Warped El Oso, PDR A. Flores Gran Reserva, Viaje Holiday Blend,SLR Gen 2 Titan, La Mia Corona

Cigar Committee Round 4 Cigars

Round 4 Cigars

The Rules.

Each month, a group of experienced cigar smokers participate in tastings of five new cigars. All smoke one of the selected cigars each day, and it is the first cigar of the day. All cigars are paired only with water, and are purchased at the same time from the same vendor. The cigars are stored for at least one week in a humidor prior to smoking. Everyone follows strict scoring guidelines. Taste is weighted heavily (50%), followed by construction (10%), draw (10%), burn (10%), and taste evolution (20%). Additional points are awarded for uniqueness or that intangible “wow factor”.

Why a committee?

Cigar reviews are very subjective, and influenced by the smoker’s environment (see When Good Cigars Taste Bad, part 2). In a committee review, the results are averaged over all participants, providing a better yardstick to measure a cigar’s quality. In addition to a numerical ranking, each review will include tasting notes by each of the committee members. This should help in determining if these new cigars are worth purchasing.

I hope you enjoy this feature, and keep checking back (or join the Newsletter) to see when new cigars are posted.

Warped El Oso Ursus 2016

Warped El Oso Ursus 2016 Limited Edition  5 5/8×46

All but one reviewer loved this cigar. Its strong barnyard aroma foreshadowed a cornucopia of rich flavors, and smoking delivered notes of dark fruit, herbs, caramel and cream. The construction scored well and the draw was perfect for all smokers. This is a traditional corona in size (smaller than a non-Cuban), but most smokers found it very satisfying. Five out of six reviewers found it box-worthy.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano; Binder: Nic; Filler: Nic; Blender:Kyle Gellis MSRP: $13.50

A Flores Gran Reserva Sun RrownRobusto_575

PDR A. Flores Gran Reserva Sun Grown Robusto  5×52

This fat robusto got a wide variety of reactions. All agreed it was a medium strength cigar, but some got more flavor than others. Most agreed the first half was better than the second, with some bitterness detected near the nub. Flavors included menthol, cedar, leather, and wood.

WrapperEcuadorian Habano Sun Grown; Binder: DR; FillerDR/Nic; Blender: Abe Flores; MSRP: $12.35

Viaje Holiday Blend Robusto_575

Viaje Holiday Blend Robusto 20154  5×54

This Holiday Blend has a good name. It seems to have been engineered for holiday flavors. Smokers picked up sage, pine, hazelnut, and earth. Unfortunately, most agreed that the flavors pooped out midway, leaving some smokers disappointed.

WrapperSan Andres Maduro BinderNicFillerNic; Blender: Andre Farkas; MSRP: $9.47

SLR Ge2 Titan

Saint Luis Rey Gen2 Titan  6×60

Committee members who tend to like big cigars rated this higher than the others. Some found the 60 gauge difficult to smoke, with low smoke output. Flavors were subtle to most, with notes of nuts, cream, and cappuccino. A mild to medium strength cigar, most reviewers thought a smaller ring gauge would have produced more flavor.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra; Binder: Nic; Filler: Nic/Hon; Blender: Altadis; MSRP: $6.75

La Mia Corona

La Mia Corona  5.5×42

This stick got raves reviews across the board. Loads of flavor from start to finish, with a nice taste evolution. Flavors abound with notes of pepper, fruit, and lavender. With excellent construction, this cigar impressed just about everyone.

Wrapper: Nic Corojo ’99; Binder: Nic; Filler: Nic; Blender: Arsenio Ramos; MSRP: $5.95

Rating Legend:

0-74 = Unsmokeable

75-79 = Disappointing

80-84 = Average

85-89 = Very Good

90-94 = Excellent

95-100 = Outstanding

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.