Featured Cigars

May 2008

Featured Cigar	Shape	Size	Strength	Country	Panel Rating
CAO Cx2 Toro	Toro	6.0 x 54	8.0	Honduras	93
Cuba Stock Churchill	Churchill	7.0 x 50	5.0	Honduras	88
El Mejor Gran Reserva Churchill	Churchill	7.0 x 50	7.0	Honduras	91
Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion Consul	Robusto	4.5 x 52	7.5	Nicaragua	89
OneOff Perfecto	Perfecto	5.0 x 54	6.0	Dominican	92

CAO Cx2 Toro

The tobacco grown in the central African country of Cameroon is famed for rich flavor, but it's very delicate and susceptible to damage so the yield of usable leaf per plant is low. Cameroon wrapper is thus hard to find and expensive. One Cameroon wrapper leaf is in itself a treat. This month you get to double your pleasure with the CAO Cx2— Cameroon times two—the first ever cigar to incorporate two Cameroon wrapper leaves in one cigar blend.
Inside the two top-grade Cameroon leaves is a complex blend of Nicaraguan and Columbian long-fillers that have been aged extensively. This unique mixture creates a rich, incredibly smooth smoke characterized by a spicy sweetness with an underlying earthiness. Note how well constructed the stogie is. Panelists found it easy to light and note it produced clouds of billowy smoke. Look for woody and earthy notes towards the middle that grow in complexity as the smoke goes on and finishes with spicy flavors and a touch of sweetness. The CAO Cx2 is a full-bodied smoke that achieves that delicate balance of being rich without being overpowering. A full tawny port or VSOP Cognac will match this stogie's prowess.

Cuba Stock Churchill

Cuban? Perhaps not but the maker has the right idea—smoothness and ample flavor. This mild-bodied long-filler cigar is produced in the Dominican Republic with Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut wrappers and Dominican and Honduran fillers. As are true Cubans, the cigar itself is mild and smooth and produces thick, dense clouds of smoke. The ash produced is compact but slightly flaky—evidence of a well-constructed cigar. The flavor is light with a subtle nutty flavor. The finish is relatively short. All in all, a perfect match for your favorite cognac or Barleywine-style ale.

El Mejor Gran Reserva Churchill

Draped in a cedar sleeve and finished with a tight 'shaggy" or unfinished foot in true 'old world' fashion, El Mejor Emerald is aptly named. It truly is a gem. (The unfinished foot is simply a half-inch or so of binder and filler tobaccos protruding past the wrapper.) Composed of Nicaraguan long-fillers and a touch of rich Ligero, it's finished with a lustrous Honduran-grown Corojo wrapper that is oily and slightly toothy. After six months of box-aging—and fresh off the boat from Honduras—this combo delivers rich, oaky flavors that finish with a touch of spice. Note the stick is fee of veins. Touch it—"Look Ma, no soft spots!' Both are good indicators of a quality cigar with solid construction. Note how substantial the El Mejor feels in the hand. Panelists found the El Mejor experience delivered: it was smooth from start to finish and offered a complex and amazing array of flavors.

After sparking the shaggy foot, the first few draws were mild and very creamy, offering some flavor but no fireworks. A few more draws and the burn quickly reached the golden Corojo wrapper, which unleashed a torrent of flavor and spice. That such a dramatic change occurred in just a few draws speaks to how the choice of a wrapper leaf can impact a cigar's overall taste. Halfway through, the smoke settled in with a smooth, rich, woody aroma and flavor to match. This medium- to full-bodied cigar will knock your socks off right out of the box, but the El Mejor Emerald has incredible aging potential, so consider using that humidor you purchased. Whether now or later, this gem deserves your finest single malt scotch.

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion Consul Robusto

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion is a recent premium from the makers of Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970, one of the most sought-after, strongest smokes on the market. Using the same Nicaraguan grown Habana-seed fillers and binders utilized by Antano, the Celebracion sports a smooth, aged Habana-seed Criollo wrapper leaf. This is a good looking cigar, smooth, with fine, attractive veins and a slight sheen to the wrapper. It feels firm to the touch and has no noticeable soft spots.

Light up and Celebracion's scent really stands out—a nice rich, earthy aroma that's a pleasant change of pace from the pungent barnyard scent of some cigars. The draw is tight; but once going, the burn looks fantastic with an extremely solid white ash that seemingly hangs on forever. The flavor is identifiably Nicaraguan, offering a slightly sweet taste and huge spicy character. Look for notes of chocolate, coffee and nuts. The stogie finishes with some woodiness and just a bit of cinnamon. Medium- to full-bodied, it's a potent spark plug of a cigar and on an empty stomach, some buzz factor is likely. Allow a good hour and a half for this one. Enjoy with an XO Cognac or Armagnac.

OneOff Perfecto

Baby boomers have waited a long time for the first commercially produced cigar made with leaves grown without chemical fertilization and insecticides. One look at the ring on this stick and they're going to wax nostalgic. There's no writing on it, no decoration, just the peace sign, the forked symbol that was an icon of the 60's counterculture. That a cigar from Nicaragua adopts the symbol speaks to an enduring legacy of Flower Children—the organic. Move over, Alice Waters, guru of organic veggies, "natural" is not just for lettuce anymore! Organic tobacco has arrived in the guise of OneOff and it makes for a deliciously complex and unique taste. Pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950 so it's unlikely there's been a smoke like this for the past sixty years. The absence of chemicals leads to a deeper, crisper tobacco flavor that has been enjoyed by very few for hundreds of years—until now.

Cloaked by a dark, leathery Cuban-seed wrapper from Honduras, the cigar holds a hearty long-leaf blend of ligero grown in the fertile soils of Nicaragua. Light this medium-bodied cigar and experience a rush of flavors—cherry with leathery and spicy notes—followed by more subtle ones, black pepper and cinnamon. OneOff has received several well-deserved '90' ratings and our panel concurs this is a great top-shelf smoke. Break out that pricey Oregon pinot noir you've been saving to complement this baby.