I finished up my first El Baton this evening. This is a Nicaraguan puro, Corojo wrapper from what I gather. I saw this one reviewed by Cigar Aficionado early this summer and found them at a local B&M in my area. As I remember, they were around $6-7 a stick. It's enormous at 6.25x56, torpedo shape.

I'm not going to do a serious review, I'm certainly not qualified to do so. But here are a few thoughts. Flavor was great - medium to heavy bodied, a bit spicy, and upfront flavors of earth, leather, and a hint of some darker coffee, though not prominent. The flavor stayed consistent throughout, no real noticeable changes.

I had some burn issues after about the halfway point that hurt the last part of the cigar - I was smoking it too fast and it got a little bitter for a few minutes. But after I let it cool down and relit it properly, the same flavor picked up until the end. I didn't have a true dinner meal before this one, and I was surprised not to get a good cigar buzz while smoking, but it caught up to me at the end and I got a smooth buzz in the last third. Nothing outrageous, very nice buzz.

It was really enjoyable and I'm excited to let the second one I purchased rest for a long while longer. I figure I'll give that one a try in six months or so and see how it does then. I will be adding a few more of these to the humidor if I can find them again!

---

It's BORKs not BOTLs

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

I got a couple of the robustos when they were giving them away over the summer (my GF and I each got one and she gave me hers). Took them down to Key West with me. I thought it was good, but don't know if I would buy them myself at that price point.

---

Steve

I had two torps, and one robusto. The torps were very good, but the robusto tasted different, and had burn issues.

---

Coaching is eliminating mistakes before they get you fired. Lou Holtz