WINNER ANNOUNCED!! Review thread: 12 Days of Christmas Sampler 2024 : Win a box of Cohiba Robusto

[Ayub]

My 3rd review is H. Upmann Magnum 54.. my experience with this cigar was not totally pleasant. Not sure if I didn't like the interaction of cream and cedar or just it was not the right stick.. I honestly have a huge respect for the popularity of this cigar so I prefer not to rate it before hitting another stick, perhaps not anytime soon 😋.. 

[El Presidente]

3 hours ago, Ayub said:

Ramon Allones Specially Selected

After the first draw of RASS I felt that the $$ spent on other cigars was just a waste, so smooth and delicious. Fruits & Nuts 69ing on each and every draw.  Marzipan, Citrus and coffee. Such a great value of money. Uneven burn sometimes. 96/100

...These have been so bloody good 

[Ayub]

VR Unicos
Wood & Leather, reasonably spicy. 90/100
I wasn't even little bit curious about trying this cigar. Thanks to the Christmas sampler, I had the opportunity to try it and realise that I totally misjudged the cover.

This cigar is very close to Partagas P2. Apparently the similarity between them isn't just in size and shape, but also in terms of the leathery and woody notes and overall flavour, obviously absent Partagas DNA in this one. I wonder if the similarity is due to the similar wrapper! I taste similar notes in other Cuban Belicosos as well. The complexity and strength were very consistent from first to last draw, pepper & leather notes, occasional coffee and chocolate hints. Spiciness increased at the last third.

[Ayub]

Juan Lopez No.2
Fruity, a little bit dry. 85/100
My first experience with this cigar too.
 

1/3
Bold citrus and much orange peel, hints of nuts and coffee, dryness in the mouth.
 

2/3
Hints of cream and Chocolate joined the Citrus party
 

3/3
Cherry!
 

Well, I enjoyed smoking the JL 2, to an extent, the mouth dryness and the aftertaste I didn't like. I am curious though to find out if my review will align with the popularity of this robusto after smoking a few more sticks!

[Ayub]

Grassy creamy profile. 75/100
1/3
Spice and cream...the kick is very light
2/3 & 3/3
 

More Spices, medium strength. I couldn't find flaws in this robusto but personally I am not a big fan of the cream & spice interaction in this one.

[Ayub]

Partagas Maduro No.2
Bold Maduro taste with Partagas secret sauce.. too tough for beginners!
90/100
1/3
Partagas taste, toasted/burnt bread
2&3
Spicy pepper draws...very bold flavours and absolutely full body. Smoking this bad boy was like drift racing in a V8, so much fun but difficult to handle!

[Ayub]

Hoyo N3
85/100
It kicks with typical Belicosos woody leathery taste. Hoyo spices and cream, mid to full body strength. I enjoyed the N3 much more than N2, less spice and cream and the addition of the Belicosos skin, probably, makes a lot of difference. If I am to add any Hoyos to my humidor that will surely be N3.

[Ayub]

Trinidad Coloniales
Honey cheese cake, rich cream & premium tobacco...so complex and classy, I can literally feel the interaction of multiple rich sweet flavours surprisingly delivered by this little bad boy. The price tag is well justified
95/100

 

[Ayub]

Montecristo No.1

The Idea of lighting up Monte1 during a desert cruise at the "Empty Quarter" was just great. Cigars like songs to me, they bond with the memories and all flashes back with first draw.
 

1/3: Bold Montecristo personality with chocolate notes and some coffee hints
 

2/3 & 3/3: more cream and a bit of sweetness with monte taste maintained
 

Medium to full, very enjoyable...Monte 1 will surely be in my humidor if I was lucky to hunt a box, if it's ever up for sale!
90/100

[Ayub]

Quai D'Orsay 50
 

Honey is Dominant, much of sweet flavours with moderate fruitiness. I like the strength and the aroma of this cigar but the dray mouth was a bummer, I am not sure if that is always the case with Quai D'Orsay or just this stick was not perfect. Surely a second chance will come up, who knows 😉 70/100

[Ayub]

Cohiba Robusto

 

On a nice evening I, unfortunately, decided to pair CoRo with whisky sour, which apparently was not the perfect pairing since I usually pair cigars with coffee, so I couldn't really feel much of the expected complexity of this robusto. However, Cohiba DNA was there and the class of the cigar is not questionable. I will not jump to rate the cigar yet, but surely I will get to smoke many of those when I win the draw, which should be easy since no one else is posting reviews. 😅 Come on guys!!

I would like to thank club Czar for the wonderful idea of a Christmas sampler. I could try much of the Habana brands in such a short time, I might have mentioned earlier that I am a beginner in the cigar world and it was my first experience with all the sampler cigars, except D4 and RASS. Also I got to know that it ain't easy to write a review 😄, there is much one can feel when hitting most of those cigars but always always less can be expressed!

[El Presidente]

Great stuff 

[Chucko8]

JL2

Starts off with some light cream, cedar and orange notes. Rest of 1/3 adds in a dark coffee note with the orange and the cream fading. Smoke out put is pleasing.

2/3 The coffee becomes more chocolate like. Perhaps that’s from switching from Guinness to tequila and soda. The cream comes back in to join the citrus which is orange peel. The construction on this stick is very good.

 

Final 3rd the cream fades back out and the chocolate drops off to go back into dark coffee mode. Orange peel also ramps up. Still pleasant enough

Overall this was a great example of a young JL2. The final 3rd showed that a few years down to round of the edges will be great for it. Overall give it a 90.

 

[Chucko8]

QD50

1/3 construction is solid and draw is great. Starts off with oak, honey and floral notes. Further in I obtain buttery feel.

 

2/3 The butter is joined with egg and bread notes. The brioche feel is in my head now. Construction in this cigar is again very good and the ash hold on nicely. Obtaining some light nut notes now also. Enjoying it as I start to tan up some steaks.

Final 3rd the oak comes back into it and start to get some coffee notes but the buttery feel stays.

As with the JL2 the final 3rd shows the youth of the cigar. A box from 2021 that I have been smoking gives me the clues of what another couple of years would do for this example. Regardless though a solid young example. Another 90!

[Chucko8]

Hoyo Epi 2

Couple of soft spots on this one. 
Starts out dry spice taste and some hints of floral. Not far in and the burn is going rather astray. Flavour is a bit acrid.

 

into the 2/3rd and the coffee pairing is helping. Getting some cream hits here and there but the spicy acrid flavour is not giving way. Ash is flaky and burning quicker in some areas. Under-filled.

Gave it away at this point. Just wasn’t working for me. Gets a 73!

 

[Chucko8]

Mag 54

Construction on this one is great. Wrapper has a nice sheen.

1/3 starts off with cedar, some nuts and burnt sugar. Draw is nice, smoke out put great. I’m feeling very comfortable. Some toasty bread pops in.

2/3 The sugar, toasty bread and nuts meld together and it’s the Upmann profile on full display. The sugar starts to get a stone fruit sweetness similar to that I find in Mag 50’s.

Final 3rd keeps the rage going and the flavours ramp up with some milky coffee joining in. Nubbed it

Pick of them all so far. Again a great example of what should be a young cigar. Easy to smoke. 91!

[Tunkat92]

QDO 50

 

I forgot to do a cold draw, it was way too cold to enjoy being outside. In my haste, I cut and lit. This cigar was really a tale of 2 halves, so I will not review in 3rds.

1/2: The opening light was delicious sweet honey, lemon drop with a graham cracker breadiness. The finish left a oaky tannin and dryness in my mouth along with a slight metallic note. The honey and lemon intensity dropped after the a few puffs, which was disappointing. The dominant note is a brioche breadiness with hints of honey floral and salt. Overall, it’s a very light cigar and notes were pretty hard to pick out.

2/2: Getting close to the band the profile shifted slightly. Getting more floral and graham cracker. Even less sweetness is present, and a slight grassy note is coming through. I'm hoping the lemon notes come back but that doesn’t happen. The finish is more tannic and leaves my mouth pretty dry.

87/100, the first 3-4 puffs were spectacular. I longed for that profile back the rest of the cigar, which slightly took away from the experience. I normally don’t smoke these under 2 years old, and I believe some age would do this example good.

[David8406]

Great reviews all. Thanks for these on known young cigars.

[Chucko8]

RASS

1/3 starts out with cracked pepper, salt, hint of nut and cedar. Little further in boom dark cherry sweet and dash of cream

2/3 The cherry feels to have evolved into a stewed fruit which makes think of fruit cake. Nut flavour now feels roasted. Creamy hits also there. construction again on this cigar is great.

Final 3rd the cream becomes a little more sour and makes me think of a punch profile. Pepper ramps up and some dark coffee notes appear. The cherry is there at times. Taste becomes full.

Another good of young cigar. Got a bit heavy in the end for me but the middle section was great enough for me to still hit it with an 89!

[Chucko8]

Monte 1

1/3 Opens with just as I’d suspect woody, cocoa dash of milk. Settles with more chocolate.

2/3 the chocolate lilts in between dark then back to light sweetness. Coffee cream like a cappuccino. Delicious 

Continues on in the final 3rd very similar and coffee darkens and chocolate still flitting.

Great smoke and again construction admirable. Really enjoyed it. 91-92!

[Chucko8]

Hoyo N3

1/3 starts off cream, cedar and some light pepper. Settles and some floral notes appear imparting a sweetness along with light nuts and coffee tastes.

 

2/3 there is a nice cream and coffee now along with a nutty salty bread taste. Smoke output is very pleasing and there is a nice cracked pepper feel on the retrohale. There is some sugar sweetness kicking about also which helps give a nice balance.

Final 3rd shows some more earthy notes, toasty tobacco and leather. The creaminess and sugar still linger. The black pepper picks up spice.

I had heard of mixed results on this vitola, so was curious as what I’d find from it. Was pleasantly surprised! Perhaps I was lucky in that the construction again on this cigar was very good and the roll helped. But post this experience, as Pres says on 24:24 on this cigar ‘worth a small punt’. I’m a taker as I can see the potential in it. Score 90!

[Chucko8]

VR Unicos

1/3 opens up with some light spice barnyard. Quick transition to creamy coffee with hints of a caramel sweetener. Feels very pleasant. Burn is good smoke feels lush and plentiful.

2/3 The creamy coffee is in full flow with chocolate/caramel sweetness. There’s a light cake feel in there and hits of raisins. I’m just thinking it’s tiramisu with raisins added in. Superb. The ash is holding on and making the experience even more pleasing.

Ash falls off and we enter the last 3rd. It warms up now and the coffee becomes stronger though still very pleasant.

Well I sure have had the blessings thus far on the construction of the sampler sticks apart from the Epi 2. I feel that you can see for yourself the quality construction. The taste complexity was also fantastic. Score 93!

[El Presidente]

Get them in folks...this gets drawn Monday/Tuesday our time 

[BigGuns]

On 1/21/2025 at 6:16 AM, Ayub said:

Partagas Maduro No.2
Bold Maduro taste with Partagas secret sauce.. too tough for beginners!
90/100
1/3
Partagas taste, toasted/burnt bread
2&3
Spicy pepper draws...very bold flavours and absolutely full body. Smoking this bad boy was like drift racing in a V8, so much fun but difficult to handle!

Smoking this one tonight. Was really looking forward to it as I’m a Partagas whore and really enjoy the Maduro No. 3. Agree with the above, but this one was a challenge with a bit of a knot near the bands. Some massaging and eventually a run with the perfecdraw made it a bit more manageable. Not my favorite Party, but I’ll give it another run.

4 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

😬

[Tunkat92]

Cohiba Robusto

Cold Draw: Grassy, Sweet Spices, Cocoa. Draw seems a touch tight but nothing to be concerned about.

1/3: The first puff opened with Graham, sweet baking spices, a touch of lemon and cream. The smoke is velvety and thick. After a few puffs the profile settled in bit. Graham, lemon grass, baking spices, a touch of coffee on the finish.

2/3: The profile is muddled, it’s getting hard to distinguish notes. There is definitely still some lemon grass upfront, but a nutty/ espresso profile is fighting with it. Creamy graham cracker is strong on the retro.

3/3: Espresso, hazelnut creamer, some grass and sweet cinnamon/nutmeg on the backend. The smoke is still creamy and thick. Really excellent finish, nothing really hot or acrid until the very end of this third.

Final Thoughts: Excellent smoke, I would not have guessed this cigar was young or expected such an experience from a young CoRo. 93/100