Fast reviews of many popular cigars.

[manicdvln]

So I am on 2 weeks vacation in French Riviera, and I had the opportunity to smoke some of the most famous cuban smokes.

Partagas D 4

Perfect from start to finish. Cedar, woody flavors with no bitter aftertaste or harshness. How a partagas should taste. Never relight a Partagas they lose all their flavor.

Partagas Lusitanias

You have to smoke crap half way to have a lesser version of Partagas D 4. Not worth it.

MonteCristo No 2

Although a nice construction, this tastes similar to a non-cuban Padron. Lots of smoke with coffee, dark chocolate undertones. Just get yourself a Padron. Cheaper and just as satisfying. Why play the roulette on Cubans when Nics have consistency and reliability in giving you same experience over and over.

RASS

Excellent cigar for newbies. Sweet and satisfying. One of the best bang for your buck cigars out there. Getting a slightly looser smoke gives you a better experience. Beware of russian roulette in construction quality.

Cohiba Siglo I

Excellent consistent smoke. I never been disappointed with these small cigars other than my wallet.

Davidoff 1000 series

Garbage. Salty, harsh and expensive. The only thing going for this cigar is marketing.

I kid you not, this is the description of flavor from cigar assholnado.

".Small and slim, this petit corona starts with a sulfuric mushroom taste. The smoke later becomes earthy with touches of citrus...."

Yes who wouldn't want some coffee and sulfuric mushrooms in the morning. The question is, who tasted sulfur?

I will smoke a few more before I leave, so I will update as I go.

Update:

Trinidad Coloniales (2004)

Excellent start, strong tobacco flavor with no aftertaste. Smooth cigar until it nears the band where harshness comes out of nowhere, smoke remained cool until end. For me Trinidads are like price of a ferrari for a engine of a toyota. Great cigar but mispriced.

Update:

H. Upmann 46 Magnum

Incredible cigar, probably one of the best cigar I've smoked yet. This cigar will definitely have a home in my humidor. From start to finish, give you a light smooth smoke with perfect balance of toasty and sweet. Can keep this cigar in my mouth for minutes and it doesn't burn my nostrils or any harshness. It gets even sweeter as you reach the end. I really did not expect this from this brand and really my first time smoking an Upmann. Rob was spot on putting this cigar in his top 10. I smoke this straight on and did not pair with any drinks.

Update:

Juan Lopez Seleccion no 2

Nice construction, hard draw. Open tasted just like an average Nic, lots of chlorine taste. Then mellowed out with dominant leathery taste which I do not care for. No complexity and had to relight a few times. The only thing that saved this cigar in Cuban authenticity was its floral smoke aroma. Disappointing cigar.

Update:

HDM Epicure no 2

Nice construction, nice draw. Starts with earthy flavors and ends up predominantly with cigarette nicotine taste. Not much complexity. Don't understand the hype about this cigar.

Update:

Bolivar Belicosos Finos

Good construction, good draw. Signature Bolivar flavors of earthy, milk chocolate and coffee. Creamy smoke. Burned really fast. Overall a very good cigar. The non-issue with bolivars is that most vitolas all taste pretty much the same. Royal Coronas just as good and cheaper. One of my favorite brands in consistency.

Update:

H. Upmann Half Corona

Flimsy construction, slightly tight draw. Same excellent balanced flavor of Magnum 46 with less toastiness and more cocoa undertones with a hint of cedar. Burned out a few times. runs a little hot at the end but a worthy contender to partagas short.

Cohiba Secretos

Good construction, beautiful maduro wrapper, slightly tight draw. Powerful start with many strong flavors of cocoa, cedar and spices, gradually mellows out and shifts to intense chili chocolate and vanilla mix. Very complex cigar in a tiny package. Excellent cigar overall. Price well worth it since its already aged 5 years right out of the box. One of the most original cigars I've smoked yet.

Partagas E No 2

Good construction, good draw. Start is all coffee and you thinking it will be a great cigar then midway to end start to be acidic and barny with some harshness. Guess needs to be aged. Disappointing cigar.

Update:

Punch Punch

Beautiful construction, excellent draw and razor sharp burn. From start to finish light smooth smoke all vanilla bean flavor with a hint of cherry. Another winner in my book. Excellent cigar. Definitely will buy more.

Partagas Shorts (box 25 2012)

Well constructed tiny cigar, slightly tight draw and very good burn. Starts off strong with a bouquet of flavors from wood, cedar, coffee and vanilla and god knows what else... the smoke itself is sweet on the tongue. Mellows out pretty quickly with smooth flavors slightly alternate with each puff. Midway to end I'm getting more vanilla with a light spicy finish.Best bargain cigar out there.

That's about it folks, vacation over and saved the best for my last cigar review which will be H. Upmann Sir Winston. Will update when i smoke this baby.

[Rye]

We seem to have near opposite tastes. Lusi's are one of my fave cigars and good Monte 2's kick the ever-loving-crap out of any Padron I've smoked. Overpriced wind-bags sum up my Padron experience.

[ElJefe]

I concur Rye - a good Monte 2 has nothing in common with a Padron. The creamy smoke and milk coffee with light undertones of wood and spice leave me with a big smile always. Smoking HQ or better examples of each stick mentioned from Rob would be a true sense of what each Marca and vitola is about.

Just my two cents Mate.

Cheers.

[potpest]

Controversial to say the least....

I've never thought of describing the first half of a Lusi as the crap before the sub par D4 and a RASS as perfect for beginners.

Love it though, keep them coming....

[Firebender]

I think Monte 2 qualities vary more widely than RASS. That's the reason why I want to stick with PSP & HQ boxes on high volume production cigars

[RijkdeGooier]

It seems we have different experiences.

Do you usually smoke Cubans?

Did you smoke recent cigars?

[manicdvln]

I have no idea how long some of these cigars were left in shops humidor, so I can't tell you if they are recent or new. But looking at small hair crystals on many of my smokes, I say most of them have been aged. Some of them the guy told me have been sitting in his humidor over a decade. It don't really matter to me cause I want instant satisfaction and I am not an apologist cuban smoker. So if I get a bad cigar, I won't excuse the brand or vitola. I'm paying top dollar for these cigars, I demand a good experience.

I smoke mostly Cuban but Padron and Oliva Nics have been great consistent casual cigars. I have been smoking over 10 years now. Not a chain smoker but on occasions. These two weeks are exception to the rule, since I am binging at the moment.

As for Monty 2, I have a spare one, will let you guys know if the second one is any better. Don't get the wrong idea, its a great cigar, but nothing I would go crazy about, especially when its overpriced.

I'm Smoking H. Upmann 46 magnum right now and so far so good and will smoke a few more like HDM Epicure no 2, Lopez No 2 Bolivar Finos....

If you guys want to me to a try a specific cigar or any recommendations, let me know.

[tjohn7]

Personally I am a big fan of padrons, but then again I do agree that a great CC beats a padron any day of the week. There's still a lot of crap out there so I find the padron diplomatico to be my go to NC.

Tom