Cigarfan, a blogger who started up in January of this year, has accumulated an impressive collection of concise cigar reviews on his site. His latest offering is a review of one of my favorite Rocky Patel cigars, The Edge Maduro Toro.

Here’s an excerpt of what he has to say:

I found this toro to be an extremely well constructed cigar, somewhat better than the RP Vintage lines. It burns evenly, draws perfectly, and earns an A in deportment. The ash is a mottled light gray and is fairly solid.

It’s a good look at a very good cigar, and I recommend it to you.

Cigar Insider gave this one an 87 last year, and commented on “good oils and tooth” and “a nice range of cocoa, cream and wood notes. The earthy finish carries coffee and mellow spice.”

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Summary:

A mild to medium-bodied, maduro cigar with a rough-appearing and veiny wrapper that is oscuro-dark black. Those looking for a “wicked touch of spice” in their cigars should probably look elsewhere however…and that probably explains why this cigar has gone from being a promising devil to a ghost of Halloween past.

Those of you familiar with my cigar reviews should know that this one is a bit different. The Diablo line has been discontinued by the manufacturer due to low sales. If you want to try this cigar, you will have to hurry, search out the few suppliers who still have it in stock — and it will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you.

So, why the review?

As I said, I’m doing something a little different here. This review is the first installment in a two part series. The first part, which you are reading, will review the cigar independent of its marketing campaign and hype. Think of it as similar to a blind tasting — or as similar as I can possibly make it.

The second article, which will follow, will focus on the question of “what went wrong,” and I frankly find that question quite interesting. Hopefully, so will you.

When the Diablo line was introduced, there was much fanfare and a well-coordinated guerilla marketing campaign that a lot of time and effort went into. The cigar was created by a really talented blender, and is really not a bad cigar at all. Despite that, only a little over a year later, the cigar is history. Considering that it was backed by one of the major companies in the industry, I think that the Diablo story deserves a second look.

So, enjoy the review today and come back for the post-mortem soon.
 

Background Information:

A medium-bodied cigar with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, an oily Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a filler made of a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican Piloto Cubano (cuban seed) Ligero tobacco. From cigar master-blender Daniel Nuñez, and manufacturered by General Cigar at their Dominicana factory .

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Summary:

A solid cigar that delivers excellent flavor in a mild to medium-bodied smoke. Never bitter, never harsh, always flavorful — but one dimensional and much milder than its dark Oscuro wrapper might lead you to expect. Very sensitive to humidity as well, and its finicky nature loses it points because of the effect it has on draw, burn and flavor. Still, a very good cigar and a definite step up from the regular Onyx line.

Background Information:

This beautiful 7 inch, 50 ring gauge, figurado is long for a traditional Belicoso. It is a mild to medium-bodied cigar with an Oscuro Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and a Nicaraguan binder. The filler a blend of Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Peruvian tobaccos. Manufactured by Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd. in the Dominican Republic for Altadis.

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This is more of a tasting note and some quick comments (with price and source information), rather than a full review. Frankly, I do not feel comfortable doing reviews based on only a single cigar, and that’s all I have had of this one.

This came up in response to a question this weekend on the new Cigar Envy Deals and Discussion Yahoogroup. The group is up to over 375 members now in just four days of existence and ranks in the top ten of the 140 cigar-related groups there. Thanks again for the very enthusiastic response.

The factory pressed La Flor Dominicana (officially the LFD Prensado), for those who might not be familiar with it, was just introduced at the RTDA show in New Orleans a few months back. It is a new cigar in Litto Gomez’ Double Ligero series, and is offered in a very limited edition of only 400 boxes.

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Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar Insider newsletter just released a rating today on the Cusano 18 Paired Maduro Churchill. This is the cigar that I reviewed here at Cigar Envy last week. CA is the first of the major magazines to review it.

They rated the cigar at 89, and called it a best buy. It is their featured cigar, and received the highest rating of any reviewed in this issue — topping the CAO Cx2 and the Aurora 1495 among others.

Here are some excerpts from what they said, along with notes on their vertical review of other sizes in the Paired Maduro release:

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Summary:

The new Cusano 18 Paired Maduro Churchill is medium to medium-full bodied with a quiet power like you’ll find in some Cuban cigars. Creamy and refined, it is an extremely flavorful and balanced smoke. This cigar is very new, but has already won a place in my humidor. While quite good now, I believe that it has the potential to become great after a few months of humidor rest. Highly recommended, and a Best Buy at the price.

Background Information:

At 7 1/2 inches with a 50 ring gauge this cigar is slightly longer than a classic Churchill, slightly shorter than a classic Double Corona, and a little fatter than both. It is a full-flavored cigar with a double-cured Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over a San Vicente Dominican Olor binder. The filler contains the same 18 year old Dominican Olor aged tobacco as the Cusano 18 Double Connecticut, blended with Dominican Piloto Cubano. In addition, the filler also contains Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro leaf. Manufactured by Tabacos Dominicanos S.A. and blended by master craftsman Hendrik Kelner, creator of Davidoff, AVO, Paul Garmirian and The Griffin’s cigars, at his Tabadom factory in the Dominican Republic for Cusano Cigars.

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