The Borons Cigar Blog

If you’re anything like me (whoa that’s a scary friggin thought, you’ll have to agree) then you will basically make any excuse whatsoever, anytime, any place, to smoke a good cigar.

“Hey honey, I’ll be barbequing for 20 minutes,” and that’s all I need to break out a shorty and herf away while I’m grilling up the mid-section of some four-legged carcass. Gonna be in the garage for a little bit? I don’t care what the chore is because my leafy buddy is there by my side, stinkin’ up the joint and keeping me good company. An hour ride in the car alone is excuse enough to grab a big burly stick from the humidor and use it as my navigational device! Any ride of an hour or more requires a kettle sized mug o’ java, some rockin’ tunes on the radio, and a smoldering double corona to signify the passing of every single yard marker.

A few neighbors of mine smoke cigars and what a great excuse to partake while they walk their dogs. When I see one of my buds strolling by their pooch, I quickly throw on my shoes and coat and join in on the festivities. I’ve actually lobbied for a dog for this very reason, but the reality of taking bowzer out and picking up his steaming pile in two feet of snow is not my idea of enjoyment… but at least a good cigar would make it somewhat more enjoyable.

If my son wants to have a catch or pitch to me, that’s good enough reason to have a stellar stoag hanging from my face. If my neighbor or pal is returning a tool he borrowed, well, I will ALWAYS coax him into kicking back with a single malt and a tasty hand rolled treat from a variety of Latin American countries. Twenty minutes later his nagging wife will be screaming out the door, wanting to know where he mysteriously disappeared to, and unfortunately for him, all the lies in the world can’t cover up the luscious scent of premium aged tobacco lingering from every fiber of his being.

Then there are the blatant made up stories I use, and no matter how much bullshit I toss out as a smoke screen, the wife will always know the real deal. “Hey honey, Jim needs me to help fix his mower, so I’m heading over there for a little bit.” “FIX HIS MOWER?” she’ll yell out in a ‘you’re completely full of Shinola’ voice. “You don’t know how to change a god damned battery in a flash light! You’re going over there to smoke cigars so don’t even try to pull one over on me!” Busted… like every single time. Of course I’ll then get pummeled for being a lazy-ass who just wants to smoke cigars and escape from performing any of my household chores, which is basically true, but why the hell does she have to make me feel so bad about my love for the aged leaf?

Now nothing is more enjoyable than a celebration smoke, like when your team wins a big game. The past few weeks I’ve been celebrating the New York Giants latest victories including their decimation of the Atlanta Falcons in round one of the NFL playoffs. Of course this weekend is a MONSTER challenge for my G-men as they take on the Cheese Heads of the Frozen Tundra, but I believe in my team and I’m about to choose some major league celebratory smokes like the Alec Bradley Tempus, Camacho Corojo, or the Bolivar Cofradia. Yeah, I know, decisions, decisions. And if by chance my team doesn’t happen to win, well, you can bet your sweet ash I’ll find some kind of an excuse… ANY kind of an excuse to smoke them anyway!

So hey, share in the comments section here and let me in on YOUR favorite excuse to smoke a cigar! We’re all Brothers (and Sisters) of the Leaf, and your favorite cigar is ALWAYS the one you’re smoking at that very moment. Okay, I can’t take credit for that last one, but it was good enough to repeat!

Til’ net time, Stay Smoky My Friends,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

Today’s review is a random cigar that I’ve had in the humidor for a few months. Where I got it and why I picked it up eludes me. I’ll pick up almost any cigar at a shop that I know I haven’t reviewed, and I think this is a result of that. The only thing I know about this cigar is that it is a product of Altadis. It is touted at a “Wonderful smoke that will satisfy cigar connoisseurs time and time again.” That sounds like a challenge, so here are my thoughts…

Wrapper: Dominican

Binder: San Andreas Morron

Filler: Honduran & Nicaraguan

Size: Romantico 6.5 x 48

Price: Around $6.50

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark wrapper had a nice somewhat oily appearance with minimal veins or flaws. The smell of the wrapper was woody and earthy. The cigar was rock solidly packed, and had some major tight spots, especially near the head. As expected, the draw was pretty tight, so I clipped off the nipple. This loosened up the draw a bit so I could at least move air through the cigar. The pre-light flavor was a bit chocolaty.

The ash held for just over an inch, and the burn required a couple minor corrections.

Flavor:

The first third had a dry woody flavor with an earthy aftertaste. Passing smoke through the nose revealed a pepper that had a little zing. After about an inch in, a dark chocolate joined in and took off some of the dry edge.

The second third was a pretty even combination of wood and dark chocolate flavors. The pepper through the nose kept it’s zing and took on sweet notes. The smoke feel became thicker and my urge to guzzle water slowed down. Basically the smoke feel became more pleasant.

The last third took on a dark coffee with dark bitter chocolaty notes. Woody notes would appear from time to time. There may have been some leathery notes as well, but I have a hard time detecting that flavor, I could be wrong here.

Conclusion:

This was a good medium bodied cigar. I would have liked it more if it started off with the same flavors as the last third. But it did have a nice buildup from beginning to end. I just preferred the flavors that were present towards the end. The only bad thing I can say pertains to the draw. It was too tight for my liking. It did loosen up a bit, but I didn’t care for the effort it took to get smoke. In the end, it was a good cigar.

First off, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Brian Massey and I work at J•R Cigars as a graphic designer. Before this job, I developed my love of the leaf and cigar knowledge as a salesman in one of J•R’s retail locations. I’ve smoked most of the cigars we carry and I’d say I have an advanced palate and strong opinions. The reviews that I post will come from me and many fellow cigar lovers. (I work with a lot of cigar connoisseurs and, when we find something good, we like to pass it on and share our opinions).

Let’s kick off with a review of the Alec Bradley American Classic Blend.

With so many cigars to choose from, where do you begin when trying new brands? Well, for me, I like to take recommendations from advanced cigar smokers. Alec Bradley was not a brand I’d smoked and, despite all the great reviews online, it took a recommendation from a coworker before I took the leap and tried it.

This cigar has a Connecticut-seed Honduran wrapper that is intermingled with a flavorful binder and a hearty blend of long fillers from the town of Condega, located in the province of Estelí, Nicaragua. At first glance, you’ll see that this cigar is well balanced and rolled with care. The wrapper leaf is beautiful and, because most of the flavor comes from this part of the cigar, it’s a great indication that you’re in for a wonderful smoke.

I usually cut my cigar with a bullet cutter, but I’m smoking the torpedo so I used my guillotine cutter. The cap came off perfectly with no fray, and the dry draw beforehand was ideal. Upon lighting, I was hit with a bit of youth and cedar, followed by a tremendous amount of creamy smoke. About 10% into the cigar, the youth fades (and this is a very good thing because, a lot of times, this ruins the start of the cigar for me).

The burn is even and the flavor is a very solid traditional taste with hints of cedar and nuts. This cigar manages to have a solid medium body despite the origin of the tobacco. This is surprising and says to me that there was a lot of time spent making sure the blend was just right. The middle of the cigar is toasty and stays consistent with the opening flavors. The finish is wonderful—it really opens up about halfway through and delivers the whole time.

The Alec Bradley American Classic Blend is a great cigar and costs around five dollars a stick, making it very affordable and well worth the price. All in all, this is a great smoke for the price and I’m very happy that my colleagues turned me on to this beauty. I now have several in my humidor and I recommend that you guys give it a shot.

Alec Bradley is a newer line for us here at J•R, and I know that a lot of our customers (as well as the cigar smokers here) are very happy that this famous brand has been added to our lineup. You should also check out the Alec Bradley Black Market and Alec Bradley Tempus lines.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the employee alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

Just about everybody who blogs about cigars (me excluded) feels that at the end or beginning of the year they have to decide the cigar of the year. While it is nice and many arguments can arise from opinions as to what is the best…the ranking that seems to matter most is Cigar Aficionado’s. The number one cigar this year was the Alec Bradley Prensado. But there are a lot of other goodies in the CA top 25 which was released yesterday.

While the Prensado is a very good cigar, there are a couple of Bradleys I like a bit better. The new Black Market that came out at last year’s trade show and made by the Plasencias is very tasty. As is the company’s Tempus. It is nice to see Alec Bradley get some recognition.

The number 2 ranked cigar is the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor. It is made by Pepin for Ashton.

While I like the Mi Amor and again think it is about time it was recognized, I really like the regular La Aroma de Cuba a bit better…maybe because it is cheaper.

An often overlooked cigar Altadis’s Warlock came in at number 9. Another one of my favorites– the Camacho Corojo –came in at number 24.

No matter what the CA guys decided there are a lot of great cigars out there.

Cigars and the Vote

Today is the New Hampshire primary. Since the 1960s, a cigar shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has conducted election polls via matchbooks (people still use matches for cigars?) They say they are about 80 percent accurate. Anyhow the store began its poll on December 10 and finished last week. The winner according to the cigar smokers? Romney with 43 percent followed by Ron Paul, Newt Gingirch and Jon Huntsman. Guess we’ll know tonight if it was right.

Indiana Ban Before Superbowl?

The nannys in Indiana are trying to fast track a smoking ban before this year’s Super Bowl. Somehow they think that a bunch of people willing to pony up big bucks for a football ticket want to enjoy premium cigars outside. Last year, there were a bunch of Super Bowl cigar parties when it was held here in Texas. One was put on by former Eagles Quarterback Ron Jaworski who uses the cigar event as a charitable fund raiser. Rocky Patel was the guest of honor along with representatives from SAG and Miami Cigar. The party organizers in Indiana are scrambling to find venues for their events…most will be outside ( how fun is that in Indiana in the winter?) Let your legislators know you are against this stupidity.

Smoking ban without smoke?

Stanton Glantz is an anti-smoke nazi at The University of California, San Francisco. He constantly campaigns against tobacco. His latest crow on his blog (which I won’t link) is that the super geniuses at UCSF have banned e-cigarettes in the smoke-free workplace/campus policy. The policy states:

“Smoking tobacco products means inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, pipe or cigarette (traditional or e-cigarette).”

As Christopher Snowdon notes:

“To the scientifically illiterate goons at UCSF, “smoking tobacco products” includes products which are not smoked and do not contain tobacco.”

Bottom line, the antis just don’t care…anything that even LOOKS like smoke is evil.

Ban Blowback

Over in Kansas, it seems that American ingenuity is not dead. Kansas law prohibits smoking except for state run casinos and in smoke shops. So what did one steak house do? Converted half the restaraunt into a smoke shop. It is a legal way to avoid the smoking ban and the restaurant owner said it was what his customers wanted. Look for the Kansas legislature to make smoking illegal in tobacco shops or try to sue to close this one.

Those Were The Days

It has not been all that long since cigar smoking was not only ok but encouraged. This past weekend, I stumbled upon a great article called Once We Were Herftones. (Thanks to Dave Hitt for posting a link to it on FB.) It reminded me of the time before Facebook, blogs and the like when some of us denizens of the net hung out in newsgroups. Alt.Smokers.Cigars was where we were…Herftones and North Texas Irregulars (our original name before DFW Cigar Society) alike.

It was a simpler time when we would all gather for herfs –a word stemming from the newsgroup– to sit around, smoke cigars, drink adult beverages and tell lies. It was when Steve Saka was just a computer geek who loved cigars, wrote his online magazine (not a blog we didn’t know that word yet) Cigar Nexus and held three great events in Las Vegas, Boondoggles 1, 2 and 3. In Dallas, we would often debate the merits of various Fuentes, experiment to see if Padron 2000 with age were really the anniversarios and try to decide exactly which cigar the Consuegra number really was. We even had phone trees set up so if one of us found the Connie 9’s available on the JR site we could immediately order them.(In those days they were scarce.) Most of the groups around the country are no more due to the smoking laws. Here in Dallas, we are still lucky (so far) in that there are places we can gather and our little band of brothers (and sisters) continues entering its 17^th year. But those were the days…maybe the pendulum will swing back and we can smoke in more places again.

I picked up this cigar at Ed’s shop a couple of weeks ago. Gurkha has quite a large following of fans and bashers alike. I sit somewhere in the middle. They have quite a few blends that I like, and some that I’m not so fond of. I haven’t smoked a Gurkha in a long time, so I figured it was time to revisit a cigar I used to smoke from time to time – the Ancient Warrior. I paired this cigar with water as always.

Wrapper: Brazil

Binder: Dominican Republic

Filler: Dominican republic

Size: Robusto 4.5 x 50

Price: $6.95

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark oily wrapper looked great, with only a ding here and there. The smell of the wrapper was a mild sweet earthiness. The foot had almost no odor at all, perhaps a generic sweetness. The cigar was evenly packed, with slight give when squeezed. The pre-light draw had slight resistance with a mild earthy flavor on the pre-light draw.

The ash held for around an inch, and the burn required several corrections.

Flavor:

The first third had a robust dark coffee flavor that clung to the mouth long after exhaling. When passing smoke through the nose, there was a smooth pepper. The coffee developed a sweetness that was similar to a thick mocha flavor. Very faint earthy notes were in the background.

The second third took on a creamy smoke feel that had a caramel sweetness. At about the half way point a woody flavor joined in with the coffee and caramel. The pepper felt in the nose didn’t go anywhere. That faint earthy aftertaste remained as well.

The last third had a dominant woody flavor at times. At other times coffee and mocha would take center stage. All the while a sweet caramel undertone remained. The creaminess didn’t go anywhere. The smoke clung to the mouth and tongue for a nice sweet, tingly aftertaste.

Conclusion:

This was a damn good medium to upper medium bodied cigar. Say what you will about Gurkha, but they do have some blends that hit the spot for me. I will admit I am guilty of bashing Gurkha for their fancy packaging and selling of a lifestyle. But in the end it’s the cigar that matters to me, and this one was a satisfying experience. If you are a Gurkha fan or not, this one is worth a try.

I would imagine you guys know me long enough, where it goes without saying that I freakin’ love cigars. (Gee Zman, what a revelation… did your inner Polack just kick in?) Now I’ve been smoking long enough where I know what I like. I know the blends, the wrappers, the flavor profiles and the strength. But for the life of me I can’t figure out why I like what I like. That may sound a little dopey and your answer may be, “who really cares, just STFU and enjoy your stogies, ya fat bastid.” But I’ve been wondering why I like a certain cigar and another guy thinks it dog shmootz.

I guess you could wonder this about anything: food, alcohol, taste in women, yada, yada, yada, but this query has led me to think about how personal cigar smoking really is. If a guy tells you that he doesn’t like scotch, or liverwurst, or even red heads, no offense is taken whatsoever. (Let me just say that if you don’t like red heads, you are mentally challenged, but please don’t let me stray from the subject at hand.) You just figure it’s his personal choice and that’s all there really is to it. But offer up say perhaps one of your prized stellar maduros to someone and that knuckle-dragging ingrate tells you that it sucks, well you take great offense as if it were a serious personal affront. I’ve seen this on many an occasion in online cigar forums where a guy says he loves a certain brand and then someone else will reply that it’s a hunk of excrement, and suddenly a war of words begins. I even get mad at my own dad when I give him what I think is a nice stick, and if he tells me he didn’t care for it, I get all pissy and tell him to go buy his own friggin cigars!

So when it comes to cigars, why do we like what we like and why are we SO goddamned particular and uppity about it? Hey I don’t know, I’m asking you! You have any concrete thoughts? Cuz I don’t. I know one guy that smokes the strongest cigars on the planet and eats triple maduro / triple ligero for breakfast. He thinks everyone else is an out an out puss for smoking anything less. Then I know an older dude who’s been smoking for 45 years – mild delicate Connecticut shade wrapped cigars, the kind most newbies start off with. I’ll ask him why he doesn’t try bumping up in flavor to a medium bodied cigar, something with a little more depth, complexity, and flavor. And you know what he says to me? “I like what I like.” I know as a fact that the guy dines on a variety of tasty foods and fine wines, but when it comes time to lighting up, it’s that same golden yellow wrapper cigar every damned time.

Now for me, personally, it’s all about flavor. From medium to very full bodied is what I like and if I do smoke a lighter wrapper cigar, it’s usually in the morning or before I’ve eaten. Years ago, like most stogie lovers, I dug the mild stuff, but my palate has changed a lot and I just don’t get the flavor I need from a mild cigar. I’m sure many of you reading this are the same, yet, did you know that the basic Macanudo brand is the best selling premium hand rolled cigar in America? That’s because the casual smokers and newbies who smoke on the golf course, while camping, playing poker, etc., those guys want something mild that’s not going to leave them with Satan’s breath the following morning. Complexity means zilch to those guys, as where it means a lot more to us full time leaf-ionados. (That’s some writer’s license used right there, keep on reading….) Although I will say that complexity is definitely not as important to me as a cigar just having good flavor. There are certain sticks, like take the Cain Habano for instance, that really just has a nice medium to full flavor profile straight through and I’m totally fine with that. But then there’s times I have an expensive scotch or full bodied wine and I’ll reach for maybe an Ashton VSG to compliment the complexity of what I’m drinking.

Hey, I guess when it comes down to it, there really is no right or wrong answer, we really do just “like what we like” when it comes to cigars and I have to say upon final reflection that I’m totally cool with that. But if you tell me you don’t like red heads, I can assure you that you do indeed have some sort of mental blockage.

Happy New Year, Home Boys & Gals,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

It’s a common occurrence… I walk a shop humidor and something will catch my eye. That is the story behind the cigar up for review today. It had a nice presentation, and more importantly, the cigar looked good. Let’s see how it smokes.

Wrapper: Connecticut BroadLeaf

Binder: Olor Dominican Republic

Filler: Nicaraguan Viso, Olor, and Criollo 98 Dominican Republic

Size: Torpedo 6 1/2 x 54

Price: Around $6.00

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The chocolate brown wrapper had a smooth velvety appearance and basically looked nice. The wrapper and foot had almost no odor at all, maybe a slight woodiness. The cigar was solidly packed, with a tight spot here and there. This probably explains a draw that was a little tight. Almost too tight for my liking. The pre-light flavor was a mild tangy flavor that I couldn’t put my finger on.

The ash held for just under an inch, and the burn required no corrections. The draw loosened up a bit after the first third.

Flavor:

The first third had a dry woody flavor and earthy aftertaste. At times there were sweet dry cocoa notes. They would come and go. After about two inches, the sweet flavor began to dominate the flavor profile.

The second third was basically a sweet dry cocoa with wood and an earthy aftertaste. The smoke feel was so dry that it left me craving water.

The last third kind of fell flat. The flavors were a generic sweetness with a weird cardboard taste behind it. The smoke irritated the back of my mouth and created a dry cough from time to time. Basically the last third was complete shit.

Conclusion:

This started out as a decent medium bodied cigar. Granted, it was a little boring and one dimensional, but it wasn’t bad, until… The last third. There isn’t much more to say about the Victor Sinclair Legacy Box Pressed. I won’t be trying these again. That last third was a killer…

I hope the holidays found you happy and safe with family and friends. But today it is back to work even though many football bowl games remain to be played. This will be a bit lighter than the usual fare giving you something to enjoy and think about.

Gator Love

Ok this is not about the Florida Gators, but rather about a very unusual scotch. The story on this goes back to the last IPCPR show in Las Vegas last summer. Bobby Holstein of Fuji Pub fame is well known as a scotch connoisseur. Bobby and I have often enjoyed a wee dram together but this summer when he went out to dinner at one of Vegas’s best restaurants, he found a scotch he had never tasted. Ardbeg Alligator. He said he had some ( at an outrageous price of course) and he said it literally brought a tear to his eye. Now that is something.

So what is this scotch? First of all, Ardbeg promotes itself as the smokiest and peatiest scotch on the market. It is an Islay scotch which are known for its smoky flavor but Alligator was a special release. It gets its name from being matured in air dried American white oak barrels which are heavily charred so their insides look like alligator skin. The Alligator was first put in the charred barrels in 2000 and when ready it was mixed with regular Ardbeg 10-year-old to marry for another year. Alligator first came out in June 2011 as a Committee release. (Ardbeg has supporters called the Committee anyone can join at their website.) The general release came out in September. (Reportedly there were about 1,000 bottled of the Committee release in the US and there were more in the general release but it can be tough to find.) Alligator is bottled at 102.4 proof or 51.2% alcohol by volume.

Fast forward to the fall. I was looking for the Alligator but not having much luck. Then one of the guys in our Dallas group found a bottle for me. I bought it sight unseen and untasted. It was a little pricey for a good scotch about $80 but not out of line for something special ( and there are scotches that cost a lot more.)

A buddy and I decided to open this up right away. When we opened the bottle, you are almost knocked over by the peat and smoke but you can also realize there is a lot of complexity.

We paired the scotch with a JR Ultimate and an El Rey del Mundo Robusto Larga. The scotch held up wonderfully to the cigars and would probably go well with any full bodied smoke or even a bit lighter like the Macanudo Cru Royale Robusto. The flavor of the scotch in combination with the smoke from the ERDM and the Ultimate was unbelievable. And the other thing about this Alligator…the finish is exceptionally long in my opinion.

Palate Cleanser

Joe Jackson is quite the musician. He also is on the case of the smoke Nazis having written “Smoking, Lies and the Nanny State”. Jackson is not a smoker, but he does not like government intrusion into our lives. Reason’s Hit and Run blog

http://reason.com/blog/2011/11/10/post-punk-icon-joe-jackson-on-the-nanny

Interviewed Jackson recently and he talked about smoking, the loss of freedom and his music. Enjoy and Happy New Year.

Todays review is another cigar I used to frequent years ago. Like the Padron 3000, it slipped off of my radar and I never reviewed it. I rediscovered the Hoyo de Tradicion earlier this week while scavenging the shelves at Ed’s shop. As always, I paired this cigar with water, and here are my thoughts…

Wrapper: Honduras, Jamastran Viso Rosado

Binder: Habano Connecticut

Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican

Size: Epicure 5.25 x 50

Price: $5.70

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The wrapper looked good, with minimal veins and the appearance of no seams. The wrapper had an odor of poop, or barnyard as they call it. The foot had a similar smell, just milder. The cigar was solidly packed, and got a bit tighter feeling towards the foot. The pre-light draw was a tad bit stiff, but within my tolerances. The pre-light flavor was a sweet bitterness.

The draw loosened up after I got past that tight spot in the foot. The burn required no corrections, and the ash held for just over an inch.

Flavor:

The first third started off with a smooth earthiness. After about an inch it developed into a bitter coffee with a tinge of sweetness. There was an easy peppery spice when passing smoke through the sinus.

The second third saw the flavor profile come together nicely. The sweetness became a definite dark chocolate with a nutty component. The aftertaste was had a cinnamony tingle. The peppery spice calmed down and became background notes. Simple but good.

The last third had an increase in cinnamon. At times it overtook the sweet dark chocolate, but most of the time they were equals.  The spice was especially noticeable when retrohaling. This continued until the cigar was done.

Conclusion:

This was a good medium bodied cigar. Doing this review reminded me of why I used to smoke these fairly often years ago. Sure there is no WOW factor, but it had good flavors and is pretty consistent from cigar to cigar. Definitely worth trying.