Tag Archives: ø50

Los Statos de Luxe Delirios

Los Statos de Luxe LogoLos Statos de Luxe, as you might have guessed from the name, was one of the cheaper brands coming from Cuba. Not a lot is known about the brand. Founded around 1940, and was totally discontinued around 2005. From 1980 on, the brand was no longer hand-made and all the models were machine-made and had a ring size of 40. Three of the five produced models were 140mm long, and the other two were 123 mm long, which makes our Delirios their smallest cigar. Delirios were only sold in a cardboard packaging containing 10 cigars.

This is a  Cuban Delirios by Los Statos de Luxe (40 x 123mm, Standard Mano, Petit Corona, Box Code Unknown).

Los Statos de Luxe Delirios

Color & Looks: Colorado, mocha brown. Looks smooth but the wrapper is very thin and cracks easily. No veins. The Cigar is very light and is very loosely packed. Mediocre build, but it doesn’t look bad and keeps it together.

A cru: Light and grassy. Typical light cigar with hints of leather.

Taste: Initial taste is light and pleasant. Tasteful and easy-going. An excellent everyday smoke and dirt cheap to boot. Actually a shame it isn’t available anymore. It used to be quite unremarkable, but with some extended time in the humidor it picked up really well. Tasty! Ash is light grey and almost white. Due to the loose build, the cigar burns extremely fast, and just after two cm’s an added note of gasoline enters the fold. as do some other chemicals. Ash falls off quickly. Fennel and grassy and wine-cellar notes. Good puffs of smoke and tastes rather well with a mild coffee.

The second half is less interesting than the first half, but there is enough quality in the whole to begin with. The second half is a bit harsher, stronger and lacks complexity. More wood and dirt now, but also leather and ammonia, altogether more chemical toward the end. To sum up, a pleasant Cigar with some chemical off-notes. A good start of my Cigar smoking season I would say…

Points: 78

Partagás Serie D No. 5 Edición Limitada 2008

Partagas LogoReaders that like my occasional reviews of cigars will know by now that I don’t smoke inside the house. The sparsity of these cigar reviews are only caused by long stints of bad weather. It almost seems to me that the last five years, we didn’t even had one decent summer! It’s june, and here we had only a few whole days of Sunshine! You do not have to be a rocket-scientist to figure out when that happens, a cigar will be freed from its humidor. This time I chose a Partagás. Partagás usually are on the heavier side and I thought let’s start the season with a nice nicotine rush!

This is a beautiful day. Sunny not too hot and a little bit of wind. Even without the cigar I’m enjoying the silence, the rustling sound from bamboo in my garden and the sloshing sound of the water behind my house. Don’t worry, no flooding, it’s supposed to be there. So, sun, water, bamboo and hopefully an excellent smoke.

This is a  Cuban Edición Limitada 2008 version by Partagás (50 x 110mm, Petit Robusto, Box Code Unknown).Partagás Serie D No. 5 Edición Limitada 2008

This Edición Limitada from 2008 was made with Tobacco that already was aged for two years. First released in 2008 obviously it turned out to be an immediate success. Since 2011 it is added to the current series of Partagás cigars.

Color & Looks: Nice wrapper, tightly wound with small veins. Packed with a lot of tobacco and clearly well-built. Draw is good, especially for such a tightly packed thick cigar. Right from the start, this is a good smoke.

A cru: Chocolate, dusty old books with a nice creamy touch and with a slight hint of toffee.

Taste: I have just set fire to it, and already this tastes very good. Not as strong as I have come to expect from a Partagás. Very rich taste, fabulous spicy taste. I actually have smoked just 5 millimetres from this cigar, but it already is one of my favorites! How’s that for a bold statement! Soapy feel on the lips. The Tobacco was harvested in 2006 and aged for two years, after that it almost aged another 5 years in my humidor, but still the cigar shows some youth. Still, it is already very, very good, but consider the additional ageing potential!

My cigar burns a bit uneven, so I had to “correct” that a few times, but that’s no problem. Dark chocolate, woody, warming and a fabulous smelling smoke, even for the one sitting next to the smoker. The ash is almost white (another good sign). After 1/3, the cigar becomes more like a Partagás, a very good one. Spicy and full of character, woody and dry. I’m having a mild arabica coffee with this, but the cigar doesn’t overpower it. So it is full of Partagás character, but it doesn’t pack that Mr. T. punch Partagás so often have. Excellent. With water on the side the cigar tastes more sour, so I wouldn’t recommend drinking water with this cigar because it changes the fine constructed character of the cigar.

The cigar is very consistent. There is some minor development in the beginning, but after that the cigar is linear. The first ash fell of after the half way point. Taste wise the first half is the better half. The second half is drier and more woody. But the difference isn’t that great. As mentioned before, the ash of the cigar is almost white, and near the end, the cigar shows a caramel colored heart. More wood towards the end too.

Personally I find the 50 gauge a bit too much. It doesn’t look very elegant and it cramps the jaw, but that’s probably my european opinion. The cigar is quite mild altogether, no big nicotine rush. And no turning points. I enjoyed this cigar thoroughly. I smoked this as long as I could, and burned my fingers, but it is that good, all the way through. This will probably score even higher after some additional ageing.

Points: 86

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2

Heatwave over here, so a nice day to sit outside on the porch. I had a craving for a Robusto sized cigar and I noticed I haven’t reviewed a Hoyo de Monterrey yet. Therefore getting an Epicure No. 2 out wasn’t a hard task at all. My aged Epicure No.2 must be pre 2008, since it doesn’t have the second band that modern Epicures have. yes Epicures. The are a few around. There is an Epicure No. 1 (Corona Gorda), an Epicure Especial (Gordito) and in 2010 there was a Double Epicure (Doble) and in 2012 an Epicure de Luxe (Mágico) saw the light of day. Some of those were first a Edición Limitada. Hoyo de Monterrey was established in 1865 and is a Global brand selling lots and lots of cigars. There also is a plethora of choice, and all are known to be light yet for the connoisseur.

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 (50 x 124mm, Robusto, Box code unknown)

Color & Looks: The feel is spongy, also some small holes in the wrapper, and even the foot has a little tear in it. That doesn’t bother me since it always is the first to burn. One larger vein and some vague green spots, but that is all. If you look at the whole it looks pretty good and smooth.

A cru: Leavy and wet, a very elegant smell. Mildly woody with some paper thrown in and the whole smells rather light. After the cut it becomes very nutty, with cardboard and grassy. No salt on the lips. Draw is easy. Very light in fact. When the cigar gets warm if feels even more spongy and soft. It is underpacked, something that was already noticeable through the very light draw.

Taste: First impression it that it is very impressive. Great smell altogether and a lot of smoke. Not fatty full cream, but thin cream with a spicy bite to it. Mild wood spice I would say. For me the creamyness isn’t creamy enough.

The ash from the wrapper is white the rest of it is grey and black. I’m having some mild mocha coffee with this and it doesn’t fit. It hinders all the flavors of the coffee and makes the coffee taste sour. I tried a second cup, strong espresso and that was a bitter. Still this one is better accompanied by water and probably something alcoholic. The outside smoke is really prickly. The first 2 centimetres are a bit ‘nervous’ but after that it settles down, and settles for great balance. Toffee is added to the menu. Still there is little development throughout the cigar.

After some time with this the amount of smoke is really incredible. I’m sitting outside with a little wind and I’m still able to generate a sort of private cloud around myself. Overall this cigar could have been creamier, and for a Hoyo it has a atypical sharp and spicy edge to it. Definitively an after dinner cigar, even though it is light. You can smoke this one untill it burns your lips, isn’t that good value!

Points: 87

The Griffin’s Robusto Maduro

Twentieth post, so let’s get something out of the ordinary. I don’t have a lot of non Cubans lying around so I was very curious how this would be. Besides that, this cigar earned itself a 90 points score from Cigar Insider. So here it goes…

The Griffin’s are named for the Griffin’s Club in Switzerland, and are made with tobacco from the Cibao Valley in the Dominican Republic. and I guess that with Nicaragua, these are the countries to watch when thinking of good cigars to compete with the Cubans. The Cigar is made by Davidoff and that shows. It’s a very nice looking cigar, so it seems to have a good build quality. Compared to their Classic Line, this Maduro uses an aged Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper. The producers themselves describe the taste as this:  Spicy, sweet aromas with medium-strong, but understated piquancy…

The Griffin’s Robusto Maduro (50 x 127mm, Robusto, Box Code Unknown)

Color and Looks: Maduro. Very nice wrapper with one larger vein. Numerous small white spots on its surface, like sand. A little tear at the foot. The whole cigar feels firm.

A cru: Deep tobacco flavor, perfumy. After cutting, it smells grassy (this cigar sat for many years in my humidor). Draw is al right and tastes like hay.

Taste: Good smoke, very appetizing, very elegant smell from the outside. It reminds me of how cigars smelled when I was a kid (when somebody else was smoking). Grey ash, straight as an arrow, with a slightly brown tinge to it. Very firm ash, good build. I’m having it after dinner, and it smokes just fine. Perfect draw. Quite mild with no soapyness or ammonia. Well aged. I have a feeling that the Maduro wrapper balances the cigar, and gives it more of an edge to it. I can imagine that the Classic version, would be mild and has to be smoked before dinner. It’s not an overly complex cigar, but still interesting enough for the connoisseur. Up to this point (1/3) a very nice surprise. If this would be a men’s fragrance, this would be a “sports” version.

The (2/3) mark starts with more spices and wood. The overall experience is on the dry side, so not creamy. Like the Petit Edmundo, this is a cigar that does not complement coffee, but rather emphasizes some tastes. I don’t think this cigar needs more ageing. Further down the road, this cigar keeps getting spicier, woodier and adds hints of bitter dark chocolate and licorice. It’s building up its strengths. By doing so, it gets more and more one-sided which is a bit boring really. Ash fell off only twice.

The first 1/3 was very satisfying, with nice development. 2/3 down, it became “stronger” and more linear and less interesting. The last third is very disappointing, so you can say the first half is good, the rest should die out in your ashtray. The big band this cigar has, is glued to the wrapper ánd is placed nearer to the middle than the end, so be careful when shifting or removing it. Or maybe they strategically placed it there, since you shouldn’t smoke the cigar beyond the band. Now try to score a cigar that starts so well and goes downhill so fast. The first third would score something like 85 points, and beyond the halfway point it’s more like 65 points. So overall I will score this…

70 Points