Tech's 'Little Havana' Thread

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Something I just had - La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Maduro (think it was a 4" x 52), pretty good! Reminded me of the Charter Oak but started off 'breadier' the way I'm used to LFD's being but finished leathery, peppery, and had floral notes on the retrohale (nasal exhale):

I worked my way through a CAO sampler:



I've already had the Brazilia, liked it a lot, so I'm leaving that alone right now.

CAO Nicaragua - A bit of a let down, tasted okay but more burn than flavor (strange considering that a lot of the cigars I like have Nicaraguan filler).

CAO Italia - Definitely infused, interesting flavor but almost a bit odd. Had strong floral and citrus but retrohale (out through nose) tasted / smelled like some type of Mediterranean Turkish delight. What I mean by that - think rose petal jelly and orange zest, like you have a ultra-Catholic Italian grand mother who has rosaries and statues of Mary in the kitchen and you're having pastry and coffee with her during early or mid-spring holiday (better to reach back to the 1970's or 80's for the set and setting I'm describing since she was probably Silent Generation and might not be around anymore). To me that almost makes this a definitive 'Easter' cigar.

CAO Columbia - Best of the three so far. Think creamy, almost in a milk chocolate way like the Camaroon wrappers but bready as well. Retrohale is actually floral ('slightly' unlike Italia), a bit like the Foundation Charter Oak that I've had before.

CAO Americana - I like it but... it's pretty much the CAO Flathead tobacco if you've ever had it, just in a normal cigar form in case you're not up for smoking a big box press for a couple hours. Will keep it in mind if I'm craving the flavor of a Flathead but I'm just not feeling committed enough to stick with it for more than an hour.


CAO Brazilia (review from a while back) -This one was quite good. Tea, malt, and spice with a similar twist of Amaretto in a similar way to which the Ave Maria Argentum had. I would buy this again although I should probably grab another Ave Maria Argentum Robusto if (location) starts selling them.

I had the one from this pack on my walk last night and - I partially got this wrong last year. I got the tea flavor right but it's not an amaretto, more of a floral kind of like if you had the strength of the rose/citrus in the Italia dialed back to 10% or just enough to taste. I like this one because you both taste the tobacco and, like the lemon in a good iced tea compliments the tea, the other flavors compliment the tobacco.

Interesting enough if I had to choose between buying this again or the Columbia they'd be neck-in-neck, which one I'd prefer probably would depend on what mood I'm in. The America is something I might pass on because....IDK... I do like the box press on the Flathead and it just means I need to be either out there enjoying in warm weather or... like the time I had my Flathead 770, that took a 7 mile walk to work down below two inches in length (approx 2 hr 30 min) so maybe a 550 or 660 next time.

A couple more from Sunday and today:

Foundation The Wise Man Robusto (5 1/2" X 50)



Bready with some floral notes, I also taste the raisen notes as well. I liked this one a lot, it's also a slow burner.

Asylum 13 Ogre (5" x 50)



This is the candela / habano barber pole of the Asylum 13 brand. The flavor really surprised me, think of something right between CAO Brazilia and CAO Italia, ie. like the Brazilia but stronger floral and citrus.

JFR Titan (6" x 60) - It wasn't an insanely long smoke, maybe 1 1/2 hr. Flavor profile - reminded me of something like a cross between the Ave Maria Argentum and the CAO Brazilia if the Brazilia had no floral. I tasted a lot of rum-raisin along with high quality Nicaraguan filler. I'd put it on par with the La Flor Dominicana but less bready.

Foundation Olmec Maduro Double Corona (7" x 54) - A nice box press, reminded me a lot of the CAO Brazilia in terms of flavors, in this case almost an amaretto fading into floral. Burned a bit quicker than I'd anticipated on my walk otherwise no complaints. Would I buy it again? Not 100% sure, good but perhaps it reminded me of other things I've had enough that it really didn't do that much for me.

It's been a while since I've updated my list, I haven't been trying quite as many 'new' things but I have a few new favorites:

JC Newman Brick House Maduro Toro 6" x 52 - absolutely delicious if you're looking for something leathery w/ a butterscotch edge and fills out the spectrum between those two points:



Island Jim by Oscar Maduro Torpedo 6.5" x 52 - really hard to describe the flavor of this one other than a really good leathery / bready, almost dark chocolate or coffee mild bitterness, and above that there's something a bit hoppy / woody or like there's some notes of Grape Nuts serial (in a good way though). Taste great though I doubt most people have thought of smoking Grape Nuts:

I can go for a nice cigar right now.