5 Vegas High Primings Box Press

I'm back from dodging mortar rounds to give ya the scoop of this little beauty.  It os the 5 Vegas High Primings box press.  I got this in a nice little sampler from CI (nice price also).  Pre-light: well-rolled medium brown wrapper, tight seams, minimal veins.  A sweet tobacco aroma.  

Cutting/Lighting: A punch cut and lit pretty well.  Nice open draw.  First tastes are a sweet tobacco with a hint of nuts and spices.  Lots of creamy smoke.

First 1/3: No big changes in the flavor.  Finish is nice a sweet and kinda short.  Burn line is a little off.

Second 1/3: Still with the same flavor profile.  As you can see, the ash is hanging on.  It is a little flowery but no biggie.  I had to straighten out the burn line some.  Strength is a medium, nice little morning buzz to it.

Final 1/3: You can see the burn line again needs some attention but the flavor is outstanding.  No changes to the draw or the finish.  Clocked in at just under an hour.

Overall:  Well worth the money.  I will leave the rest in the humidor for a while to see if they change at all.  Otherwise very pleased.  

Nub Maduro 358

It's smoke time again here in BFE Afghanistan.  This here is a Nub maduro 358.  Got this little dude in a Nub Sampler pack from CI.  Once again, this is suppose to represent the "Sweet Spot" of a cigar.  still don't get that philosophy.  Shit, if it is a good gar, then make it bigger dammit. 

Pre-light: To me, this is the best looking Nub out there.  Awesome dark brown wrapper, tight almost invisible seams, and tiny veins.  Smells of a rich earthy tobacco. 

Cutting/lighting: punch cut and light up with no issues.  First tastes are a nice deep earth with lots of creamy smoke.

First 1/3: Just delicious!  Same flavors but a nice pepper coming in on a long finish.  Great smoke output and a nice burn line.  Draw is wonderful.

Second 1/3: Same flavor not much changes at all, which is good because I dig the way this stick tastes. Burn line got a little off and required some attention but no biggie.  Strength is a solid medium.

Final 1/3: Same yummy flavor all the way.  This dude was bad ass.  I smoke this thing until there was nothing left to hold.  Camein at just over an hour.

Overall: Love this cigar, I just dont get the "Sweet Spot" thing.  If this dude was a bigger stick, I would smoke the bejesus out of them.  In saying that, there will be no shortage of these in my humidor when I get back to the States.  Sky Soldiers!

Alec Bradley American Classic Sun Grown Blend Robusto

Another fine day in Afghanistan and yet another great cigar from Cigars for Warriors.  This dude is the heartier brother to the American Classic Blend.  It is a 5 x 50 robusto and looks awesome.  Pre-light: Gorgeous dark brown wrapper, tight seams, minimal veins.  Smells of a deep rich earth and feels perfect on the pre-smoke squeeze.

Cutting and lighting: punched cut and a perfect easy light.  First tastes are a nice earthy tobacco.  Nice draw, lots of smoke.

First 1/3: This guy give you lots of rich creamy smoke that has a nice earthy flavor to it.  Maybe a little nut and spice flavors in there.  Draw is still great.  I did have to go see a consult after a few puffs so I had to cut it a relight light it.  No issues there.

Second 1/3: No changes in its flavor.  Still tastes great.  Body is a solid medium, strength mild-medium.   As you can see, the ash is a little flowery.

Final 1/3:  Finished off just like it started.  No complaints.  Nice little stick.  Finished up in about 45 mins.

Overall: I liked it.  Retails for ~$5 but I'm sure you can find them cheaper on special.  Thanks again to Cigars for Warriors for another great smoke. Also, thanks to Al Qaeda for not shooting at us so I could smoke this one in peace. WOOAH!

Te Amo Vintage 99

What's happening.  So I thought I would be brave and try this Te Amo Vintage 99.  Not exactly sure what size it is... double corona maybe.  It was given to me as a gift so I figured what the hell, a free cigar.  Reading a little about these dudes, they say the are the best cigars in Mexico. Whatever, like I said it was free.  Pre-light- It has a nice light brown wrapper but the seams were not tight at all.  The stick feels a little mushy in spots.  Even the damn band was crooked.

Cutting/Lighting: No issues with either of these two.  First few draws were way to open and with almost no flavor.  

First 1/3: All I can taste is cheap tobacco with almost no flavor to it.  The draw is so open that this thing is burning like a mad man.  Tons of smoke but again, no flavor.

Second 1/3: WE HAVE A CHANGE!  Instead of no flavor it now is some of the bitterest smoke I have ever had.  

Final 1/3: God, will this ever end.  Just nasty bitter tobacco flavor. Yuck.

Overall: If this is a Vintage 99, then 1999 must had a shitty year.  Going from no flavor to straight bitter smoke, this was one of the worst cigars I have EVER tried.  People might say that this a "Yard Gar".  Well, I rather smoke the leaves in my yard than another one of these things.  Te Amo must be spanish for tastes like ass.  Never again!  Now excuse me, I have to go find the friend that gave this shit stick to me and smack him.

Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Double Corona

Hey, hey.  This is the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie double corona.  Yet another fine stick sent over from the boys at cigarsforwarriors.net .  It is just a delicious looking cigar with a 2 tone wrapper.  It comes in at 7x 54, just a monster...love it.  Pre-light smell has a nice tobacco and almost cedar like aroma to it.  

Cutting and Lighting: Tried again to use the punch cutter on this but it was extremely tight on the draw.  So I opened it up with the regular cutter and still had just a crazy tight draw on it.  You really had to work it to get some some smoke.

First 1/3: What smoke I could get out of it was full of a rich tobacco flavor mixed with what tasted like cedar and spice.  Short finish at this point.  Burn line was nice and tight and it had a nice gray ash to it.

Second 1/3: Similar flavors but with a touch of pepper to it now.  The draw is opening up slowly and the smoke output is up.  Finish is sticking around a bit more now.  A large crack did open up about a finger breath below the band.  Again, I don't know if this is something wrong with the construction or the fact that it got shipped to Afghanistan.  It is tough to keep this dudes right even with a humidor. 

Final 1/3:  Once I got to the dark brown portion of the wrapper, the flavor profile changed to a deep rich earth.  It still had a hint of spice and pepper to it but they were fading.  The ash also changed to more of a flowery appearance.  Draw is open now and lots of creamy smoke and a long finish.  Finally put it down at nearly 2 hours!

Overall:  Nice flavors I just wish I didn't have to work so hard in the beginning to get them out.  Damn thing lasted almost 120 minutes so a nice long smoke for the ~$8 price.  I liked it overall but it is probably my least favorite Joya de Nicaragua I have tried so far.

Graycliff 1666 Double Expresso

This beauty is the Graycliff 1666 Double Expresso.  I got this stick from CI.  It is supposedly an expensive little nicotine delivery device but CI gave me 5 of them with my order over $125.  Lets get into it.

Pre-light: It has a dark velvety brown wrapper and a smell that is just as deep.  I would say that, other than the Acid line, the most flavorful pre-smoke aroma I've experienced.  Lots of wonderful aged tobacco fills the nostrils.  Yummy

Cutting/lighting: Again I used a punch cutter for this guy (more on that in a minute).  I have to say that getting it light was a little bit of a challenge but it was windy, cold, and where I am at in Afghanistan, it is about 7200 ft above sea level.  So, it most likely wasn't the stick's fault.  First flavors were a rich and creamy coffee flavor that runs around your mouth.  I loved it.  With an undertone of nice aged tobacco, it really hit the spot.

First 1/3: Still with that wonderful coffee flavor.  I mean it felt like I was drinking a cup of my favorite java.  Smoke output was on the light side.  I think this may be due to the punch cut.  It makes a pretty small hole and this cigar has a fat ring gauge.  The cap is really oily and coats your lips in that sweet creamy tobacco flavor.  Body is medium to full and the strength so far is medium.

Second 1/3: You guess it...still that delicious coffee flavor but now with a little spice to it.  Not pepper however, more like a cinnamon or something close.  Smoke, body, and strength haven't changed.

Final 1/3: Still all the rich flavors with a little more strength coming in.  Nom Nom Nom....love it.  Unfortunately, my smoke was cut short because we had some business come in.

Overall, as you probably guess, I love the flavors this thing puts out.  If you can pick some up on special, I say go for it if you like these kinds of smokes.  And I enjoyed not having to wait in line for some snotty barista to  make a cup of $5 coffee to get my java fix.

Alec Bradley American Classic Blend

This is the Alec Bradley American Classic Blend.  Yet another fine smoke I received from the good folks at cigarsforwarriors.net.  I think this was a Churchill size.  All I know is that it was huge.  I figured it was gonna take well over an hour to smoke it.  Since you can see the snow on the ground in the pic, you can guess I was freezing.  The things I do for nicotine.

Pre-smoke: It has a nice light brown wrapper with tight seams, some veins, and is firm to the touch.  Nice woody smell to this stick.

Cutting/Lighting: Used a punch cutter again (kinda starting to like that method) with no issues.  Light up like a champ but the draw was a little snug.  I don't know if it was the roll or the punch cut.  Still produced lots of good smoke, I just had to work at it a little.  Initial tastes are a nice smooth tobacco with a hint of wood.

First 1/3: Not much changes in the flavor profile.  The draw opened some.  Strength and body I would put at mild . Burn line is a little off but no biggie

Second 1/3: Still with the same flavors but maybe a little more of the woodiness.  Still a mild body and strength to it.  Ash fell off about an inch at a time (But I was shivering a little).

Last 1/3: Again, not much changes to the flavor.  Just a nice smooth mellow smoke.  Finish was short and left a pleasant tobacco/wood flavor in my mouth.  Finished up this beauty at 1 hour and 25 minutes and got my frozen ass indoors.

Overall, a very nice stick for someone looking for a mild body/mild strength smoke.  I had this one in the morning and I think that was a perfect time.