Cigar of the Year, lol

Everywhere you look on the internet, where people pretend to know what they are talking about when it comes to Habanos, people are picking their cigar of the year.  And since no one pretends to know what they are talking about more than me, why not pick one myself.  Complicating this effort is the fact that this blog is not about going out and buying the latest thing, or whoring myself out to manufacturers or vendors who send me the lastest thing to try.  Sorry sis, for using bad language.  So how does one go about picking the cigar of the year when you have only tasted three cigars date coded 2010?  Well, around here it's as simple as thinking back over the cigars I was most impressed with last year and just laying it out there.  The votes are in, it didn't take long as I was the only one voting.  It's also important to say that I don't care if the cigar was a 1998, it was eligible here, as this blog is mostly dedicated to aged cigars.  The cigar that performed the best, gave up the most smoke and tasted better than all others was the 4 dollar H. Upmann Coronas Major in tubos. 


I smoked five in all to come up with an aggregate review on it, and it rose head and shoulders above the Cohiba Robusto, Trinidad Robusto T, and dozens of other great cigars which failed to perform to expectations.  Over and over in 2010, I smoked legendary cigars that were not worth my time.  This cigar was WORTH MAKING TIME FOR. 

It's packaging makes it a great cigar to carry around, the attractive tubo has been re-designed competely to be a much better value aesthetically as well.  It offers up loads of creamy, rich smoke brimming with espresso, chocolate, roasted tobacco, tea, twang and more.  It's a mareva, which to me has always been the best cigar for a quick smoke that goes JUST that extra inch when you really want it and is totally pitchable when you don't.  The price ranges from a low of 2.80 to 6 dollars each depending on where you find them.
I will not go so far as to say that this is a better cigar than the Cohiba Robusto, but over and over it performed better than the one Cohiba Robusto I had in 2010, as well as the ONE Trinidad Robusto T  I had, both of which are held up as superior cigars.  But I will pull no punches when it comes to "Cigar of the Year" for the OLS Smokes Cigars blog.  The Coronas Major was the best cigar I smoked in 2010.  For a follower that asked, THANKS for asking about the date codes, I had assumed they were all 2010s.  Turns out they are only technically 2010s, they are date coded NOV 2009, lol.  Sorry for the mis-representation.

Checking in on The Duke

This is such a giant cigar, it's almost comical, but it continues to impress every time I smoke it. This one was loaded to overflowing with cuban twang and coffee notes.   There remains this red wine flavor in the background that switches from dark and smoky to recent, sweetened fruit.  Still it retains that dry character of a fine red wine.   Barely creamy, no tea notes, perhaps about to age into a rounder, creamier profile in years to come.  The draw is too airy to suit me, but it has only minimally impacted the burn and it burns reasonably straight all round it's circumference.  As it passes into halfway, the strength picks up and it gets less sweet and more into bitter herbs and chocolate.  And just like that it gets creamy.  Wasting a lot of heat while I air this smoke out of my living room.  But it's worth it. 

As things have tightened up for smokers, these are pretty much past the discount stage and are now full on havana currency.  It's hard to imagine that these will pass quietly into Edicion Limitada history.  It'd be nice to have a few boxes of these.  For someone who rarely has any money or interest for ELs, these are an exception.  While these are still there to be had, might I suggest shopping?  I peel off the EL gold band and tuck in for more smoke.  It gets tart and green indicating a bit of trouble with balance here at the one year old mark.  The ash is salty as I accidentally put that end into my mouth.  Nice. 

I am not a fan of boxes of ten in ELs.  They are more 'afforable' but they lose that feeling of  'having some' too quickly.  If I had 25 of these, I would be down to 23, not 7.  That's a little sad.  Of course, I never would have bought these were they only available in 25s.  The draw on this one tightened up a bit making it more smokable.  Sipping smoke off a stovepipe draw is no way to enhance combustion.  Although flavor concentration is aided somewhat.  I'd like this smoke a notch tighter, although that could only be helped by humidity, and I dried this one out for two days+.   Taken as a review of three cigars over two months, I'd notch this smoke at 91 points.  There is so much power in this smoke it could go on for decades.  I think I would put them in cabinets as fast as possible were that  my intent.

Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill 2006

Decided to blog this one out, it was one of the cigars I saved for myself after meeting up with that crowd of snowball-throwing firemen outside Charlotte.  Listening to Issac Hayes, "Walk on By" off of the Stax 50th Anniversary discs.  One thing about living where I have for a number of years is that I got to meet a few of the all-time greats of soul, one being Issac Hayes, twice.  Now he is gone, and I never thought much of his music, I had only heard the theme from "Shaft" which is a sho-nuff classic, but not a singing tour-de-force by any means.  But this song is tight.  Met Al Green, too, even saw him preach once, which he did about once a month.  A surprising number of white folks, as we are called, in the church that day.  When I asked him about that, he said, "it's one of the blessings of this church, we get all kinda people in up in here, and even when they find out I ain't here, they still stick around.  We do it right in this house." 

Where was I??  Oh yeah, the RyJ Short Churchill.   I've had a few of these, this one was the best.  But it was a puzzler, too.  It was bright and rich and much more refined than the last time I had one which was right after they came out.  I couldn't see what the big deal was, in fact I didn't even like them.  But this cigar has toasted tobacco and coffee in abundance, with a core of leather and the puzzler...what IS that flavor?  I don't have a great palate, and I do not know how to read a flavor wheel.  The only clue I have is that people always describe 'black cherry' and I don't get that.  I have had several cases of Chek Black Cherry Soda in my young life, but never tasted it in a cigar.  Well, maybe that's what this taste is.  It COULD be black cherry.  It also flirts with 'twang', but it's not that.  There is no tea component, which I am almost always expecting in an aged habano.  It burned up one side to a certain extent, but a few hard puffs every quarter inch managed to keep it in check.  All in all the flavors remained consistent, strengthening in the end.  The wrapper is very reminiscent of the Habana 2000 wrapper, or a strain of it developed in the years after it's initial success.  THAT may actually be the taste I am having trouble with, although I would like to associate an actual taste with it, and I never figured it out.  But on the whole, I think the cigar performed extremely well over it's length, and I would grade this example at 92.  A pretty good smoke.  As a 'habano guru', I still cannot wholely recommend ANY of the fad RyJs, Short Churchill, Wide Churchill, Fat Churchill,  Ugly Churchill....but as a single purchase, I would recommend picking up a fiver perhaps, or it's sister cigar, the Exhibition No.4 which I DO recommend in boxes of 25.  I also would repeat my earlier recommendation for the tubos in No. 1, 2 and 3, which I find extemely flavorful and a real bargain in general.  But as I said, this cigar is really good.  If you could get 5 year old ones, heck yeah, get em.  But if you are looking at 2010 or 2009 stock, there are better cigars out there.  And take that with a grain of salt, because I have not tasted them lately.

H. Upmann No.2 possible 2006-7

Had this for awhile, it was given to me by a great brother, so great in fact that I have completely forgotten who.  When I originally cut it 2 years or so ago, it was way too tight to draw air through.  So I put it in my humidor and forgot about it.  I  found it one day with a cracked and spreading foot, so I thought I'd put it away in a cedar box along with some other gifted smokes and really forget about it.

 I took it to Charlotte NC with me over Christmas, and found an occasion to drop a little Christmas love on some firemen hammering each other with snowballs on Christmas morning.  The snow was absolutely perfect for snowballs, and they were in waders, or whatever they call the bottom halves of their outfit, and T-shirts and caps.  They were not shy and pretty much emptied my travelling box, but I warned them that only two smokes were off limits, the HU2 and a Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill.  And I travel with some pretty good smokes, lol.   So here I was tonight, thinking about a smoke, and it has been so long...a week.  But this blog ain't gonna write itself, and I can't make things up.  It lit right up, and after all, it was already cut.  The No.2 offered up a RUSH of mouth-coating chocolate and leather, with what I guess must be the "olive" flavor.  It was just something I couln't place, and I am not much of an olive eater, so there you go.  Who knows what it was.  The flavor did not change much for the first half, but it sure was a fantastic cigar.  It was not much of a smoke-producer, but it was no disappointment.

You can see there is no ash, because the first inch and a quarter self-ashed as they say, right on the floor.  Somehow it didn't matter.  Scooped it up with a little bill envelope and moved right on.  The second half was where the strength came on from medium to nearly full, with no chocolate, but the leather stayed on with just toasted tobacco for accents and body.  It did develop some sweetness that made the experience very worthwhile, with some coffee for effect.   Not one to nub any cigar, I smoked it down to about a half inch below the band and let it go after that.  It was a great cigar, with a stellar first half and a reasonably satisfying second act and a uneventful denoument.  Yet another cigar that was a tale of two halves.  She was headed for a 94 rating, and fell off a bit, still coming out a respectable 90.

I understand these are a great box purchase, but I am not in the market for anything these days, so I will have to satisfy my Upmann cravings with the spectacular Coronas Major en tubos.  For you however, it might be worth tracking some of these down.  They are no slouch and can be more consistent than the Legend, the Montecristo No.2.  Personally, I will stick to the Monte 2 unless someone just up and gives me a bunch of these.  Let's not do that, though, shall we.  I am having a hell of a time smoking what I have.  

Thanks to the members

Members, followers, cigar lovers, whatever you are properly called, I appreciate all of you and thank you for your support and encouragement and viewership.  It's been awhile since this thing got started, and I have not always been too timely with the updates.  But I have tried to keep it all-killer, no-filler, (to over-sell it a bit), with no ads and very little non-cigar talk.  And as a more or less casual smoker, it's hard to keep up with what I am sure are your needs as readers.  There is very little to me as irritating as surfing around the cigar-web lately and finding hardly ANYTHING changing these days.  Forum after forum seems to be caught in a glacial slog, odd considering the current trends in planetary weather.  So finding a place where there is something new and interesting to read is tough these days.  Again, I appreciate it more than you know, that you are here to read the blog and that you cared enough to subscribe to it.  Maybe it doesn't matter much to a blog that has no ads, who cares what the traffic numbers say?  Well, I care.  And I am pleased that you can join me.  And as of today, welcome MAX.  :)  And I am late in welcoming Robert.

2006 Romeo y Julieta Churchill

This is one of the most famous cigars of the long and remarkable history of habanos.  Nowadays, it's good to have a few on hand of reasonable vintage, because the bands and packaging have changed markedly, and having one or two to take forward into the coming decades, to me, is important.  This 2006 model is not too pretty.  It's well rolled, and oily enough, but a closer examination reveals a few gips in the wrapper which will come into play negatively once we get underway. 

Which we quickly do.  It lights right up after a nice clean cut.  At first it's a bit of a double-puffer, with some air coming in through the tiny imperfections of the wrapper, and it's flavor is muted.  It has a typical Romeo charcter with a leathery, fruity taste, with some light tea on the finish.  It burns straight and slow for a few inches.  Nothing special happens throughout the first third. 

That's some nice tooth on that wrapper......

And as soon as we enter the zone of the 2nd third, the flavor becomes very rich and loaded with complex additions to the general flavor profile.  I taste light coffee along with the fruit, and the tea becomes more intense, as does the overall strength.  The cigar can now be puffed at a normal rate, and offers up plenty of smoke without heating up the cigar.  The burn is dead straight and the cigar is extremely rich.  This is where the age of the cigar shows itself to best advantage.  This is a really great smoke.  I prefer the full, intensely fruity flavor of a fresh Romeo y Julieta, but this cigar can hold it's own with the best, trading subtle, smooth and complex flavors for more stark ones.  And there is some coconut flavor just there.  Interesting. 

I know one other smoker who has had a few from this box, and I hope his experience ends up being as good as mine.  These old churchills don't always perform up to expectations, but thank goodness for the occasional superstar.  I would rate this particular cigar at 91 points.  Had it been excellent from first to last puff, it could have crept up to 93, I think. 

2005 Ramon Allones Specially Selected

This is not my favorite cigar, not by a long shot.  In all the time I have been smoking, I think I have burned through 2 boxes.  That's a significant number, because I think I have had two that I liked in all that time.  Some people really go for the "RASS", and I always hoped that one day I would find my way to an affinity for them.  But I am not going to just blindly continue throwing money at the problem.  So I have moved on and focused on other cigars.  And I can say further that I am no fan of robustos either.  But tonight I lit up a RASS hoping to move the needle a bit. 


This cigar has been sitting in a dark cedar box for 5 years now, (moved out of a dress box into cedar) and it was high time that somebody stepped up and performed.  And that's just what it did.  It cut cleanly, and I removed as little of the flat cap as possible, to prevent too airy a draw.  It was airy all right, but more on the medium side of loose.  It was rich and fruity and chocolatey and gave up way more smoke than I could use.  Everything about the cigar was astounding and satisfying.  The burn was quite good and the oily, chocolate brown wrapper glistened invitingly.  What a flavor bomb. 

This smoke hardly makes up for 48 mediocre cigars, but it is oh so good.  This is a cigar that experienced smokers always recommend to initiates to havana cigars, but it's hardly appropriate to do so.  New smokers are much better served by less robust smokes.  But when newbies ask for the best cigars, it's hard not to mention it.  The brightest are smart enough to ask about the best smokes for their level of experience.  And there are dozens to suggest.  But this cigar is strong and rich and saucy and not for the faint of heart.  It has a toasty dessert quality I love in a smoke.  Hints of espresso and chocolate mousse abound.  This is right up there with the best smokes I have had since the inception of this blog. 

This is a 91 point smoke.  While I can't recommend this as a box purchase because of it's spotty performance by the box, if you buy these in fivers, you can only hope you get a few like this.

08 Montecristo No.2

Kerblammo.  UGLY wrapper,  Looks like those hideous,  hairless dogs you see in Mexico that people always claim is chupacabra, 

Oily and brown with few red tones, it draws medium-firm with a 1/4 inch diameter cut/hole.  I might cut it again later if the draw tightens any. 

The photo cannot apprach the ugliness of the wrapper.  It looks like a person's back that has peeled from two straight weeks of separate sunburns.  I wasn't in a real photography mood last night.
As I stated, kerblammo, just a rush of lush fruity notes, raisiny and a touch of white wine.  The finish is as thick and rich on the tongue as any cigar I've smoked this year.   There is a suggestion of chocolate and butter on the tongue, but incomplete.  That would be trouble if I had let it dry a bit before smoking.  It might be much richer dry.  There are fading hints on the finish of wet, juicy citrus fruit that is amazingly refreshing on the tongue.  The cigar is very well behaved on the burn, and smokes very little on the lit end, which is great, since I am inside, haha. 

After one inch it is still flavorful without too much complexity.  It has a serious, lingering trait that is interesting, like a creamy Rose tea if there was such a thing.  And I say it has not much complexity, but that is hardly what I described with all of my commas and adjectives above.  There is a great range of funny hints and good flavors.  1.25 inches is hardly time to claim a lack of complex changes.  But as the cigar burned down,  I was never struck by a ramp up in flavor or strength, it just powered along doing it's thing.  So it was a good cigar, but not a monumental find.  It was very entertaining to be so refreshed by a cigar.  This says a lot for the balance and perhaps any potential it might have for enjoyment in 10-20 years.  I have tasted citrus in a cigar before, but mostly a zest thing.  This citrus tang, coupled with the salivary response it elicited in me and the excellent way it stayed out of the dry zone, mingled to create a juice illusion. 

So high marks for this one, but still looking for the white whale I guess, in terms of the perfect Monte No.2.  I am not as hell-bent as some, but I'd like to have a 98-100 one day.  This one, a happy 87.  Continued on it for another 1/2 inch from the last photo.