Big Al's Cigar Blog

Brick House Maduro Robusto cigar review 2/2/26 Only smoked a few JC Newman smokes. Not bad from my memory but none have I wanted to go out and buy again. Let's see with this one. It is a little pricey at like $8 a smoke when you buy a box. Looks good, smells good, pretty thick, and seems densely packed.  Brazilian Arapiraca Maduro wrapper with a blend of Nicaraguan long-fillers and a Nicaraguan binder.  What is Arapiraca? I have no idea. Let me look. Oh, its an area in Brazil. Oh, ok.  Will it go with the tequila I'm drinking? Let's see. These are supposed to be strong.  Starts off pretty strong. Right away it has some subtle sweet caramel taste and can taste it on the aftertaste.   Burning good. I do slightly touch it up to keep it burning square. Its burning a 30 degree angle. Let me touch it some more.  Yeah I got it burning damn good now.  Seems rolled well. It's a robusto so it's not going to burn too long. But it's earning it's worth. Lots o...

Tatuaje Tattoo by Pete Johnson robusto cigar review  1/14/2026 This might be my 2nd smoke ever from Tatuaje. I've read good reviews and such but these are not popular and don't know much about them. Got this from a sampler many years ago. Should be aged well.  It is supposedly all Nicaraguan with a Ecuadorian wrapper. I  think they are like $5 a piece.  Wow, as soon as I lit it I get not one canoe but two canoes on the tip. Never had that before. I touch it up with some spit and relight it with my torch lighter and get it burning good.  Is it any good? Damn I don't know. I can't taste it yet. Seems pretty mild.  It's now smoking good. I can start to taste a mellow and creamy , somewhat sweet taste.  Definitely a mild to medium smoke.  Basically a mild flavor with a sweet and spicy aftertaste.  The spice heats up. Still mild but a lot spicier flavor. I guess I do like spicy cigars because I do start to like this one.  I should complain ab...

  AJ Fernandez Small Batch Toro  12/19/25 Damn it's cold out, like 40 and dropping, but no wind. With a heat source it's some good smoking weather. Been waiting to smoke this one for like 2 years. AJs are always one of top 10 cigars I smoke routinely.  Mexican San Andreas wrapper, one my favorites. I think the rest is Nicaraguan. Right away it makes good smoke and easy pulls. Medium body. Burns a little sideways, but can touch it up my lighter. Pretty smooth and maybe a little creamy taste.   Putting out tons of smoke but burning pretty quick. I like it. Gots a good aftertaste.  It's Friday night and chose a cigar to go a good hour or so. Yeah it's cold out but with a propane heater, 300 watt speaker system, and football on my outside tv, I think I can enjoy a cigar.  Pairing it with an Aldi brand stout beer. Damn, I poured it in a glass and it looked like stale coke, not one bit of foam. Come on Aldi. It does go good with it though. Great flavor be...

 Montecristo Nicaragua Toro cigar review 12/5/25 Been a long time since I've done a cigar review. That doesn't mean I haven't been smoking some really good ones and some new ones that you should be anxious to try. This is not a new one but a smoke by AJ Fernandez for Montecristo that is guaranteed to be good. First time trying so I'm expecting a 95+ smoke.  I'm a huge AJ fan.  This one is all Nicaraguan. And it's Montecristo so it should be guaranteed to be be flavorful and burn perfectly.  It's a cold night out, about 43, but not too windy. Was trying to watch college football but let's be real. Who wants and who cares to watch the American and Sun Belt conference? Join the FCS. Not going to lie, being from south Georgia, I could make a team of high school players in my region that could beat half these teams.  Anyways, let's light it up. Right away it is burning good with lots of smoke. Good medium wood and leather taste but subtle. Just burns pret...

Esteban Carreras Unforgiven Toro Grande cigar review  5/5/2025 Cinco de Maya  Alright. Yes I'm drinking tequila.  What kind of lightweight drinker doesn't drink some type of Mexican alcoholic beverage on Cinco de Maya. I'm drinking my favorite Cazadores reposado.  And I had homemade fire roasted salsa. But enough about my eating and drinking.  How about this smoke? If you read my reviews youll hear me praise this brand.  Every one I've smoked has been excellent and very complex. This will be first Toro I've smoked of the Unforgiven. I bought a 10 pack of the gordos and liked them although way too big. Toro is probably my favorite size smoke.        It starts off pretty mild but pulling tons of smoke. Lots of sweetness and creaminess.  Very easy smoking. Has a bit of spiciness but more woody tasting.  It's like 62 out. Got a small fire. Got my new custom built speaker box jamming in the backyard.  Probably too lou...

Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Robusto cigar review 12/18/2023    Good strong flavors at first.  Somewhat strong. Has a slightly chocolate and slightly sweet taste with a little woodsy aftertaste. Pretty strong flavor at first. Now has mellowed at the half way point. Like a Maduro now with smooth deep dark flavors.  Pretty good and really smooth.  The burn is not the greatest but haven't had to touch it up.  Lots of smooth cool smoke and it's a medium profile . Lots of dried fruit flavors.  Like a tangy sweetness.  Goes great with my Belgium beer.  Picking up strength.  It's definitely a complex well developed smoke made to deliver many flavors.  I'd say it's not too strong for me, but it's definitely medium to full now. Not overpowering,just good smooth smoking throughout. I think it's even smoother now than before.  Lots of spicy cedar now on top of the chocolate and dried fruit.  Full flavor now and damn good.   Wor...

 Rockey Patel The Edge cigar review. 12/30/23 I think this is the 3rd smoke from my Costco $35 10 pack.  This one has a blue label on no other naming indication.  This one feels denser and slightly thicker than some of the other ones.  All are same length, a thin Robusto. The first 2 I smoked pretty quick.  This one should last longer.  Great start. Smooth and cedary with slight sweetness.  At first it has a good red pepper taste that is flavorful but not too spicy.  (The ash is hanging at like an inch and a half.  But let me say that the last 3 or 4 cigars all been long ash hangers.  I think my humidors are all in perfect conditions.  If it ain't burning perfect, either your humidor is off or smoking a crappy cigar.) Ash still hanging while I puff it hard.  It was pretty spicy but now transitioned back to sweetness.  It like a sugary caramel.  I have been drinking Knob Creek 9 year and it goes perfect with it. ...

 Rocky Patel 1992 Robusto cigar review  1/3/24 First review of 2024.  I had just smoke a great RP smoke and really like it new years eve.  I remember it and this one so far is just as good.  First inch is spicy with a good sweet dark caramel taste.  This one is box pressed and very firm.  It's smoking quicker than the previous one but still smoking slow enough with full draws of medium flavored smoke.  This one a little milder.   Still pretty spicy.  Has a red and a black pepper taste.  Sugary cedar aftertaste.  Still medium at the half point.   I think it's burning a little slower and is transitioning to more roasted sugar cane.  I think a fine rum would marry nice with this one.  I'm drinking Dickel Rye whiskey which also compliments it.   If you like em spicy and medium, try this one.  I think I taste pears in my nose.  My mouth and tongue are tingling.  No bad aftertaste, ju...

 Esteban Carreras Unforsaken Gordo cigar review  1/12/24 Finally a night not super cold. I'm going to smoke my 2nd one of these since my first one around Christmas.  This is a huge Nicaraguan smoke.  I like the larger sizes but this one is so big it hurts my jaw to try to put of teeth on it.  But for the price and amount of smoke you can get out of it,it a damn fine smoke, even it's like twice the thickness of a regular smoke.   It lights up easily and is pulling good.  Pretty mild at first with good cedar and sweetness.   Let me also go ahead and complain about the cedar sleeve, which I think all smokes should come with.  This one, however, seems to be stuck to the wrapper and you have to peel all of the bands off to get it off.  Make it easier to remove damn it.  Anyway, the cigar is smoking great these first 10 min.  Still mild and very smooth.  Like I said it's a huge smoke. It ain't just a thick one to get a...

 Alec Bradley the Lineage Robusto cigar review  1/19/24 I think first time smoking one of these Lineages.   Starts off a little mild and then kicks in lots of cedar and sweet spice. Very smooth and creamy.  It's a very mild spice that allows the cigar to remain smooth and cool.  Pulls very easy.  It's about 28 degrees out here by my fire.  I'm warm though.  The cigar is smoking pretty quick with a few runs that need fixed.   But I got it smoking good. Not a ton of smoke but it lingers a good tingling taste.  Same flavors as before, but stronger. It's builds more spicy rum barrel like taste. Still medium.  Not a strong smoke.  A good smoke.  If you get these cheap, I'd smoke them regularly.  But maybe can't get these cheap.   40 min in and I think I can get 10 more min.  It's light enough that you can type with both hands and just keep puffing it nonstop.  Complexity this cigar is not but ...

 Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Maduro Toro cigar review  3/22/2024 I been smoking Perdomo cigars since about 2000 and their quality has been one of the most consistent in the industry.   Never had a bad one.  I wouldn't say this brand is on my top 5 list but they're up there with like top 20. This is an all Nicaraguan smoke.  Supposed to have 10 year aged tobaccos.  And the wrapper was aged in Buffalo Trace barrels.  I'm drinking some George Dickel Rye Whiskey now, so it should go good together.  This cigar is supposed to be the most robust of the 3 wrappers offered in this small batch series.  I even read the tobaccos in this one are the smaller leaves.  Not sure how thatwkes it better but they say it balances the flavors.  I dont know. Maybe that's the excuse for shortening this Toro to be a Robusto grand.   It's windy out but only mid 50's.  Too wet to start a good fire .  Aint that cold.  This one lights...

 H Upmann 1844 Reserve Maduro 12/13/2025   Pretty mild at first. Very smooth with wood and cedar flavors.  It's burning good. Burning a lot better than some of the other H Upmann's I've had in the past.   It's too damn windy out tonight.  Should have smoked this one yesterday when it was colder but no wind.  It's going to smoke too quick.  I'm enjoying it. It's a little spicy but just barely tickles the tongue.  It leaves good toffee and wood flavors.   Kind of hard to enjoy with this damn wind.  It has stayed the same flavors but has strengthened.   It has always had a lot of smoke and has burned flawlessly. I only had one of these.  I wish had another one to try again. I think it's a fine smoke. It wasn't overwhelming or anything but I good all medium smoke.  I'd buy a 5 pack.  89 Complexity 87 taste 90 value 86 burn 94

 3/8/25 Got this one I believe from a brown back special from Atlantic cigars.  They usually throw in some top notch and great unknown smokes. I've stumbled upon some of my new favorite brands this way.  I always search the internet a little bit to find out what type of tobaccos and where it's made.  I can barely find any info on this one and seems nowhere to buy any.  I find it's made in Nicaragua with mostly Nicaraguan tobacco I think. I read the binder is corojo and another said Sumatra. Also read wrapper Connecticut and another said Habano. I don't know. The wrapper is dark and doesn't seem like a Maduro. More like a San Andres.  I've aged this one for like maybe 2 years. Cutting it it seems spongey.  Nice night out. Like a few degrees below 60. I light a fire. Way too damn hot. Have to move back.  After about 5 min after lighting up I can start to get some flavors of cedar and slight spice. It is very smooth, maybe light to medium now, leaves...

Alec Bradley Medalist robusto cigar review 4/2/12025 I've had this one stored for many years, gotten through a sampler.  I can say I've never had a bad Alec Bradley smoke.  Always delivered what I was expecting.  That's hard to do for any brand and really hard to do for any type of product really.   This one looks mild.  It looks like a Connecticut wrapper but I read it's Honduran. Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.   Right after lighting I can taste sweet caramel and light oak.  Very smooth the first few minutes.  Pretty mild.  After 5 or so minutes it picks up some more flavors with a little tiny bite. The bite makes it more medium but still smooth.  It now has clouds of smoke.  Easy draws and leaves a good flavor on your pallet.   Is this a good golfing smoke? Sure, but I think it's worth it to sit back and relax to smoke this one so far.  It already changed flavors from sweet to woodsy ...

Fonseca no band toro cigar review 3/12/2025   I wish I was writing this review and 1,000's of people would be like yeah I remember those. I bet nobody remembers these from like 15 years ago. You could only find these as part of a sample pack of like 20 to cigars for like $30. I don't think it was 4 different cigars x 5.  2 of them were like a $4 smoke when you buy a box, one was like $3 and this one which was never really sold except for like a special throw in deal.  I remember these as mild to medium with a little bit to it like a typical Dominican.   Before lighting it up I notice how heavy and dense it is.  For a 15+ year old cigar it is burning great. It is pretty mild.  Now I remember these.  It's better now. It has a green tea and grassy taste.  Imagine a very strong candela. When they were green it wasn't good, but I remember they got better with age.  This one is good. It is really medium with mild flavorss.  I'd say all Do...

 Kristoff Connecticut Toro cigar review    3/25/2025 I really like all of the Kristoff cigars.  If Atlantic cigars keeps selling the 10 packs cheap, this brand will continue to be one of my favorite and a regular in my routine.  I have saving this one for maybe 2 years or more.  Not because I was treasuring it. I mainly like stronger medium to full smokes.  I think this one is mild to medium.  I figured it is a great smoke but I always grab a stronger one and set this one back.  Well I haven't smoked one in 5 days so I'd figure I could smoke a mild one since my smoking pallet is lost recent memory.  First inch is very smooth and burns great. Not hot at all like many Connecticut smokes.   After an inch or so it has kind of mellowed out but has a deeper flavor. Still mild.  Damn this is one of the smoothest cigars I've smoked. Has a deep flavor of oak and sweet spice with a slight sugar cane flavor.  Very subtle but can...

Villager Cuellar Black Forest Churchill cigar review 11/25/2024 I've had some pretty good Villager branded smokes in the past.  They have always been smooth, flavourful, and easy smoking.  Not great but a pretty good cigar.  This one says it has a San Andres wrapper and the rest I take is all Dominican.  The wrapper looks pretty good. It kind of has a stinky flavor.  I usually don't comment on the smell but I love the smell of a really good cigar before I lite it up.  This one I can't say it smells good but I don't comment as I've learned it doesn't have much correlation to the overall taste. It tastes pretty good and smooth first inch.  Not a lot going on but it is cool and smooth.  Not a lot of smoke, have to really draw it hard to get some taste.  But it is burning slow.   It's definitely a good Dominican flavor.  Really barely medium profile and flavor.  Not too complex. Just a good cedar and oak taste.   I a...