These sandwich style cigars are made by Don Pepin Garcia exclusively for Holts and are sold as cheap as $42 for a box of 20 robustos. The cigars are a blend of Nicaraguan Criollo, Corojo and Habano seed tobaccos with an Ecuadorian wrapper. This specific cigar had been resting in my humidor for at least a year and a half, possibly even longer. All cigars are individually wrapped in cellophane



The oily wrapper is a bit pale brown and has lots of veins. There are some soft spots in the construction of this mild box pressed cigar. I like the simple yet clear band. The cigar has a medium strong smell of straw and wood. The predraw is fine and I taste dry tobacco.



I taste a full flavored coffee with some cedar wood. After half an inch I also taste some herbs and the strength of the flavors decreases a bit. After an inch I notice the coffee getting weaker while the herbs grow in strength. I also taste some toasted flavors and nuts, but these flavors are smooth.



Halfway I discover a hint of chocolate and I taste a full herbal flavor with some nuts and cedar. The cedar disappears and I taste a perfect mix of chocolate and nuts behind a strong herbal flavor. Near the end I only taste cedar wood and cayenne pepper.



Even though this is a sandwich style cigar, it still lasted me for an hour. I got a lot of smoke from this stick but the smoke is thin. The draw is fine and the burn only had some minor issues. This full flavored and medium bodied smoke has a firm, salt & pepper colored, ash.

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Would I buy this cigar again? For these prices? Hell yeah!

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

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Now if you browse through my reviews you might notice that I am not a big Rocky Patel fan. Most of the RP cigars I smoked I did not particularly like, and I regret that because I do have sympathy for the brand and I wish I loved their cigars.



When I visited the US in may 2009, our first stop was Corona Cigar Company at Sand Lake in Orlando where we would herf with some botl's we met on this site. Catfish bombed both me and SmokeyNL with a huge nuke including 4 coffins of Rocky Patel "A" cigars. Catfish told us that even the Rocky Patel rep was surprised to see those things show up, as even he couldn't get them.



I have a lot of contact with Catfish and he invited me to stay at his family home when I visit Florida again later this year. So I knew I would enjoy this cigar, if it was not for the taste of the cigar, I would at least enjoy it knowing that this cigar was gifted to me by a good friend who I would be smoking again in a short while.





This 8½x50 cigar looks fantastic, don't think I have ever seen a cigar that looked better than this one. The wrapper is smooth and oily with a fantastic dark color and it looks a bit leathery. I can hardly see any veins and the bands are simple but very tasteful. The construction feels good and the predraw is fine. I taste some raisin and chocolate. The cigar has a quite firm barnyard aroma.





The first flavors I taste are a creamy coffee with some chocolate and wood. The strength is medium flavored. The chocolate gets stronger after two inch.



Halfway the flavors change to dry wood and hay, the chocolate has disappeared completely. The flavors are mild creamy and stick to the palate. The chocolate makes a mild comeback at the ⅔ mark.



The smoking time of this monster is two hours and twenty minutes. The smoke starts out thin with a poor amount, but it gets much better along the way. In the beginning I feel that the smoke in my mouth is quite cool, due to the length of the cigar. The draw is just fine. I had a bit of a crooked burn in the beginning, but it corrected itself. The ash is firm and has a pepper and salt color. I would say that this cigar is medium to full flavored and medium bodied.





Would I buy this cigar again? These are very hard, almost impossible, to find, so I think I won't get another chance to get one.

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

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Usually these Padron 1964 anniversary 'A' is too rich for my blood, the price tag of those puppies is € 38.00 euro here in The Netherlands but recently I visited the Oliva Cigar Lounge, the cigar shop owned by the importer of Oliva, Fuente, Padron, Don Pepin Garcia and a few others and he showed me a box of these Padron 1964 anniversary 'A' with the wrong tax band of € 18,25 so I had to buy one. Now, I might have to explain the Dutch tobacco law a bit otherwise you might think "why didn't he just correct the price?". Well, tobacco prices are fixed in The Netherlands. The importer sets a price that includes his mark up and the shops mark up, then he has to add the taxes and that price is printed on a tax band. Once that tax band is placed on the cigar the importer and the shop owner are not allowed to remove the band, so this was bad luck for the importer and good luck for me. As soon as I bought the cigar I knew this would be my birthday smoke, and that was yesterday.



The cigar looks great, the leathery looking wrapper is dark and oily, even the veins on this 8¼x50 box pressed cigar are good looking. The band is tasteful and even has a serial number printed on it, which is created after some counterfeits were found. The construction feels good and the cigar has a mild wood smell. The predraw is great and I taste a mild spicy wood.



I taste wood and coffee, medium strong. After an inch I also taste a mild herbal flavor. The flavors are quite unique, different than any other cigar I've smoked. I also taste a mild chocolate. After two inch the flavors consist of a mild creamy, herbal chocolate with some wood. The coffee has gone. The cream gets milder while the herbal flavor grows in strength. The wood is the main flavor without becoming dominant.



Right before I hit the halfway point I also taste something sweet with the mix of herbs and wood. After the halfway point an earthy flavor joins the flavor party in my mouth. The sweetness has disappeared and I get a nut flavor in the aftertaste. Near the end I can also taste some chocolate again.



The smoke time of this giant is two hours and thirty five minutes. I got a decent amount of medium thick white smoke that gets ticker along the way. The draw is great and due to the length the smoke is quite cool in the beginning. The firm as has a salt and pepper color scheme. The burn is great, straight as an arrow. This cigar is full flavored and full bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? For € 18.25 yes, for € 38.00 no.

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

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Serts gifted me this 5x42 Cuban classic. I don't know the box date, but because the cigar had a tax band with the old price on it, I know the cigar is between 2 and 3 years old, which probably makes it 2008 release.



The cigar looks nice. The wrapper has a nice color, but isn't smooth. It has some spots. The cigar has a Cuban barnyard aroma. The construction feels good and I can say the same about the predraw, that releases a dry wood flavor.



I taste a full earthy and leathery flavor, something that is typically Cubanesque. The first inch there isn't much change in flavors and then I get a mild milky chocolate flavor and some herbs on the background. The chocolate is hardly noticeable, it is very subtle and smooth. The flavors are well balanced while the herbs slowly grow a bit stronger.



Halfway the herbs are still growing in strength and they become the main flavor. After ⅔ leather fights back and becomes the main flavor again with the earthy flavors and herbs as support, the herbs are also the flavor I get in the aftertaste. The finale brings peppery spices.



During the 60 minutes I was smoking this cigar I got a lot of thick smoke. This full flavored medium to full bodied cigar has a good draw and a good burn. The pepper and salt colored ash and quite firm.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I liked this cigar a lot.

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

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The original Bolivar Gold Medal is a pre 1960 release but production was discontinued in 1992. In 2007 Habanos decided, partly due to the success of the 2004 special release of the Gold Medal, to start producing these cigars again as a La Casa Del Habano only cigar. I bought a 2007 box of 10 Bolivar Gold Medals soon after they hit the market and realized I had only one left for a review. The other 9 I had given away to friends or in bombs.



The packaging is quite original. The upper two third of the cigar is wrapped in gold colored tin foil and has both the Bolivar band and the La Casa del Habano band glued to the tin foil. When I remove the tin foil I see a smooth mocha colored wrapper with a few veins, some water spots and some damage at the foot of the cigar. The construction feels good. The cigar has a deep Cuban barnyard smell. The predraw is good and I taste raisin with some pepper on my lips.



I taste some coffee, earth and a full flavored leather. The leather becomes the main flavor. The coffee disappears after an inch. I get some wood next to the leather, even though the leather is still the dominant flavor. The structure of the flavors is dry.



Halfway the wood becomes the dominant flavor with leather and earth on the background. This is the mix of flavors I keep getting till I burn my fingers on the nub.



The smoke time of this cigar is 95 minutes. The draw is good just like the amount of smoke. The frayed dark as isn't firm . The burn is great. This full flavored cigar is medium bodied. I got a big flame when I purged the cigar.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, this will be another box purchase.

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

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