Tatuaje - Avion 12 - Short Perfecto

Tatuaje - Fausto Line - Avion 12 - Short Perfecto
Pete Johnson took the cigar world by storm with Tatuaje and he isn't stopping.  It seems everything he touches turns to cigar gold and he makes a lot of innovative business moves that keeps consumers on the edge of their seats. The Monster series for example.
I have to admit that I like a lot of Tats and I respect Pete's hustle.  However, I am concerned Pete might be going overboard.  Not crazy overboard or walking the plank....I mean Rocky Patel overboard.  Meaning releasing tons of cigars under different brands and styles in an effort to keep dedicated consumers buying and searching for the next big release.  After a while quality control goes down, bad ideas become reality and you over-extend yourself, leaving the very things that made you successful and different behind.

With that said, I must also mention that most every Tatuaje product I smoke I like.  Actually, like isn't the word.  There are a lot of Tats I love.

The Cigar
This brings us to the cigar at hand.  The Avion 12 Short Perfecto.  A stunningly beautiful cigar.  A seemingly perfect perfecto vitola, this 'short perfecto' is 5 and 5/8" with a nippled foot that balloons to a 52 ring gauge, then slims out to a 48.  Shapely like a good looking woman. Haha.
This is one of those cigars that look so damn good that you feel bad smoking it.  But you can't have your cake and eat it too.  Also at $10, these aren't out of my price range for a good smoke, so I can buy another if I'd like.

The Wrapper
The cigar is wrapped with a rich brown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.  Ecuador has been the king pin of wrapper leaf lately.  Especially for a lot of brands that have connections and or roll in Nicaragua.  Ecuador, although it shares a similar climate to Nicaragua, it is very cloudy.  This creates ideal conditions for wrapper leaf production as it keeps the leaf thin, pliable, and allows its to mature on the plant a bit longer than neighboring areas without thinking or toughening the leaf.
Filler
The filler is a mixture of Jalapa Valley ligero and Esteli ligero.  No seco leaf here my friend.  This smoke means business.

Gran Habano - Azteca

Gran Habano Azteca - Not too long ago I read an interview of George Rico in Cigar Press.  Mr. Rico is the son of Guillermo Rico, founder of Gran Habano and probably something with the word Tabacalares in it.  Regardless, the conversation went deep into George's beliefs about cigars, the industry and what he is trying to do with his company.  His words filled with the lofty and widely shared notions of quality over quanity, full flavored as compared to over the top power.  His interview described a vision with new-age quality at its core. 
Gran Habano's latest installment, the Azteca was also a topic of discussion, and so it shall be the topic of my hateful rant this evening. 

The box, carved in the shape of an Aztec temple wasn't flashy enough by itself.  It needed to be painted in electrified neon orange/pink, lets call it salmon - more of an orange.  Not like that shirt your friend wore when people thought bright pink was cool.  "Dude its not pink its coral."  Salmon, coral, (insert almost pink color here).  My sensible side took one look at the box and ornate band and said - gimmick to sell a crap cigar.  Lets not forgot George Rico is responsible for G.A.R. cigars.  In my opinion, they aren't good.  More gimmick than good.

Some time back I didn't write a review on a G.A.R. because I thought it sucked

I kept my thoughts to myself - I wrote only about positive things

That has ended - This site will now be highly critical

But I had read someone saying these were good sticks, and I remembered the interview I had read.  I should have remembered, the reviewer was given a free stick at a show.  So either, the reviewer was sub-conciously or conciously swayed to give a good review - or Hypothesis #2: Today's product is not as good as the samples. 

Being the ever-travelling cigar-smoking reviewer of the people, I decided I had to give it a try.  I grabbed the smallest of the bunch - The Aguilia - a nice looking Torpedo.  Roughly 5 1/2" x 52 ring, the Azteca is wrapped with a San Andres Maduro, bound with a San Andres leaf and filled with a blend of tobacco from Nicaragua and Panama.  Just so you know, San Andres is a fancy way to say Mexican.  The astute salespeople that they are, (they did come up with the coral temple box) Gran Habano uses San Andrean tobacco, not Mexican tobacco; but seriously, its Mexican tobacco.

A picture is worth a thousand words - this picture describes the flavor of the Azteca

Anyways, I'm gonna have to HATE on Gran HabaNO's Azteca.  I also, got some hate in my heart for Rico.  The cigar tasted like dry.  Yes, I used the word dry there.  Flavor was random, fleeting and rare.  I tasted smoked, at one point I thought I was getting a fruity taste, but all of this was wishful thinking.  To be fair, the cigar burned nicely and the packaging is catchy.  I had no burn issues and the cigar smoked well. 
I dislike very few cigars, and when I do its usually related to the quality of the roll/make.  If I don't care for the taste of a cigar, I usually respect that others may enjoy those particular flavors - and I highlight the quality make of the stick.
Unfortunately, this cigar's taste was so unenjoyable that I spent my time smoking it, waiting....waiting...waiting for the flavor to start.  I tasted dry, unfulfilling smoke.  The Aguila may have been burning a little hot, as there was a good bit of resting smoke pluming upward.  This could have contributed to the poor flavor, but I don't think it was the culprit.
The culprit is George Rico and his PitBull (the rapper) wannabe persona.

Which one is Pitbull, which one is George Rico?  I don't think he even knows.

A trusted friend told me the samples were awesome.  After I told him my feelings on the cigar.  He expressed that he felt the same way.  He whole-heartedly feels he was tasted one cigar, agreed to buy it, and was provided a different cigar altogether.

So, take my HATE with a grain of salt and a shot of tequila.  The cigar smoked well.  But tasted like crap.  Of a random poll of 8 or 9 avid smokers, all said they didn't care for the cigar.  Even at $6-$7, the value wasn't appealling.  My anger comes from Rico's words of creating a cigar people like to smoke, a cigar that tastes amazing, quality, blah blah blah - but in reality - selling me a turd dressed in a coral (no its not pink) suit.  I could be over-optimistic and wait for a smaller ring-gauge; that might concentrate the lack of flavor into something I could taste.  Maybe I'll give it another chance and dip the cigar in chocolate milk before smoking it. 

To quote Mr. Rico, "“Our goal is to bring to light the fact that full flavor, in contrast to full body, means a harmonious smoke, with complexity, depth, smoothness, and individual nuances. That’s what our new Azteca line exemplifies. To my palate, the Azteca is a unique, balanced cigar with an abundant rich flavor you won’t find in any other cigar.”  - He had one thing right.....you won't find it in any other cigar, because you can't find nothing. 

Overall - D (value and nice roll taken into consideration) C- if I'm in a better mood.
Thanks to Cigar.com for the G.A.R. and Rico picture.

CAO Soprano

CAO Soprano - I've never smoked on of these and I've always wanted to pick one up.  The Soprano series are rather "high-end" for the CAO brand when it comes to price - a Soprano stick, depending on size, ranges between $13-$16.  Now thats not a shot at CAO - they make some great stuff at great prices- CAO Cigars,  My favorite shop, Cross Street Tobacco, used to carry the series, but ran out a little while back and I haven't seen them since. 
Since then, I discovered the Soprano is wrapped with Brazilian leaf.  That fact had me ready to jump on the first Soprano I could find, even at its cost.  The cigar has a Honduran binder and is filled with a blend of Dominican, Columbian and Nicaraguan tobacco. 
Banded near the cap and around the foot in black and bright red - the cigar has a good look.  Classy and strong.  They picked a good cigar to align with the Soprano brand.

Gurhka- Signature Red 1887

Gurhka Signature Red 1887 - Let it be known, I'm not a Gurhka fan.  If you'd like to know why you can read this - GURHKA HATE.  Anyways, my recent review of the Gurhka Evil showed me that some of my feelings towards the brand may be a little unjust. (as I liked the Evil)
So, I wasn't incredibly disappointed when I received a Gurhka Red for a present.  Recently, my parents went on a Carribbean cruise and watched their dog and house.  In return, I asked for some Cuban cigars.  When it became evident my parents were likely to buy counterfit Cubans, I gave them a list of non-cubans to ensure I got some quality smokes. 
Bless their hearts (I have great parents - Hard-ass, hardworking, tough-love Dad and a sweet, loving, caring Mom - great balance) - my parents asked the youngman working the cigar stand on the ship if he had any of the cigars I requested.  The list included, Tatuaje, Padron Anniversary, Opus X, Liga Privada, VSG.......

Rocky Patel - Summer 2008 - Lancero

Rocky Patel Summer 2008 – Lancero

Just to let you know...I’m not a huge Rocky Patel fan. Nothing against his seemingly thousands of lines, but it almost becomes confusing when trying to weed out the crap from the good stuff with his cigars. He puts out a new cigar for each season, and they are gone and forgotten before you can find them. Recently, I was in discussion about this type of production, a couple of trustworthy smokers said the summer 2008 selection is a good smoke right out of the box. So I figured I’d give this one a try.

The Summer 2008 is bound and filled with Nicaraguan tobacco, while the wrapper is a Ecuadorian grown Sumatra. I couldn’t find much more information on the cigar, so that will have to work.