Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve Churchill Cigar Review

The Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve was my first box of cigars ever, not counting 5-pack boxes. I purchased a 27 count box of Churchills online for a tiny amount over a hundred bucks. I have smoked enough of these (before I sold the rest) to know there is a stable consistantcy with both flavor and construction. Not everyone is exactly the same of course and may be a bit off here and there slightly but you can expect quality control from the rollers with this bunch.

Vitola: Churchill (7" x 54RG)

Price: $3-$4 +/- stick

Wrapper: Nicaraguan

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran

Aged in Humidor: Varies
(From right out the box on the first day to over a year)

Appearance and Construction:

Great! The box is well design and when you open it, each one in their own clear cellophane cover are lines up uniform like even heighted soldiers. Even the caramel complexion is smooth and uniform. It's not a toothy or veined up stick at all. The cap blends in so well as if part of the body. There aren't out of place leaf endings on the bottom where one lights it. What consistantcy!

The ash does not hold more than an inch or an inch and a half, nor is it a perfect cone. They do not have solid ash. The draw is absoluetly free flowing. On an occassional Churchill (because they are long) I might have to cut the cap twice, that is a little deeper to get a wider hole for that easier draw, but not on these sticks. I cut a pretty narrow opening and it provides a good draw. The nice draw could be due to the fact that they aren't rolled super dense, firm but not packed tight, no soft spots or flaws in the wrappers. Every aspect is really smooth, all the way down to the golden medallion looking band with "Reserve", as if reserved for VIP.

Set of Photos of the Romeo y Julieta Habana Rerserve

Tasting Notes:

Prelight aroma from the wrapper has a smooth earthy but with sweetened tea scent; combined with notes of tobacco leaf (without the burn) plus light hints of fermentation and a light hint of a piece of milk chocolate kind of mix. The cold draw is an enhanced version of that note. I toast the cigar in an even circular motion and it burns light and evenly. The first note of flavor is dark cocoa, damn it is robust and deep in tastiness. The only issue is that this taste does not stay throughout the entire stick. These notes of flavor come and go on the first third.

On the second third: that dark cocoa is still there going in and out but includes a tad of spicy tobacco flavor, not bitter at all. Yes like almost every other cigar, there is a duration where the burn brings a smooth and tranquil sail of flavor, this one definitely has that. It also brings sneaky hits of wood and leather notes, just like every other stick, it's just less so in the Romeo y Julieta Habana. The remainder third does not change much, though the end did lose quality but not by that much. The wrapper gave (only by a little bit) stronger strength than that of a Conneticut grown variety. Usually expecting Nicaraguan filler to be stronger, I guess that Habana seed blending soften this cigar up a bit.

If I use the word smooth to describe many aspects of this cigar, it wouldn't be over using the word because it fits the bill. Each aspect is smooth including the construction, appearance, draw, burn and flavor notes. It is a great value on the price. The only reason I rate this a 85 and not higher is because it's on the mediocre side, it does not stand out much. The lack of complexity and strength, though enjoyable traits, make it drop a few bars in points.

Montecristo Classic Churchill Review

Vitola: Churchill (7" x 54RG)

Price: $10+/- stick

Wrapper: Conneticut

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican

Aged in Humidor: Six Months

Appearance and Construction:

The color of the wrapper is resembling of peanut butter with light, barely noticeable, veins. The band is of the same color as the Cuban version, dark red (maroon). Also the same design of white trims and a simple logo. However, this Dominican version has gold etching along the white, unlike the Cuban version. The band is on there snug. The cap matches the body as if part of it. It's smoothly built as it smoked: smooth.

The fumes were not overwhelming at all or too light, it burnt at a good rate and touch up not required. The ash didn't hold to well kept burning or flaking off and it burnt slightly uneven but...

Tasting Notes:

The initial smell right out of the cellophane wrapper before I put it into my humidor to rest a bit is of a strong fermented tobacco leaf scent, it brings me to an image of the fermentation process. It has a refined sweetness with a bit of a good ammonia scent. The aroma can be said to be an earthy reminder of lightly sweetened tea, the closest comparison would be a light peanut butter and tea infused with a bit of balsamic vinegar. After six months, it toned down. The cold draw before lighting is cinnamony.

I light up and the initial draw is of light leather. But about a little short of an inch in it gets pretty good. I can then detect a creaminess of cocoa. This is not a bold or strong cigar, it's medium in body. Yes there is the earthy side to this but also the contrast of cinnamon and roasted almond. The combination of the Connecticut wrapper and Dominican binder/filler made it smoke like it looked, peanut buttery creamy. Sometimes there is that bitter tobacco taste but it's not overwhelming or often present, the most prevalent flavor is of creamy, cocoa or a light nuttiness/woodiness. It is pretty consistent in flavor all the way through with flavor changes of the aforementioned.

I do recommend this cigar but not for $10.00 as the listed price. It would make a nice $4.00-5.00 smoke on a Sunday afternoon where you want to stay relaxed, which it did for me after work.

For it's enjoyment, flavor and overall smoke, rated a 88. I rated this an 88, the same as I did the Cuban Montecristo No. 2 because both were good, but just like the Cuban Cohiba and Dominican Cohiba, both are built differently. I thought the Cuban Montecristo No. 2 was strong with deep/dark notes of flavors and the Dominican Montecristo Classic Churchill to be medium in strength, creamy and more soothing flavors. Again, aspects regardless of size.

Montecristo No. 2 Review

Vitola: Torpedo (6.1" x 52RG)
Price: $12+ stick

Wrapper: Cuban, Habana
Binder: Cuban, Habana
Filler: Cuban, Habana

Aged in Humidor: One Month
(Smoked two. Gave one to a friend. The rest will age for an indefinite amount of time)

Set of Photos of the Montecristo No 2 Box

Set of Photos of the Montecristo No 2 Cigars

Appearance and Construction:

You look at this stick and there is nothing really fancy to it. The band is plain, no special coloring, just a dark red hinting on the brownish side with white trims, even the design is so simple. The band matches the wrapper so well, because the wrapper is in between a light and medium brown. It has a slightly oily wrapper. I squeeze the cigar and it is dense with almost perfection in moistness. The wrapper has a rustic and slightly uneven complexion but otherwise smooth with light veins.

Tasting Notes:

The initial scent of a cigar out of the box is of the factory it came from, it's of a deep stable aroma of a comparison to a strong tea leaf but it's of tobacco. The hint of that refined sweetness or amonia from fermentation is ever so light, a tiny, tad bit of it.

I'm going to be a slight hater on this cigar, because everywhere I go I read great reviews on it. I expected better. I start to light it in circular motion and I can see and smell the lightness of the fumes. The initial light gives forth a medium bodied draw of an earthy, toast-like, flavor. A little bit in, there's a light but dark hint of cocoa, spice and oak flavors, they mix well together. I liked the flavor and ease of the initial draw: it was not hard or too easy on the intake. It gave me high hopes from the first puffs.

I am on my first third. The initial flavors are still there, enjoying them. The cigar is burning steadily, unfortunately a little uneven. The filler is burning a little faster on one side, only a little bit, and burning without some of the wrapper. I have to touch it up. Other than that, the draw remained constantly well all the way through. The ash is now at it's one inch phase and drops, it doesn't hold for more than an inch. It's becoming stronger. I can start to taste the tobacco flavor more.

At mid-point I'm getting a strong leathery and smoked oak flavors along with the tobacco, those earlier flavors are less apparent. By the end, it still retained most of it's oak flavor mixing in with a deep earthy and sometimes a bit of a nice cocoa like flavor, all three phasing in and out. That's pretty much the cigar: smooth yet dark with a medium to strong body. I wish this cigar or at the very least the ones I smoked had more complex or rich flavors, instead it just turned out to be a mediocre stogie. Enjoyable but an average smoke, a bit overly praised.

My overall rating is a 88, for now

Romney or Obama

Debate 2:

One of the things that Mitt Romney said I paid more focus on than anything else is that he said during his tax plan is anyone with an annual income of $200,000 or less would no longer have to pay taxes on bank dividends, capital gain or interest off investments. I made notice to this statement because I fall into that category. Hmm, the senator wants to help me save a few bucks, how thoughtful. Knowing politicians, I wondered what the catch was. So, I did a Google search on comments to that from brighter minds than my own and this is what I fount:

Daily Kos - Romney Introduced His Biggest Trojan Horse Ever During Debate

I get dividends or interest from investments. Not much but still enough to make me take notice. Without doing anything and as long as I keep my money in the investment, I get $500 to $1000 annually for example on one of my investments. At the end of the year it gets taxed, depending on your income bracket you can pay a fungible 15% or higher (if your income bracket is higher) on that bank dividend, capital gain or interest off an investment. Now say the IRS taxes 15% of my $500, that means at the end of the year, I owe them $75, if they tax my $1000, I owe them $150. That $75 or $150 is such a negligible amount on an annual basis or compared to people on the grander scale who make their living from interest or dividends off investments.

Let us take New York City's Major Michael Bloomberg for example, his salary for being major of New York City is just $1.00 (no that's not a typo or a misplaced decimal). The $1.00 salary trend falls under many wealthy individuals like with the late Steve Jobs and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, just to add a name or two. The reason they only take one dollar salaries is because the bulk of what they earn do not come from salary but dividends or interest earned off their investments or capital gain. Their payout is way more than my $500 to $1000, now you're talking in the hundred thousands or millions. Mitt Romney's net worth is $250 million dollars, he can easily make the one dollar salary apply to him, thus he falls under the $200,000 or less bracket. He will then no longer have to pay taxes on his $250 million or money made off it. At the very least that's what he's trying to do for him and those on top. But guess who still does still have to pay taxes to aid the national debt?

Newton's Law of Motion

Newton's Law of Motion - A body in rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless imposed on.

On the night of Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 I was feeling a little light headed and feeling off, but other than that, I was fine. I became hungry that night, so I grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich that was in the fridge for a few days, bad mistake. By Thursday morning, I woke up with a stomach ache, light headache, heavy lost of energy (unable to get out of bed) and nausea. I think I caught a stomach virus. I stayed in bed all day Thursday. The same on Friday until the evening when I started feeling slightly better, strong enough to go to work on Saturday but still weak. Then guess what? I caught a cold: the sniffles, runny nose, coughing, a sore throat, feeling weak and off focus. It's now Monday, October 15th, 2012 and I am back to normal.

I think about life and death sometimes, maybe because I've seen the latter in my life a little more than I care to. The two days I lay there in agony and weakness I thought of my mortality. I think the only reason we work is to pay the bills for the things we get by with like our shelter, food, cars, etc... If not for working to have to pay for those, we would have more time to enjoy what's already a short lifespan much more. That is my mind set right now, I am working hard but my focus is not on finances, money is important because it is necessary to live but I'm not trying to make a billion before I die, that was my mind set at a younger age. Money plays a role in enjoying life because the things we enjoy cost. So hard work go hand and hand with enjoying life. But love and leisure doesn't come from a billion dollars, it might help provide more of it, but enjoying life is what you make and interpret of what revolves around you.

Cohiba Red Dot Robusto Cigar Review

Vitola: Robusto (5" x 49RG)
Price: $10 +/- stick

Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican grown Cubano Piloto

Aged in Humidor: One Month


Appearance and Construction:

The Cohiba Red Dot in a Robusto size seems tiny, but sometimes I don't like fat and long ones because I don't like going over an hour smoking, no matter how good. Pleasure only last so long before it becomes ordinary. The wrapper appears to be a nice dark shade of brown. The cap and body are clean and smooth looking. The end of the cigar where you light it does not have a perfect filled oval layer of filler, there are three tiny nooks. There is also a white string like stem from a tobacco leaf amongst all the brown layers but I have seen this in other cigar endings, no biggie this may be just the stick I am smoking. It has a slightly oily shine to it. To me, it looks like someone took a stick of wood emptied it out, sanded it out to a uniform cylinder, filled it with tobacco filler, put a dark polish on it and lightly lacquered it. The cigar is firm and bounces back ever so slightly on squeezing the body. This appears to be a well built stick. Even the band is designed smoothly and stays on there well, it moves only ever so slightly.

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Red Dot Robusto

Tasting Notes:

On prelighting I get only a tad aroma of that sweet and earthy smell. I do this four times because I like the scent of a cigar as much as the smoking part. Each time I only get a light aroma, possibly because it has been sitting in my humidor only a month.

I light it up. In my opinion of the one I smoked, this is a mild to medium flavored cigar. The Cohiba Red Dot would be nice for an average day relaxing or lounging. The price range for these are for ten dollars, I think not worthy, maybe for a lower price. On initial light it starts off soft burning with light smoke. I easily detect tiny hints of spice and sweet earthy flavors. The mediocre tobacco flavor is there, sometimes just that, tobacco flavor, no sweet or complex flavors. It burns slowly with that light spice and sweet earthiness appearing and disappearing.

At the second of third stage is when it becomes slightly interesting and the flavor of sweet cinnamon on woodiness comes into play. This is when it becomes good. At this point I can see that this Cohiba Red Dot is nicely rolled because it is still burning at a very tranquil pace, the ash reaches the one inch phase and drops off, but it was like a white and grey tater tot with parts of it's shell lightly flaking off. It comes and goes, that hint of sweet cinnamon on wood flavor. I can also detect a nutty flavor, like hazelnut or almond. I would say this is the nicest part of the cigar and I float down stream with this aroma until the third stage where it's just mostly tobacco flavors and a hint of coffee. I smoke it all the way to the nub as I do often. The before and the aftermath smell of the cigar are good: a lightly sweetened earthy aroma.

I would rate this a 85 because I sure had worst and far better. This is a good kind of mild cigar. Maybe another in the future or a XV

 Set of Photos of the Cohiba Red Dot Robusto The End

 Photo of the Cohiba Red Dot Robusto against a background chilies in my yard

Comparison:

I can only slightly try and compare the original Cuban Cohiba to the Dominican Cubano Cohiba Red Dot. I tried to detect similar flavors that came from one to see if the same flavors were on the other but the similarities in flavor and construction were only so slightly present. Why? Because besides the name, I believe that's where it ends. They are two totally different brands, two totally different companies and totally different in growth and manufacturing. I have to say the Cohiba Esplendido cigars were of course much better than the Cohiba Red Dot cigars. I don't think the size had anything to do with it because the Esplendido is a Julieta No. 2 (Churchill) sized cigar and the Red Dot was a Robusto. Regardless of the size, say if the Red Dot had been a Churchill size, I think it would have been the same outcome. I think the darker wrapper of the Red Dot cigar versus the lighter tan of the Habanos S.A. cigar had a low significance on how the cigar smoked and how tasty it was or will be. If you look at the photos below, both have similar appearances.

The love affair of the Cuban Habanos S.A. brand comes from the flavor and a bit of how it smokes, in my opinion. Could it be due to the hype of an awesome object far away forbidden and harder to get because of the embargo, yes, that too. But then again other countries don't have this embargo with Cuba, it's just the U.S., so no, it's not hype. If you smoked one and then the other, you can then experience for yourself the complexity and how it smokes (draw, burn, ash, aroma...) differs quite a bit from one to the other.

You take the Cuban version, I assume like most people, all it's parts (filler, wrapper, binder, cap) are from Cuba and made (original seeding, harvesting, fermenting, blending and rolled) in Cuba by Cubans. Meaning usually but not always a product made by it's original people and crafted in the culture it originated from will have it's heritage and refinement through the years. Thus, even though cigar smokers want that product, the access to the product is not there due to the embargo or limitation. To meet that desire, they created Cohiba Red Dot, baring the same name and attempted to be crafted or marketed to be just like the Cuban version. Even with part of the filler with the Cubano seed, you're not getting the same thing. The parts come from the Dominican Republic, Africa, Indonesia... It's not the exact seeding, aging, blending or rolling. Due to legality of branding, it's just the same name, not the same product, no matter how much the attempt or marketing.

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Habanos S.A. compared with Cohiba Red Dot

Cohiba Esplendidos Cigar Review

I've been smoking cigars since I was as young as I could remember, 18. I do not consider myself an aficionado because I don't smoke them on a constant basis, just an enthusiast. My curiosity was why do usually honcho type figures do it. The icon is of an older gentlemen, usually, laid back with a sophisticated appearance. One example is Hannibal from The A-Team: "I love it when a plan comes together". At the young age of 18 without much money, I went to the local grocery store and picked up a Phillies Blunt for fifty cents. The Phillies Blunt price would eventually rise to seventy-five cents and recently a dollar, now some retailers dare sell it for one dollar and a quarter or more. The Phillies Blunt is a terrible cigar, even for a beginner because it puts a bad impression on what a decent cigar should be like. Though giving it a positive note, it is good for a beginner to compare. Secondly it's not that bad if you have nothing to compare it to. I have not had one in years but recalling the taste being coated with a sugary substance but then there's no flavor or aroma to it, just a bit on the stinky or bitter tobacco flavor, in a way just like a big cigarette.

Cigars are not meant to be cigarettes. In a essence they are meant to be a quality craft, like a good aged marble steak, aged wine or aged cheese. Some people will call it just smoking but no. Just like taking specific plants and making a salad, just like taking grapes and turning it into wine or killing a cow to make a porter house steak, a cigar is crafting tobacco leaves into flavor. That's the answer to my curiosity at a younger age. Cubans, the renown category or class of cigars hard to obtain because of the embargo the United States enacted toward Cuba for being a Communist government, yes there's more to it but this article is not about politics. Not only are Cuban cigars an obstacle and expensive to get but researching there are many imitations to the top Cuban cigar brands, specifically the Cohiba brand. Why? They say head honchos like Fidel Castro determined it to be a top notch blend, so if a head figure like Fidel Castro fount Cohiba(s) to be an ace, then the rest of Cuba and other nation's cigar smokers followed. It is just that bootleggers like that of music and designer wear make money off replicating the desired quality of the legit, on the negative aspect, ruining it for the consumers. Unlike music, which might have distorted sound quality, you can live with it and it's free. But think if you paid four thousand dollars for a fake Louis Vuitton bag worth thirty dollars, cigar smokers don't want to pay for dirt in their puff.

I did my research before I went and bought my Cohiba Espledidio cigars. I learned to look at the clarity and alignment of the label having the embossed golden Cohiba printed as well as the bold in script Habana, Cuba. I read to check for how many squared dots as well as where it is cut off. I checked for anything off about the band. I checked the cap: looked at it's construction and made sure it's a triple cap. I looked over the body and even peaked at the foot but never examined that portion in great detail. I smelt and squeezed one before I paid. I did not get these from the factory in Cuba directly. I did not even get to see the box itself. I bought a dozen. I got them from someone I know as an acquaintance whose mother lives in Cuba and he said he being family is allowed to visit on this account. I read there are only less than a handful of airlines or airports from the United States to Cuba and you need a specific type of visa for visiting, most travel outside the United States and then get a passport and visa and go from there. Analyzing my purchase, each one seems almost perfect: the wrapper has these neat, sort of hidden veins that blend in well, smooth, tan colored sheets of crafted tobacco leaf. The foot: the opening on the bottom where you light looks like an oval of layered tobacco. Based on many of the pictures online of fakes versus real, I determine that I have the legit shit. But only 95% so, there is still that 5% uncertainty that these master bootleggers have cloned the icon. So I smoke it:

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Esplendido Bands

More Photos Below...

Vitola: Julieta No. 2 - Churchill
Price: $30+ stick

Wrapper: Cuban, Vuelta Abajo or Habana
Binder: Cuban, Vuelta Abajo or Habana
Filler: Cuban, Vuelta Abajo or Habana

Aged in Humidor: One Month
(The remainder will age before smoking)


Tasting Notes:

Before even lighting it up, I could smell a light sweet aroma, not a melted or coated with sugar sweet. There are different kinds of sweet. This sweet aroma seems more refined, like from something aged and having it's naturals sugars release. I light it and it takes a moment but I start to detect a hint of woody (cedar like), earthy and cocoa flavor. It is really smooth smoking through and through. So far so good. Now I am on the second third of the Esplendido where the heart of the cigar is and I start to get the hint of a nutty taste mixing in with the cocoa taste, a sort of Nutella flavor, I get this note throughout the cigar and it is the best and dominant flavor I have tasted in any cigar. This is how the remainder of the cigar's flavor will be like with the occasional hint of spicy kick and the mentioned tasting notes in and out, all the way until there is thumb length left. The hint of earth or soil where the filler comes from changes sometimes from a medium to a deep flavor or a mix of flavors.

I had a cup of cheap coffee with it and after I smoked and sipped the coffee it washed away the quality flavors of the smoke, so I kept smoking and stopped drinking the cheap coffee. Remember these are medium to full flavor smokes. I think I would have done well to have gotten a Starbucks coffee, black (no sugar or creamer/milk), to accompany the Esplendido.

Appearance and Construction:

These Cohiba Esplendido cigars are packed on the dense side. In addition to the aforementioned: the foot of the cigar, the hole where you light up looks like waves of the edges of tobacco filler. The wrapper is tan with veins you can barely see, flawless, smooth, and with no blemishes. There was probably one in a dozen that had maybe a smidgen of a tear in the wrapper. The wrapper: a near perfect smoothness like a stripe on the American flag made of cloth, but it's Cuban. The triple cap seemed smooth and bound well. I had two, one on a quiet Sunday afternoon in my yard and another the day after, yeah the yearning for another the next day because the pleasure stuck on my mind.

This is a really good cigar, as many have pointed out, worthy of it's name and price. I fount the draw to be good once I got it going. The ash burnt like the pictures I have seen, kind of like Marge Simpsons hair, instead of blue, as if it were greying out. The cigar never went out on it's own, it clung on for about two inches until I moved and it fell off. I did not have the heart to dissect any of them for CSI purposes but when I was almost done and got to like about an inch and a half way burnt out, I started to tear the wrapper and binder, smelt the great aroma and fount the filler to be quality tobacco leaves, not dried up. The second one, I followed cigar etiquette and let it burn out on it's own. Even when I knew it was coming to an end or didn't want to smoke any more, I didn't want to stop, so I let it burn until almost the very tip. I would rate the Cohiba Esplendido a 92 from a semi-novice cigar smoker.

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Esplendido Caps

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Esplendido Below the Band 

Set of Photos of the Cohiba Esplendido The End