
CG Rating | | | Written by Cigar Geeks Member: McBryde | | I know this cigar had construction issues, and some kind of random crap stuffed into this cigar, bec... Read More |
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| Oscar Valladares Leaf by Oscar Corojo Toro |  | druid | 2/25/2021 9:10 AM | | A bit rustic under the wrap, a solid core, a variably toothy, dark brown wrap, no veins & moderate oils. PLA a faintly meaty aroma; PLT herby cocoa; PLD mod easy. Bit longish light, an even burn, a moderately easy draw, & a sandy, earthy smoke. Notes of sweet earth, a bit of leather & black pepper & a tease of sweet come on. The draw goes airy at once & nuttiness pours forth. Some florals show up in the retro with the pepper. The 2nd 1/3 has a bit of bite as coffee comes on & the nuts fade a bit. The finish is spicy & sl tangy earth, a little leather & nuts, coffee bean, florals & that faint sweet note. The body is medium. A great Leaf! (92) | | Fratello D.M.V. Virginia |  | druid | 2/24/2021 12:39 PM | | A hard-cored, medium brown stick, two veins & fair oils. PLA faintest grassiness; PLT earthy bitter chocolate; PLD easy. A normal light, an easy draw, an even burn, & a wood-earth smoke. The cap is a bit bitter which off-putting to the early flavors of grain-alcohol, some woods & a bit of redeeming creaminess. It's not until past the 1/2 that the bitterness eases enough to enjoy the added notes of earth, coffee bean & a hint of herbal sweetness. The cigar redeems it self in the last 1/3 with a finish of earth, coffee bean, cream & that herbal sweet note (present in the retro). The body is a md-high medium. Nice comeback. (90) | | Cohiba (Red Dot) Robusto | | HolySmokes | 2/23/2021 10:09 PM | Stored for 12 days at 69% RH. Weighs 11.33g
Prelight: wrapper has a slight sheen and tooth. Looks more on the rustic side. The cigar feels tightly packed with only a slight soft spot midway. Cigar has a semi-sweet aroma. Performed a double v-cut for a somewhat tighter draw, as expected due to the tight pack.
Postlight: cigar lights easily taking good to the toast and light. As expected, the draw is tighter. I massaged the cigar a bit to loosen the leaves up which did help. Cigar producing good amount of smoke with a nice aroma. Starts off mild in both strength and body. Main flavor is light earth. Noticed wrapper slightly coming undone at midway along with a slight bulge.
2/3: first ash going into 2/3 at 1.25-1.5” leaving behind a small cone. The ash is lite gray. Cigar is smoking well. Not huge transition in flavors although a slight woodsy note appears and the retrohale has a spice. Medium strength and body. Cigar band slides right off with no damage to the wrapper. Gave a touch up to keep it even burning great otherwise.
3/3: next ash at an inch. No transitions in flavors to note. Hitting the tighter portion of the cigar roll which I am having to puff a bit more frequent to keep a good burn. I do pick up a floral note along side the earth undertone. Retrohale becomes smoother with a slight sweetness. Smoked to the nub for 1:35min. I have 9 more of these and will update based on the average of every few. | | Oscar Valladares Leaf by Oscar Connecticut Toro | | druid | 2/22/2021 9:32 AM | | Removing the tobacco leaf covering exposes a near flawless, slightly toothy golden wrapper saturated w/oils. PLA a nutty aroma; PLT rich earth & cream; PLD mod easy. Normal light, easy draw, a sharply even burn, & a cream & leather smoke. Creamy notes of earth, cedar, aged leather, mild grass, coffee, & a bit of pepper open. The nuttiness builds rapidly. The leather becomes a footnote & the slight pepper remains constant in the retro.. The finish is nuts, earth, coffee, cedar spice, cream, a bit of pepper & a faint sweetish citrus note that comes on near the end. The body is a mid-medium at most. An absolutely delicious & well-performing cigar!. (94) | | Sindicato Cigars Sindicato Toro |  | tuck0411 | 2/21/2021 8:14 PM | Humidor time: 440 days in mine, unknown in someone else's...
Humidimeter reading: Head - 59, foot - 38
Appearance and construction: A few minor veins, a light sheen, a moderately soft pack with no soft spots, an oval box-press, a pig-tail cap, and several patches of missing/flaking wrapper... Clipped off the pig-tail with the guillotine and PLD was open. (12/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of earthy tobacco. The light gave a medium/full profile with smooth notes of coffee, leather, wood, and a hint of sweetness. This stayed consistent throughout with no transitions to note other than the wood note fading away in the first third. Not bad at all and quite pleasant, but it could have used some spice to make it more interesting. Strength was medium at best. (22/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced an easy draw, smoke volume on the low side of optimal, and a wavy burn to start. The burn continued wavy through the first third as it navigated the flaking wrapper at the foot, then evened out prior to the first ashing at 1 1/4" which left no cone to speak of. The burn continued even until the end of the 2nd third where it got lopsided and got a touch-up. More lopsidedness in the last third but it was close enough to the nub that I let it go without a 2nd touch-up. Draw and smoke output remained on the low side of optimal throughout, probably due to the aforementioned wrapper damage in various spots. (21/25)
Overall impression: This was a pretty good smoke and the flavors, as smooth as they were, gave me the impression this was a very aged stick. And it probably was given that I'd gotten it some time back from a fellow Geek who probably had it in his humidor for some time before he sent it to me. At any rate, nice smoke and I'd do it again. (28/35)
Burn time: 1:41
Rating: 83 | | Nicaraguan Factory Overruns (JR Cigars) Toro 6.5x52 | | tuck0411 | 2/21/2021 3:37 PM | Humidor time: 440 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 64, foot - 61
Appearance and construction: A few veins, an oily sheen, a moderately firm pack with no soft spots, and a couple of small patches of missing wrapper... Gave it a wide-ring punch and PLD was moderately open. (11/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of tobacco. The light gave a medium-bodied profile with a note of wood and a hint of spice. This stayed consistent until the 2nd third when the spice ramped closely followed by a coffee note appearing. Not all that amazing but tastier than it sounds. Strength was medium at best. (20/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced a moderately easy draw, OK smoke volume, and an even burn to start. The burn stayed even through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving a nice cone. Shortly thereafter the burn line reached the first patch of aforementioned missing wrapper and draw and smoke output improved to optimal. Probably not a coincidence... Things were then uneventful down to the nub with the burn line being razor-sharp throughout and draw and smoke output both remaining optimal for the duration. (23/25)
Overall impression: Not quite what I was expecting with this stick in terms of the flavor profile as it was advertised as being "medium to full bodied" and it was merely medium. This is allegedly a My Father stick (JR stock # MFO35) and the flavor profile reminded me of the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial blend quite a bit, but looking at the DB that one's got a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and this one's advertised to have a Habano wrapper. There are, however, a number of limited editions from different years of the Jaime Garcia stick in the exact same dimensions as this one, so who knows. At any rate, it's a pretty good smoke, if you like a flavorful medium blend, with impeccable construction (wrapper damage aside) and these can be had pretty cheaply at JR. I've got 19 more of them to burn up on the commute where they will do just fine for that purpose. (28/35)
Burn time: 1:45
Rating: 82 | | Henry Clay War Hawk Robusto | | tuck0411 | 2/21/2021 10:44 AM | Humidor time: 440 days in mine, unknown in someone else's...
Humidimeter reading: Head - 60, foot - 59
Appearance and construction: A few veins, a light sheen, and a moderately firm pack with no soft spots... Gave it a wide-ring punch and PLD was moderately open. (12/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of mild tobacco. The light gave a mild/medium profile with a slightly spicy retro and notes of wood and spice. The spice in the nose faded quickly with the other flavors remaining consistent until the last third when I started getting a slightly bitter citrus taste. The body also ramped towards medium in the 2nd third and stayed there for the duration. Not bad, not amazing, but reasonably flavorful for a medium smoke. Strength was north of medium especially towards the end where I started noticing the nicotine. (21/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced a moderately easy draw, OK smoke volume, and a wavy burn to start. The burn evened out through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving a small cone. Draw and smoke output improved to the low side of optimal following the ashing. Things were then uneventful down to the nub with draw and smoke output never quite reaching fully optimal. (22/25)
Overall impression: Pretty decent morning smoke, this one, although the strength was a bit more than I prefer this time of day. Flavors were decent if nothing to write home and construction was adequate even with the somewhat restricted draw and reduced smoke output. I'd smoke it again if it were handed to me but I don't think I'd buy more of these. (28/35)
Burn time: 1:23
Rating: 83 | | A.J. Fernandez Bellas Artes Maduro Toro | | tuck0411 | 2/20/2021 8:12 PM | Humidor time: 443 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 70, foot - 60
Appearance and construction: A couple minor veins, a light sheen, a soft pack with no soft spots, and a light box-press... Gave it a punch but the cap didn't want to come off, so gave it a single V-cut on top of the punch and PLD was moderately 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, spice, and a hint of chocolate. The spice in the nose backed off somewhat with the other flavors remaining consistent throughout. Very flavorful and chewy and right up my alley for this type of profile. Strength was in the medium/full range. (23/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced a moderately easy draw, OK smoke volume, and an even burn to start. I quickly gave it a second V-cut to try and open the draw a bit more and this succeeded with smoke output quickly reaching optimal. The burn was wavy but self-correcting through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving a small cone. Things were then uneventful down to the nub. Draw and smoke output were optimal throughout after the 2nd V-cut. (23/25)
Overall impression: Another great blend from AJ, this one. Flavor for days and construction was pretty good, too, the stubborn cap aside. I haven't tried the non-maduro version of this blend yet, but am now looking forward to it. If it's as nice as this one, it'll be yet another feather in AJ's cap. (31/35)
Burn time: 1:25
Rating: 89 | | Nat Sherman Timeless Collection (MATASA) Hermoso | | tuck0411 | 2/20/2021 1:16 PM | Humidor time: 439 days in mine, unknown in someone else's...
Humidimeter reading: Head - 64, foot - 61
Appearance and construction: A few veins, a light sheen, and a moderately firm pack with a slightly soft head... Gave it a wide-ring punch and PLD was open. (!2/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of tobacco. The light gave a mild/medium profile with a very pleasant mild tobacco note and a hint of spice. Not really much going on that could be picked out as a note other than just very pleasant, flavorful mild tobacco and it stayed pretty consistent throughout although I did start getting a hint of light wood at the end of the 2nd third. Strength was medium at best. (22/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced an easy draw, good smoke volume, and an even burn to start. The burn stayed even through the first third with the ash falling reluctantly at 1 1/4" leaving a small cone. The burn got a bit wavy in the 2nd third but self-corrected and things were otherwise uneventful down to the nub. Draw and smoke output were optimal throughout. (23/25)
Overall impression: Wasn't expecting too much from this one based on previous experiences with other sticks from this brand, but this one was a nice surprise. Quite flavorful for a milder smoke and construction was spot-on. This was my only one but I'd be happy to smoke it again should I run across more of these. A very good morning smoke to pair with a cupa joe... (30/35)
Burn time: 1:37
Rating: 87 | | Don Pepin Garcia (My Father Cigars) My Father The Judge Toro |  | tuck0411 | 2/15/2021 10:15 PM | Humidor time: 446 days
Humidimeter reading: Head - 68, foot - 57
Appearance and construction: A couple minor veins, an oily sheen, a light box-press, and a moderately soft pack with no soft spots... Gave it a double V-cut and PLD was moderately open. (13/15)
Flavor: PLA gave a whiff of rich tobacco. The light gave a medium/full profile with a spicy retro, a hint of black pepper (that quickly vanished), and not much else that I could pin down. The spice in the nose faded quickly as did the hint of black pepper leaving "not much else that I could pin down" along with the body receding to medium. Which isn't to say it wasn't flavorful, rather it was, especially in the last third, but I just couldn't pick out anything in particular for most of this smoke. The spice in the nose ramped back up a bit at the end of the 2nd third, but apart from that there were no transitions to note. Strength gradually ramped through the course of the smoke and was what I'd call Full by the last third given its effects on my cerebellum. I dumped the nub before the room started spinning but it was a close thing. (21/25)
Smoking characteristics: The light produced a moderately easy draw, OK smoke volume, and an even burn to start. I gave it a second double V-cut offset to the first part way through the first third but this helped draw and smoke output only slightly. Then gave the stick a vigorous massage with my finger-tips and this helped a bit more but smoke output was still shy of optimal. The burn stayed even through the first third with the ash falling at 1 1/4" leaving no cone to speak of. Draw and smoke output continued to gradually improve and approached optimal in the 2nd third, but never quite got there down to the nub. The burn got lopsided in the last third and got a touch-up before reaching the nub. (14/25)
Overall impression: For a My Father stick, this one was a disappointment, although it's certainly not the first MF stick I've had with a tough draw and reduced smoke output I'm thinking they need to start poaching some of Oliva's rollers given the consistent quality of that brand's nicely constructed sticks. At any rate, the flavors in this one were also not what I'm used to from MF, at least to the extent that I was mostly unable to describe the taste of what I was smoking here. Thinking I need to get another of these, hopefully one with a better draw, and take another shot at characterizing the flavor profile. (20/35)
Burn time: 1:54
Rating: 68 |
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