Archive for the ‘family’ Category

Roly (Natural)

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

The Roly is a mixed filler bundle cigar by The Reyes Family. They come in a natural or maduro wrapper. Today I’m doing the natural wrapped version. I paired this cigar with water. So let’s get right to my thoughts on the Roly.

 

Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra

Binder: Honduras

Filler: Dominican

Size: 6.5 x 46

Price: Around $40.00 for a bundle of 25

 

Pre-smoke & Construction:

The first thing I noticed about the cigar is its rough appearance. The wrapper is lumpy with wrinkles and small veins. When I squeezed the cigar, it was fairly loose with a few tight spots. The wrapper and foot had a slight sweet woody odor. The pre-light draw was good with slight resistance, and had mild woody flavors.

I did no burn corrections, and the ash held for about a half of an inch.

1RolyNatural

Flavor:

The first third had mild earthy notes with a very very slight spice when passing smoke through the nose. A toasty nuttiness came about as this third came to a close. Simple but decent.

2RolyNatural

The second third developed a little. A slight butter with creaminess combined with a mild earthiness. Those same hints of nutty flavors remained and complete the flavor profile.

3RolyNatural

Although the last third didn’t have major changes, it was enjoyable. The nutty, buttery aftertaste stuck and coated the inside of the mouth. The mild earthy notes remained and hid behind the creaminess. The spice I mentioned before became a little sweet, and had a toasty finish.

4RolyNatural

Conclusion:

This was a decent mild to upper mild bodied cigar. As with many bundle cigars, there wasn’t a ton of changes or complex flavors. But for under $2.00 a stick, I think it easily meets its price point. There was no harshness or bad flavors. I prefer to pair a cigar like this with coffee in the morning. The Roly is worth trying if you enjoy a mild, simple cigar.

Reyes Family-Cuba Aliados Miami

Monday, January 25th, 2010

I’ve always been a fan of the Cuba Alidos, which is what drew me to today’s review. The Miami addition sports a different blend and presentation. As its namesake suggests, these are hand rolled in Miami instead of Honduras. To get maximum flavor for the review, I paired with water and got to it…

 

Wrapper: Habano

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: Robusto 5 x 50

Price: $6 to $7.00

1CubaAliadosMiami

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

After removing the cedar sleeve, I was able to inspect the nice looking wrapper. It looked smooth, with only a couple medium veins. I could only detect mild cedar and natural tobacco odor when sniffing the wrapper. The foot had a similar smell, with an added earthy odor. For the most part, the cigar was packed evenly, with a couple hard and soft spots. This wasn’t anything of concern. The pre-light draw had just the right amount of resistance, and had earthy, cedary notes.

The burn requires a few corrections in the first two thirds, and the ash held for about an inch.

2CubaAliadosMiami

Flavor:

The first third opened up with a smooth cedary flavor. I picked up sweet, smooth spicy notes when exhaling through the sinus. As I progressed further, a familiar and nice pepper entered the picture that reminded me there is some Nicaraguan tobacco in this thing.

3CubaAliadosMiami

The second this kept the dominant woody flavor. The sweet peppery spice would be almost non existent in one puff, and reappear in the next. The smoke feel was somewhat creamy with a nice aftertaste.

4CubaAliadosMiami

Again… Like before, the dominant flavor was cedary wood for the most part. The pepper went away, but the zing remained when exhaling through the nose. At times, sweet mocha like flavors would appear and battle with cedar to dominate the flavor profile.

5CubaAliadosMiami

Conclusion:

This was a good medium to full bodied smoke and was very enjoyable. I can and will smoke these again should I run across them. I can only suggest you give the Cuba Aliados Miami a try.

Padron Family Reserve 45 Years

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

To finish up the new years weekend, I dug out today’s review. I believe this is available in a natural or maduro wrapper. Ed had the maduro version, so that is what I bought a couple months ago. Just like the other high end Padron cigars, this one is definitely priced out of my daily smoke rotation. With the high price comes high expectations. Let’s see how this Padron rates.

 

Wrapper: Nicaraguan

Binder & Filler: Nicaraguan

Size: 6 x 52

Price: $26.00

 

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark maduro wrapper almost looked like dark chocolate. It had a few wrinkles and small veins here and there, but overall looked great. The wrapper and foot had a very slight sweet odor. When squeezing the cigar from head to foot, it was very firm and consistent. Despite this, the draw was perfect and had a slight sweet earthy taste.

The burn required a couple corrections in the first and second third. The ash held for about an inch.

1Padron45Years

Flavor:

The first third greeted me with a smooth sweetness. Despite the smoothness, I could feel that Nicaraguan bite just as well. An espresso/coffee type of flavor joined in with a sweet spice. Under it all were very slight earthy notes. As I dug further into this third, the sweetness revealed itself as a cocoa flavor. The smoke feel became a little thicker and took on a slightly creamy feel. Very nice…

2Padron45Years

The second third maintained a very similar flavor profile to the first third. A cocoa flavor mixed with espresso or coffee were in the front. A smooth peppery spice was detected when passing the smoke though the nose. The earthy undertones almost went away. Every now and then I picked up on them though.

3Padron45Years

The last third changed up a little bit. Espresso dominated the flavor profile, with the cocoa following behind. The body and strength increased and packed a small punch. The Nicaraguan spice was in full effect, but it was very smooth.

4Padron45Years

Conclusion:

First the good: This was a very good full bodied cigar. Overall the flavors were very refined and enjoyable. The bad: The initial burn corrections were a little annoying, and not characteristic of Padron. My other complaint is the price. At $26.00 a stick, I simply don’t think it’s worth it.

In the end, this was a really good refined cigar. Price aside, I think this is worth trying.

Alec Bradley Family Blend

Monday, September 28th, 2009

While Jerry is on a short leave from The Stogie Review tending to the new arrival in his family, Matt and I are attempting to fill in for him. I’m only posting the review here at Tomscigars.com for archive reasons.

See what we thought of the Alec Bradley Family blend. This review is featured at The Stogie Review, don’t forget to visit by clicking HERE.

MP3 Audio Only

Reyes Family Premier-A year Later

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

I’m sure many of you saw Ed and I review this cigar back in July of 2008. Unfortunately, we had a bad experience and the review reflected that (unlike our review of the Cienfuegos, which went great). When I saw the Reyes Family Premier recently at a local shop, I had to buy a couple sticks and give it a second try. This time around, I am without Ed, and I tried the robusto size. Sticking with my routine, I am pairing up with water. Let’s see how the Reyes Family Premier goes almost a year later.

Wrapper: Maduro Ecuador Sumatra

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua (Condega and Jalapa)

Size: Robusto 5 x 50

Price: 4-$5.00

1ReyesPremier

Pre-smoke & Construction:

The wrapper looked a bit rugged, with medium sized veins and a few large ones. I squeezed the cigar and found it to be a bit too spongy for my liking. Sniffing the wrapper revealed a sweet woody smell, while the foot smelled of wood and rich soil. The pre-light draw was a bit loose and tasted earthy combined with wood. The burn required many corrections in the first two thirds. It really got on my nerves. Eventually it evened out in the last third. The ash held for about an inch, but was loose and I didn’t trust it. Overall, construction was shoddy.

 

Flavor:

The first third began with an earthy base flavor. As I progressed into this third, mocha notes overtook the earthy flavors.

2ReyesPremier

The second third continued with the mocha and earthy notes. They played tag with each other on which would be prominent flavor. Pepper entered and was pretty smooth and easy. As things came to a close, a decent woody flavor entered the mix.

3ReyesPremier

The last third developed a coffeeish flavor that overtook the mocha. This revealed the woody flavor that went away for a little while. The pepper went away , and with a little over an inch to go, it was time to put the cigar down.

4ReyesPremier

Conclusion:

This cigar definitely went better then the review Ed and I did last June. I didn’t get those nasty ammonia flavors this time around. I can’t really complain about the flavor profile at all. It hovered in the medium to upper medium body range, and tasted good. As stated earlier, my only complaints relate to the construction. Gladly I can say at least the robusto size is worth trying.

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