Past Newsletters - September 2009

Featured Cigar	Shape	Size	Strength	Country	Panel Rating
5 Vegas Relic	Figurado	5.75 x 54	8.0	Dominican	93
Fire Robusto	Robusto	4.75 x 52	8.5	Honduran	88
Padilla Habano Robusto	Robusto	6.0 x 52	7.0	Nicaraguan	90
Romeo y Julieta Viejo 'B'	Torpedo	6.1 x 52	7.5	Honduran	91
Tatiana Mocha Stabona	Toro	5.0 x 58	5.0	Dominican	89

5 Vegas Relic Figurado

The full-bodied Relic is the perfect antidote to the widely held misconception that Dominican cigars are always mild. It is an extraordinary puro that has been three years in the making. The leaf is a Dominican grown Corojo culled from the highest priming for maximum sun exposure resulting in a leaf that’s dark and loaded with oils. It’s evident that care was taken in the fermentation and selection of this wrapper – the quality, color, thickness and texture are unmatched. The potent filler consists of lush Cuban-seed Dominican tobaccos. The filler includes a single leaf of authentic 12-year old filler—thus the “relic”—especially selected  by maker Manuel Quesada from a bale of exquisite 1996 vintage leaf he set aside over a decade ago. The leaf tames this otherwise powerful blend, giving it a rounder, slightly mellower, well-balanced profile. It is graced by a savory Corojo wrapper that’s dark, toothy, and teeming with hearty bold and spicy flavors.

After sparking it up, the initial sensation is mellow and light, but it slowly and steadily builds in strength until you start to feel warm and maybe a little bit fuzzy. Expect rich notes of earth, coffee, and oak, and a peppery, toasty finish. Just one captivating size was created: a beautiful Perfecto shape that brings the blend to a full-flavored crescendo in the final third of the smoke.  If you are a newbie smoker and are wondering why we refer to the shape of the Relic as both a figurado and a perfecto—perfecto is a term used to describe a cigar tapered at both ends. The term figurado is a more generic term used to describe any cigar that has a shape other then the traditional straight-sided cigar shape. So a perfecto is a figurado but not all figurados are perfectos. Got it? The closed head and foot of the perfecto is an ideal vehicle for delivering the blend’s robust character. Expect a smoke of extraordinary richness and structure characterized by sweet nuances of coffee and white pepper and a deep toasty underpinning. This one warrants your best V.S.O.P brandy or cognac.

Fire by Indian Tabac Robusto

Success in today's hype-saturated premium cigar market goes beyond selling a few boxes. Short term prosperity is all around us, riding on the tails of a solidified trend. But how does a young company become known, not as a trend follower, but as a standard-bearer – a maker of truly fine cigars? Owners of the Indian Tabac Cigar Company, Rocky Patel and Phil Zanghi, have obviously given these questions great consideration. In an astonishingly short period of time, Indian cigars have gained great cachet in the premium market and show no signs of diminishing anytime soon.

Few cigar companies combine youthful energy, commitment, and tradition like Indian Tabac Cigars. The average age of the company's two principals is slightly over thirty. Still, they are wise beyond their years having selected an equal measure of tradition to round out their company. Their Honduran masterblender began his tobacco career at age eight under the tutelage of Cuban masters. Today, he creates the unique blends for which the Indian Tabac Cigars are known, and supervises the rolling staff. Their Honduran master curer is a highlands Mayan, born into a family with a hundred years of tobacco experts. Together, they have been tabacaleros for forty years.

The company is committed to bringing their brand recognition to prominence, which requires determination and sacrifice. Phil oversees Indian's precious crops by riding horseback through the company's 300 acres of tobacco farms in the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua and in the Hamastrand Valley of Honduras. Known by the locals as the "Crazy Gringo," he's earned the respect of the entire cigar-making community in both countries. He’s instrumental in every step of making their cigars.  He notes, “I'm not going to just sit in the United States and go to cigar dinners and tell everyone to smoke my cigar. I need to be here to harvest the tobacco, make sure only the best quality is used, manage the factory, and inspect all of the cigars before they are boxed. I just can't trust it to anyone else. It's a big job." That’s unusual for an American manufacturer—most of who merely trek to cigar-making countries to buy cigars, create their own band and call them "their own.”

So we bring you a Fire you could yell about in a crowded theater! All the tobaccos in this blend are triple-fermented—not just the wrappers, but everything from the sultry, smooth capa leaf to the aged Nicaraguan and Honduran long-fillers. As a result you have a full-bodied stick about as close to Cuban as you can get in the States. Don't let it's slender, smaller-stature build throw you, this beauty packs a punch of hefty tobacco flavors with softer notes of leather and sweet cedar. Expect a robust spiciness to linger through the long-lasting finish. Also in contrast to its size is the volume of smoke it yields. Fire is strong, rich and loaded with spicy, slightly sweet flavors. It’s not as complex as our other selections this month but one pays a premium for complexity and, happily, what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in taste. So check out our reorder prices on this baby!  Fine Kentucky bourbon will bring out and match the more brazen qualities of this stogie.

Padilla Habano Robusto

A.J. Fernandez has combined a five year old Cuban Habano wrapper with vintage Cuban-seed Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos and a robust Nicaraguan binder to create this 90-rated gem. Medium-to-full bodied, the Habano has a complex core of spicy and toasty flavors with nuances of coffee and bittersweet cocoa that are topped off by a subtle touch of pepper on the finish. Although the flavor is great, our panelists concurred that the real mark of this cigar’s quality is its solid and uniform construction. The draw is superb; the burn is perfectly even, the ash tight and crystal white. This stogie has tremendous depth and character. No bite, no harshness and a real knuckle burner. No wonder it received a 90-point rating—the Habano is a first rate smoke. Enjoy with your favorite India Pale Ale.

Romeo y Julieta Viejo 'B' Torpedo

The legendary Romeo & Juliet brand is a favorite among premium cigar fans. They consistently produce sticks that live up to their Cuban heritage and their latest, the Viejo B, is no exception. Panelists say it may be their best ever. Rated '89' by Cigar Aficionado, the Viejo B pleases the senses on many levels.  Thick and smooth, with an oily sheen and triple cap, it’s gorgeous. Its super-smooth, thick, slightly toothy maduro wrapper is grown in the famed San Andres Valley of Mexico. With its pronounced square-press construction, it feels great in the hand. Thanks to choice cedar-aged Dominican long filler tobaccos and a silky aromatic Indonesian TBN, just smelling this beauty is a rush.  "TBN" is an abbreviation for Taboco Bawah Naungan which translates "tobacco under the sheet" or "shade grown tobacco." Look for an effortless draw and a bright, white ash. This beauty pumps out voluminous clouds of smoke.  We found the flavor of this medium-bodied cigar mellow and smooth throughout and highly consistent, with hints of caramel and a faint, sweet woody note. Lagavulin, Oban or your smoky single malt of choice would suit Romeo & Julieta perfectly.

Tatiana Mocha Stabona Toro

Carefully crafted by hand in Honduras, Tatiana Mocha is a succulent blend of tobaccos that have been carefully infused with soothing notes of chocolate, vanilla and coffee. It is visually stunning with its dark Sumatra wrapper. The pre-light nose is delightful thanks to its filler, a long-leaf mixture of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Mexican tobaccos. The smoke is deep and heavy and will cling to your palate with every puff resulting in a silky smooth smoking experience that doesn’t overpower. Not surprisingly, coffee and mocha flavors predominate. This is a tasty mild-bodied treat and, with its lovely aroma, one your non-smoking spouse may just let you enjoy in the house!  Panelists commented that—unlike many mild cigars—this stick is not sweet. It can be enjoyed any time but it is an especially nice dessert cigar. If your preference is for a liquid dessert, try it with a White Russian or any cocktail made with a coffee liqueur.