Don Pepin Garcia Original - A Good Start

The Original is a good start for the Don Pepin Garcia, since I have heard that some of his other cigars are well liked.  This cigar stays lit, draws well, burns evenly and has a constant non-smooth bold earthy taste throughout the cigar.  Because of its boldness, a beginner may be put off by this cigar.

CS Rating = 3.0

Diamond E  

The Lancero: Prince of Swank

Have you been asked the "what do you want for Christmas" question? If so, a sure-fire good answer is Pinar del Rio Blue Label Oscuro Lanceros. That's correct -  this astonishingly under noticed Lancero (7.5 x 38).  A first reaction upon seeing this stick is Elegance. The Brazilian wrapper is a tad oily. The binder is Dominican and the filler is a Dominican Republic and Nicaraguan blend. This lancero's aesthetics grab you at first look and feel.  I cannot recall marveling at a cigar's presentation so much. 

While I do enjoy the thick ring gauge and smoke them regularly, the feeling upon lighting this swanky lancero is akin to listening to a throwback Frank Sinatra classic like, say, "What Now My Love?" after hearing non-stop rock. Very mellowing, understandable, absorbing, and comforting.

The Pinar del Rio blue label oscuro lancero is wonderful from the get go. As soon as you light it and take the first puff you just know that you're in for a treat. The stick is medium to full body, a bit creamy and chocolatey. It is smooth at the beginning and stays silky. It is complex enough that you will not have a single "ho-hum" moment throughout the smoke. 

Most pleasant is the bountiful puffing. The cigar burned even and never had to be relit. It's construction was practically flawless. But, again and assuredly, what is best about this cigar is the sweet earthy flavor and the glory of knowing that, at that moment, you are smoking one helluva stick. A lancero!

This $12 cigar is much better than the inconsistent $30 Padron stick being peddled (see "Padron 64 - Premium No More" October 1, 2012 post) and has a much better construction and deeper taste than the formidable Lancero made by Santiago Cabana.

A good lancero is hard to find and this one is hard to finally put out. But, hey, I did buy a box at the Rodriguez brothers store on Canal Street in New Orleans -- Don Leoncio's Cigar Bar. So, finish one off and light up another one. The song just plays on and on and on. 

CS Rating: 5 

El Alcalde

MARK TWAIN’S FAVORITE CIGAR—FUENTE OR FINCK?

I really don’t know for sure that Mark Twain ever smoked a Finck cigar, but it’s a good bet that he did. Here’s the evidence.

The Finck Cigar Company has been making cigars in San Antonio, Texas since 1893, so that would’ve given Twain about 17 years to smoke ‘em. Twain loved his cheap cigars--the cheaper the better. He also disdained snobs who only smoked Havanas to show how prominent they were, famously fooling them by giving them  their expensive cigars to smoke (without the label) and observing how they trashed them in disgust, believing that they had been smoking his detested cheapos. In fact, they were their beloved Havanas that they had thrown out in is yard after a couple of puffs!

 I’m not fortunate enough to have Twain’s snobby friends, but I have been known to give Finck 1893s, without labels, to my buddies.  To no surprise, they’ve all liked them just fine. When I tell them that they’ve just smoked a cigar that cost less than $4 bucks they’re not only pleased but also gone out and ordered boxes for themselves.

Finck claims to be the oldest cigar company in the USA, but so does Tampa’s JC Newman, which was founded in 1895. Both are still owned by the same family that started them. I don’t know which one really is the oldest, but would love to get them together on a panel and watch the fireworks. Fuente is the new kid on the block, having been founded in 1912 by Arturo Fuente and currently run by his son Carlos and grandson Carlito. This father and son team is responsible for much of the innovations in the cigar industry as well as some of the greatest cigars known to man.

I recently traveled to San Antonio and made my usual rounds to one of the Finck outlet shops. I purchased one of their new cigars, a Fincks Commerce Reserva Privada Hermoso( 54 x 5.25), which is made by the Quesada factory in the Dominican Republic. This cigar is close to the Padron regular line, but at a savings of at 30%-50%, depending on the vitola.

The FinckComm has a Brazilian Maduro Wrapper, Dominican Criollo 98 binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler. It’s very toasty and earthy, burns and draws perfectly, and gives you no indication that you are smoking anything but a premium hand-made cigar, which it is, except for the great price. I’ve smoked ‘em to the nub and enjoyed every centimeter.

While at the Finck Outlet Shop I also purchased some Fuente Curly Head Deluxe Maduro Lonsdales for the incredible price of $2.25/stogie! This one has a rugged Connecticut maduro wrapper and looks like something Clint Eastwood might have smoked in one of his classic spaghetti westerns. If you’re hung up on a beautiful smooth wrapper, this is not the cigar for you. But if you’re focus is on great taste at a great price, this is your stick. The Fuente Curly contains a blend of Dominican long and short filler and is handmade, so there were no uninvited pieces of tobacco in my mouth. The taste was smooth, sweet, creamy, and toasty. It was better than many $30 dollar Cuban cigars being pawned off on the public today.

Let me be clear. Both of these cigars, which sell under $3.50,  also taste better than any of the expensive “premium” cigars that I have ever smoked from Rocky Patel(except the $10 Decade made by AJ Fernandez), Graycliff, Avo, Kristoff, HdM, Partagas, Macanudo, and Partagas. No doubt about it--Twain would’ve loved Fuentes –and maybe actually smoked Fincks. -- Mamey

CS Rating (both)-3.5

The Continued Legend of El Tiante ( Cigars )

This past weekend the manly men of the saloon spent our time demonstrating how real men smoke cigars at the 1st annual Tampa Cigar Festival.

It was here that we were graced with the Heavenly presence of the man himself... Luis Tiante. He regaled us with war stories of his glory days in MLB. And while our time spent with him could be the topic of multiple novels, I will speak of the more related news. He and his son Daniel Tiant, are now in the stogie business.

And their stogies are a force to be reckoned with. Usually when a celebrity releases a cigar it's a gimmick, but in the case of the Tiant family, the cigar brand 'El Tiante Cigars' is here to take over the industry.

Currently there are two blends offered by El Tiante cigars in multiple vitolas, the red banded Rosado, and blue banded Oscuro. Both cigars were designed with the help of, and are made by, Don Pepin Garcia. That's the first indication you know their cigars mean business.

The rosado is exactly what one would expect from a Pepin smoke. That signature pepper burst in the beginning, with a milder spice base throughout the smoke. In fact the cigar smokes VERY similar to the My Father cigars. Just at a fraction of the price. It is a good cigar.

The second was the cigar that truly WOWed me, the oscuro. Also blended and made by Pepin it uses the darker oscuro wrapper, which lends the flavor to be sweeter over all. The cigar is medium-full bodied cigar whose base is that of expertly grown and cured nicaraguan tobacco but nuanced with a variety of different tastes. This complexity in the cigar makes it a delicious smoke that resulted in me taking puffs too frequently because I couldn't be patient with it. Despite my poor technique the cigar burned even with a good draw, and didn't dissapoint in producing thick plumes of smoke with every puff. This oscuro is now a go-to cigar for me.

The cigar doesn't have much publicity, which is good for me because I can buy these phenomenal smokes for less than 6 bucks.

Overall I would have given the Rosado a 3.5, but in deference to AK47 who has a different taste in cigar I will be giving both the Rosado and Oscuro a CS 4.0 even though I much prefer the Oscuro.

Oscuro CS Rating: Strong 4.0
Rosado CS Rating: 4.0

The Oil Baron