$4-6 cigar REVIEW thread

T

tfar

Evolving Lead Gorilla
Hi folks, in relation to my recent thread asking you for recommendations on good 4-5 dollar cigars here http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=140649
I thought I'd pay back and actually review the ones I bought and will smoke one after the other.

Since I don't smoke a lot this will take some time. So feel free to chime in with your own reviews. Here are my first two, not as elaborate as the Davidoff Special T review and even more subjective, so take it for what it's worth.

Carlos Torano - Casa Torano Robusto Maduro

Nice looking and very well made. Band is huge and you definitely have to take it off which in my case did not do any harm to the wrapper but there is always a risk. I prefer smaller bands.

Draw is medium strong. Burns evenly. Did go out only once.

There is something strange about the taste of this one that I never had in any other cigar. Something floral and slightly bitter sour. Like a Planters Punch. It is round and medium bodied.

Price was $5.55 at BM but might be had cheaper online.

I will not hurry out and buy this one again right away. But it is still a decent cigar. I'd give it an 80 or perhaps 82. I need to establish a broader basis for reference here.



Partagas Black Label Bravo (a short Robusto) Maduro.

Looks good but not quite as nice as the Torano above. Band is a bit smaller but still big. Prelight draw is very easy. Prelight taste just a slim tobacco taste and a bit of grass (not MJ but green grass).

Unlit smell at the foot is interesting. Reminds me of horse stable. You know that earthy musty smell of horses. Not bad just special.

Taste is stronger than the Torano. As strong bodies as a Cuban Partagas D4. Purging makes it considerably milder and rounder.
It tastes earthy and a bit like roasted coffee (not liquid coffee but the roasted beans) and burned chocolate.

Flavor stays the same throughout the cigar as with the Torano but the Partagas rather gets milder towards the end whereas the Torano got stronger.

It burns not as evenly but stays lit very well. I left it alone for three minutes and it still burned well.

I like this one quite a bit and can imagine having that in my stock. It is still a good 45-60 minute smoke. The Torano did not last that long although it is longer. Both cigars were rolled to equal density as far as I can tell by touching them. Both are rolled denser than Cubans,

I would give this an 84-85. Price was also cheaper at $4.25 a stick at BM.


Hopefully, you like my reviews and will add your own to this thread. Only reviews please. Let's keep the other thread for recommendations.

Till
 
Re: Longknocker's review of Oliva G Maduro Torpedo

I just posted my review of the Oliva G in his thread. I would really like to get some other Gorillas to post their reviews of 4-6 dollar sticks here. So I'll copy me review here for easy reference and to populate the thread a little.

Well, I said that I would try The Oliva G Series Torpedo Maduro as my next cigar. And I did today. I didn't do a detailed review like the one of the Davidoff Special T but here are some impressions. Taste was not bad at all in the beginning. Some cafe au lait, nice. But draw was tight. I am one who doesn't mind a draw that's a bit on the tight side but this thing got so tight I had to use a poker on it. I used the one from my Lotus pipe lighter (see review) and it worked wonders. Cigar opened up completely and the taste was now really good. This was the Maduro Torpedo. For $4.25 at BM per single stick this is fantastic. Smoked it to the nub.

Now comes the BIG, BIG caveat. This cigar gave me one of the worst headaches of my entire life. I am not kidding you. I sometimes get a little bit of a headache after smoking a big cigar like a RyJ Churchill or even a Special T. In general it is worth it and the headache isn't too bad. But this cigar is smaller than those and the headache is huge. After three hours I finally decided I needed to take two Aspirin. It is slowly decreasing but maybe I should have taken three pills.

I have also had some red wine but both bottles that we had with a friend over dinner (3 people sharing two bottles) were bottles that I have had before and also with cigars and that have never given me headache.

I might try this again but I am not going to buy a box right away, even though in terms of price taste relation this was great.

Till
 
Sorry about the H/A, Til. Did you buy this in a sampler? WyoBob said he had problems with the Olivas from his sampler pack, also. Just wondering if the full boxes of Olivas are better?

Thanks for the review!
 
I bought this as a single cigar, not part of a sampler. Storage conditions were good. I think it might be like with wine. If you have a really good wine, it won't give you a headache. A lesser wine might still taste very good but you get a headache. The wine I had yesterday, by the way, was not of the lesser variety.

I will give the Oliva G one more chance if it gives me another headache I will never touch them again.

Till
 
Padron 3000 Toro Nicaraguan puro

Padron 3000 Maduro Toro 5.5x52

Appearance and built:
Rustic look. The band is a simple brown and white band a la Montecristo. It is a small band which I like. The veins are too visible and too pronounced for my taste. This already would make the visual difference between a cigar that’s less than $5 and one that costs around $10. There is only a single cap on the head and it is rather irregular. A good reason to cut it off. The wrapper is not really very dark. I wouldn’t even call it a Maduro. It is not darker than a Monte 2 and I guess that wouldn’t be called a Maduro, either. It feels medium packed and is quite springy at 67/66. That I like. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as strict as usual with my pre-purchase inspection and I feel a knot one third up from the foot. We will see how it smokes. Looks aren’t everything.

Aroma pre-light:
This is really nice. It reminds me of wet sand at the beach. The sand smells different whether you go to the Caribbean, the California coast or the French Mediterranean coast. This one is the latter. There is an idea of shell fish smell behind it. When you are at the fish market and you smell all those lobsters and crabs; that’s it. I also detect a bit of sweetness, like honey and vanilla. Should be an interesting smoke.

Taste pre-light:
Wow, the taste is pretty close to the aroma. Perhaps a bit more earthy and nutty. Draw is light to medium. No sign of the knot.

Aroma lit:
Strong and acrid smell. It reminds me of a Partagas D4. You know that this is a heady cigar when you just smell the smoke. And there is lots of it. Not a cigar to smoke when you are in the company of sensitive noses i.e. in public. Personally, I find it not disturbing but you know how the militant anti-smokers are today.

Taste lit:
There is still a bit of lobster but this time it’s grilled, not fresh. I am not kidding you. The honey is confirmed. Interestingly, and even better for my personal taste, this is really quite close in taste to my favorite honey: rapeseed honey. Langnese from Germany makes it and exports it to the US. You should try it. It is creamy and almost white and very thick with a strong taste. If you like grilled chestnuts you will like this honey. This is not a direct comparison, though, because its flavor cannot really be compared to anything else I know off. The taste is round and mild, not acrid at all. I would say this is a medium bodied cigar. This will probably go really well with a café au lait. Unfortunately, it is 0:30 at night and if I have a coffee now I won’t sleep.
Got over the knot at 1/3 without a hitch except for a slightly uneven burn. The black burn ring is one of the smallest I’ve seen so far.
At the half point it gets a good bit stronger and also a little bitter. Nothing a good purge couldn’t deal with, though. The honey sweet-bitter taste stays.
At 60% smoked it went out and for the first time in my ten year smoking career I noticed some tunneling. I shall say that this is the first time I smoke non-premium cigars. Man; that sounds snobby. Perhaps I was smoking too slowly. It got bitter again, too. But some roasted coffee notes came in. Relight and purge. Now, all is good again.
At 2/3 smoked it goes out again and I decide not to relight.

Conclusion:
This is the best of the cheap smokes so far. The Oliva G Maduro Torpedo was at least equally good in taste but better in construction but it gave me the biggest fricking headache of my life. I feel this cigar is basically just as good (except for construction) as a HDM Epicure 2 or Partagas D. I know those are Robustos and this one wasn’t exactly but the format is still comparable. So at $4.25 at the BM, this is a steal. Thanks to all those who recommended it.

Edit:
I just read some reviews online and was happy to find that they mostly concur with my observations especially regarding the not so great looks and construction, the bad cap, the great draw and the sweet and coffee flavors.
 
Re: Padron 3000 Toro Nicaraguan puro

So I smoked all of the cigars from the 4-5$ review sample.

I won't go into as great detail as for the first few but still wanted to give you my impressions.

The Rocky Patel Edge was a beautiful cigar with great draw. But, I don't remember anything about the taste. So it probably didn't impress me.

The Chateau Fuente was a decent little cigar good with a capuccino and as a quick smoke. Again, tastewise nothing special.

Strangely enough, I do not remember what happened to the second Oliva G series Torpedo. I smoked the Madura version and it gave me this unforgettable headache. Maybe it also killed some braincells so I don't remember what happened to the Claro version. But it is not in my humi anymore.

The Butera Mirabelle was a bit more expensive, as I said. Well, it wasn't worth it. I smoked that one two days ago. The construction and draw were absolutely beautiful but I had to purge it basically every three puffs because it was constantly getting bitter on me. I think this is in the same price class as a RJ Porto Real Fino Tubos (the fine panatela shape). The latter is much better than the Butera.

Now comes a real surprise, the $4.50 CAO Gold Corona was great. A nice smoke that was well constructed, pretty to look at, lasted for around 40-45 minutes and was very mild yet tasty. No bitterness whatsoever here. Very relaxing affair. I don't say this was surprising because I don't expect much of CAO. The opposite is true; every CAO cigar I've had so far was at least good and none was a disappointment. I say this because I am usually not very fond of this format.

This will be a good cigar for me for a short smoke or when I don't want to break out one of the 10-20 dollar smokes. I would also consider it as a good cigar to offer to friends who want to join you for a smoke but might not be appreciative of a top smoke.

I will stock up on this one and also post a more in-depth review when I get them because this little cigar is quite deserving.

Till
 
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