Rocky Patel Freedom Robusto

Rocky Patel spends most of his time in Washington nowadays to fight the legislation towards cigars, that’s getting worse and worse. To represent what he’s fighting for he created a line of cigars called Freedom.

The medium brown wrapper looks nice with a very American inspired band, stars, red & white stripes, the whole color scheme, it screams USA. The thin veins are flattened which helps the appearance. The construction feels good, and the cigar has a strong barnyard aroma. The predraw is fine and leaves hints of pepper and freshness.

A nice mellow coffee flavor is what I taste when I light the cigar with my classic ronson varaflame from the late sixties. I also taste nutmeg, medium bodied. The coffee disappears, it’s now wood with nutmeg. After a third the cigar gets a bit spicy, not peppery though, don’t know how to describe this.

Halfway I taste wood, a little bit of nutmeg and some freshness in the aftertaste. There is a little bit of pepper on my lips. Slowly a mild citrus flavor develops on the back of my throat but that could also be the result of my drink. At the end I get a burst of pepper.

I get a good amount of thick white smoke. The ash is silver gray and frayed. The burn needs a few touch ups. Ash is pretty firm, cigar is medium bodied and medium to full flavored. The cigar lasted me for 75 minutes.

Would I buy this again? Yes, but not as often as the super Ligero.
Appearance: 8
Construction: 8
Draw: 8
Burn: 7
Smoke & ash: 8
Aroma first part: 8
Aroma second part: 7
Aroma third part: 7

Btw if you’re wondering why I’m holding the cigars so weird, I cut my thumb and its wrapped in white bandages.

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Aging Room M20

I got this cigar at a cigar event at De Oude Tijd in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Aging Room is available on the Dutch market but the m20 ain’t, so was very pleased to get it.

I love the box pressed perfecto shape, the little pigtail and the dark wrapper. The cigar doesn’t have much veins. There is a slight manure smell to the cigar. The predraw is fine, I taste some pepper.

The cigar is easily lit and even though perfectos can have a shitty draw at the start this cigar starts out fine with a lot of pepper and some toast. Soon I taste a bitter tar flavor with citrus, I check for built up tar but none of that. After a centimeter it changes to herbal flavors with pepper. The pepper in the aftertaste has a burning sensation.

After 3 centimeter the cigar turns sweet with heaps of red pepper, you can’t say this cigar is subtle. Slowly but surely I also get wood flavors. The sweetness is overpowering the wood and the background and aftertaste is very peppery. Halfway I taste a strong lemon flavor with that wood and the abundance of pepper.

The draw is very good, straight from the start. The smoke isn’t think and isn’t plentiful although it improves. The burn is decent, not straight but not crooked. The silver gray ash is frayed and not firm. Full flavored, medium to full bodied. The cigar lasted me 90 minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, too peppery, not subtle.

Appearance: 9
Construction: 8
Draw: 8
Burn: 7
Smoke & ash: 7
Aroma first part: 5
Aroma second part: 6
Aroma third part:  6

Roma Craft La Campaña de Panamá Sombrero

In February of 2014 I was partying at club Cigar Zone in Esteli, Nicaragua when our mutual friend Pedro Gomez introduced me to Skip Martin from Roma Craft. Skip handed me this awesome looking cigar. I smoked it right there and then on that Flor de Caña filled night and never thought I could smoke that cigar again until ran into Charlie Minato at Intertabac in September 2014 when he gave me this cigar. Smoking it for a review now.

The wrapper is beautiful, oily and dark with hardly any veins. The cone shape is awesome and the 4 Connecticut shade rings finishes the cigars. The cigar has a nice horse stable aroma and the construction feels flawless. The unfinished foot is an added bonus. The predraw is very smooth and I taste well fermented tobacco, a little spicy.

Espresso with a hint of pepper is what I taste right after lighting the cigar and soon after a strong earthy taste. When I reach the final ring I taste a hint of the classic Connecticut shade flavor, but just a hint, over the earthy taste with nutmeg.

After the last ring it’s an earthy flavor again with some herbs and a little bit of green pepper. Halfway the cigar gets stronger and I taste more pepper, but it’s not overpowering. After that the cigar turns all spices, nutmeg, cinnamon with dry wood, very very nice.

The draw is a bit loose, the ash is a beautiful silver gray top layer and black underneath, or it just looks that way. The ash isn’t too dense but it’s firm. The smoke is thick and plentiful. The burn is razor sharp. This cigar is full flavor, medium bodied. The smoke time of this stick is two hours and 15 minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? I wish! Another fine example on why I love Nicaraguan cigars so much.

Appearance: 10
Construction: 9
Draw: 7
Burn: 9
Smoke & ash: 8
Aroma first part: 8
Aroma second part: 9 
Aroma third part: 9

Don Tomas Nicaragua Toro

This cigar was recently released on the Dutch market for a very reasonable price of €5,40. Now I don’t know much about the brand to be honest, just that this is one of the many brands that added a Nicaragua line just like Davidoff, cohiba, vega fina and more. And I don’t blame them, Nicaragua is the best cigar country in the world in my humble opinion. I’m also not sure if this cigar is made in Nicaragua or Honduras.

The cigar looks smooth, a nice light brown shiny wrapper without any real veins and a simple blue band. Somehow the cigar doesn’t appeal to me but I can’t exactly tell why. The cigar has a mild hay and charcoal aroma. The construction feels good. The predraw is fine, I taste a little bit of wood and raisin.

I taste coffee, not strong and a little musty. This ain’t a Connecticut shade cigar by the looks of it but still has that Connecticut shade mustiness which I don’t like. The flavors soon change to wood, a tiny bit of pepper but all with that mustiness. And then……nothing happens anymore.

Halfway a little harsh pepper shows up, but it’s all more of the same. Same applies for when a little sweetness appears after two thirds.

The draw is great, no problems there. The ash is light colored and firm. The burn is good. The smoke is thin and not plentiful as I like. The cigar is mild to medium bodied and mild to medium flavored. It lasted me an hour and forty minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, it’s not for me. But quality wise it’s a good cigar for a very good price so I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be a good selling cigar.

Appearance: 7
Construction: 8
Draw: 8
Burn: 8
Smoke & ash: 7
Aroma first part: 6
Aroma second part: 6
Aroma third part:  6