I got this cigar at Hartman cigars in Amsterdam and this is the only shop where these cigars are available in The Netherlands. They are sold in Germany and brought to The Netherlands by a corporation of tobacconists to see if they would do good on the Dutch market. These cigars have a price tag of 3 euro.



This cellophane wrapped cigar is 6 1/2 inch long with a 28 ring. The cigar has a mild hay aroma and a light colored silky wrapper with minor veins. The band is unclear, I couldn't read the brand name or anything else. The predraw is fine and revealed a mild dry wood flavor.



I can taste coffee and wood, and with more strength than I expected. The wood is the dominant flavor and the coffee disappears after a few puffs. The flavor is less full then right at the start.



After an inch and a half I get a little bit of milky chocolate as supporting flavor but that disappears soon. The wood changed in hay without me noticing it.



The smoke that I get from this cigar is fairly thick and I get lots of it. The draw is fine and the pepper & salt ash is nice and compact. The burn is great too. I would rate this cigar medium bodied medium flavored.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yeah, why not? They are cheap, not bad and quite relaxing to smoke

Appearance: 6 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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This 5 x 48 Nicaraguan cigar isn't available on the Dutch market, except for one shop in Amsterdam. They got a few boxes from Germany when their coorporation was looking for cigars to release on the Dutch market as a try out. The cigar has a pricetag of 3 euro.



The cigar, wrapped in cellophane, has a good construction and a pale wrapper with a big vein. The band is simple and is a Partagas lookalike. The cigar smells like hay, wood and a little bit of chocolate.



I can taste a little musty hay flavor with a little bit of pepper on the background. The musty flavor fades away after a few puffs and the pepper gets a bit stronger. After half an inch I get a metallic flavor and after an inch I can taste dry hay with wood, the pepper is gone.



Halfway I can no longer taste the metallic flavor and the pepper returns. A few puffs more and I can taste chocolate and the pepper gets stronger. The texture is quite dry. The hay gains some power too. At the end the chocolate disappears and the pepper gains more power.



The draw is a bit too hard and I think that is the reason I only get a little bit of smoke, although it gets better the further the cigar is smoked. The smoke is also kind of thin. The band is a Partagas rip off. The ash is quite light but with dark spots and quite firm. This little medium bodied medium flavored cigar didn't last me an hour and the smoke had a strange chocolate smell to it.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yeah, just a few. If you want a cheap, simple cigar to kill some time, this is a cigar I would grab.

Appearance: 6 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 6 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part: 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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This La Flor Dominicana had been sitting in my humidor for a while and after seeing it make the number 13 on Cigar Aficionado's top 25 of 2009 I could not wait any longer and decided to light this beautiful cigar.



This 7 x 64 salomon is made from vintage Dominican tobacco, grown at the La Cunela farm in 2004 and 2005 and finished with a beautiful oily Nicaraguan Habano wrapper which looks tough due to some nice veins. The construction feels a bit hard but the predraw is just fine. I could taste peppers, black pepper and red pepper. The cigar has a nice barnyard aroma, not too heavy.



I can taste pepper with some wood, but mostly pepper, a lot of pepper, green and black pepper. After almost an inch I get a little bit more wood and just a tiny hint of chocolate. The pepper gets a bit milder at the same time.



A bit further the pepper mellows out and almost disappears towards the 2 inch mark. The wood that I mentioned before is now the dominant flavor with just a little bit of pepper and even later with some chocolate after the pepper disappears.

After a third the chocolate grows a bit in strength but remains the support flavor for the wood. At 2/3rd the chocolate disappears and the cigar gets a bit salty. Towards the end, the salt disappears and the chocolate returns on the background.



The draw is fine and the cigar gives me lots of white, medium thick, smoke. As always with figurado's, I had some problems with the burning at the beginning but the cigar corrects itself. The ash is light colored, firm but frayed. This cigar is full bodied and full flavored. It gave me a huge vitamin N overdose. This sigar is not for the faint hearted.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes. I can understand why they made Cigar Aficionado's top 25.

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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These cigars are made by Miura Cigars, a company that makes cigars for major distributors and private labels, as well as their own cigars. This cigar is a Nicaraguan puro with a rosado wrapper. A friend gave me this cigar when I mentioned that I like rosado leaf.



The cigar comes naked, no band whatsoever, just packed in cellophane and has a 6 x 54 size. The cigar has a strong barnyard aroma and the construction feels good. The rosado wrapper is oily but looks a little wrinkled. The predraw is on the loose side and leaves a raising flavor on my palate.



I can taste some leather, reasonable full, with a bit of a metallic feel to it. After an inch some wood joins the party.



After 1/3rd the texture gets a bit creamy and I get a herbal aftertaste. Halfway the flavors grow a bit in strength and I can even taste some nuts, hazelnuts and walnut, all still a bit metallic.



I get more than enough smoke and the draw is fine. The ash is pretty light, firm and straight. I had some burn issues towards the end. I would rate this a medium cigar, both on body and flavor. It is a nice cigar, but not much of a challenge.



Would I buy this cigar again? This size isn't offered on the website any longer, but I will get a bundle of figurados or perfectos. They have a great price quality ratio for a yardgar.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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Lately I've smoked a few AJ Fernandez blends and so far I liked all of them, so I had high expectations when one of my smoking buddies came by my house with a box of La Herencia Cubana oscuro fuerte robusto. And a nice looking box I might add, simple but not an ordinary cab.







The 5.5 x 54 robusto has a pretty dark broadleaf maduro wrapper grown in Pennsylvania has hardly no veins. A Nicaraguan binder and filler from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua finish this cigar. The double band is quite stylish, yet not overdone. The construction feels good and the cigar produces a nice barnyard aroma. The predraw is fine and leaves a peppery raisin flavor in my mouth.





I can taste a strong coffee flavor, more espresso then normal coffee and maybe a little too strong for my taste, it's borderline. After a centimeter I can taste a little bit of chocolate as an aftertaste. The texture of the flavors are dry.



I can also taste a wooden flavor through the espresso and slowly the espresso fades away a bit so that the wood becomes the dominant flavor.



Halfway there is a nice balance between the coffee and the wood flavors and the aftertaste is chocolate again, but really mild. At 2/3rd some herbal flavors join the coffee and wood, and slowly those herbs grow to become the dominant flavor, perfectly supported by the coffee and wood.



The draw is fine, just like the burn. The amount of medium thick smoke is insane, it is a good thing that my smoke alarm isn't working, or the fire department would have been paying a visit. The salt and pepper colored ash is firm but crooked. This cigar is full bodied and full flavored, the flavors are very bold and "in your face". I had a little nicotine buzz going on.



Would I buy this cigar again? Oh yeah!! Another fine AJ Fernandez blend and available for $3 a piece.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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