So, it’s that time again – Giving away free cigars!

Many have been smoking cigars for a while and I hope that everyone here is either in the middle of or can remember when they caught the ‘cigar bug’. What I am referring to is when one beings the learning process of the cigar world, where they come from, how they are made, whats goes into it and most importantly the realization of how many cigars there actually are in the world – Not just Cubans. I personally have gotten bit by this bug twice, once when I first started smoking cigars and another when I started focusing on this website.

Include in this contest will be a few cigars the I personally found hard to locate and thus are the ‘Diamond In the Ruff’ in my eyes – I have done a review on both and feel that since I was able to locate them, share the wealth best I can. Two of the Cain F and a 3 pack coffin of the Punch Uppercut will be sent to the winner at the end of this contest, Thursday November 19th, 2009.

How to Win:

Leave a comment here about your ‘Diamond in the Ruff’ – A cigar that seemed almost impossible to locate – but NO Cubans, not everyone in the United States can find them in the first place. I will then put all the entries into a hat and pull a name on November 19th, 2009. That’s it. Oh yeah, include your E-mail also!

Every Cigar has a story, every smoke a memory. – Make this yours!

Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Fuerte (Nicaragua)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua (Jalapa, Condega, Esteli)
Strength: Full Body

Behind the Stick:

For those who follow me on twitter, you all know this is a cigar that I have been dying to find. I have been able to smoke both the Cain Habano and Maduro and can’t say how much I enjoy these cigars. Sam Leccia really has outdone himself again, I was able to try one and then spent over a month trying to find a box of 5. I was finally able to locate a box and thus – our review was born.

Some may not know the story or the history behind the stick – so let me bore you for just a moment. Sam Leccia, the creator of the Nub line of cigars partnered together with the Oliva company and created a monster of a nicotine and full body punch. The Cain cigars are created with a large amount of Ligero – 77% to be exact. The Cain F steps this up one notch and is 82% Ligero and wow, does this stick pack a punch. Some say the F stands for Fuerte or strong in spanish while others say that Sam himself refereed to this as ‘Fucking strong cigar!’ either way, please eat before you smoke one of these.

Construction:

Every single one of these that I have had has been flawless – truly. Being evenly packed and containing a perfect burn are great qualities, but the real beauty from these sticks is that they are not adorned by a band at all but rather the deep brown, slightly oily sheen speaks for itself.

Flavor:

Now – as we all may suspect this is not one of those overly complex cigars that will have you screaming for more but the flavors are very well done in my opinion. The first third was pretty much wood and pepper, well, pepper with a mild amount of wood. This first third will really wake up your senses and smack you in the face so as I said before, eat before you smoke this one! The second third was where I really enjoyed it, the pepper began to settle and the wood notes shot through and a mild but sweet leather crept in from time to time. The smoke finished strong with notes of wood and pepper – and WOW on that nicotine kick. Sheesh.

Overall:

As a lot of us have heard, this is a stick that really has been focused more on power rather than flavor and I must agree. I got a 5 pack box from a local retailer simply because the price was right, I really enjoyed the first one I had and needed more for review – haha. I will keep these around and if I can find a single here or there I’ll get more but as for now, once in a while is enough for me.

Every cigar has a story, every smoke a memory.

Size: 6.25 x 54 (Belicosa)
Wrapper: Costa Rica Maduro
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium
Price: $80.00 for a 5 pack (Roughly 16.00 a piece)

Behind The Sick:

I must say first and foremost thank you very much to Corona Cigars, they have recently become a sponsor for this website and graciously sent me a care package – a pair of which were these beauties. I am sure you will enjoy this review and already recommend them (not just because of the sponsor haha) so check them out. I will say even with the price – the flavor profile really is excellent.

Construction:

The construction was consistent and evenly packed throughout. A light sheen to the wrapped and a mild yet sweet scent from the smoke invited me closer to the cigar. The top band is adorned with the colors of the Costa Rica flag while the foot band has a wrapper of its own denoting its location or sale – Corona Cigar Co. Overall the construction was found to have mild amount of veins, evenly packed and not heavily adored with glue from the bands. My one complaint was the cap – although tipple was off on both of them before I even got them into the humidor.

Flavor:

The first third was nice and slow burning and gave me a chance to enjoy the huge clouds of smoke this cigar produces. Mild Earth and medium ‘spice’ tones come and go but the overall mellow tobacco flavor ruled true. The retrohale was very easy on the sinuses – I was able to retohale most if not all this cigar without issues. The 2nd and last third sort of melted together, there never was a defining change in flavor – as if from ashing or correcting a burn or being a certain measurement into the cigar. This last ‘experience’ of the cigar was that of coffe – mocha or toffee or latte I have no idea, but there was a good semi-sweet coffee flavor that I highly enjoyed.

Conclusion:

I would not consider these a WOW cigar and for the price ($80.00 a 5 pack or about 16.00 a pop) its really hard to justify getting them on a regular basis. They did catch me off guard by going coffee rather than leather or wood – which was a good surprise. I would purchase these as a single or a pair in a B&M but I don’t see myself rushing out to drop 80.00 on 5 cigars just yet.

Every cigar has a story, every smoke a memory.

So, Another month comes to a close and November has started. I had decided to review my stats for the month but found out I had to reload the stats three times because I honestly did not believe them at first. I am at almost 2000 unique views on my counter since August 11th, 2009 while the original site stats show over 3,400 distinct hosts served since June 13th, 2009 – Or about 556 new viewers each month since the site started. Now some of the more veteran sites might look at me and scoff at these numbers, but for being at this for less than 6 months and not advertising all day and night (like so many sites) I think I’m doing alright. The most impressive number to me was the 111,934 distinct requests for the month of October – a proven fact that the people keep coming back to view the site.

First – Like every good speech I need to thank people and I guess the most important ones are the people reading this crap every month! I will try to update more often but I seem to have found a rhythm of every 2-3 days and a few video reviews a month – again unlike a lot of sites who use guest reviews and post things not related to cigars they can update daily – I run this totally by myself and all the content is mine and thus, takes a little longer to produce. I am getting a lot of feedback from viewers and encourage you all to email me at phacue101@gmail.com and let me know what you think!

Most important thing I’m sure though – New Contest!
I will be talking to a few locations and seeing if they may want to include items for a contest but as of right now it appears I will be including a few newer or harder to find cigars. Unless things change, right now it’s looking like at least two Punch Uppercut and two Cain F. I am trying to find some Drac and Boris but as of yet – no luck.
Any other ideas let me know – Contest rules and such will be announced later. I’m ‘thinking’ of 2500 unique or perhaps just a date – who knows.

Enjoy, and till next time
Every Cigar has a story, every smoke a memory.