Brian\’s Random Thoughts

In spite of picking one of these smokes at RTDA last year, somehow I didn’t get around to actually smoking one until now. It seems like a pretty big oversight, doesn’t it. Well, if you take a quick peak in my humidor, you’d quickly see why. Let’s just say organization isn’t one of my strong suits.

It wasn’t until Jarrod from Tex Cigars sent me a couple of Defiance robustos (a.k.a. “The Renegade”) that I remembered that year old stick resting quietly in the deep recesses of the humidor. In this case, my lacking organization skills worked out. Since I didn’t review that cigar last year, I’m open to smoke and review two this year.

The story behind the defiance is that it is more than just a cigar. It’s also the flagship smoke of the Defiance Alliance, an organization dedicated to fighting anti-smoking legislation. 5% of the proceeds of each cigar go to support this worthy effort. You might be tempted to dismiss this cigar as a well intended gimmick, but you also need to know that its the creation of the very talented Jesus Fuego. So it goes without saying that I’m really looking forward to finally trying these out. So let’s get to it.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 5 x 50 (robusto)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Beverage: Water
Price: ~$5.75 (buy it here)

The Pre-Smoke
To begin with, the cigar has a very classy appearance. The dual bands are sharp looking without being tacky, and a little comical. What’s a little funny about them are the phrases. On the front, a rewording of the classic phrase, In Vino Veritas. In this case, In Puros Veritas, or “In puros there is truth”. And on the back of the band a note: “Do Not Remove!” Of course sooner or later you will, only to find a message inside the band that praises you for not always doing what your told and directing you to their website.

The cigar itself looks great too. Visually both cigars appear very smooth with tiny veins and just a little bit of lumpiness to the touch. The scent of the wrapper was also noteworthy, the aroma was an interesting combination of honey sweetness, compost and dill. Yes, dill. After clipping the cigars, I tasted syrupy coffee in the cold draw.

The Burn
In the burn department, these cigars were slightly disappointing. One cigar cracked near the head, and slowly unraveled as I smoked. Fortunately, it was only this first stick (and the one photographed for this review) that had this problem. The other cigar’s wrapper did not form any cracks or other similar problems.

However, the burn line of the second one was noticeably less even than the cigar with the cracked wrapper. I also noticed that this cigar had draw that was slightly too firm at the beginning. This turned out to be only a slight irritation as the draw opened up nicely as the it burned.

But there’s one place where both cigars preformed beautifully in terms of the burn. That would have to bee the great lengths of light colored ash that held tight to the end of each smoke.

The Flavor
Both cigars began with enjoyable sweet, creamy flavors. I noted coffee, caramel, a bit of cocoa, and a incredibly tasty spicy cinnamon in the first third.

The second third continued to be syrupy sweet and more cedary and woody. (Yep, I did notice different woods!) I also got more chocolates and cocoas and a surprising, but short pocket of butteriness.

These cigars finished on a very cedar-y note. At times the cedar was sweet, other times it was more aromatic or even floral. And in one cigar I actually briefly tasted some nice coconut.

The Price
I have no complaints about the price. I wouldn’t have a problem buying more at this price.

The Verdict
While the burn was problematic, particularly in the first, unraveling smoke, the flavors more than made up for the trouble. You’ll notice from the pictures that I didn’t give up on the cigar when the wrapper got ugly. I was enjoying the it too much to put it out. (I only wish I had a bit of pectin so I could have made dealing with the wrapper a bit easier!)

So my verdict on these cigars is very positive. The Xikar Defiance goes on my short list for cigars I need to buy by the box. But while I’m waiting for my humidor to clear out a bit, I’m going to have to go searching for that long lost RTDA ’07 Defiance. I have a feeling I’m going to love it.

I also need to say another quick thanks to Tex Cigars for hooking me up with such great smokes. I really appreciate it, and encourage you to give them a little business if you’re interested in trying out this cigar!

Liked It: Yes
Buy It Again: Definitely
Recommend It: Absolutely

Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.

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A while back the guys over at my local Tinderbox dropped me a line to stop by and say hi. So a day or two later, I did just that. I was in the mood for another Winston Churchill, or maybe one of those Illusiones I kept seeing in their newsletter. After picking up a few of each, Grant surprised me with a small assortment of smokes to review. I greatly appreciated the cigars, and determined to review them as soon as possible.

But time passed. Possibly a month, possibly more. Work and the Stogie Review was keeping me busy. One day I was digging around in my humidor and I stumbled on a bag of unfamiliar smokes. Almost immediately I realized they were those smokes from Tinderbox. And I was really lagging behind.

I reached blindly in and the first smoke that appeared was the Puros Indios Viejo Rothschild. Good choice, I thought. I haven’t heard much talk or seen many reviews about Puros Indios recently. And truth be told, I haven’t had all that many.

The Puros Indios Viejo is a special edition line of that was first introduced in 1999. Each year 50,000 cigars are produced and are aged for four years. And that about covers my knowledge. Now let’s talk about the experience.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Smoking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Beverage: Water
Price: $5.95

The Pre-Smoke
The band on the Viejo is much like the bands on any Puros Indios cigar. It has that same trademark bright green background with the red lettering, with just an extra bit of white space to denote the special edition. It’s the wrapper that’s a little more interesting. It’s an oily rustic looking leaf. As I looked it over, I noted that it had a few veins in it, and it was visually a little lumpy. And then I noticed something a little unusual. A big patch near the foot. What makes the patch unusual is that it covers a little pointy bit that really noticeably sticks out from the cigar.

To the touch, the cigars seemed nice and hard, with no inconsistency in the firmness. I noticed a bit of butteriness in the scent of the wrapper, and the cold tasted was creamy. I also noticed something I’ve been getting a lot in the cold taste recently. Prune, or something like it. It definitely wasn’t raisin.

The Burn
Aside from a slight runner in one cigar, a relight in the second third and a comical little bit of smoke coming out of the little point bit I like to think of as Mt. Puros Indios, the burn on this cigar was good. The draw was great in both cigars, and though they did stray a bit on the burn line, they self corrected nicely. No complaints here.

The Flavor
As you might expect from double dose of Ecuadorian tobacco, this cigar starts of creamy with some nuttiness and a little bit of coffee. I noticed that the flavor was slightly savory, and the creaminess became buttery. Beyond those flavors, the cigars seemed different one time to the next. One had more predominant wood and aromatic cedar, while the other was considerably more nutty. In fact, I got a great creamy peanut butter flavor from that cigar that I really enjoyed. These flavor profile differences continued throughout the second thirds as well.

In the final third the nuttier cigar became a bit more earthy and spicy, with some leather appearing right toward the end. The woodier cigar remained surprisingly buttery almost to the end with leather joining the wood.

The Price
I have no issue with the price I paid for these cigars. They both seemed like quality sticks, and considering that they a special aged addition price tag seems reasonable.

The Verdict
I really enjoyed the creaminess and butteriness of this cigar. When those combined with the nutty flavors, the cigar was just outstanding. Now to be clear, this isn’t a particularly full bodied or powerful smoke. It’s probably around Medium at best, but if you enjoy a creamy cigar, I’d recommend you check this one out. Just be sure to check your cigars out before you buy them. That is unless you like mini smoking volcanos on your wrapper!

Seriously though, I’d like to thank the guys over at the Tinderbox in Lenox Mall for hooking me up with the great cigars. If you live in the Atlanta area, check ‘em out. I’ll bet they have a few of these guys left if you’d like to try one out!

Liked It: Yes
Buy It Again: Yeah, I think I will.
Recommend It: Yeah, it’s a good smoke.

What Other People Are Saying

• Cigar Jack thought it was a good smoke, but the flavor profile didn’t do it for him.
• Gary thinks you shouldn’t pass these up.

My Other Reviews
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out my Cigar Review Index for a complete list of my other cigar reviews. Also, I’m a regular contributor to Stogie Review, so head over there once you’re done!

Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.

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If you think the name of this cigar sounds familiar, but you can’t place it, don’t worry, you haven’t lost your mind. (Or at least this review was not the straw that broke the camels back.) Because a while back I covered the Olor Del Cibao Cuban Seed Churchill in my infamous four-cigar mega review. But this Cuban Seed cigar is different than the churchill I smoked back in September. The first clue is that it’s box-pressed. The second is that it’s infused with Tequila.

And as with the Olor Del Cibao cigar reviews before, the cigars for this review were generously provided buy my friends over at Tex Cigars. While Tex Cigars is flush with all the Olor Del Cibao cigars you could ever need, they have plenty of other cigars, and at great prices. (Rumor has it, they have the best Tatuaje prices anywhere.) So go check ‘em out, and tell ‘em I sent ya.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 7 x 54
Wrapper: Dominican Republic Cuban seed
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Smoking Time:1 3/4 hours
Beverage: Water
Price: ~$4.40 (buy them here)

The Pre-Smoke
After the standard Olor Del Cibao band, the first thing you noticed about this cigar is the rounded corners of the box press. A closer examination of the cigar reveals a very rustic looking wrapper. Full of light hues of tan intermixed with deeper shades of brown, the cigar has an almost rustic leathery look to it. Much more so than the aforementioned Churchill.

In the hand the cigar feels both substantial and surprisingly smooth. The cigar is pretty firm, but has a good amount of give to it. Looking at the foot, you can tell it’s very nicely packed with tobacco.

The scent of the wrapper does smell like tequila, as you might expect. But also not as pungently or obvious as you would expect from an infused cigar. Out of curiosity, I tasted the cap before cutting it. It tasted like a sweet margarita. Almost like a margarita-flavored candy. This flavor was reinforced and magnified in the cold taste. Man, I’m glad I like margaritas!

The Burn
One thing I looked out for while smoking this cigar was the billowing river of smoke that I got from some Olor Del Cibao cigars in the past. I was very pleased to find that these cigars smoked in a much more tame, reasonable manner. It seems that previous issues with dry cigars due to shipping complications have been nicely resolved.

Generally speaking the burn line was pretty good on this cigar. It strayed a bit at points, but always self corrected. And the ash was both attractive and solid, hanging on for impressive inch and a half before dropping the first two times. And I can’t complain about the draw either. Not too loose, not to tight, just right.

The Flavor
The cigar opened up with a sweet, creamy citrus flavor that was actually pretty pleasant, and the finish seemed to last a rather long time on the palate between puffs. The cigar progressed with a very cool creamy smoke that continued to be flavored like a sweet margarita. As the first third came to a close, the smoke was still cool and creamy, but the sweet margarita flavor had diminished to a slight tangy tingle in the finish.

The second third of this cigar still had the tell tale signs of a flavor-infused smoke, but it was less obvious. The flavor of tobacco was a bit more prominent, and some of the berry sweetness I detected seemed to come from the tobacco. The flavor of tequila was still subtly present in the creamy finish of the cigar.

As the cigar approached the final third the cigar took on a creamy papery sweetness. The tingle of tequila in the finish had all but disappeared at this point. In the final third, I was surprised to start tasting a bit of smooth toffee and cinnamon. As the cigar smoked through it’s final inches, I found it trending toward spiciness with some nutmeg, and the occasional re-appearance of some tequila flavor.

The Price
It’s hard to complain about a cigar priced under five dollars a stick. As is to be expected, the price for this tequila-infused cigar is a little more expensive than the churchill of the same name.

The Verdict
Over all I’d say this was a very pleasant smoke. I didn’t care as much for the initial artificial sweetness of the first third, but the cigar became an enjoyable smoke in the second third. I was actually impressed with the duration of the finish on this cigar. The creaminess and tangy tequila flavor really stays with you a long time after the puff.

I’ve done my share of dabbling with “flavored” or “infused” cigars, and I find this cigar superior to a number that I’ve tried. The three most similar were the ACID Blondie, the Slainte and the Erin Go Braugh, which are flavored like cloves, scotch and irish whiskey, respectively. The Olor Del Cibao is clearly comprised of better tobacco and tastes better than both the Slainte and Erin Go Braugh, and is less sweet and more palatable than the ACID Blondie.

I’d like to thank Tex Cigars for providing the cigars for this review. If you’re interested in trying these out, Jarrod will treat you right! And he happens to be the only retailer I know who carries these cigars! So head on over grab a box. Or if you’re feeling cautions, why not pick up the sampler of the Olor Del Cibao line. (It includes this cigar!)

Liked It: Yes
Buy It Again: Probably (I don’t smoke flavor-infused cigars that often.)
Recommend It: If you enjoy flavored or infused cigars, you should try these.

The Cigar In Action
Here for your viewing pleasure is the cigar slowly becoming ash.

More Cigar Review
If you enjoyed this cigar review, be sure to check out my Cigar Review Index for a complete listing of my reviews.

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