AVO Maduro No. 3

Back again for another review by the greatest person you know.*

This time it's for the biggest cigar I've ever had, an AVO Maduro #3. I got this one through a Cigar Secret Santa thing that I was a part of this year, and it barely fit in my humidor. It had a beautiful color and smelled delicious, though, so I was excited to try it. Therefore, when Curt and I decided to go down to the local cigar bar, Havana Deluxe, I brought the beast along for the ride.

I do have to admit it made me feel a little stupid to be smoking such a giant cigar in public. I needed a Cadillac with horns on the front, or a thrilling tale of my oil-baron days to accompany such a ridiculous looking stogie. But it cut cleanly and lit perfectly, so away I went.

The draw and burn on this bear was perfect. We were there for hours and it never burned unevenly or was the slightest bit plugged. The taste, though, is where it really shone. It started with a nice coffee flavor right off the bat, then gradually broadened into a sweeter taste, without the slightest hint of bitterness or acrid tang that some maduros have. The end picked up steam with more coffee and a little almondy taste.

But I have had cigars with those flavors before - what really set this one apart for me was how smooth it was. The flavors were strong without being harsh, and lingered without overpowering. I paired this with a Belgian-style witbier to good effect, the sweetness countered the coffee nicely.

I probably wouldn't get this size again, it's too big. But I will definitely buy this line of cigar again. And since that is the basis of our number-scale ("Would I buy this again?"), this one gets my Walken.

AVO Maduro No. 3
Size: Churchill (7.5" x 50 ring)
Taste: Medium
Draw: Great
Burn: Perfectly Even
Flavors: Coffee, chocolate, pepper, nut
Overall Rating:
The smooth taste and interesting, changing flavors give me a fever, and the only prescription is:


*P.S. That's me

La Princesa de Cuba Toro

I got this cigar in some new years eve sampler pack. The sampler pack was a great deal and had a few cigars I have never tried before, this being one of them.

I smoked this cigar a few weeks ago and at first I was not going to review it because... well, it was lackluster. Then I decided to review it anyway because all reviews shouldn't be great. (Editor: Well, you're off to a fine start, then.)

The cigars looked and smelled nice. I had no problems lighting it up and it burned pretty even.

The taste at first was pretty harsh. Not a good harsh just kinda strong with no redeeming qualities. The second third of the cigar was actually not terrible. It had a very earthy flavor but maybe too earthy like dirt. The last third of the cigar returned to the harsh, bad tasting cigar it started out as. (Editor: I had a girlfriend like that. Started off ok, then turned dirty, and then tasted terrible. Oh, wait - it was YOUR MOM. Burn. )

There was lots of smoke with the cigar but unfortunately that pretty much the extent of the flavor... smoke.

The draw was medium... just about perfect. For me I like I medium draw. I don't want to have suck so hard my mouth hurts (like I do with Lawson's toes). Just kidding, Lawson likes it more sensual. I also do not prefer a cigar that feels like I'm sucking through an empty straw. I would prefer some resistance so I know I'm smoking. (Editor: We all know what you're smoking...)

Do you think anyone is actually lured into believing a cigar with Cuba in the name is actually from Cuba? Like when I saw this cigar I thought it was made either by or from a Cuban princess. After I tried it, probably a drag Cuban princess is a better guess. (Editor: Well, you would know.)

Overall, the cigar was mediocre at best. No real complexity. Nothing to write home about. Probably will never buy it again. (Editor: Wow, that was my same thought about YOUR MOM. Burn.)

La Princessa de Cuba
Size: Toro (6" x 50 ring)
Taste: Medium
Draw: Smooth Easy Draw
Burn: Pretty Even, Burned very slightly faster on one side but not a problem at all
Flavors: Earthy and wood flavor but mostly just smoky and unexciting
Overall Rating:
Dynamite Lips = not so great cigar

Carlos Toraño Virtuoso Encore

This was another cigar from that sampler pack I got from Cigars International. I picked it because I wanted to review something with a maduro wrapper, and also because it was short and I knew the temperature was dropping.

And drop it did. When I started the temperature was around 62, and just a short time later it was already 52. Now, a shower and straight-razor shave later, it's down to 48. I guess I picked the right time of night! Aren't you excited? I know you are.



As you can see, it's a nice-looking stick, on the short side. On we go!

Well it didn't start promising, as it seems I've lost my cutter. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, but to no avail. So out came the trusty kitchen knife. Here's a tip, dear readers: use a sharp knife, not a dull thing unworthy of the title "knife". What a cut! It looked like a dog had gnawed off the end. On the plus side, it didn't unravel at all. It just looked like hell.

But thanks to my new trusty lighter, it lit right up. Man, this is a full-bodied cigar, lots of powerful tastes. I was hoping for a bit more complexity, but what it did have was really nice. There was a really strong peppery taste throughout, and near the middle I got some coffee flavor in there, too.

Like the other Toraños I have had, this was perfectly constructed and the burn was great. It needed one little touchup, but nothing significant. The draw was very nice, too.

Basically, my only complaint with this one, and probably what will keep me from buying a lot of them, is that there's not a lot there. What you get at the beginning is what you get at the end. The flavors don't evolve much over the course of the cigar, and that makes it a little dull near the end, no matter how strong it gets (and believe me, near the end it got really strong). I paired it with some more of that Evan Williams Single Barrel to decent effect, although it tended to overpower the bourbon a bit.

This is a nice cigar, and I'd love to try one that had been aged for a while to see if there were some more flavors in there. Overall, it was an enjoyable smoke, and took quite a while to burn for its size. Recommended to fans of strong, peppery maduro cigars.

Carlos Toraño Virtuoso Encore
Size: Toro (4.5" x 52 ring)
Taste: Wild
Draw: Very good
Burn: Even with one touchup
Flavors: Strong pepper and some coffee.
Overall Rating:
Just barely made a Boss Hogg.

5 Vegas Gold churchill

Well here is the first official review since the institution of our formalized cigar rating system. Are you excited?
Well, let's check. Have you urinated in your pants yet? Then you're not excited enough! Get to it!

Anyhow, on to the review. Recently I bought an 8-cigar sampler from Cigars International, and it contained some cool stuff. One of the things I had wanted to try for a while was a 5 Vegas Gold, since they are usually pretty cheap and I had heard some good things about this as a budget cigar.

This is probably a good time to explain my thoughts on price. I don't smoke a ton of cigars, maybe one or two a week, max. So I don't feel like I need to be stingy on my cigars. I would rather buy a good, more expensive cigar, than 10 cheap ones. On the other hand, I feel that after a certain point, there is no amount of delicious flavor that can justify a giant price tag. So I fall into a medium category where I am willing to pay more for a good cigar, but once the price goes too high, I don't feel it could be worth it.

OK, Back to the 5 Vegas Gold. In appearance, it looks a lot like that Castle Hall I reviewed a few times back. Churchill-sized, light wrapper tending towards yellowish gold.

It cut cleanly, which is a miracle considering the 100% crap cutter I use, and lit up evenly. I just bought a torch lighter from a local department store, and it is totally worth the money. At first I wasn't feeling this cigar, it felt bland. However, once it hit the sweet spot I definitely enjoyed it. It is stronger than it looks, with a much spicier taste than the light wrapper would indicate. It falls into the Medium category for me, just over the line from Mild. It had a nice but not overpowering tang to it, which hit me on the sides of the tongue.

It had a slight nut taste, but didn't have the strong nutty flavor that I like in the Castle Halls. However, it did have a very pleasant peppery taste to it that I liked. The draw was very respectable, plenty of smoke without a lot of effort. I didn't smoke this one down to the nub because it was just too long, but if I had been in a group hanging out and chatting I don't think I would have tired of it. I paired it with a small glass of Evan Williams Single Barrel, which I find to be a good cigar bourbon.

Overall, I think this was a solid smoke, especially for the price of around $3 a stick. Here's the roundup:

5 Vegas Gold
Size: Churchill (7" x 50 ring)
Taste: Medium-Mild
Draw: Good
Burn: Even and consistent
Flavors: Slight nut with a strong pepper near the end.
Overall Rating: A strong Belvedere.

Ratings symbology

As Nick L. laid out in the last post, we are going to stick to a straight 0-10 scale, to get away from the whole 100-point scale that everyone else uses. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you saw a cigar rated under 80?

So to help you get a quick review at a glance, we are going to implement these fine cigar rating images . Each image represents a person or character of the quality denoted by the number rating. Here they are, starting at 0:




That's quite a crew, I have to say! And before your internet rage comes bubbling out over the fact that Mr. Belvedere is ranked higher than Captain Kirk, just keep in mind that I am not changing these!

Well, until we get tired of them, and then we will come up with new ratings.

And, if we encounter that once-in-a-blue-moon cigar, that smoke that makes all others seem, well, Urkel-ish, then they get the special honor of the coveted "11" rating. And there's only one man for that position:



So those are the ratings symbols you will see from now on. I hope that you either enjoyed them or were at least entertained by the pretty colors.

See you soon...