Another month down, the last three months have flown by, it’s getting to be the time of year that things can just slow down a little! I could stand for the summer months to not pass by so quickly! My friends at Best Cigar Prices recently advertised some ridiculous deals on some five packs, and I was surprised to see some Ortega Cubao Esteli cigars listed. I have a soft spot for Ortega cigars, going back to the early days of CigarCraig.com. I haven’t talked to Eddie in a long time, but he seems to have a retail site that’s still out there, which, ironically, does not have any Ortega cigars listed. I’ll have to drop him a note and see what’s up. Anyway, the Cubao Esteli has a. Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I sampled the 6″ x 60 Gordo size, and I think this is a really good $5 cigar! It burned properly, had nice nutty, clean flavors and was really enjoyable. I really need to reach out to Eddie and see what’s up with these, and see if the Serie D is still around anywhere.
Here’s an interview with Eddie from the 2013 IPCPR show:
I picked up a Zino Nicaragua locally recently, and gave it a try this week. This has been around a while, I even saw the Zino trailer at the Smoke-onos event last year, but this is the first I’ve smoked. It was a little startling a few years ago when this high-class brand was released as almost a budget brand, with a bright yellow band. People have raved about this so I figured I’d better give it a shot. It’s got an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and a filler blend from Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. I smoked the Toro, which is 6″ x 50. This isn’t a super mild cigar, it has some nutty flavors with some cream. It didn’t have any spice, but it had some body, not strong, but you knew you were smoking something. Overall, it was enjoyable, and a good sub-$10 cigar these days is a good find.
Last year when I ran into Osvaldo Morales at the The Cigar & Lifestyle Fest at the Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. he gave me a cigar with the condition that I review it on his site. I’ll paste an edited version of this after I finish this post. I hardly consider myself a reviewer, I just write stuff about cigars, but I paid a little extra attention to this one, and put it off for a while because of the pressure. This cigar is the OM Cigars Essential Blend Reserved and the cellophane was a deep amber. Did the cello start out clear or was it yellowed with age? I don’t know. I believe this to have been a product of the Artista factory, as I believe many of his various Essential Blends are. I also believe he told me this was in the neighborhood. of 20 years old. I’ve smoke my share of 20+ year old cigars, and this had an impressive amount of flavor. It started out bitter, with an almost cloying oily meatiness. You know when you get a glob of tar from a cigar and it gets on you lips? Not nearly that bad, but is wasn’t what I’d call pleasant. I soldiered on. It continued with the umami taste as the bitterness tempered. I rather expect some refinement from a cigar of this alleged age, this one was wild. I’ve only been smoking cigars for 30 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a cigar that tasted like this one. Not my cup of tea but obviously someone thinks this is exceptional. I have never tried any of his other Essential Blends, maybe if I run across some I’ll give them a shot, but I’m not going out of my way.
That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
