Flor de Copan Monarcas

The Sybil-like Gurkha Evil almost made it. The exquisite Pinar del Rio Clasico will just have to wait. Today's review is dedicated to the Flor de Copan  Monarcas. More precisely, the review is about an indispensable ingredient that assuredly impacts the cigar smoking experience. No, not the flavor, the burn, the drag, the construction, aesthetic pleasure. Those are all factors that weigh heavily. However, the cigar's sublimation is directly linked with what you are doing, or thinking, or who you are with. At the right time and space, the environment can elevate a cigar's CS rating a full point. Just like an outward blowing wind can turn  a routine outfield fly ball into a home run. Or it can have the opposite effect. The mind plays tricks on us. 

Santa Rosa is the seat of the Copan region in western Honduras. It is poor, beautiful, charming and clearly has a "friendly-only" residents rule. I travelled there two years ago this month to witness the tobacco fields that welcomed exiled Cubans who brought barely anything other than tobacco seeds. The seeds carried history, cultivation experience, and dreams and hope for a better life. The Altadis Flor de Copan Monarca is made there. The not-quite churchill length cigar is encased in a handsome white tube. My humidor only had two left and I decided to go ahead and smoke one to commemorate the two year anniversary of the trip. Both then and now, the well-crafted construction is evident. The cigar burns evenly, with beautiful white ashes that just do not fall off. The flavor is earthy but not soily. It  is aromatic and carries a  hint of sun-drenched coffee in its taste. It is a tad sweet, cedary and medium-bodied.  This is not an overpowering cigar. Note - it falls a bit short of being a Puro because the filler is partly Nicaraguan. It's taste and quality is consistent from first (and only) light to the last half-inch stub.

So, two years later: Hola to Cecilia at the cigar store that sold us the cigar boxes and re-opened the store after closing time. Saludos to Manuel, the only Cuban in town who is a doctor by trade and converted his house into a restaurant (the pork was a bit dry). A big wave to the handful of kids that were hitchhiking up the steep Dulce Nombre hill. When we stopped for them they ran and jumped on the truck bed and were as happy as a kid receiving dozens of Christmas presents. Good riddance to the potholes. Memories of pretty and smiling women that tend to look downward and the kind men with their hats. I want to go back just for a hat. Take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind.

I don't know when I will smoke the last Monarca I brought back with me. 

CS Rating: 3.5 (without wind factor); 4.5 wind aided

El Alcalde

WIKILEAKS UNCOVERS CACHE OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S PAPERS-Includes Review of Arturo Fuente Cigar

Cigar Saloon Exclusive. The Saloon has acquired the following review of the Fuente Hemingway cigar, recently uncovered by Wikileaks, and written by the great writer himself. Of course, for legal reasons we cannot say how this long-lost literary treasure fell on our laps. Let's just say that, if you look closely, a copy of Hemingway's papers can be seen in the photos of Kate Middleton in her birthday suit. We felt it was our responsibility to share this with you ASAP, so here it is, unedited and in its entirety. 


ARTURO FUENTE HEMINGWAY REVIEW 

 I had just ordered a mojito when I heard the bell from the Havana Cathedral toll for me, so I left my post at the fifth column of Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, boarded the Pilar and began the moveable feast accross the Florida Straits to my island in the stream. I shook my glass well to seal the union of the lime and the bitters, smelled the rum to make sure that it was strong, brought the drink to my lips, and sipped it slowly. It was cold and crisp and good. A mojito is a man's drink and should be savored with an Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigar, which I took from the pocket of my guayabera and lit with the Dupont lighter I had won arm wrestling against a manly fascist waitress in Chicote's Bar in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. It was true at first light. 

 As I crossed the stream on the Pilar toward Cuba and the sun also rose, I realized that I was in a slump and needed to either reclaim my title or retire. All or nothing. To have or have not. The Fuente Hemingway lifted the fog from my mind and helped me see this with clarity. I made out the outline of the Hemingway Marina accross the River and through the trees from my Havana. Havana in the old days brought out the truth in a man's soul, much like the Fuente Hemingway. This is a wonderful cigar, wrapped with toothy tobacco grown in the valleys of Cameroon far below the snows of Kilimanjaro but above the Garden of Eden. The lovely perfecto is sweet, flavorful, balanced, burns evenly, and drags well. 

I truly would have been pleased to spend my life smoking Fuente cigars and loitering in the Floridita and I had decided to do just that when I saw a man board a small skiff in Cojimar. I realized then that there would be no farewell to arms today. Here was a new story to write, one that would reclaim my title, something about this old man and the sea...Mamey CS Rating-4.0

Opus eXstacy Part 3: Divine Redemption

The price tag makes it a cigar I would be scared to buy, but I am glad that in my short life on this planet I have had the honor to smoke it.

 

The typical OpusX cigar I have never been a fan of. I found them to be a spicy strong smoke that was ok, but certainly not worth the $20+ dollar price tag. The ForbiddenX line is an exception. Every one I have smoked has been a magnificent and memorable experience. The first being bought in the Fuente Lounge in Caesars palace after a successful day of gambling.

The OpusX Legendary is Fuentes top Rolls Royce cigar. Their best all maduro tobacco, aged, and rolled in a gorgeous fashion makes it the coolest looking cigar both sides of the Mississippi.

After the first puff I was floored by its distinct and unique taste. It’s incredibly smooth, easy draw, with a sweet base, and the flavor of the best tobacco the Dominican Republic can grow. And the flavor was so pure and rich. The flavor isn’t in your face and overwhelming, but instead pure and dense.

Imagine a Padilla Miami perfecto, but replace the Nicaraguan tobacco taste with that of Dominican and one can get a glimpse at the deliciousness this delivers to your palette.

This sweet Dominican base stayed constant through the smoke and would be enough to make this a wonderful smoke, but the Fuentes also grace your senses with minor subtleties.

Taking a puff, exhaling, and then smelling the smoke sends one to a state of smoking euphoria. An experience I will never forget.

CS Rating 4.5

The Oil Baron

Opus eXstacy Part 2: Disappointing Dates

My first encounter with lady Opus I became immediately attracted. Like any man in love I pursued her, and manage to get two dates with her.

The second date I had with her was out of pity.

The Opus X is not even in the same league as the Opus Forbidden X. The cigar is a bland spice stick, with none of the nuances to be expected from all the hype the cigar receives from "Aficionados" Portions of the cigar reminded me of that taste you receive of burned tobacco you received at the end of a bad cigar.

After my disappointed with the first cigar, I thought it had to be the cigar so I tried a second on a hope that I could reclaim that Forbidden X flavor. It fell as flat as the first.

I was completely turned off by her, but there was still hope. For she has a dark skinned, older, more mature beauty of a sister. She would be the redemption of the Opus family.

CS Rating 2.5

The Oil Baron

Opus eXstacy Part 1: Instant Attraction

My first journey through the living smoke of Arutro Fuente began in their Las Vegas signature lounge with the Opus Forbidden X.

First Impression

Wicked looking black label covering the cigar. Churchill cigar, with this gorgeous light brown wrapper. The cigar guy that I was talking to for a while (who after 15 minutes of discussion I decided knows his shit) said it was made from shade grown tobacco on the Fuente estate in the Dominican Republic. Rolled by a LEVEL 6 ROLLER (whatever that means) it is their lines premier cigar sold only there. The tobacco leaves were 10 years aged to what they deemed was perfect.

Upon purchasing the cigar, he used these guillotine scissor things to prune the cap to perfection. After cutting and making sure the cap was cut off perfect he noticed the cigar was a little dry and that had caused some of thee wrapper towards the cap end to come off. He noticed this and then immediately discarded the cigar for another one. He actually went back and handpicked one out that he thought would be perfect and proceeeded to cut the cap and gave the second one to me to smoke. I was really impressed by this.

The Smoke:

The cigar was lit with a 4 flame torch lighter that lit the business end of the cigar evenly and did not blacken the tobacco. It was a good light. The first puff was taken with the lighter to the cigar, and it was a burst of flavor. Imagine the burst of flavor at the beginning you get with a Padron 2000, but with a completely different set of flavors. The flavor was mostly that of a variety of spices but with the kind of rustic aged taste you get with the P2. I'm assuming this is partly due to the aging process.

For the first 4th of the cigar the drag was lacking somewhat and required a small prepuff before the full puff in order to maximize smoke. I attribute this to the length and one other thing. For a cigar of churchill size, this cigar seemed to take much longer to smoke. That is to say a single puff on this cigar did not seem to advance the burn up the cigar as fast as a normal churchill. Thus it took me somewhere around 2 hours to smoke this puppy. Because it took so long to smoke, it makes me wonder if the tobacco was more densely rolled and therefor not get as good as a drag when smoked.

The flavor as I smoked through the cigar stayed fairly constant. Where in a P2 you get that initial burst of flavor only for a little bit, this flavor stayed strong and constant throughout the smoke of the cigar. While being very potent in taste, it was not overpowering in the slightest. On the contrary it left me wanting inbetween puffs.

The Fuente Bar disappointingly only had two rums to choose from, but the 12 year aged one I had (the name escapes me but it starts with an "M" [gonna have to help me on this one Diamond E]) was a good rum. Not quite as good as the gold standard that is Captain Morgan, but good. I sipped on this on the rocks with the cigar. It was a perfect combination. Whenever I would sip on the rum in order to cleanse my pallet the spiced flavor of the rum and cigar would mix for a split second and create this entirely new and delicious taste. I can't express how awesome of a combination this was.

And then after my pallet was cleansed, the next puff of the cigar would be like starting the cigar over again. And damn it was good.

The Burn:

For being rolled by a level 6 ninja jedi master cigar roller, the burn was not perfect. At one point during the cigar, the filler burned faster than the binder/wrapper forcing me to relight the cigar. In addition twice during the smoking of the cigar one part of the wrapper would not burn in unison with the rest which I fixed by assisting the burn with my torch.

While the preceeding sounds like a negative, I found great pleasure in tuning and detailing the cigar over the course of a smoke. I analogize it to owning a ferarri and working on it as a hobby to ensure it is running in perfect condition.

CS Rating 4.5

The Oil Baron

PADILLA HABANO - A Nutty Smoke

This is a smooth nutty tasting cigar that had a good draw, burned evenly, and never had to be re-lit.  In recent experience I can compare it favorably to Pinar del Rio Oscuro Lancero (My CS Rating of 2.0) and Padilla Corojo (My CS Rating of 2.5).  I prefer earthy tasting cigars like a Punch Rare Corojo.  CS Rating = 3.0

Diamond E