This cigar was gifted to me a couple of months ago, and I’ve been holding on to it until the right occassion. As it turns out, I needed a cigar like this last night.

I’ve been a bit concerned about the humidity in my humidor, we’ve been keeping the windows open and the humidity has been all over the place.

I Headed out to the tasting booth, and for the occasion I poured a tall Amber Bock. The pre light inspection had me a bit excited, as the construction and look of this cigar was nearly perfect. The wrapper was maduro and there weren’t too many veins. Once I removed the celophane wrapper, I caught whiff of an aroma that was appealing, and was a bit more pronounced than other cigars.

The rigidity of the cigar was a bit firmer than other cigars, but wasn’t “solid”. After cutting it took me a bit longer than normal to get the cigar lit, and once I had it going I was smoking a very good cigar.

The air was still and so the smoke hung around, and there was a lot of it.

As I smoked the cigar, I became bored. It was getting late and I needed to head in and give baths to my boys before they headed up to bed. About an hour after lighting, I had to leave it and it wasn’t even halfway done yet. What a waste.

This was an excellent cigar that shouldn’t be rushed. Don’t get it out unless you’ve got a couple of hours to sit and enjoy it. This would be a perfect cigar for the Porch. I’m giving it an A-.

Posted by Sam

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I had one of these tonight during the Monday night football game. All of my pre-smoke inspections passed with flying colors. No hard spots, not many veins, good aroma etc. It lit well, stayed lit and burned evenly the whole way. It had a nice draw with lots of smoke. BUT……It tasted very dry and only lasted about a half an hour. It is one of those cigars that you just know will give you a headache if you finish it, which I did. And it gave me a headache and I can’t explain why. Maybe some of you more experienced cigar smokers can explain it to me.

Not a bad cigar by any means but it didn’t impress me much. My experience with Perdomo cigars have always been good but this one just didn’t do it for me. A well constructed cigar that performed well but it left my palate with a dry aftertaste that made me wish I picked a different one to smoke. I’ll probably not buy these again.

Posted by Mr. Porch

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With nothing on TV the other night after working a 3-11 shift, I grabbed a cold beer and hit up my humidor. I got a very interesting looking cigar a few weeks back in a sampler pack called El Mejor Emerald. It was interesting looking because it had some of the long fillers hanging out the end of the cigar. At first I thought the wrapper wasn’t long enough or they didn’t cut the longfillers after they rolled it.

Anyway, I went ahead with my usual ritual, it passed the squeeze test with no hard spot and no apparent visual defects, except for the ugly looking end that wasn’t wrapped with the rest of the cigar. So I lit it in the usual way, with a butane lighter. To my surprise, it lit just fine. And stayed lit. I was a little surprised. It had a mild to medium flavor with a good draw. I noticed that it gave out more smoke than most cigars, which I liked. It was better than I thought it would be which reminds me of that old addage; “Don’t judge a cigar by it’s wrapper”.

This is one I will be looking for in the future. It lasted about 50 minutes and had a good even burn all the way down. It was well worth the $2.50 per stick I spent on them.

Posted by Mr. Porch

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This was my first Fonseca ever and I got it as part of a sampler I ordered from Cigars International. A very good looking cigar with a pretty simple looking band. Connecticut wrapper with very few veins. It cut and lit very easily and I was getting the impression that this may be a pretty decent cigar. It had a nice easy draw with a mouthful of smoke each time. Just a little tang on the palate and a good even burn all the way down. I thought it was a very good, social cigar that lasted about 40 minutes. A nice introduction to the Fonseca line. I will put these on my “Will purchase again” list.

A couple of days after smoking it, I was talking to my brother Dave on the phone. (I live in Ohio and he lives in California, and we try to smoke a long distance cigar together about once a month.)  He ordered the same sampler I did and since I liked the one I smoked, I recommended the Fonseca to him that night. But he wasn’t as lucky as I was with his. He said it lit well and had a good draw, but he was experiencing some real bad burn issues. About half way down it started to burn uneven and eventually  one side of it stopped burning all together. We both agreed that it was a good tasting cigar but he was a little disappointed with his and will probably not buy them again.

These cigars are either very inconsistant, or one of us had a fluke. I will make it a point to get another one to see if these are cigars that I would recommend. My rating is pending on the next one I get.

Posted by Mr. Porch

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A quiet night at work allowed for a non-yard gar experience. This time, I chose an Aurora 1495 series, one that I got with my powerhouse 16 sampler.

I settled in with a cup of fresh coffee, and performed my pre-light inspection. The natural wrapper beared a fair amount of veins, but not too much. The hardness of the cigar was consistent throughout and I could find no visual defects of any kind. After cutting and lighting, I noticed the draw was rather loose.

As for the taste, I decided that this cigar was decent and nothing jumped out at me as for flavor and early on, it seemed as though it lacked smoothness. The burn was even and the ash was very uniform. I had no trouble at all. This is a very well constructed cigar.

After an hour, I was finished with it. This cigar, in my opinion is better than a cheap-o yard gar, but not one I would run out and buy a box of. If the price was right, I might buy again. I’m scoring the Aurora 1945 series a B-

Posted by Sam

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The remnants of Hurricane Ike made it to my home Sunday, and the winds destroyed the neighborhood and left us without power for five days. I had nothing more than yard gars and warm beer during a week of cleanup. Tonight, after I put the canopy back on the Tasting Booth I settled down with a mug of Folgers coffee and a Man O War Cigar.

The natural wrapper appeared to be very well crafted with no obvious defects. I gave this beauty my typical pre-light squeeze test, and revealed that the cigar was not consistent in density. It felt a bit lumpy in areas. This lumpiness did not translate to problems as I found out.

After lighting and I began to enjoy this cigar, the flavor seemed a bit stronger than I was expecting (Not that it was a bad thing). The flavor was good, and I even made note that the aftertaste was pleasant. It didn’t carry a stale aftertaste at all.

The burn was even and required no touch ups or relights during the whole session, and I dumped it after about an hour. It was truly a good smoke. I must have inhaled too much because I felt a bit nauseated afterward, even while composing this review.

I’m giving this cigar a solid B+. It was a great cigar, but didn’t impress me enough to warrant an A.

Posted by Sam

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