Hit & Run | CigarCraig's Blog

I finished off the sampler of Panacea Classic line cigars I bought from them a couple weeks back. I’m to understand there are a few shops that carry the Flatbed Cigar Co. line, but they mostly are selling direct via the website. I’ve placed a couple orders and both were easy transactions and the cigars came well packaged, presented well and in a timely manner. Of course, the company is located barely an hour from me, which helps with the shipping. I’m going ot have to arange a visit one of these days! I had the Blue Label and Black Label left, and smoked the Panacea Blue Label on Thursday. This was the Toro size, a 6″ x 52, with a Cameroon wrapper. I had thought that the Green Label was my favorite, bt I might have to amend that after smoking this Blue Label. This was a delicious cigar, it had a nice white sugar sweetness, along with the nuttiness I get from Cameroon. This was a fine, medium bodied cigar that I really enjoyed. I might have to see if they offer a sampler of these like the Green Label sampler I got!

The Panacea Black Label, which I keep wanting to call the White, I guess because I associate Connecticut wrapped cigars with white. Probably something Davidoff and Montecristo put into my head. The Black Label was their first line launched in 2007, If I’m not mistaken. Like I mentioned, it has an Ecuador Connecticut shade wrapper, and the rest is Dominican and Nicaraguan. I had the Perfecto shape, which is 6″ x 51. I was impressed with the flavor, it had a hint of that white sugar I got with the Blue Label, along with some of the classic shade grass and nuts. I wish this had a better draw, I thought it would open up after the tapered foot burned down, but it really didn’t. This would have been an outstanding cigar otherwise, certainly a Connecticut I’d smoke again. After smoking thought the line, I think I’m most looking forward to sampling the Green and Blue Labels again, or maybe I’ll explore their Panacea Grande line. Good stuff.

Yesterday I got some yard work and errands done, and spent a little time i the afternoon with a Room 101 Hit & Run Redux Robusto. This 5″ x 50 has aSan Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder, and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania fillers. This is made at the William Ventura factory in Tamboril, DR. I have to start out saying two things: Is it weird that a 5″ x 50 seems like a small cigar now days? It used to be y go to size, now I avoid them because they seem to smoke too quickly. I suppose an hour isn’t that quick, but I guess I like to spend a little more time smoking now than I used to. Second, I have not historically cared for a lot of cigars from William Ventura. I’m not entirely sure why that is, they seem to smoke well and have a large following, I just can’t seem to get into them. Given the blend, I should have really liked this cigar, and I did like it, just found it a little underwhelming. It had a nice toasty cocoa, almost a dark chocolate flavor. The presentation is nice, and I’ll give another one a try after a while.

Finally, I smoked the Diesel Vintage Series Natural in the Robusto Gordo size. This is 5″ x 56, made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua, with an Ecuador wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and five to seven year old Nicaraguan Jalapa fillers. I’ve smoked a lot of Diesel cigars over the years, And I really liked the original Diesel Vintage, which had a San Andrés wrapper. I have a rather basic palate, I got some saltiness, along with some citrus and nuts. Burn and draw were exceptional, it was a pleasurable smoke. I would suggest you read my buddy Kaplowitz’ review of this if you would like a more colorful description. I hit the basics, Kap digs deep into the flavors. This probably falls near the bottom of my list of favorite Diesel cigars through no fault of the cigar, it is a more refined Diesel, which misses the point of the brand in my eye. I think there’s some 13 year old Unholy Cocktails in the humidor, I might have to smoke one later.