Inspired by kuzi, and wishing to keep a log of my own thoughts on the cigars I've tried as well as learn to be a better describer of flavors, I'm starting my own little cigar log (clog?).

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Cigar: Cigar.com Purple Label
Size/Shape: Robusto
Time In My Humidor: zero (still getting the humidor re-seasoned after many years of disuse)
Smoking Time: 45 min.
Overall Rating: 6.25

The operative word here is, as advertised, mild. Bland, even. The upside to that is that the first few puffs were not as harsh as some cigars are. The downside is that it never got any more interesting. There was a very slight earthiness, maybe, but mostly it tasted like leaves and nicotine. The draw was rather tight, and the amount of smoke produced was less than I'd like. Burn was even, despite a bad light in heavy wind, and first ash made it to 1 1/4".

I have to say, however, I rushed the last half of this cigar through the most impressive thunderstorm I've seen in a while, including very close cloud-to-ground lightning, so I'm not going to form any firm conclusions about this one just yet.

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Cigar: Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real
Size/Shape: Toro
Time In My Humidor: zero (still getting the humidor re-seasoned after many years of disuse)
Smoking Time: 1:30 +
Overall Rating: 8.5

Ahhhh, now that's more like it. For starters, like every R&J I've ever smoked or even seen, this is just a beautiful cigar. After clipping it, I got immediate confirmation that it had the construction to match: the draw was perfect. The initial flavor on lighting was slightly vanilla, and that remained the primary, if rather faint, flavor for a while. It ashed beautifully as well, and it took a couple of firm knocks at the 1 1/2" point to get it to drop.

At the halfway point, a skosh of spiciness showed up, but just a skosh. After that, the dominant flavor and aftertaste was very definitely butter. It went right up to the edge of butterscotch, but never quite crossed the line. In the last third, the very slight spiciness made a return, but the main flavor continued to be butter, butter, butter. In fact, having a glass of water as I type this, I'm still tasting butter.

I forgot to check the time when I started, but I smoked this one while listening to the new Cat Power album, and it lasted throughout and then some -- and that's a 17-song album.

The smoke was creamy throughout, and there was lots of it. The draw stayed dead perfect. The burn took a couple of minor corrections, but that may well have been because I clipped it a bit unevenly.

There was nothing complex about this smoke. It did one thing, and did it very well. I don't smoke early in the day, but for those who do, this seems like it'd be a terrific breakfast cigar. All in all, it's earned a long-term spot in my humidor. Just a tremendously pleasant cigar.

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Wow, nice review. That was as good as a commercial. I'm sold. Will surely give that one a try.

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'The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' - Ronald Reagan

i have had these before and i agree that they are good. I probably would rate them at about the same (8.5) but i feel that they are a bit on the mild side for me. the flavor is good but i am a full bodied cigar smoker.
i still feel like i should get more of them though. Sometimes on those 90+ degree days in the dog days of summer a nice mild smoke with some sweety tea really hits the spot.

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How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin --Ronald Reagan

Thanks, p. I'm very new at trying to describe cigars. To be honest, I think I got lucky that this was one of the first ones I tried to describe. It has a very pronounced, single flavor. Makes it pretty easy to describe.

And yes, what kuzi said. This is a mild cigar. (I hadn't thought about the sweet iced tea idea, but it sounds great.)

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Cigar: 601 Habano Red
Size/Shape: Robusto
Time In My Humidor: zero (still getting the humidor re-seasoned after many years of disuse)
Smoking Time: 1:00
Overall Rating: 6.75

This was a high-maintenance smoke. Before lighting, it drew well and tasted of fig. (It took me a while to place that one.) The wrapper left sweetness on my lips. This was a promising pre-start.

Then I lit it, and everything went downhill. From beginning to end, it was trying to canoe on me. Several corrective lights kept it from getting completely out of hand, but never really corrected it, either. The draw seemed even enough, so I'm not sure what the problem was. The ash was shaggy and precarious looking, but held on surprisingly well; first ash dropped at about 1 1/4".

The flavor remained a bit fruity for the first quarter or so, then tasted more of black tea for the remainder, with some spiciness throughout, but none of these flavors ever really developed much.

Like the Ccom Purple Label, I'm going to withhold judgment on this one for a while. It was one of a sampler of 601s that came tightly wrapped in plastic, but, unlike the Ccoms, not in a plastic bag with water pillows. I'm going to let the rest of the sampler rest in my humidor for a while (if I can ever get it sorted out) before I light them up. Then we'll see if they have the same construction problems.

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Cigar: Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic
Size/Shape: Figurado (7x48)
Time In My Humidor: zero (still getting the humidor re-seasoned after many years of disuse)
Smoking Time: 1:15
Overall Rating: 7.75

This was the first Hemingway I've had in 2 yrs. -- the first Classic I've had in even longer. This has long been my favorite cigar, but this one was a bit of a letdown. It had that great Hemingway flavor I remember: sweet and peppery, earthy with hints of fruitiness.

However, this particular cigar was plugged on one side, creating draw and burn problems until I smoked it down past the plug, which wasn't until the last third. The wrapper also came just slightly undone from about the halfway point to down past the 1/3 mark. The ash was the usual Hemingway salt-and-pepper color, and first ash fell at about 1.25".

Like all the cigars I've reviewed so far, this one was completely unrested, so the usual disclaimers apply. I'll certainly be looking for much better construction from the rest of this box, once they've rested. This is a premium cigar, and priced to match. Unless ill-conditioned (like this one presumably was), there's no reason they should have construction problems.

Updated: See my 07-01-08 post for an update on this cigar.

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i hate it when a cigar that you have had before doesnt live up to what you remember it being.

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How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin --Ronald Reagan

Yeah, it sucks. It's especially frustrating when it's a construction problem in a cigar like a Hemingway, which Fuente makes a point of advertising is rolled only by their best torcedors, and even they are limited to producing 75 of them a day.

I discovered something at noon that may explain the problem with this one, though. When I opened that box of Hemingways again to move the cigars into the new humi, the lid came completely off in my hands. It seems to have gotten badly cracked right above the hinges, at some point in its life.

One would think the plastic shrinkwrap would keep that from affecting the humidity inside the box, but even plastic wrap breathes. If the crack had been there a while, it might have let the humidity inside drop, despite the little humidifier packet Fuente puts in these boxes.

Or not. We'll see once they've been resting in my humi for a while.

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I'd just recommend letting them rest at least a week or two before picking up another, that'll answer the questions.

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Would you say you are completely full of s**t or just 50%?
I hope just 50 but who knows.

Yeah, I'm going to try to keep my hands off them for at least 2 wks. -- a month, if I can do it. I have enough samplers on the way to keep me busy for a while.

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You've got me all fired up for a Fuente, its been too long, way too long.

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Would you say you are completely full of s**t or just 50%?
I hope just 50 but who knows.

Heh. Well hopefully yours burns/draws better than the one I just had. They are always tasty smokes, though.

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the hemmingway was actually the first cigar i rated in my catalog. I think i gave it an 88. I should pick one up to see if i would still do the same.

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How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin --Ronald Reagan