I finally got around to trying the three cigars I’ve been looking forward to smoking this week. I picked up a few of these locally, and will definitely be revisiting these soon. It’s not often I get three winners in a row like this. I started with the one I was most interested in smoking, the Tatuaje Tuxtla Avion 13. They had all three sizes, and I had a choice between picking up a couple of each size, or trying three different cigars and I chose the later. I would have said that I made the wrong choice, but I have no regrets. The Avion 13 size is a perfecto shape, 6 7/8″ x 52. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I’ve heard good things about this cigar, Pete talks about it in the video I did with him at the PCA show (which is my second most watched video on Youtube now). I’ve smoked, and enjoyed, an Avion before, but now I’m not sure which one it was, I think it might have been the 2012 version. Sometimes I expect the Mexican wrapper to overpower the blend of a cigar. This cigar had incredible flavors, sure it had the espresso and cocoa I expected, but they were refined, slightly different. It’s a beautiful cigar, and I see myself picking up the T110 and 7th sizes to see how they stack up. The Avion size was pretty amazing though.
Another cigar I found that was on my wishlist was the Alec Bradley Double Broadleaf from their Experimental Series. I got the Gran Corona size, which is 7″ x 46, a neat size. This has a Connecticut seed Broadleaf wrapper and binder, which are grown in Honduras. I suppose this answers questions about how in a world of Broadleaf shortages, they managed to make a double Broadleaf. I liked the size of this cigar, but I’m really curious how this smokes in a larger ring. They had Robustos and Gordos, looks like there’s more cigars I have to get! If you like Broadleaf, I think you’ll love this cigar. It’s rich with sweet cocoa and coffee, dark fruit, and some spice. I can’t help but think what I perceived as spice may have been the sharpness that a narrower ring might have from burning hotter, I’ll let you know when I try different sizes, which I expect to be smoother. Winner number two this week. Good smoke.
This last one had some controversy surrounding it. I understand having to protect one’s trademark, but it’s really hard for me to confuse the band on the CAO BX3 with the Opus X. Of course, if Fuente let this one go, someone else might take it further until they actually did make a band that could be confused. Both Fuente and Pete Johnson are quite good at protecting their marques. That being said, nobody is picking up a BX3 and saying “is this an Opus X?”. The BX3 has three Brazilian tobaccos in the blend, one of which is the dark, oily Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper. It also has an Arapiraca binder and Brazilian, Honduran, Mexican and Nicaraguan fillers. When I lit this up I didn’t think I was going to like it. It had a bitterness that was off putting, but eventually became quite enjoyable. I got the 5″ x 52 Robusto, which I don’t generally buy anymore, but it must have been the only size they had. This is loaded with flavor, and after the initial shock, it turned into a very satisfying cigar. It was like good, black coffee, with some earthiness. It certainly wasn’t my favorite of the three mentioned here, but it was quite enjoyable, and different from, say, the Brazilia or any of the Basin series.
Friday I posted about a contest, so far everyone who’s entered will be a winner unless things pick up. These are pretty cool prizes, and a decent charity, so please have a look and get in on the action. Go back one post, or click HERE to get details! that’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
