Review from the Bench: Vengeance Series '98 Toro

Hey guys, I hope all is well!  I've got a pretty busy week ahead of me.  2 Exams later on this week, I had a paper due earlier today...the cycle continues.  It's crunch time for school, and it's really taking it's toll on my sanity!  I'm looking forward to being home with my family during thanksgiving.  It really can't come soon enough!!

I'll probably be posting these reviews once or twice a week, and if I've got something on my mind that's post-worthy, I'll just drop a post.

Just a little information about my reviews so you know what you are reading.  If the title of my post is labeled "Throwback Review", then it'll be a review that I have done either earlier this year, or last year.  If it's titled "Review from the Bench", then it's a fresh review, probably within the last day or so.  I'll do my best to keep up, but school and cold weather can play a part in my cigar enjoying schedule.

Throw out a cheer for the first snow for the year here at UAlbany!!


Ok well enough of that, on to the review:


The other night I enjoyed a cigar that my cousin had sent me a few weeks ago.  This cigar was beautiful.  Gorgeous color, nice band and foot band, and also the cedar around it added a nice touch to it.  It was also quite hefty of a stick!

The cigar cut very nicely thanks to my Palio cutter.  There is a nice loose draw, and it smells of cedar and a slight nuttiness as well.  It lit up very quickly and produced lots and lots of smoke.

The cigar produces nice toasty flavors, and a bit of spice towards the back of my throat on the retrohale.  This stick is very slow burning throughout it's entirety.  

As this cigar continues, the spice begins to spread to the roof of my mouth.  This stick has a very smooth taste, and a nice sweet ambient smell.  The ash held on for a solid two inches or so until it fell off.  

The cigar stayed pretty consistent...it was way too cold to sit outside, so I had to hop in my car and drive around for a bit.  The cigar pretty much stayed consistent, with a few slight subtle changes.


Overall I really enjoyed this cigar.  I love cigars with some spice, a loose draw, and lots of smoke.

I would definitely smoke this cigar again if the opportunity presented itself.

Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you next time!


-Dave

Throwback Review: Cuba Libre

Hello again everyone!  Hope you guys were looking forward to my next post because here it is!  The last few days for me have been pretty relaxing.  Last week I had 3 papers due, and for one of them, I had to read the book that night!  That's what happens when professors all have their tests on the same day.  It's starting to get cold here, but still smoking weather if it's not too windy.  Yesterday I enjoyed an Ashton VSG for the first time.  It was a pretty nice smoke, but I didn't review it as I was driving while smoking it.

Ok so I'm going to try to put up one of my old reviews just to get things started.  My reviews started off with ratings and jazz like that, but have formed into more informative reviews as of late.  Well here it goes, one of my first reviews:

Throwback Review: Cuba Libre


Hello again brothers and sisters of the leaf!!  I just finished the Cuba Libre (Club Corona).  It was a very complex, and flavorful smoke to say the least.

Another beautiful day at UAlbany, perfect day to enjoy another cigar.

The Cuba Libre is a very attractive cigar.  It is a box press, 5.5'', 44 ring gague, and runs at about $3.50 a stick.  It has a nice, medium brown wrapper, with small veins.  I like how you can see where they rolled on the wrapper very distinctly.  I think it adds character to this particular cigar.

The pre-light draw was medium to firm, which I believe aided in slowing down the burn of the cigar.  The stick was definitely soft to the touch, but nothing that would affect the smoking experience.

The cigar started off very nicely.  The light was quite easy, and it seemed to burn very well right at the start.
I picked up a very smooth cream flavor right off the light, with a small tang of apricot on the finish.

That's me tasting all the flavors!!  :grin:

A little farther along, and I picked up a touch of spice through the nose.  Not overpowering though.  Deeper into the first third, there is a lot of earthiness coming through, along with a very subtle vanilla flavor.

Very enjoyable so far with nice, thick clouds of smoke.

Spice begins to emerge during the second third, with a much deeper earthiness than before.  Notes of mocha and nuttiness can be found.

The ash fell off exactly 1/3 into the cigar, and subsequently at exactly 2/3 of the way through.  I am thoroughly enjoying this smoke so far!

As the cigar enters the final third, the earthiness sticks with it, but now accompanied by a touch of coffee and cocoa.  The spice is much more prevalent through the nose at this point, making me think twice before I do it.  (Made my eyes water!!) :laugh:


Leading up to the final few puffs, the Cuba Libre creams out a bit, resulting in a nice, relaxing finish.
(A few of the last pictures got deleted for some reason) :disappoin

It's gotten much darker since the beginning of this smoke!!  It took me about an hour and a half to complete.  Got a bit cold too...really made me want some spiced cider to accompany the cigar.

Overall I really thought this was a good smoke, especially for the price.  I would give this cigar a score of 87/100.  It was very enjoyable, but by no means a favorite.  It burned quite well from start to finish, and no re-lighting was necessary.  Probably due to the price, I would pick one up to sit in my humidor, and see how it ages.



Alright folks, that was my throwback review, hope everyone enjoyed!

See you next time!

-Dave

First Post/General Overview

Hey everybody! I decided to try this whole blog thing out as a sort of way to gather my thoughts, and to add some structure and entertainment to my day.

A little about me:
I am currently a sophomore at the University at Albany with the intention of majoring in criminal justice. I have hobbies that are a little different than most college kids. I thoroughly enjoy smoking cigars, and keep track of what I smoke and like through writing and posting occasional reviews on botl.org. I have fallen behind recently because I have a lot going on right now, but I plan to catch up and start doing my reviews again.

Poker is another one of my vices. Online poker and I have a funny relationship. I really enjoy playing online poker, but am not incredibly successful at it unfortunately. Single table tournaments are what I prefer to play and I am learning new strategies and techniques every day.

What I plan:
For the first few posts, I plan to revisit some of my old reviews and post them onto this blog. I also plan on talking about different things that are on my mind as a way to break up my day.

I absolutely thrive off of comments/critiques. Please let me known how I am doing either now, or sometime down the road and let me know what I could to better.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you come back for more! Keep your eyes peeled for one of my original cigar reviews within the next day or two.

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