Approaching perfect - Peter James Emergence

Great - Juan López ER Belux Dragones

Wanted more: Room101 Johnny Tobacconaut 10th Anniversary

Juan López - ER Belux Dragones: no box date but released in 2023; another very nice ER Cuban; smoked perfectly but quickly (a petit robusto); had divine flavours (caramel, orange zest, honey, mineral, graham cracker, cinnamon, white pepper); the profile had a nice sweet transition in the middle where the vanilla and caramel came out more compared to the zesty/salty first third, balanced in the final third; the JL profile is hard to beat when it comes to Cubans; rich, depth, layered, balanced, complex, nuanced, a very fine cigar; some of the ERs are hit or miss, but this one was on point; ‘Belux’ stands for Belgium and Luxembourg

Peter James - Emergence: a collab between Peter James Leather Co. and Luciano/Constella cigars; easily the best constructed cigar I’ve had in a very long time, smoked beautifully with a perfect draw; it shows how worthwhile construction enhances the experience by a lot, not having to worry about the burn or it staying lit; rich, complex, layered, nuance, transitions, balance, had basically everything you could want; black pepper, almonds, oak, chocolate, oatmeal creampie, coffee with sugar, mushrooms, anise, roasted nuts; hard to find a fault with this cigar, but it is pricey (can be found cheaper on Neptune); of the recent cigars I’ve smoked that are up there in price, this one is I would argue is worth it for those who like a stronger cigar with more earth-based flavours; the tobaccos also meshed very well and all had their say in the flavours

Opus X - Toymaker’s Vintage Series Destiny 1980 2021 LE: not the great from AF; the first third is often considered the most flavourful part of the cigar, but this one had some uenven bunching which hurt it; the last third was actually most balanced, rich, depth, and layered; the first and second thirds were ok, but had this underlying char/dark chocolate that got in the way of other flavours; started to smoke better as the it got about halfway done; charcoal, grape, plum, cocoa, anise, salty, dark chocolate, mineral, swampy; the Forbidden X 13 is my faovurite Opus, but this one wasn’t as good as I was expecting; the two I’ve had from this Toymaker’s Vintage Series haven’t been worth it in my opinion

A.C.E. Prime - Factory Cuts Nativo: another basic short-filler cigar; had some ok flavours (tobacco, fruity, cocoa, woody), but again had an underlying tartness/bitterness; smoked perfectly, but muddled, boring, nothing to this one; would be great to smoke if you’re mowing, driving, or doing something else, but I’d prefer almost anything else over this one

HVC - 500th Anniversary: a revisit from a couple of years ago, and I rated it very well; but, not quite as good as I remember it; a NIC puro (mostly Jalapa) from Aganorsa and noticeably so; very rich flavours but muddled at times, sometimes didn’t have discernable flavours; tastes like a lot of corojo seed from Aganorsa; smoked ok, wanted to canoe in the first third but then did fine; black peppercorn, sriracha, mineral, tart, pizza, salty, woody, oily, it needed some sweetness to it; one of the good ones from HVC, as it can be hit or miss for me; I’d still like to try more of HVC’s regular production smokes to give them a fair shake

NM80 LE: stands for Nester Miranda 80th Anniversary, made by My Father; overall, a standard cigar, run of the mill; smoked really well after the first third, very nice draw and burnline; the flavours were basic, nothing inspiring (cocoa, anise, oak, burnt bacon, cinnamon, manure, chalky, char, hot cocoa); the last third got tart and burnt tasting quickly; had the basic layering, depth, and richness from MF, and a nice transition from the first to second third, but never got much else from it; Nestor Miranda was the co-founder of Miami Cigar & Co., and to be honest, I don’t know much about that company; I’ve smoked some other Nestor Miranda cigars, and they were average cigars

StillWell Star - Aromatic No.1: this one will be continued after the ‘revamping’ of the StillWell Star line; this one has a sweetened cap, but it wasn’t as noticeable as others I’ve smoked like the Sobremesa Brûlée Blue; smoked perfectly, great draw and burn, but a straightforward cigar, and it makes me wonder if the sweetened cap is supposed to be more prominent; smoky, malt chocolate, aromatic, black pepper, brownie, woody/oak, spices, leather, chalky at times; a decent smoke, but probably my least favourite of this line, had a smoky undertone to it that made it unbalanced at times

Room 101 - Johnny Tobacconaut 10th Anniversary LE: made at Tabacalera AJ, but not the best to come out of there; overall a very basic cigar, lacked a variety of flavours and depth to it, which made it fairly boring; cocoa, black pepper, creamy, earthy, strawberry in the first third but then only cocoa, woody, pepper, baking spices throughout the rest of the cigar; it fell flat for the most part; it burned perfectly, but the ash was loose, making me think the filler could’ve been more substantial; I generally like Room101 cigars, which makes this one a bit disappointing; the original Johnny Tobacconaut is the better option in this case

Montecristo - Junior: box date 12/23 for this single; the third one I’ve smoked from the Open series (along with the Eagle and Master); this one was my least favourite, lacked some complexity to it, but had some pleasant flavours (cinnamon, sourdough bread, pepper, oak, salt, syrup); balanced overall, rich, depth, layered, just needed something more to it; I enjoyed the small Trabucos vitola (like the Hoyo de Monterrey - Le Hoyo du Depute I smoked not long ago); the construction was solid, but a loose ash again; the profile on the Open series is slightly different than regular production, it is slightly more spicy and peppery and less body overall; hopefully one day I can try the remaining blends in this line, the Regata and the newly released Slam; there are other smaller vitola Cubans that I’d much prefer to this one

Arturo Fuente - Hemingway Natural: a revisit, I haven’t smoked this one in a while; one thing I’ve noticed about these vitolas from AF is that it is not uncommon for them to have construction issues; smoked well after getting past the first third; had some decent flavours, but I still want to smoke it in a different vitola before I pass too much judgement; I’ve only had it in these smaller vitolas and I want one that gives it more time for transition; but, so far, this is one cigar that I don’t understand the hype

Recent smokes and thoughts #64