Licenciados Segundos Don't Live Up to Reputation

Licenciados Segundos, 6 x 50 Toro, Dominican Republic $1.54

Construction: Solid construction, though not beautiful. Smooth Connecticut wrapper with a good crown. Very good tightness. Mild aroma. 4

Lighting: Cut and lit with no problems. Burned evenly, developing a medium gray ash of over one inch. Perfect draw. 5

Flavor: Mild flavors of cedar and other wood, with a moderate herbal quality. OK, but nothing to excite the palate here. 3

Comments: When the Licenciados line was first introduced through Mike’s cigars of Miami (early 80s ?), they rated a 93 (if memory serves) by Cigar Aficionado. At that time I bought a box of Toros, and they were superb. Later I bought some segundos, and they were pretty good, as well. But, then later the quality seemed to drop a bit, as (I presume) they raced to keep up with the demand created by the C.A. publicity. I bought a box of Wavells a couple years later and they were nice, but not a 93.

These segundos are not in the same class as those Licenciados from the 1980s. Pleasant, but not great. I will order a box of the Toros or Wavells in the not too distant future, and give you a report on those. I’d really like to see how they compare to these segundos, and the original Licenciados.

Overall: 87
Value Rating: 87-2= 85
Recommendation: Recommended

Joe Average

Cuban Crafters Continues Quality

Cuban Crafters, Vegas 5x52 Robusto $2.28

Construction: A rich brown criollo wrapper smells rich under the nose from this stogie. It is slightly veiny, but has a lovely, soft sheen to it that makes it a very attractive cigar. Very good shape and tightness, and the crown was invisible on the head. 4

Lighting: Cut nicely, and lit like a good cigar should- smoothly and evenly. Burned perfectly concentric, and held a lovely white ash to 1 ½ inches. Perfect draw. 5

Flavor: Very enjoyable, mildly sweet cocoa and leather. It maintained this lovely taste to the end. Never a distracting or distasteful flavor. Thorough pleasure. 5

Comments:

Overall: 90
Value Rating: 90-2= 88
Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Joe Average

Holt Classic is a Classic

Holt Classics 5 1/2x55 Pyramid, Dominican $4.79

Construction: Very good looking pyramid, perfect symmetry. Nice medium brown Ecuadoran wrapper had a pleasant though not very strong smell. 4

Lighting: Cut and lit perfectly. Burned absolutely evenly all the way to about 1 ½ inch before I put it out. The light gray ash grew to about 1 ½ inches before I regrettably had to flick it, as I was holding the cigar over myself, while I leaned back in my chair with my newly sprained ankle raised on the edge of the table before me. 5

Flavor: Lovely complex flavors of coffee, tea, nuts, and a hint of leather. This is a medium strength cigar, but full of flavor. Holt’s says it’s “creamy and smooth”, and I’d have to agree. 5

Comments: “Classic” is the perfect name for this cigar, as its flavor reminds me of the cigars I used to smoke years ago. It is really a very good cigar. It’s a little expensive (though not much) compared to some other cigars we’ve rated, but you can get them as rothchilds and coronas for just over $3.00 a pop, which is pretty good.

Overall: 91
Value Rating: 91-5= 86
Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Joe Average

First JR Entry Pretty Darn Good

JRs Consuegra 6x54 Parejo, Honduras $1.20

Construction: Good tightness in the wrap, a dark brown maduro wrapper that was a little veiny, but had a nice sheen to it. The aroma of the wrapper was pungent, but not entirely pleasant. Good overall. 4

Lighting: I may have cut this too low, as the wrapper came undone a bit, but never unraveled, so it wasn’t a problem. It lit well, and burned evenly to the end. Developed a 1 1/4 inch medium grey ash. 5

Flavor: Peppery at first, then mellowed out to strong espresso with a mildly sweet hint of some flavor I couldn’t quite describe, pecan or apricot came to mind, but not strong like a flavored cigar- just right. Very nice and stayed that way until I decided to put it out with about 1 ½ inched remaining. Also, a perfect draw. 4

Comments: The Consuegra is a Honduran segundo from the makers of Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur, El Rey del Mundo, JR Ultimates, etc. One of our raters told me he liked them, so I expected it to be pretty good, and it was. JRs also has a Dominican Consuegra that you might like, and we'll try them when we can.

Overall: 89
Value Rating: 89-1= 88
Recommendation: Well Recommended

Joe Average

Another Good, Though Not Great, Cigar from Thompson

Thompson Vintage Especiale 6x52 Torpedo, Honduras $1.56

Construction: Well made torpedo with a twisted crown. Smooth, lovely, dark brown maduro wrapper with a nice sheen to it. Had a perfect feel of tightness in it. 5

Lighting: Cut and lit well, with a very good draw. Developed a 1 ¼ inch gray ash that looked lighter against the dark maduro. Burned slightly unevenly, requiring a bit of re-firing to even it out. 4

Flavor: Started off with rich leather, dark chocolate, and espresso flavors, but not strong or harsh. This was consistent for over half of the cigar, during which time it was very enjoyable. However, after passing the halfway point it began to develop harsh flavors, and I decided not to smoke it to a stub. 3

Comments: I wish this cigar had kept its nice flavors to the end. I would have rated it an 89 or 90, it was quite good. I have plenty of them, and I’m going to have my “staff” rate them, so we’ll see how they fare in future ratings.

Overall: 88
Value Rating: 88-2= 86
Recommendation: Recommended

Joe Average

Blind Ratings and FAQ to Come

I am in the process of arranging some blind ratings of some new cigars and also some of the ones on the Top Ten Value list. It will be a few weeks, but it's in the works. I believe it will make our ratings more accurate to get some more opinions on all these stogies.

In addition, I am preparing a FAQ page at the website, to help cigar smokers learn how and where to get good cigars at good prices. I have been doing a lot of research, along with buying and smoking stogies, so I have a lot of info to share in that regard. I'll let you know when the FAQ is open.

Joe Average

Can't Fairly Rate Don Kiki Brown Label

I had promised I would provide a rating of the Cuban Crafters Don Kiki Brown Label, but I don't think I can fairly do that because of the strange experience I had when I tried to smoke it.

It looked beautiful when it came out of the box- a smooth shiny wrapper, and the torpedo rolled to perfection. I would have given it a 5 for construction. It cut and lit perfectly, then I smoked a wonderful first 3/4 inches of the cigar. I was thinking of all the great flavor- a 4 or 5 at that point- and the lovely grey-white ash, when all of a sudden it started to taste like turpentine and ammonia, I couldn't draw properly, and it began to burn a tunnel straight down the middle. I figured there was some anomaly in the wrap, put it out, and cut an inch off to get past the problem. But, when I lit it again, it did the same thing. I had to put it out, and I am sorry to say it was the only Brown Label I had.

Because of the fact that the cigar started out so wonderfully, I had to assume that this problem was not indicative of the line in general, so I will wait and try another and report at that time. Does anyone think this unfair?

Joe Average