Cigar Chef

The Conuco Toro is a 6 X 50  Nicaraguan filled Honduran habano wrapped maduro cigar. At first sight this thing is DARK and that accents the black and gold band nicely, and has some shine to it with a couple of veins here and there. It smokes really well but is a short fill cigar so if you don’t keep on it it will go out. I very much enjoy this cigar even though it is one of famous-smoke’s 20 under 20 and those tend to be okay at best, now this isn’t an amazing smoke but if you are looking to relax with a smoke and some booze this is a flavorful inexpensive option. But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends. 

The Villiger Talanga Corona is a medium bodied 5 1/2 X 44 with a  Honduran Connecticut Shade wrapper and Nicaraguan filler. This cigar gave me problems at first my cat eye couldn't cut it then it wouldn't stay lit and was VERY tight on the draw and was unpleasant because of this. The other four have been somewhat agreeable but had many flaws. Most of them got tight at some point and had defects in the wrapper whether it be cracks or splotching but had a decent earthy peppery flavor and good smoke out put even the first one. All in all for just over two dollars a stick I can’t complain too much especially since I got them as a free add on.  But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

The Baccarat Rothschild is a 5 X 50 mellow Honduran cigar with a Connecticut shade wrapper. This little gem was $5 at the local cigar lounge and my god it is worth it. Even though this is mellow bodied it still has a very nice pronounced flavor profile which I enjoyed very much. I think this is a good all around cigar, great for beginners or experienced smokers for any time of day. Very few mellow cigars have tickled my fancy so I will be buying more. But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

The  Oliva Connecticut Reserve is a mild-medium body cigar with a Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. This particular cigar was the Petit Corona variant, I was very surprised by this stick, as I prefer a medium up in to a full body cigar, but this combined my favorite Nicaraguan tobacco with a mellow Connecticut wrapper to make a full flavored even tempered cigar. This is a great cigar that is appropriate for any time of day. This cigar did not stick with me as long a some other cigars did witch I found interesting however I enjoyed this cigar very much as mellow as it is mainly because of the flavor witch was vary bold in comparison to the body.  But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

The Famous Vitolas Especiales Churchill is a medium body 7 X 48 Nicaraguan tobacco cigar with a Connecticut wrapper and is only available at famous-smoke.com. This is a fairly mild cigar that matures in to a more medium body and has a very mild slowly developing flavor. This is a vary handsome and even toned stick that is not too hard on the wallet and doesn't taste too bad. I prefer a more flavorful and full bodied stick but i still enjoyed this cigar very much. The flavor although mild is quite nice and as part of the 20 for $20 this is a great beginner stick. Unfortunately like the Bayamo the wrapper is thin but is a good sight thicker and tastier. In my mind I would recommend this as a morning or afternoon smoke. But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

The Bayamo Superiores Churchill is a medium bodied 7 X 48 with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. This cigar is part of Famous Smoke’s 20 under $20.  This cigar has been in my humidor for 4 months and I just bought some premium cigars so it was time to move some old stock out. Out of the cellophane it looked vary nice accept for some green spots but when I cut it the wrapper cracked in three places but after the light despite this had a decent draw.  It was fairly tasteless and mild up until the last half of the second third when it began to develop an nutty flavor and begin to grow to a more medium body. I decided to tare it open to see what the inside looked like and the wrapper looked like paper and the filler was all chop, the only redeeming factors are the binder and the price other than that I can not recommend this stick other than to somebody who is just starting and doesn't know what that like and even than I might still suggest that they get a slightly more expensive sampler to get some variety and quality. But remember to try everything yourself and take every review with a grain of salt.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

The humble cigar has four parts. The Filler, Binder, Wrapper and Cap. The Filler makes up the meat of the cigar and can be made of multiple types of tobacco, the Binder is usually made up of one type of tobacco and then the Wrapper is the nicest looking tobacco in the entire cigar and is a single leaf warped around the entire cigar. The Cap is the icing on the cake, even though you generally frost a cake but i digress, this little piece of tobacco holds the whole thing together. Now where the cap meets the body of the cigar is head and the roll is called the shoulder, where you light it is the foot. Now that we have covered all the basics we can begin with the cigars themselves, I don’t know how regularly I will do a review but i will try to get at least one a week as I don’t smoke very often but I do enjoy a cigar every now and again. As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

If you are like me and many other cigar smokers you will buy more than one cigar at a time, either to save money or because you don’t want to trek out to the lounge for your weekly smoke, the only way to prevent your cigars from becoming unsaleable is a humidor or a similar device.  A humidor is usually a Spanish cedar box with a humidity meter and an average of 70% maintained humidity when closed will keep your cigars fresh. Some people will say high sixties to low seventies depending on who you ask, but 70% is a solid median. There are many ways to keep your humidor at the perfect humidity gel, foam, humidifiers or my favorite the Boveda two way humidification pack. The Foam is a green foam that used in floral arrangements and holds water very well but can lead to over saturation or mold. Humidity Gel and Humidifiers can be one or two way humidification and tends to be more reliable than foam. Boveda Packs are a percentage control humidification device and will make your humidor more or less humid based on the percentage of the pack.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

For the light most people will recommend a jet lighter or if they are a purest a wooden match. A Jet lighter is basically a small scale blowtorch and can have multiple flames, a Standard lighter some times called soft flame lighters work but take time to toast your cigar and can burn unevenly, and then the Match much like the soft flame can burn uneven and takes time to toast but some say that it completely changes the flavor because you just have the flavor of the wood not butane. I have tried all of them and prefer a single jet lighter or a match, but feel free to try the lighter you feel comfortable with.  As always, Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

Now you can use a Guillotine in single or double, a Punch, a Cat’s eye or V cut, Cigar Scissors or a Knife. Guillotines and Scissors lob off the cap. Punches put a nice little hole in the cap. Cat’s eyes gouge out a deep narrow V in the cap. Knives can slice and dice how you please. Now you could always just chew off the cap but then you would have tobacco in your teeth, but do as you please.  Have fun and enjoy life my friends.

So for our first post let’s start at the beginning. Whether you are new to cigar smoking or not you need to cut, light and have a cigar. Just remember no matter how you cut, light or smoke nobody has the right to tell you you’re wrong, but if you only partially smoke a cigar you my not be getting you’re moneys worth especially is you have expensive tastes, however a good cut and light will always make the experience better then simply smoke to where you are comfortable. I prefer a cat’s eye or V cut and a single jet lighter then smoke to the last inch and a half depending on the stick. Ultimately it’s all a matter of preference and how comfortable you are with your cigar. Have fun and enjoy life my friends.