I guess it's good to hear that it wasn't just me with those burn issues. I guess a lot of people have had issues with that particular stick.

A few days ago, a friend gave me a Gurkha Grand Reserve (single infused in the glass tube with the copper wax seal). I have a few more hanging around that I haven't ripped into yet, so I figured I'd finally light one up. Though not as much cognac flavor and sweetness as the Royal Salute (triple infused with the purple wax) and not quite as full bodied, this was a great smoke. Burn was spot on, lots of smoke, and that great, initial sweetness on every draw. The flavors on this one were more of toasted nuts and baked bread. A much more mild, creamy profile compared to the Royal Salute.

Last night I had a Perdomo Cabinet Cuban Cafe Robusto. I was told a while back that Perdomo has discontinued almost the entire cabinet line of their cigars (although I saw they just recently brought back the maduro reserve) and that makes me sad. These are such wonderful cigars. This particular one had been sitting in my humi for about a year and had a nice sheen to it when I removed it from the celo. It smoked like a dream, giving off clouds of thick, full-flavored smoke. The burn wavered a bit from time to time, but never too bad. The flavors were mostly wood, leather and slight spice with traces of a subtle, caramel-like sweetness underneath. Consistent throughout, this was a great smoke that I just did not want to put down.

This morning I lit up my Gurkha Holy Grail that was sent to me by our favorite Squirrel (thanks, bro). This was one of the Gurkhas that I've really enjoyed recently. Perfect for a sunny morning. Even burn, lots of smoke, great flavors of cedar and roasted nuts and hints of earth and barnyard. If they were a bit cheaper, I'd be tempted to pick up a box, not just for the cigars but (come on, you have to see this coming by now!) also for the fancy packaging. :)

Looking back, I guess this was a pretty good week.....at least as far as cigars are concerned.

Two new ones:

La Flor Dominica Mysterio Perfecto - This stick had a nice, heavy feel, wonderfully constructed with a pre-light draw of clean tobacco and tea. The light gave spice and wood notes that opened up to more tobacco and tea with the spice fading a bit. It turned out to be a very strong cigar with a nice buzz factor. Not recommended to a newcomer or on an empty stomach. The burn was mostly straight with only a few touch ups and the ash held nicely for a perfecto.

Carinos Toro - Heavy and solid in hand, this cigar was nicely constructed with no prominent veins. There wasn't much to the pre-light draw. Maybe some tobacco. Lit with a burst of spice and cedar. The draw was a bit on the tight side with a punch but there was still plenty of smoke to be had. Not a bad cigar for the price but it had some burn issues. I'm sure after some rest in the humi, this will be a nice smoke for a lazy afternoon.

Love your reviews. Let's see some more! All the talk about the Camacho PE. :) Questionably my favorite cigar. I bought one of the 5 packs forever ago when ccom had the sale and should have bought fifty more at that price, lol. I still have two left after a few very special occasions this summer. I hope another special occasion comes up so I can smoke one!

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It's BORKs not BOTLs

There is no blender but Litto Gomez, and I wish I was his merchant.

Thanks, Tat. The PE was a very nice and memorable smoke. I picked up the 5-er at the same time as well as a 3 pack just before that. I believe I still have the other 7 sitting around, patiently aging. I have so many celebratory smokes and will have a few nice occasions, including my birthday coming up to celebrate, so hopefully I'll have some reviews of those high-priced, special occasion smokes on here soon.

Thanks again for the feedback. Great to see people are getting something out of this.

Rob1110:

Two new ones:

La Flor Dominica Mysterio Perfecto - This stick had a nice, heavy feel, wonderfully constructed with a pre-light draw of clean tobacco and tea. The light gave spice and wood notes that opened up to more tobacco and tea with the spice fading a bit. It turned out to be a very strong cigar with a nice buzz factor. Not recommended to a newcomer or on an empty stomach. The burn was mostly straight with only a few touch ups and the ash held nicely for a perfecto.

Carinos Toro - Heavy and solid in hand, this cigar was nicely constructed with no prominent veins. There wasn't much to the pre-light draw. Maybe some tobacco. Lit with a burst of spice and cedar. The draw was a bit on the tight side with a punch but there was still plenty of smoke to be had. Not a bad cigar for the price but it had some burn issues. I'm sure after some rest in the humi, this will be a nice smoke for a lazy afternoon.

Any thought's if the mysterio is worth the expense, are they tastier than the normal line; are they like the chistles? I like the toro's a lot and in fact have a box, but the mysterio's are rather spendy. I'm still enticed.

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Funny you ask. I actually just picked up a chisel and smoked it last weekend to compare it to the mysterio and yes, the mysterio was a bit better. Lasted a bit longer, though that chisel lasted me longer than I expected it to for its size.

I found that the flavors were a bit more pronounced in the mysterio and the punch really hit you, whereas the chisel just kind of came at you all at once and got a bit muddy in the flavor department and didn't even have the same kick as the mysterio.

Worth the extra expense? Sure, if you can get them at a reasonable price (I paid almost $18) and you're only picking up one or two just to try it.

damn you Rob, you were too slow... lol. I actually locked in a box of each for 70 bucks each and free shipping with 2 chistles. I wish Ccom had some in stock as I would have ordered here but I figure the 10 dollar difference covered the shipping. My shop has the regular for about 17ish, but they didn't have any oscuro's. Seemed to be hard to find, that's why I had to order both wrappers. I wish they came with 10, but oh well. Have you heard or had of the ligero IV? I saw some at the shop and didn't know squat about it.....

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sorry, Squirrel. I do have some new reviews though.

Tatuaje Red Label corona - This cigar showed great construction, the cap had some spice to it and upon lighting, opened up with cedar, pepper and spice. The spice faded a tad by the midway point, while the cedar stayed. This was joined by some clean tobacco notes and well placed, slightly bitter notes dominating the remainder of the cigar.

La Aurora Barrel Aged - Churchill - I picked up a box of these about a year ago and recently realized, I've given/traded at least half of them away and haven't smoked a single one from that box! Needless to say, I had to pull one of these out and see how a year of age faired with this cigar. It lit with notes of oak, cedar and spice dominating the first inch or so, mellowing to a leather and oak core with sugar cane undertones. A slightly uneven burn was a bit of a nuisance, but well worth it for the beautifully consistent, yet complex flavors. The draw was relatively easy, but not much smoke was produced with each draw.

Rocky Patel Summer 08 Robusto - This cigar opened with a papery note that quicly gave way to roasted nuts and a caramel sweetness. The burn was mosly even, requiring no touch-ups and the cigar produced tons of smoke. This turned out to be a perfect "start of the day" cigar.

La Aurora Preferido Emerald Tubo - With one year in my humidor, I think I expected more from this cigar. It started off rich, meaty and earthy with notes of cedar, pepper and spice with a dry finish. Moving in towards the bulk of the perfecto, I started to get harsh, bitter notes that weren't quite as enjoyable as I remember this cigar the first time I had it.

hmm, I feel the same for the RP summer 09, a good stick. Never got the 08's. The la aurora's, have you had any others? I'm thinking about picking up the sampler.

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I actually picked up the 08's here from ccom. They're in the clearance section. I think I paid 4 bucks each for robustos. Worth a try.

And which Auroras? I've had the sapphire, gold, and emerald (I have the ruby, platinum and another gold resting now) and enjoyed them all. Just for some reason, this last emerald wasn't quite as good as I remember the first one. For the right price, I'd say they're worth a try. As for the barrel aged, I'm a huge fan. I've had two churchills and a #4. The churchills were both great. Well worth every penny.

I was going to get a sampler of them auroras to see which one's I like. They are really nice looking btw. I like the barrel aged, though the robusto's are more up my alley.

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Perdomo 10th Aniv. Criollo Torpedo - This stick gave off a very sweet, almost floral pre-light smell. It lit easily and gave off sweet, toasty notes of nuts, molases and sweet cedar. After about an inch, I noted more leather and wood with the sweetness hanging on, but less pronounced. A bittersweet cocoa note dominated the final third.

Perdomo ESV Maestro Tubo (Cameroon) - With about a year and a half of age, this heavy, solidly constructed cigar showed a mellow pre-light scent of hay, tobacco and pressed flowers. A punch cut was enough to give a perfect draw that upon lighting, displayed notes of wood and hay with beautiful blue clouds of sweet, soft-smelling, smoke on the resting cigar. The draw was perfect and produced volumes of thick, creamy but delicate smoke consisting of baked bread and a hint of vanilla joining the initial hay note with just a touch of black pepper through the nose. These cigars are a bit pricey, but if they can be found for $10-12 a piece, I feel they're well worth the price and some time in the humidor.

Picked up a 10 pack of the Padilla 68 Oscuro Salomons. I really like the salomon shape and tend to absolutely LOVE oscuro wrappers. Everyone's got their thing. Pre-light, this cigar smelled of barnyard and tobacco. A light sheen covered the dark, almost black wrapper and the triple band (standard Padilla 68 double-layered band and a secondary Limited Edition 09 band) made this cigar absolutely beautiful to look at. After lighting, I didn't get as much spice, pepper or umph as I had expected. It was actually a very mellow, toasty barnyard/tobacco taste. I can't put my finger on all the notes I found in this cigar, just that I really loved it. Draw, burn and taste were all excellent. Kinda wish I picked up more...

Rob1110:

Picked up a 10 pack of the Padilla 68 Oscuro Salomons. I really like the salomon shape and tend to absolutely LOVE oscuro wrappers. Everyone's got their thing. Pre-light, this cigar smelled of barnyard and tobacco. A light sheen covered the dark, almost black wrapper and the triple band (standard Padilla 68 double-layered band and a secondary Limited Edition 09 band) made this cigar absolutely beautiful to look at. After lighting, I didn't get as much spice, pepper or umph as I had expected. It was actually a very mellow, toasty barnyard/tobacco taste. I can't put my finger on all the notes I found in this cigar, just that I really loved it. Draw, burn and taste were all excellent. Kinda wish I picked up more...

I think you sent me a few, I enjoyed it. I think it will be better with some rest. after the first ash, it got a little harsh and went out two times. Still a good cigar.

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Haven't updated this in a while and realized I never posted my review of the Forbidden X.

My cousin was in town for Thanksgiving (he's in school in Florida), so we decided to hit the cigar bar. I was kind of celebrating my recent birthday, the holidays and various other little things.....ok, I was looking for excuses to bring one of my "special occasion" cigars. Hey, sometimes you just have to find a reason to celebrate. I decided on a Fuente Forbidden X from the Fuente Story gift set from 08.

This cigar was beautifully constructed with an even more ornate, beautiful band than the standard Opus X band. Unlit, it had a sweet smell from the calvados barrel aging, almost like apple brandy (duh). When lit, a similar sweet note was present on every draw. I expected some spice and pepper, since after all, this is another blend on the Opus X series, but none at all. Instead, the profile was dominated by that sweet note, followed by complex wood notes. Not your typical cedar, occasional oak, but a very complex, cognac/brandy type of wood note.

The one negative was that the wrapper cracked on me about half way down the cigar, but it burned fairly well through that. The wrapper seemed brittle and someone got a little over zealous with the glue in the factory when applying the band. I waited as long as I could to take the band off, but it still claimed a good chunk of wrapper with it. A very smooth, mellow, creamy cigar over all. Would I recommend it? Sure if price isn't an issue, it's worth it to try one. Knowing that, however, I'm not sure how I feel about the other 4 I have left, knowing I spent about 40 bucks a piece on them.