Overall, the experience with the Heaven Hill 6 Year Old Green Label can be categorized as young, a bit unrefined and lacking in finish. With all that said, I still think it's worth the incredibly budget friendly price of ~$10.
Overall, I enjoyed the Brick House Double Connecticut Corona Larga. I especially enjoyed the heavier body and for the most part, standard array of Connecticut shade cigar flavors (cream, cedar, herbal tea, nuts, baking spices). All in all, pretty good effort by J.C. Newman.
Give me a good tasting profile for two thirds of the cigar and a flawless draw and burn, all wrapped up in a ~$6 USD price point and I say you've got yourself a winner. I've had some excellent Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigars from Crowned Heads in 2018 (Court Reserve XVIII, Buckeye Land) and the Crowned Heads Juarez Robusto is really no exception.
The Oliva Gilberto Reserva Corona smokes more like a $7 to $8 dollar cigar as the overall bouquet of flavors doesn't merit a cheap cigar at all. The flavor in itself isn't all that complex but it is enjoyable. For these reasons, I would revisit and many fans of "yard gars" will find this pleasing.
Given, at times, the overwhelming alcohol heat and rye spice on the nose and palate of the Old Grand-Dad 114, it's hard to find much else, needing to dig pretty deep. So in terms of the amount of enjoyment I got out of this bourbon, it was decent/average. The value proposition however is huge.
Overall, the Nikka Whisky From The Barrel (U.S.) is a delicious youthful, vibrant and full flavored whisky hitting all the right flavor spectrums (wood, smoke, spices, sweetness, fruit). The only minor gripe I have would be to have a more complex and deeper finish. But then again, at $65 MSRP, there really isn't anything else you can ask for. This one is well worth stocking up on.
The Joya de Nicaragua Clasico Número 6 had a bit more black pepper spice to it than most newly marketed Equadorian Connecticut shade wrapped cigars, in which I found it to be a pleasant surprise. I'm looking forward to smoking the remaining sizes in the lineup to especially gauge how much spice each vitola delivers.
It's been a while since I've previously smoked this cigar (most likely 5+ years ago) but smoking it for review confirms my thoughts of it being a revered cigar. The flavor profile was dessert-like with some nice accented spice and wood. I look forward to smoking the next one way sooner than 5 years down the road.
The infamous Hamlet Salomon paired with a 25th year secondary band has a lot of clout. Therefore, coming into the Hamlet 25th Year Salomon, my expectations were high. Overall, the flavor profile was good with black pepper, cedar, rich nuttiness and cedar. But, with such a long smoking commitment, I expected more transitions and complex build-ups in which the cigar fell short.
Once in a while I come across a cigar in which I can't help but draw too frequently because I enjoy the flavors so immensely. When it comes to Dominican tobacco, if you're not looking towards a pricey Davidoff, this La Aurora 100 Años Belicoso is the one to go to.
