Lately, CAO has decided to start sticking Maduro wrappers on classic cigars such as the CAO GOLD and now the CAO Black. Not knowing CAO cigars, one might think the Black is a maduro already, however the original featured a Connecticut wrapper and was a medium bodied smoke. Launched in 1995, the Black is almost as old as CAO themselves. I’m pretty sure the Gold is the only cigar series that pre-dates it.

I was not impressed with the CAO Gold Maduro nearly as much as my brother. With the CAO Black VR, I expected something along the lines of the Gurkha Black Puro Toro, which was simply overpowering, had odd flavors, and was not very complex. I was pleasantly surprised with the Black Maduro.

The overall appearance was typical CAO; near flawless. The cigar had a nice, thick oily wrapper. Not too “veiny”, no holes, and the cigar was well humidified and slightly spongy. The pre-light flavors were nutty with aromas of almonds. Burn was great and the draw was solidy throughout.

If you can’t tell from most of my reviews, the #1 factor I look for in cigars is complexity. Nothing is worse to me than a “one note samba stick”. A cigar has to take you on journey. Sure that sounds a little over the top, but to me the $10+ you spend is a plane ticket to another land. If I just wanted a nicotine buzz, I’d smoke cigarettes or swisher sweets.

The CAO Black VR actually adds a very nice layer of complexity to an already good cigar. Unlike the CAO Gold where the maduro wrapper really detracted from the subtle flavors of the gold, the Black VR really enhanced the cigar. The cigar winds up as a medium-full bodied cigar that is not dominated by the maduro wrapper. You can still taste all the creamy spice of the original, with some more body to it. Volumes of smoke were produced by these toros. At the 1/2 way mark, this cigar really calmed down and became a joy to smoke. Where most cigars begin to fail, this cigar kept going till the nub. It never got too hot and the flavors never became “odd” towards the end.

Is this a perfect cigar? No. Is it “the next padron 1964″? No. But it’s yet another great CAO cigar that’s better than most sticks out there and would be a welcome cigar in most humidors. If you were disappointed with the CAO Gold Maduro, don’t turn your head on this one. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised as I was.

LT Rating: 7.5 / 10

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Avalon Cigars is a company you may have not heard of till now, but I imagine you will be hearing more and more about them. They’re a boutique cigar company based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. They use a Miss. Delta Pecan wood in the aging process, instead of the traditional cedar. We gratefully received a sampling of cigars from co-founder Tom Ramsey.

You can read more about Avalon Cigars here: www.avaloncigars.com

I decided to start with their “everyday smoke” named the Juke Blue Maduro. All of their cigars are name after Delta blues musicians. I must say, I really appreciate an American cigar company sticking with American heritage. Sure, they could have named these “Super Havana 4000’s”, but going against the grain in their marketing should pay off and help them stand out in the cigar crowd.

Back to my Juke. The presentation is superb. The cigar is double banded; First with a cool silver band that covers the bulk of the wrapper. Then a blue band with the JUKE print on it. The wrapper is a dark, oily, and no massive veins popping out The overall construction is great. Perfect burn and top-notch draw.

The taste in very unique. It started with a sweet clove spice and as it burned, it became more and more complex. Molasses, cocoa, and anise were just some of the multitude of flavors I experience while smoking this cigar. The most surprising factor was the pecan aroma that you smell from the smoke and also taste with every puff. Very different and actually pretty good too.

Overall, this was a great cigar. If this is their “everyday” stick, I can’t wait to try the “Masters” series. Honestly, if you see this stick for sale, buy it…you won’t be disappointed.

LT Rating: 8.5 / 10

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I finally got to try the CAO Gold Maduoro. This is a bit of a sleeper gar; I didn’t even know CAO was making a revamped version of this cigar until a friend told me about them. I didn’t believe him, but then, sure enough, started seeing them advertised on various websites. I bought this particular cigar at Vendomes because I wanted to try it before investing in a box. What an amazing smoke. CAO took everything good about the traditional Gold line (classic mildness, smoothness, etc.) and stepped it up by adding a sharp, toothy maduro wrapper. Draw and burn were the same (not perfect, but decent enough). It’s the best of both worlds. A triumph. Try it today, you won’t be dissappointed! CAO has also released a maduro version of its Black line. I haven’t tried it yet, but you can be sure I will.

LT Rating: 8 / 10

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For whatever reason, I’ve always avoided the Indian Tabac line. There’s something about it that always bothered me, whether it was the exploitation of the Indian heritage, or something else. Nevertheless, feeling the pinch for some good cheap cigars, I gambled on a box from cigarinternational.com the other week, and I have to admit they are not half bad, especially for $45 bucks for 25. In particular, the Grand Reserve Cameroon has loads of flavor and packs a fairly mean punch when you get it going. If you smoke it slower, it’s surprisingly mild. Not too many gars allow you to control the amount of flavor this much. They are definitely a solid bargain cigar. That said, like most bargain gars, a few were cracked and several were unsmokeable due to draw issues. In two words: Inconsistently good.

LT Rating: 6.5 / 10

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Although the name is a little odd, this was a suprisingly good smoke. A rich blend of aged Piloto Cubano and Mata Fina tobaccos covered in a dark broadleaf Ecuadorian wrapper. Picked up a 25 pack of these from Cigar International a few weeks back for just $39.99. I’m told they retail for far more than that, but I’ll have to take their word for it, as I’ve never seen these for sale anywhere. Suprisingly mild, with a long finish, these are well made (if not imperfect) and far above average for a $2 stick. I would recommend them if they were on special again.

LT Rating: 7 / 10

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I first tried the Punch Rare Corojo line with my brother at the Jake during Hudgar 1.0, while drinking a tallboy in the warm Cleveland sun. Good times (even though the Angels lost). While less memorable, I recently had a Rothschild from this same line. It was surprisingly good and lasted over 50 minutes. Good draw and burn, with loads of spice and pepper. While I won’t be running out and buying a box of these anytime soon, they are far superior to the average Punch, which always taste bittery to me.

LT Rating: 7.5 / 10

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I ordered a cube (not box) of these from a CI weekly special a few months ago. I’ve now smoked about 12 of them and fell I’m ready to give an honest review…

Construction is top notch, like with most Gurkhas. The wrapper is, as you would expect, very dark. Several prominent veins. It’s got double-bands with the “crazy man w/ sword” logo. Overall, a handsome stick.

Flavor is powerful from the pre-light all the way to the end. These are fullest bodied cigars. While I like a strong cigar, I found the lack of complexity the real show stopper for me. These simply taste of strong tar-wood the whole way through. There are some odd and bitter tastes at points too.

These cigars may calm down a bit with age, so I plan to keep a few in the humidor to rest. I think they’ll mature nicely and maybe even gain some complexity in flavor. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this cigar. It may have a place late in the evening after a few other cigars have been smoked and you need something powerful to reach your exhausted taste buds.

LT Rating: 4.0/10

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A solid smoke. Medium bodied with floral and nutmeg notes. The draw is good, and the box-pressed wrapper is flawless. These are an excellent buy if you get them in a bundle from www.cigarinternational.com, where they average just $3-$4 per stick. Otherwise, they are $13-$15 per stick—not worth it.

LT Rating: 7.5/10

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Like the Fonesca “Habana” line (see my previous post on that misguided foray), this cigar doesn’t measure up to its own hype. Unlike the Fonseca, however, this cigar has no redeeming qualities. The burn is uneven, the draw is too loose, and the taste is bitter. I had high hopes that Don Pepin could make an above-average cigar other than the Serie JJ until I tried these. I thought the first one was just a fluke, so I tried another. Big mistake. Easily two of the worst cigars I’ve had all year. To compare these to Cuban cigars is a joke. Hell, to call them cigars at all is a stretch. What happened?

LT Rating: 3.5 / 10
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This is it: the final Arturo Fuente. The biggest, baddest of them all, with a congac maduro wrapper and a toothy filler, I’ve been looking forward to this cigar for a while. I acquired two of these, separately, over a year ago, which I’ve been saving for Uncle Moneybags Mo Money Mega Wedding Extravaganza. BUT, now that Brother Dicksbain has secured a trip to Vegas, and given that Casa de la Fuente has an ample supply of these gars, I figured, why the hell not? Good move. Salty and smooth, this is a great gar. Although the first third is “meh,” the latter half is astonishing. Not as good as a cuban, but utterly unique, and better than an ESV. While I wouldn’t recommend paying $34.95 for them from cigar.com, they are easily worth the 20 bucks that Casa de la Fuente charges. Viva Fuente!

LT Rating: 9/10

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For years, many cigar makers have had a “cuban” line of cigars that tastes nothing like the real thing. Last year, the good people at Fonseca finally caught on to this annoying trend, asking “hey, why not us too?” To be fair, this cigar does have some good qualities. It burns well, the draw is firm but not tight. The taste is acceptable–mostly nutty with strong cedar notes and a papery aftertaste. But when you hold yourself out to be a heritage cuban cigar, the bar is raised, and this gar, like most imitators, just doesn’t live up to its own hype.

LT Rating: 6.5 / 10
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Special thanks to Mike over at tinderbox for sending each of The Brothers a few sample gars to try out. In the small package were 2 Tinder Box La Reserva No. 2 which I braved the freezing cold Cleveland weather to smoke.

The outside construction on this cigar was a bit rough. The cap was loosely attached and thus extreme care had to be made while making the cut. Judging by the ‘larger than normal’ cut our friends at stogieguys.com made, I’m not the only one that had this problem.

I was pleasantly surprised that burn and draw were good on this bargain stick. Almost every bargain cigar I’ve ever had suffers from one if not both of these issues.

Taste was where this cigar fell short and showed it’s true color. It was very simple and lacked any complexity or depth. It also left that tell-tale ‘bargain bitter’ after taste. Because of the fridge temperatures this weekend, this is probably the only cigar I’ll smoke. And that makes this cigar a disappointment.

Still, this cigar has a place. It would be great to give to friends at a backyard BBQ or as a 3rd+ cigar of the day, it would fit the bill.

Bottom line; It’s one of the best bargain cigars, but it’s still a bargain cigar.

These can be had for a mere $32 a box of 25

LT Rating: 4 / 10

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