Big Al's Cigar Blog

Gurkha Castle Hall Nicaraguan Reserva Especial Toro cigar review  5/27/2023 I got these cheap.    But they've been aging for at least 6 months in my humidor.    Never been a fan of Gurkha, but I am very open minding and will smoke every cigar I have.  Starts off medium with spice, cedar, and earth.    Yep, just like most Nicaraguan smokes.    Not too bad.   Most Gurkhas taste alright the first third and turn to really terrible, but, like I said, I will honestly review any cigar.    If this one stays consistent then it is a decent smoke.   I taste a slight caramel taste, but it is burning kind of hot.    It is really windy tonight.    60 degrees out.    Windy and cool enough to start a small fire.    What's does have to do with how this is smoking? Nothing.    It is burning hot and a little harsh, but maybe it will mellow out. Half way through and it is mostly cedar and spice taste.    Easy smoking, not a lot of smoke, but leaves decent flavor on your palate.   I will say it is

La Aurora 1495 Series robusto review 5/24/2023 This blend has been around a long time. I'm reviewing what I think is a 10+ year old one from a box I bought.    They still s2ll them now for about the same or maybe less than back then, about $3 or $4 a piece.  A toothy Ecuadorian wrapper with corojo, Dominican binder and Dominican, Peruvian, and Nicaraguan fillers.    It's a medium smoke, not meant to be a full bodied smoke.  Starts off pretty mild with a slight bite of spice and charred wood.    It's a slightly complex flavor and not smooth and mild like the regular La Aurora Cameroon line, which are awesome mild smokes in my opinion.    To me, these have a slight bite of harshness, which might be covered up if it had more body.    But it's a mild smoke trying to add complex flavors.    Not bad so far, but not great. The spice and cedary wood flavors have taken over.    The bite has almost disappeared.    Still mild to medium.    But I'm getting huge puffs of smoke a

Montecristo Churchill cigar review 5/19/2023 I've had a few of these big Montecristo smokes aging for a few years now.    I thought they were all churchills but some are longer and some fatter.    This one I'm smoking is the smallest.    It's the one on the right. I recall my review back in October last year of a newer bigger one with the extra yellow classic band.    It was super strong, really unlike most of the Montecristo cigars I've smoked.    I believe to be a regular Churchill.    The bigger ones I can't find any reference to on the internet.    This one is smaller and fits the 7x50 size.  Starts out really mild, but with good subtle flavors or caramel and nuts.    But, you can barely tell you're smoking it, just subtle flavors left on your pallet.    It's definitely a mild Connecticut smoke.    Not really my type of smoke, but it is great so far for delivering easy smooth flavors.   Starting to pick up some strength and more flavors.    Earthiness an

Cusano 1959 Rare Cameroon Toro cigar review 5/15/2023 I have couple of these from a box I bought over 10 years ago. If I remember correctly, these are the work of the Davidoff blender Henke Kelner.    Cameroon wrapped Dominicans were my go to smokes back then.    It seems the trend has moved from these to Nicaraguan cigars and I can agree with the consensus.    But I still love a spicy and sweet Cameroon on a mild to medium blend.    These are more medium than the other competitors back then.   Starts off smooth and mild.    Builds quickly into some spices and cedar.    Lots of smooth smoke.    Then the spiciness kicks in with some sweet nuttiness.    Yeah, this is one of the best Cameroon Dominicans from back then.    Leaves a great sweet spiciness on your palate with aftertaste of nuts.  Tons and tons of smoke on this warm night.    It is going well with the Ron Anejo Carupano 6 year rum.    If you like a smooth sugary tasting rum then try this economical one.    It goes great with a

Oliva Serie V Torpedo cigar review 5/5/2023 This one is the first smoke from my 2nd sampler pack that I think is at least a year and half been aging.  This torpedo appears fat and perfectly rolled, as it should for a $10 smoke.    There's stiff competition at these prices, but there's a reason these are top sellers.    It's just an all around great, satisfying smoke.    Oliva is world class, delivering very consistent quality and no gimmicks.   You know this one is good.    Nicaraguan puro with sun grown wrapper and ligero fillers from the Jalapa Valley. If it tastes as good as it smells, then it's a winner.   Hey its Cinco de Mayo.    Skipped the crowds this time and had a better skillet steak that was marinated in lime and spices for a day.    Along with guacamole and cheese dip, I topped it off with Herradura tequila shots chased with my custom margaritas with fresh mint.    This cigar better live up to the hype if it's goona top my night.   Right away I taste s

Alec Bradley Prensado Corona Gorda cigar review 4/21/2023 I've had 3 of these in my humidor for about a year now and I am finally my first one.  I have been an Alec Bradley fan for a long time.  This is supposed to be one of the best.   Corojo wrapper from Honduras with the rest Nicaraguan and Honduran.   This is a smaller cigar than I normally prefer.  Bigger than a corona but smaller than a robusto.   First inch starts pretty mild with some nuttiness and slight caramel taste.  Pretty quickly changes to a stronger profile with some red pepper spice.  Very smooth but leaves nice flavors of caramel, nuts, and spiciness lingering on your palate.   I do have to touch it up with my lighter, but no big deal.   I've smoked about a third and it's smoking about the right speed, maybe 15 min.  Good full draws and always smooth.   Picking up some deeper tobacco flavors.  Kind of like dried fruit and licorice. Not overpowering, just enough flavors on your tongue to keep it smooth and

 Fratello Blue Toro cigar review 4/17/2023 Heres a $3 bundle smoke from a somewhat unknown brand. I bought some 5 pack samplers of this brand that had 2 "premiums" and 3 bundle cigars. The bundle cigars have been decent and worth the $3 and this is the 2nd of the bundle smokes that I've tried. I rated one of the bundle cigars, Rosso, an 86. The other premiums rated 94 and 92, so I know Fratello knows how to make a decent smoke. This one, same as the other bundles, is rolled by La Aurora. Maduro wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Dominican fillers.   Well, damn, right away I can tell it's plugged. Come on man. Getting nothing out of my power lungs, I go inside to get my cutters. I curt an 1/8 inch off and still plugged. OK. Cut some more. A little better but still not much taste. It almost 10:30pm on a Monday night and I'm trying to decide if I rate this a zero and get another or try to make do. The flavor seems pretty good but, you know, why waste my time

Hoyo de Monterey Double Corona cigar review  3/11/2023 Its been a long time since I've smoked a Hoyo cigar but they have always been pretty consistently good.    The regular blend and the Excalibur have been their most sold and best blends, at least in my experience.  This one is 6.75 x 48.    Long and skinny.    Equadorian Sumatra wrapper, Connecticut broadleaf binder, and Dominican / Honduran / Nicaraguan fillers.    These have been made in Honduras for a really long time.   Pretty flavourful right away.    A little toasted caramel taste.    Been drinking coke and Cazadores tequila.    Seems to bring out the sweetness.    Not mild, but still smooth and easy smoking. Very slight spice left on the palate, but very good flavor of sweet dark root beer like taste left lingering.    And it only been like 5 to 10 minutes. Check out the ash.    I haven't had very many split out the ash like this.    These have only aged 2 or 3 months in my humidor.    So far, seems well aged.   It

Partagas Cifuentes Enero cigar review 3/8/2023 Partagas has been making these lower priced smokes for like 10+ years.    I bought a few boxes a while back, like probably 10 years ago.    This one is from that batch.    I had to look this one up and I really couldn't believe these are still available.   They were about $3 each back then and about $5 now.   It's an all Dominican puro with Corojo wrapper. Pretty mild at first.    Has that classic first Dominican flavor of sweet graham cracker flavor that has a papery and cedary taste.   I guess some describe this as creamy.    To me it's a little too much bite to call creamy.    It is mild but has some strong aftertaste.    Good aftertaste of sweetness and some spice. But still kind of has a slight bite instead of just flavors left on your tongue.   Yeah I know I'm being a little too critical for a lower priced cigar, but you need know what you are getting for 5 bucks.  You are getting a great rolled cigar from some fine r