The Ashton Estate Sun Grown, Ashton's own Opus X. And if I am well informed this is actually Opus X filler and binder with a unique Dominican wrapper, grown by the Fuentes, and never been used on any cigar before. Like any cigar with the Ashton name, these cigars are made by Fuente.



The cigar looks great, a beautiful light brown colored wrapper with just one thin vein. The band is awesome and I smell a strong barnyard smell with some ammonia. The construction feels good and the band on the cigar is a piece of art. This 6¾x49 cigar had a great predraw with a nice tobacco flavor.



I taste coffee and an earthy flavor with some pepper and some caramel. The pepper is also in the aftertaste and it is strong, red pepper. Soon I taste leather, wood and pepper. After half an inch I taste leather with a nice acidic flavor, herbs and some pepper in the aftertaste. After a third I taste leather with wood and some citrus. The aftertaste is now mild creamy with a herbal flavor.



Slowly the herbal flavor grows in strength and become the main flavor with some creamy leather on the background. There are spicy herbs in the aftertaste with some citrus. I also taste some chocolate. The aftertaste slowly releases a red pepper flavor. The main flavor now changes to herbal leather with some citrus and pepper while the aftertaste is herbal. After two thirds I taste leather with wood, some citrus and herbs on the aftertaste. Near the end I taste mild creamy leather with herbs.



This cigar lasted me for a full and pleasant two hours. The draw is great and the light colored ash is compact and firm. The burn is good. This cigar is medium bodied but full flavored.



Would I buy this cigar again? I will, due to the price not by the box, but a single every now and then

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10

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At intertabac in Germany I got a few samples from Hawk, the Norwegian owner of the Dominican cigar company Chess. One of those samplers was the 4x64 Chess Extreme torpedo I. The cigar is blended with years old Nicaraguan ligero and corojo tobaccos, a Dominican binder and a corojo wrapper that had been aged 5 years before being used on this fat and short, Nub like, torpedo.



The cigar has a light brown oil wrapper and the fat torpedo feels well constructed. I see one long vein running over the wrapper. I smell a strong wood smell coming from the cigar. The predraw is fine and I taste wood with tobacco.



I taste a sweet and musty earthy flavor with a hint of chocolate. I also get a bit of metalic flavor that you get from corojo tobacco every now and then. After half an inch I taste lots of sugar with some musty wood.


After a third I taste wood with herbs and still some sweetness. The cigar is spicy, with some pepper on the background. After two thirds the cigar is spicy but musty with lots of red pepper.



This cigar lasted me for fifty minutes. The draw is great and I got a decent amount of smoke from the cigar. The ash is light gray and firm. The burn was a bit crooked though. This cigar is full flavored and medium to full bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? I don't think so, the blend didn't meet my preferences and I am not a 60+ RG aficionado

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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A friend gave me this cigar, a brand I never heard of, and when I googled I found out that these are the houseblend of the Black Cat cigar company, a B&M in Pennsylvania. They have several blends, the one I had was the Dominican No.4, a 4¾x50 robusto blended by Henke Kelner, who's famous for his work for Davidoff and Avo. The cigar has a Connecticut shade wrapper and is a Dominican puro.



The wrapper is mocha brown with a few thin veins and looks dry. The cigar has a musty wood smell. The construction is good but the predraw is a bit on the hard side and is spicy and musty.



The cigar tastes like musty and sweet cardboard, mainly sweet and smooth. After an inch the cigar gets a little bit spicy.



There is absolutely nothing going on, flavor wise until I reach the two third mark, after that I taste a bit if a sweet licorice flavor.



This cigar lasted me a long fifty minutes, if it wasn't for a review I would have tossed it. I got a reasonable amount of smoke which is medium thick. The ash is light colored with some dark spots and it is firm. The burn is great. This smooth cigar is mild bodied and medium flavored.



Would I buy this cigar again? No way.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7/ 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 5 / 10
Aroma second part: 5 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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A few years ago I got in touch with Bucanero Cigars and they shipped me a nice sampler in exchange for reviews. I have to admit I am ashamed that I haven't reviewed all of their cigars yet, time to make up for it and start smoking and writing. I picked the 5x50 Treasures of Costa Rica robusto, a Costa Rican puro, made with 3 years aged tobacco, add the two years that it has been stored in my humidor and you can calculate the age of the tobacco.



First thing that stands out is the band, it's big and it's golden. No print but a relieved surface, I like the idea but noticed that it is hard to read when it's sunny. The wrapper is chocolate brown, shiny and oily. I smell a barnyard smell. The construction is good. The predraw is fine and I taste raisin with some pepper on the tip of my tongue.



I taste an acidic, mild metallic, citrus flavor with earth and coffee. The sharp edges fade away immediately, now I taste a mild citrus flavor with some coffee. The flavors are quite comforting. After half an inch I taste citrus with earth and chocolate.



After a third I taste less of the citrus and more wood with herbs, pepper and a tiny bit of chocolate. Halfway I taste wood with citrus and some nuts in the aftertaste



The cigar lasts me for seventy-five minutes. I got a lot of medium thick smoke. The draw is great and the burn is good. The ash is dark, coarse but firm. This cigar is full flavored and medium bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? I will, I like Costa Rican tobacco and think it is way underrated.

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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I think I bought this budget cigar in Antwerp, at Huis Verloo, but I am not too sure anymore. I know a friend of mine advised to give it a try, and so I bought this cellophane wrapped 5x50 cigar from Honduras with the nice, Zorro like, band.



The cigar has an oily wrapper with a few big veins. The cigar has a strong barnyard aroma. De construction feels good but the predraw is a bit tight. I taste dry and spicy tobacco.



I taste a mild sweet coffee and after half an inch some nutmeg with wood and a little splash of cinnamon. The flavors are dry and nice.



There isn’t much development in the flavors until two thirds, when I only taste a dry wood flavour which is nice but a bit boring.



This cigar lasted me for seventy-five minutes. The draw is good and I got a lot of smoke. The ash is white with some black spots and firm. The burn is straight. This cigar is medium to full flavoured and medium bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? I might

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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