I first tried Don Lino’s Africa line during my “week off extravaganza.”  I was pleasently surprised by the flavor and construction of this gar.  I was hoping I would enjoy this exclusive blend because I wanted the yellow-eye maple box almost as I wanted the cigars.  When I found a great deal on the Dumas at famous-smoke.com, I ordered it immediately.  The box sure is pretty, but the gars are even better.  They are utterly unique, almost cuban in their complexity, with hints of spice and nutmeg.  These sticks are everything full-bodied smokes should be, and I was able to get mine for only $4.00 per stick.  They are not to be missed. 

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The Brothers started off with what has become their usual Friday-night fare: great gars, booze and Battlefield Vietnam.  Uncle Moneybags celebrated his purchase of a box of Don Lino Africa Dumas (which he rates a solid 8.0), while Brother Dicksbain “enjoyed” a Gurkha Beast (which he rated a dismal 5.5) and some Sol Cubanos from the latest cigar.com deal.  Topics discussed included work woes, CTG business strategy, Dark Star One, holiday plans, HudGar 2007, and, of course, great gars.  Other highlights include Uncle Moneybags’ “night out” at his friend’s wedding, during which far too much alcohol was consumed.  Brother Dicksbain planned to do some housework, but ultimately abandoned his plans due to rain (and a leak in his roof).  All-in-all it was rather standard fare.  Another solid weekend.

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This monster perfecto from Gurkha was a decent overall stick. Composed of a Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan filler, and Cameroon binder one would expect this to be on the spicy side, and it delivered. It was buttery with a very peppery finish. However, it lacked any real complexity you might expect from a super premium cigar such as this. It did offer some of the best early flavors of almost any cigar I’ve had, but later transitioned into a pretty standard Nicaraguan once it warmed. As with most perfectos, burn and contruction were not perfect and a few corrections were necessary to keep this one going. I have two more of these resting in the humidor and I look forward to trying these again soon.

Leafy Rating: 8/10
Top25Cigar.com Ratings

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A staple in Dominican puros, this gar has good draw and even burn, but really suffers from a lack of depth. It’s not that this gar is bitter or harsh; it’s just that it’s one-dimensional, having the same exact taste from draw to exhale, from start to finish. This gar may please amatures, but it will leave aficianados with an empty palate. This is particularly disappointing for a larger-sized cigar, as larger sizes typically provide greater opportunity for cigars to show diversity.
Leafy Rating: 6.5/10

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This is a big, wonderful cigar from Rocky Patel. I have smoked 2 in the past and I’ve let this one age for about a month in the humidor. I think the aging really helped calm these down. Probably a few more month would bring these into near perfection.

A full-bodied cigar that had great construction and burned nice and slow. Flavors were dark chocolate, creamy and buttery. A nice burnt toffee sweetness finish.

A good 1.5 hour smoke to start up Dominican Mornings.

Leafy Rating: 8.5/10
top25cigar.com Reviews

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JR Cigar

Buy five TTT Trinidad (Toros or Robustos) cigars and get an ashtray, Colibri Leather Cigar Case, and Torch Lighter Combo. With a PPG of $7.80, this deal is just not worth it. Sure if you don’t already have enough freebie lighters and ashtrays you might consider this as the TTT’s are great gars. I’ve only been smoking now for less than 2 yrs and I have 6 free ashtrays and a few lighters. Perhaps this is a good gift to buy for someone looking to get into cigars.
Brother’s Purchased?: /
PPG (price per gar): $7.80
Deal Rating: 2.5
Deal Direct URL: Click Here

Cigar.com One Day Deal

Cigar.com loves their samplers and I love them for bringing together some great smokes I normally wouldn’t buy. This week they’re offering a Sampler including 9 Gurkha Ultra Premium Cigars for $59.95:

3 x Gurkha Legend Perfecto (6 x 60)
3 x Gurkha Beast (6.5 x 58)
3 x Gurkha Centurian XX (6 x 60)

I was on the fence with the deal but finally decided that I would great not having it when it was gone. These are all gigantic cigars that will need to be saved for Dominican Mornings when the cold weather returns.

This a great example of why we factor the PPG into these deals. Would you rather have 5 TTT’s or 9 Gurkha Ultra Premium Cigars for a lower price per gar? No brainer.

Brother’s Purchased?: /
PPG (price per gar): $6.66
Deal Rating: 9.0
Deal Direct URL: Click Here

JR Cigar 1AM Madness

I sorely miss JR’s 1AM madness and I wish they would bring it back. Send them a note asking for it’s return here!

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Maduro cigars are growing on me. In my early days of smoking gars, I found they were just too over powering to experience the subtleties that I’m now actually starting to appreciate.

The Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduros are a great maduro for those who don’t quite consider themselves huge maduro fans. It’s a medium/medium full bodied cigar that has great flavor derived primarily from it’s Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. Earthy, with a molasses undertone that really balances this cigar out. This one really gets going around the 2/3 point and doesn’t let up until the very end. This is what a good maduro should be.

Rating: 7.5/10

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