Tag Archives: Stixx

A few weeks ago La Sirena Cigars announced the acquisition of Old School Cigar Co. and the addition of their three lines to their own. I received samples and eagerly smoked a Jaxx and a Stixx after a week in the humidor. I didn’t comment on them here, because something was a little off, there was an odd aftertaste that was quite off-putting. I had a hard time believing that two cigars made in different factories could share that one odd aftertaste. I mentioned this to Max at Team La Sirena, and he suggested some additional humidor time, as he had noted some humidification issues himself.  Being that I am of the mind that every cigar is someone’s baby, and who the heck am I to pass judgement anyway, I took his advice. This week I decided to revisit the line, especially after smoking the Jaxx LT, which, according to Arielle herself, was the reason she picked up the line in the first place.

The Jaxx LT I smoked is an Ecuador Connecticut wrapped 5½ x 50 robusto with a Nicaraguan binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers made at the Placencia factory.  It’s a beautiful cigar, very uniform in shape and color. The burn and draw were about as perfect as any cigar I’ve had, it was really a pleasure to smoke. I enjoyed the distinctive grassy flavor the Ecuador Connecticut wrapper provides, it’s not nearly as grassy as a US Connecticut, I’ll call it a muted grassiness.  It wasn’t a particularly mild cigar, it had a nice load of flavor and was very entertaining.  It certainly held my interest and is a cigar I look forward to smoking these again.  There are really mild Connecticuts an there are cigars like this one that have a good body and flavor.  Recommended.

Tuesday I picked up the Stixx Belicoso for the re-try.  This one is made at the Quesada factory in the Domincan Republic. This belicoso is more of a pyramid in that it’s 6″ x 52, but that’s not really important. The wrapper is a dark Brazilian Broadleaf Maduro with a Dominican binder and Dominican Criollo and Habana Vuelta Bajo fillers. What is important is that it was a totally different cigar than the first one I smoked.  This one burned well too, and the draw was firm, and I smoked it until my fingers burned.  I got a nice sweet flavor throughout the cigar, quite likely due to the Brazilian Broadleaf wrapper.  I was very pleasantly surprised with this cigar, a couple extra weeks to settle made all the difference in the world.

Tonight I figured I’d complete the hat trick, or the trifecta if you prefer horse racing over ice hockey metaphors. The Jaxx Toro is made in Nicaragua at Rocky Patel’s factory, but I won’t hold that against it (It’s a joke! I’m kidding! Just because I don’t smoke a bunch of RP cigars doesn’t mean they aren’t making quality cigars!) The wrapper is a nice, dark Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro, which is appealing to me. The binder is listed as Nicaraguan Banda Criolla, the fillers are Nicaraguan Seco and Ligero from Jalapa, and Brazilian Mata Fina Viso. The wrapper was slightly lighter at the head and became darker toward the foot. It smoked quite well and was very enjoyable. Again, the extra couple weeks of rest did wonders for this and it’s Stixx sibling.  All three are solid cigars that I wouldn’t mind smoking on a regular basis, and I won’t hesitate to buy these when I see them in the shop.

Many thanks to Max and Arielle at La Sirena Cigars for sharing these samples with me and for consulting on the initial experience. I’m so happy these redeemed themselves in my eyes, at least.  I look forward to the future offerings from this company, it’s my understanding that the La Sirena line is, in fact, moving production to La Zona, since I’ve been having very good experiences with cigars from that factory. I also still have to ship out the last contest prize, my apologies for dragging my heels on this, but I will get it packed up and out this week.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig