Tag: corona

Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live the King Mad MoFo

Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live the King Mad MoFo

This vitola, a 5.75″ x 43 corona called the “Mad Mofo”. As usual these are above my budget these days, but occasionally a deal comes along (from $10+ to $8). Having smoked other sticks in Caldwell’s “kingly” line, I figured it would be good, so for a box of 10 I splurged. Not disappointed…

Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican & Nicaraguan

Cold smnell: Mild barnyard, dirt, manure, some flowers. Not the strongest cold smell ever but lots of nice aromas in there.

Construction: A medium brown wrapper. A few cigars in the box had slight defects in the wrappers, a few places where they were slightly crushed. I suspect this was a problem in the packing of the box. Of the ten sticks, only two were like this and the defects are pretty small. You can see one of them near the cap in one of the pictures.

Otherwise, the wrapper is a little oily and toothy with visible small veins and seams. The pack is medium dense and even all the way along the cigar, but the whole looks rough. Not that this is a bad thing. Small veins are where the flavor is, and some of my favorite sticks have this sort of rough finish.

I’ve smoked 4 of these so far. Two had perfect draws all the way along, the other two were a little tough at the beginning, but loosened up in their second half. Smoke output varied with the draw, good but not great when the draw was tight, superb when it wasn’t. The burn line on these has been exceptional, even the few with tight draws. They smoke slowly giving me about an hour and twenty per stick.

Flavors: On first light, the cigar is woody with a cedar sweetness on the retrohale. No pepper at this stage. A few puffs in a little roasted almond makes an appearance followedG by a sweet flower (honeysuckle?) and leather come to play. All of this is very smooth. A third of the way in the pepper rises, but well balanced with all of those other flavors. I get some mint or wintergreen in here (the sweet flower again), and lots of sweet woods.

As the stick smokes the various flavors mix and trade places. One hit big on nut, the next on wood, sweet floral and leather make appearances as does something of a burnt nut. In the second half the tight sticks loosened up. Smoke output increases, the burn line is still straight. Pepper comes up gradually until by the end of the stick it is pretty much up front, but the other flavors are there all the way to the nub..

Other than a few mildly tight draws (I never had to use a tool to loosen them) the construction of these is great and the flavors superb! Strength a solid medium, maybe a little on the fuller side. Good stick!

Here’s a review from The Busted Wallet, and another, a video review, from Cigar Obsession.

 

Cigar Review: Crowned Heads “le Careme”

Cigar Review: Crowned Heads “le Careme”

I stumbled on new (to me) and very good cigars at some reasonable prices. Some of these I’ve known but never bought as their prices are normally over my limit. But a deal is a deal and I couldn’t let them pass. These include the “T” which I have already reviewed here, and a couple of Punch sticks (the Elite and Bareknuckle) which are never very expensive but came to me at a very low price. Also the Surrogates “Cracker Crumbs” which I think is pretty good. Another discovery, AJ Fernandez’s “Last Call” (I love AJF’s blends), like the Surrogates, pretty darned good for $4.25/stick, and finally, the two best of all, My Father’s “La Opulencia”, and for this review, the Crowned Heads “le Careme” both costing about $6.25/stick after discount (all prices at the box level)! I will try to review them all at some point (and will place links here when I do) but the short and sweet of it is that they are all good cigars!

My source for all of these other than the Punch was the web site for Cigar and Pipes. They don’t give an address, but they are in the U.S. East Coast timezone. Any order over $80 is shipped free by USPS priority mail. I get these sticks (on the West Coast) 3 mail days after ordering! Get on their mailing list and look for their discounts.


I have smoked two vitolas of the “le Careme”, the 5.5″ x 42 box pressed corona (pictured) and also the box pressed robusto at 5″ x 48. The flavor profile is the same. The robusto (3 of them) came in a sampler. The folks at Cigar and Pipes will send a sampler (in my case other Crowned Heads cigars) for every two or three boxes you order. I didn’t ask for them. Great service, and a great store!

Wrapper: Connecticut broad leaf
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Filler: Nicaragua

Construction: The wrapper is slightly oily, toothy, and dark brown shading almost to black here and there along its length. The first stick I smoked was a very difficult draw, close to plugged, but I managed to free it up enough to smoke it. I’ve had 5 more since and they were all fine. Maybe a little tight for me, but only a little. I’m one of those smokers who prefers a loose draw, so for many of you these would be just right. The robusto has a somewhat looser draw.

Pack is firm and even all the way along the stick. For a smallish vitola, these are heavy in the hand, a densely packed cigar, explaining the tight draw. There are no veins in the wrapper, and the seams are well done. The stick produces a lot of creamy smoke all the way along. Smoke time about an hour and 10, a slow burning little cigar! Crowned Heads gets an “A” for construction here.

Cold aroma: Strong black tea, manure, barnyard. A very rich and rewarding cold aroma!

Light it up and you get some pepper along with a sweet flavor reminding me of Melba Toast and butter. As it smokes you get brown sugar, dried fruit, dry chocolate, cedar, and something that reminds me of salty ocean air. The burn line stayes pretty straight all the way along with a few minor corrections. In the second half there is a little more pepper and the stick adds something minty while all the other flavors and sweetness remain. The smoke begins at about a medium strength and gets a little fuller as it smokes.

Superb, the cigar keeps all of these flavors down to the last half inch, the mark of a great stick!

My score on these comes out to “A+”, a really good cigar and another winner for Crowned Heads!

Rodrigo Box Corojo Fino Dominican puro corona

RodrigoCorojoFinoSmall

5 x 43 Corona, my last cigar from the Rodrigo Sampler set.

Wrapper: Dominican Corojo Fino
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican

Light brown, a bit rough. Some prominent veins, visible seams, sloppy cap. Pack is good though, very firm all the way along, a rather heavy cigar, fully packed. Expect the draw to be a little tight.

Cold smell a light manure and barnyard, a little hay.. Not strong. Draw is a little tight, but not too much. Not much taste on it.

Initial light some pepper and other flavors immediately on the retrohale. An aroma like a lit fireplace, some barnyard. A little leather comes in very quickly, some roasted nut, and burning hay. As the cigar smokes these flavors take turns coming in and out. Draw stays consistent through the whole smoke, and the burn line too, not one correction throughout. Smoke output is also excellent, thick volume and creamy.

As the cigar gets into the second third there comes to be a little brown sugar, cedar, and some sweet spice. Burn stays perfect, draw consistent. Pepper stays consistent with other flavors coming and going. As compared to the last cigar, the Habana Dominican Puro, the sour note here is very faint, that’s good. As a faint note it adds complexity to the rest. I don’t like that flavor to dominate. At the last third the cigar is still sweet, still producing lots of creamy smoke. Perfect burn line and draw never changes. There is a little crack at the foot of the wrapper, but the cigar gets by that without any help from me. Some cracking around the head too as I get into the last few inches, but the wapper never really comes apart and continues to burn perfectly. Flavor and mild sweetness fade as the cigar gets down to the last inch, but it never completely goes away. I still taste some sweet mint. The pepper fades at the top of the third but then comes back at the end. Not a lot of transitions here, but complex well balanced flavors all the way along. Not strong flavor, but enough to be noticible.

Pairing this time was again coffee. I’m going to do more of my formal reviews with coffee. Coffee works with every cigar and perhaps the results will be more consistent.

A medium strength smoke all the way along until the last couple inches where it creeps up toward medium-full. Like all the other cigars in this sampler this is a slow smoker. I don’t smoke too many coronas that last an hour and 25 minutes. Another flavorful and superbly constructed cigar from George Rodriguez!