Featured Cigars

September 2007

Featured Cigar	Shape	Size	Strength	Country	Panel Rating
1495 Series Aurora Robusto	Robusto	5 x 50	8.0	Dominican	91
Alec Bradley Medalist Gordo	Toro Grande	6 x 54	9.0	Honduras	90
Castle Hall Chuchill	Chuchill	7 x 50	7.0	Honduras	93
Centenario Liga 'B'	Toro Grande	6 x 55	7.5	Dominican	96
Dominican Cohiba	Torpedo	6.25 x 50	6.5	Dominican	90

1495 Series La Aurora Robusto

In 1495, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and, among other places, arrived at the fertile valley of Cibao, establishing the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Today the valley is home to the finest Dominican tobaccos. La Aurora's 1495 Series pays tribute to Columbus' touchdown on Dominican soil. The Robusto is a supremely-made, medium to full-bodied blend that may be the factory's finest accomplishment to date.

The 1495 series was developed by Jose Blanco, one of La Aurora's master blenders. In creating this cigar, his challenge was to be the first to blend four different tobaccos. He uses a Dominican Corojo binder with a mix of Dominican Piloto Cubano, Nicaraguan, Peruvian and Dominican Ligero filler and then adorns it with a stunning, marbleized Ecuadorian-grown wrapper leaf. No wonder the beautifully constructed Series 1495 was a hit from the start. This little Robusto produces a lot of smoke but the draw is cool and easy. The ash—a nice white color—is firm. The smoke started out with a cocoa and spice blast that settled down by the first inch to the flavor of cocoa with nuances of nuts. By the end of the first third, the taste transitioned into woodsy flavors without losing the light spice. Occasionally, we detected nuances of cinnamon. In the last half, the woody flavors gave way to flavors of light coffee and a long, medium-bodied finish. The 1495 is a complex, vibrant smoke that doesn't overpower. A V.S.O.P. brandy complements it nicely.

Alec Bradley Medalist Gordo Toro Grande

Alec Bradley Medalist cigars are handcrafted with three robust filler tobaccos—Nicaraguan Jalapa, Honduran Jamastran and Nicaraguan Esteli—complemented by a milder U.S. Connecticut binder and a zesty, dark, thick, oily Costa Rican wrapper. As we've come to expect from Alec Bradley, this beefy beauty is well-packed and expertly rolled. Richly complex, the Medalist Gordo is a satisfying, smooth-smoking experience with a hearty aroma. Panelists found the smoke loaded with dark tobacco flavor underpinned with notes of spice, hazelnut, cedar, and semi-sweet notes of dark chocolate. Although this cigar falls into the full-bodied camp, by today's strength standards more experienced smokers might argue that it leans toward the top of the medium-bodied scale. Regardless, as its 54-gauge ring indicates, there's a lot of tobacco to smoke. This cigar will get into your system and can be quite heady. Take your time with this smoke by letting it breathe between puffs. Enjoy with a strong ale or a full tawny port.

Castle Hall Churchill

It's sad to think about all the great Cuban cigar brands that went the way of the dinosaur after Castro's regime nationalized the industry. Extinction befell many a solid smoke, premier among them the venerable Castle Hall brand. We love seeing these old Cuban brands restored to their former glory and thanks to the Toraño family, these gentle giants are available once more. K. Hansotia's was in on this one, too, folks—as you might have surmised looking at the exquisitely embossed and vibrantly-colored label, typical of anything bearing his name. This triad—the original brand, the Toraño family and good ol' K's masterful blending—makes for a memorable revival, indeed. We found Castle Hall's blend medium-bodied, with bold, heady flavors that run from sweet clove-like notes to leathery earthiness. Its thick, patiently aged Grade "A" Honduran wrapper burns slow and cool. Look for creamy notes to soothe the palate and flourishes of roasted nuts that linger after each satisfying puff. This stogie warrants a pungent peaty single malt such as Lagavulin or Laphroaig.

Centenario Liga 'B' Toro Grande

This is an astounding cigar. If "astounding" sounds overly effusive, you'll realize we're not just blowing smoke when you try this gem. The Centenario Liga 'B' Toro Grande truly earns this praise. Created by the cigar masters at Felipe Gregorio, this is yet another member of an impressive roster that flaunts the Gregorio expertise. He has few peers when it comes to choosing choice vintage tobaccos. Masterful blending, perfect construction, and complex, interesting flavors characterize all Felipe's cigars and the prized Centenario Classic series is no exception. The series is produced in limited quantities just 25,000 cigars a year. The line consists of rare, triple fermented Nicaraguan tobaccos combined with Esteli-grown fillers and a Condega binder, wrapped in a dark maduro Habana 92 sun-grown Condega wrapper. This beauty is a rich, chocolaty, oily, full smoke. Look for an intense spiciness that quickly settles down, making room for huge, dark chocolate—almost brownie-like—flavors running all the way to the finish and lingering with notes of espresso and chicory. A full-bodied, but non-aggressive nature characterizes this slow-burning, exceptionally flavorful cigar. Smoke this one in an airy room or, better yet, outside because this stogie is a real "billower". Pair with a rich, chocolaty Irish stout or porter.

Dominican Cohiba Torpedo

The Cohiba was introduced in Cuba in 1968 so it's a relatively new brand by Cuban standards. First rolled in the El Laguito factory in Havana, it quickly became the flagship brand of the Cuban cigar industry. The line was initially developed as a medium-bodied cigar available only to officials of the Cuban government. By 1982 someone decided capitalism wasn't such a bad thing after all and the brand was expanded and marketed widely. The first "Cuban" Cohiba line produced outside the island was in Fernando Perez's German factory. Now it's also made in the Dominican Republic but by two separate entities. Monecristi de Tabacos holds the trademark for Cohiba in the Dominican Republic and General Cigar owns distribution rights in the U.S. so we bring you General Cigar's "Cohiba De Dominicana."

Note the light, silky Connecticut shade wrapper. It's well constructed, the draw effortless, and the burn even with a nice firm white ash indicating properly aged tobacco. We found the smoke volume substantial and its pleasantly spicy aroma is one of the Cohiba's best attributes. It has a characteristic Dominican flavor—rich, creamy and full of spicy, peppery notes. Overall, this is a well balanced, well constructed stick, packed with flavor. A Mojito would be a fitting, complementary pairing. Make it the Cuban way by using quinine water (tonic), not soda water. Salud!