Wotjes is a brand especially made for tobacconist W. Otten in Maastricht, a beautiful city in the south of The Netherlands and I heard a lot about those cigars that is a robusto size, which is an unusual vitola for a dry cigar and they are made with 5 different wrappers. Java, Sumatra, Brazil, Manila and Havana. They are sold in dress boxes of 25 and in samplers of 10, with 2 of each wrapper. I had to go to Maastricht for work last week and decided to treat myself to a sampler. This is the review of the Manila wrapper.





The wrapper is a nice color brown, with some nice veins. The predraw is just fine. When I light the cigar I taste a nice sweet musty flavor, not an unpleasant musty flavor but warm and familiar. The mustiness disappears soon and the sweetness sticks around. The flavor is mellow and after 1/3rd I can taste some liquorice. After 2/3rd I taste spices with a peppery finale. The aroma is quite peppery.



The draw is fine, the cigar produces a nice amount of smoke and the ash is light colored and firm.



Would I buy this cigar again? Probably not, for less money I can buy a Jose L Piedra petit cazadores, which I prefer over this cigar, although if you like dry cigars this Wotje is good.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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A beautiful oily Habano sun grown wrapper with a deep aroma, like hay but with a little sweetness that comes in a 6 inch size and a 56 ring gauge. The filler is a ligero from the Jalapa valley.





The cigar has a typical Oliva flavor, something you can even taste in their budget lines even though there is a huge difference between all the lines. The V is the strongest of their lines and this torpedo has a flavor of black pepper and leather. The leather is slowly growing in strength and towards the end the cigar gains power and the leather is accompanied by some toast.





This torpedo missed the complexity of the belicoso; the flavor is consistent but not really complex. The smoke is full, thick and plenty, the ash is close to white.



Would I buy this cigar again? I think I will stick to the belicoso of the V series

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10

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I bought this 5.75 inch ring 54 figurado at the Padilla shop & factory at Calle Ocho in Miami but the cigar is also for sale at cigarsinternational.com but it is backordered at the moment. It is a Nicaraguan puro with 3 different wrappers in a crisscross pattern that makes this cigar a work of art. Ernesto Padilla made these cigars at an event as a special but they are so popular that cigarsinternational.com decided to sell them too.





The predraw is a bit on the easy side and leaves me with a dry, raisin like, flavor on my lips. After lighting the cigar I taste some dry grass with a lot of white pepper. Even though the white pepper flavor is full, it is not overpowering. The flavors are warm and I can taste milky chocolate.



After an inch the pepper mellows down and I taste a flavor similar to walnuts that is replaced by chocolate again around the middle of the cigar. The texture is creamy. I can taste some nuts again before the grand finale that lets me experience pepper and nuts.



This cigar produces a lot of smoke, and due to the different wrappers, the color of the smoke changes. The first smoke was blue but it turned to white smoke later on. The ash is light colored and firm. What strikes me most is the burn, I mean, I always have problems getting the burn straight on a figurado like this and with the 3 different wrappers in a strange pattern I was expecting the worst, but the burn was razor sharp.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yeah, the flavors are nice and the cigar itself is a nice conversation piece.

Appearance: 10 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 9 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10

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I got this 7 x 50 Double Corona in a trade with another Dutch botl. This was the first ever Avo LE and was released in 2001. The blend became so popular that Avo decided to turn this into a regular production stick and named it the Signature line.



The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper isn’t very nice, lots of veins, the color isn’t very attractive too. The construction feels good though and the predraw is just fine. The cigar has a mild hay aroma.



I can taste some bitter hay and coffee, the structure of the flavors is very dry. The hay flavor soon disappears and I am stuck with a mild bitter coffee. After an inch the bitterness disappears and I discover some mild chocolate underneath the coffee. The structure is still very dry. Halfway the coffee is gone too and all I taste is a mild to medium dry chocolate flavor until that flavor disappears into nothing around the 2/3rd mark. I taste absolutely nothing for a while until the chocolate returns.



I get lots of smoke from this stick and the burn is fine. The ash is light colored and frayed. This is a mild to medium stogie, both in flavor and body.



Would I buy this cigar again? No, this cigar has nothing special, it’s not a bad stick, but not worth smoking again when there are so many better sticks out there

Appearance: 6 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part: 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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This is one of the hyped up Nubs, the 3 ¾ inch small ring 58 with the Cameroon wrapper. The cigar has a strong aroma of manure, a light colored wrapper with small veins but the predraw is too light, too easy even though the cigar feels well constructed.



After lighting I could taste that this cigar is made my Oliva due to their recognizable sweet flavor that you find in any Oliva blend, but it’s combined with a spicy herb flavor. Soon after it’s wood instead of the sweetness but the spicy herbs continue to be noticeable. Halfway I get a slight burning sensation which fades away soon and the wood & herbs are flavorful again. Only the last part of the cigar is really enjoyable.





The draw is way too easy, but the close to perfect burn, the firm white ash and the amount of smoke are good.



Would I buy this cigar again? No, there are better cigars in the price range and the Nub habanos is better than the Cameroon.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 6 / 10
Draw: 6 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part; 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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