Posts Tagged dion giolito

Humidor Update (2011 Part 1)

Sep 16

Posted by admin in Humidor Update | 8 Comments

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CigarPhoto.Net is now 6+ months into cigar photography, smoking, reviewing, etc. Although we occasionally receive pre-releases from various manufacturers, 99% of what is aging in our humidors came through our personal wallet. Back in JAN2011 we unveiled this blog and our Humidors. Few months and many boxes later, humidors/coolidor are packed to gills. As I said in my Intro, cigar researching and ultimately purchasing is as equally enjoyable as cigar smoking. Attending events, participating in online forums and social media, expending circle of fellow cigar ‘aficionados’ surely didn’t help in keeping this hobby in check. I’m actively thinking about cabinet humidor purchase (Aristocrat or Avello ?) to add an extra cushion. While this is in works, please find recent bulk arrivals. There was obviously a lot of singles that were purchased / smoked immediately that were not photographed for blog’s humidor update. However, you can keep track of those purchases and experiences via Facebook Fan Page and / or Twitter. Below boxes / 5packs came through random sources: Ruben’s Smoke Stack, Federal Cigars, Fume Cigars, Hava CigarShop, Saints & Sinners, Cigar Mas Fino, and various online cigar communities. Enjoy !

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Cigar BoxPass

Apr 1

Posted by admin in SRFF BoxPass 2011 | 1 Comment

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Cigar smokers are unique creatures. They share, give and don’t expect much in return. Not a lot of humans can say that about themselves. Fellow Brother Of The Leaf from SRFF forum – Tadd, organized a cigar boxpass. The concept is fairly simple. An organizer or a ‘host’ confirms a list of participants and starts off with X amount of cigars. Box travels from one smoker to another and folks take what they like and put what they think another BOTL would enjoy. Couple days ago box came to my house and I chose two cigars which I was looking for but have not had a chance to purchase: Mi Barrio and Illusione HL maduro. In return I contributed toward this ‘game’ with Tatuaje Black Petit Lancero, Tatuaje ‘Tattoo’, Cabaiguan Imperiales, and special gift for the host – Tatuaje ‘The Frank.’ Box will be shipped to another BOTL tomorrow and the ‘game’ will continue. This type of interaction keeps cigar smoking ‘fresh’ and creates camaraderie.

Tags: cabaiguan, cigar box pass, cigar photography, cigars, dion giolito, illusione, illusione hl, mi barrio, pete johnson, Tatuaje Black Label Petite Lancero, tatuaje frank, tatuaje tattoo

Nosotros

Mar 22

Posted by admin in Nosotros | 5 Comments

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Nosotros project was a collaboration between two industry giants, Dion Giolito of Illusione and Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate. Nosotros cigars were rolled by Drew Estate in Nicaragua. I was gifted my first Nosotros by Jonathan Drew at one of the cigar events in local B&M cigar shops in New Jersey. When I look back, I shake my head because at that event I was still craving a Nosotros sample after receiving couple pre-release Dirty Rats. We all know where both cigars are now in regard to popularity. I smoked gifted Nosotros sample few days later and due to high expectations, I was far from being impressed. Reading other reviews online, my experience was within the same bracket. I have since purchased few different viotolas and although the overall package has improved, I still wasn’t fully satisfied. I decided to rest the robusto for few more months and see if extra aging can positively impact the experience.

I smoked my last Nosotros this past weekend and I can report that cigar definitely benefited from extra aging. In construction department, cigar had a well applied Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper with few dark running veins. If you enjoy looking at dark oily wrappers, Nosotros is an extreme opposite. I can probably go to Home Depot, buy an ultra fine sandpaper and you wouldn’t know the difference – it is that ‘sandy’ to touch. Burn has improved, drastically. With my very first sample, I recall sitting there for 1.5hr with a cigar in my left hand / a lighter in my right hand and performing a touch-up procedure for equal amount of time – it was annoying. Although the burn was far from being razor sharp, I only touched it up twice. Flavors – I can’t slice this cigar into 3s since there is definitely not enough complexity. Normal puffs and retrohale presented enjoyable spice on the lips, tongue and a small amount in the back of the throat. If you enjoy ‘wood’ in your taste, there is an abundance of it in Nosotros. I was able to pick up small amount of chocolate / coffee / cocoa. The amount of smoke on the 2nd/3rd puff was out of control. Photographing the nub and ensuring that I get sufficient amount of smoke was a piece of ‘cake.’ In conclusion, one would ask “Is Nosotros Worth The Box ?” Probably not. “Few singles ?” Yes. My expectation is extremely high when it comes to Dion’s Illusione brand and Jonathan’s Liga Privada brand. I hope they continue to innovate and continue to meet my expectation. Who knows, maybe some day we will see Nosotros Take 2.

Please be aware that Nosotros project has been discontinued as per Dion Giolito but there are still a lot of local B&M cigar shops that carry the line. If you can’t find them locally, give Ruben’s Smoke Stack a call. To read up more about Nosotros, check out my colleagues: casasfumando, acigarsmoker, stogiereview, nicetightash, mikesstogies.

Specs:
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Connecticut Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Length: 5″
Ring: 50

Construction > OK
Burn > OK
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes (* discontinued)