Posts Tagged dominican republic

Rodrigo Boutique Blend

Sep 9

Posted by admin in Rodrigo Boutique Blend | 9 Comments

- click on photographs (slideshow / EXIF)-

This week we are reviewing a Rodrigo Boutique Blend cigar in 6×60 format. George Rodriguez is the man behind the brand and the vision. When I met George couple months ago he struck me as a soft spoken, passionate, grassroots-approach driven entrepreneur who loves cigar business. One has to appreciate that ! This week’s ‘G6’ Boutique Blend has been labeled as a flavor bomb and made entirely of Grade A tobaccos. Rodrigo cigars are manufactured in Tamboril, Dominican Republic and blended by cigar veteran – William Ventura.

As a reader of this blog, one should already know that 6×60 vitola size is not something that I reach for too often but let’s get beyond that obstacle and concentrate on the look and the burn of this cigar. Visually, Boutique Blend ‘G6’ had an excellent construction. Cigar was sporting a dry Ecuador Habano & Sumatra hybrid wrapper with no visible veins nor seams. After clipping and lighting, perfect free flowing draw, just the way I enjoy it. In flavor department, personally, I walked away from this cigar with a pleasurable sweetness. There were some woody notes which morphed into sweetness, a bit of cocoa and hints of spice. Overall, great assortment of flavors which kept me focused and looking for the next wave. Burn was nearly razor sharp and ash, light in color, fell off in ~1″ chunks.

Clearly, another successful project from George Rodriguez and Rodrigo cigars. If you enjoy today’s 6×60 madness, please do yourself a favor and add Rodrigo Boutique Blend ‘G6’ to your shopping card. If 60ring is not up your alley, look for ‘G4 – 6.25″ x 54’ or ‘G5 – 5.5″ x 56’, I will do the same.

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano & Sumatra hybrid
Binder: Dominican Republic Habano
Filler: Dominican Republic
Length: 6″
Ring: 60

Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Absolutely !
Recommend > Absolutely !
Buy > Yes

Tags: cigar, cigar flavor, cigar images, cigar photographs, cigar photography, cigar photos, cigar pictures, cigar review, cigar smoking photos, cigars, cigars in tamboril, dominican republic, george rodriguez, photography, rodrigo boutique blend, rodrigo cigars, rodrigo g6, stogie, stogie review, tobacco, william ventura cigar blender

Liga Privada No9 ‘Flying Pig’

Aug 19

Posted by admin in Liga Privada No9 'Flying Pig' | 7 Comments

- click on photographs (slideshow / EXIF)-

In march of 2011 we have reviewed Liga Privada T52 ‘Flying Pig’ and now it is time to photograph and smoke its “twin brother” – Liga Privada No9 ‘Flying Pig.’ Although both T52 and No9 are quality products, for some reason folks subscribe to one or the other, not necessarily both. Personally, my preference goes toward the latter. I have tried T52 in different vitolas but I do find myself reaching for No9 99% of the time. My “poison” is No9 toro and I can smoke those back to back, and some. Let’s get back to the ‘piggy‘, shall we ?

Visually, there was not much difference between No9 and T52. Same size, same format, same super fancy pigtail, tightly packed. Wrapper’s texture however was very different. T52 was known to be very toothy where No9 felt and looked “silky smooth.” Lots of oils with no visible veins nor seams. After clipping the pigtail and lighting the cigar, excellent draw. Considering large ring gauge and tightly packed tobacco, I’m always amazed at how good of a draw one can experience while smoking Flying Pig. In flavor department, notes of wood / cedar at the beginning with touch of chocolate / sweetness in the middle and toward the end. Very small amount of spice, almost undetectable, in my personal experience. Burn, ash, amount of smoke … nearly perfection. Liga Privada No9, flying pig or parejo, is The “Chu Chu Train” of the cigar industry. This cigar produces so much smoke that sometimes it is overwhelming. From photography perspective, as you can see below, this is the ultimate “model.”

If you enjoy Liga Privada No9, the ‘Flying Pig’ should be up your alley as well. The unique format should add that extra excitement to the overall experience. Personally, I will continue to enjoy both No9 and T52 piggys in my rotation but my disposable cash will most likely go toward parejo vitolas.

Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras
Length: 4 1/8″
Ring: 60

Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes

Please consider the following post:
* Liga Privada T52 ‘Flying Pig’

Tags: 60 ring gauge cigar, brazilian mata fina, cigar, cigar construction, cigar flavor, cigar images, cigar photographs, cigar photography, cigar photos, cigar pictures, cigar review, cigar smoke, cigar smoking photos, cigars, dominican republic, drew estate, flying pig, honduras, jonathan drew, liga privada, nicaragua, no 9 cigar, nub cigar, perfecto cigar, photography, pigtail, steve saka, stogie, tobacco, toothy wrapper

La Aurora Preferidos ‘Ruby’

Mar 29

Posted by admin in La Aurora Preferidos ‘Ruby’ | 11 Comments

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This weeks we are departing from boutique space and diving into classical cigar realm – La Aurora. In the hopper is one of Aurora’s special edition preferidos – a Brazilian Sun Grown covered ‘Ruby.’ Preferido, the cigar that paved the way for manufacturing in Dominican Republic back in 1903, is a perfecto shape vitola which expands to a thick center in the middle. In addition to visually pleasing shape and sweetness off the wrapper, the Special Edition red-jet metal tube adds another dimension to the product. From photographer’s perspective, I was really looking forward to incorporating the color, shape and finish of the metal tube into the ‘set.’

Holding 5/54 La Aurora Preferidos makes me want to see Liga Privada Flying Pig in the same vitola. That would be a pleasure to hold and smoke, wouldn’t it ? The ‘Ruby‘ itself is very well compacted and covered with extremely toothy wrapper. One visible vein with otherwise well blended seams. Initial few puffs produced extreme amount of smoke – thumbs up ! In flavor department, delicious sweetness mixed with wood and characteristics of leather. Throughout the cigar, and especially through retrohale and toward the end, fair amount of spice. Thick and razor sharp burn line, light grey and tight ash scored high in construction department. All around great experience, great cigar and stand up company.

From photographer’s perspective, as stated above, this was nothing but a pleasure. In the spirit of thinking ‘outside of the box‘, I went little extreme and incorporated snow (* yes, we still have snow) into the shoot. Sun rays immediately melted the snow and left spontaneously positioned water drops – bulls-eye.

Once again, got this cigar at my B&M shop – Ruben’s Smoke Stack.

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Brazilian Sun Grown
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Length: 5″
Ring: 54

Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes

Tags: cigar flavor, cigar in tube, cigar photography, cigar review, cigars, dominican cigars, dominican republic, drew estate, guillermo leon, jonathan drew, jose blanco, la aurora, la aurora cigars, la aurora preferidos ruby, liga privada flying pig, photography, preferidos, preferidos cigars, ruben's smoke stack, stogie, stogie review, tobacco

Liga Privada T52 ‘Flying Pig’

Mar 15

Posted by admin in Liga Privada T52 'Flying Pig' | 13 Comments

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Piggy, piggy, piggy …

Liga Privada T52 ‘Flying Pig’ cigar left me with a bag of ‘mixed’ emotions. Vitolas that I usually buy & smoke are in corona, corona gorda, lancero territory, hence delay in smoking Flying Pig. This perfecto on horizontal steroids and lack of vertical hormones was definitely visually more pleasing from photography perspective than smoking lust. If you are into ‘NUB’ concept and enjoy wide ring gauge cigars, this is The Unicorn.

On the outside, the Piggy was packed well, really well. Extremely toothy wrapper and fancy pigtail were the main characteristics of the cigar. Although the middle of the stick was 60-wide, the foot was small enough to go up against a single flame torch lighter. The very beginning presented small amount of sweetness on the tip of the cigar. Few puffs into it, I was able to taste a bit of spice in the back of my throat. As I was going through the narrow head and working my way toward 60 ring gauge, I was putting extra effort to extract more flavor and more smoke – all without much success. Frequent retrohale didn’t help either. “Good things come to those who wait” and it came, full force. Cigar went from no smoke to smoke machine in a matter of split seconds. Fortunately same applied to the flavor department. Each puff had a good amount of cedar, cocoa, coffee, chocolate and enjoyable sweetness that lingered in the background. From burn & construction perspective, overall, very impressing. Although similar to smoke & flavor ‘questionable’ beginning, the latter part was top notch with razor-sharp burn line. Ash was tight and had a ‘clean’ / light gray look to it. See what else my colleagues have said: acigarsmoker, casas fumanfo, nice tight ash, stogie review.

This ‘freaky’ looking cigar solidified my believes and vitola size preference. Although I can appreciate the novelty, the Flying Pig concept (* not the wrapper / binder / filler combination) will continue to stay in my rotation as an occasional treat. Continuing with an animal theme, give me a Liga Privada ‘Dirty Rat’ and I will smoke that cigar back to back, day after day. Liga Privada T52 ‘Flying Pig’ was definitely an experience, both smoking wise as well as photographing it. A tremendous amount of smoke had a positive impact on last few shutter clicks – see photograph of the nub. Thanks to Drew Estate, Jonathan Drew, Steve Saka, and the gang … Well done !

Specs:
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Stalk-Cut Habano
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Dominican, Honduran, Nicaraguan
Length: 4 1/8″
Ring: 60

Construction > Great
Burn > Good
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes