This is another review in the series of cigars that I got from The Longfiller Company in exchange for reviews. After the success of the limited release of the 2008 Oliva V Maduro Oliva released another batch in 2009. Rumors said I would be a lancero, but it turned out that it was another 6 x 52 torpedo, just like the 2008 release. The cigar has a price tag of € 10 in The Netherlands



The wrapper is nice, dark and oily but has a lot of spots, a bit like chicken skin. The construction is great and I get a great resistance on the predraw. The cigar also has a nice barnyard aroma.



I taste chocolate and coffee, but it is a different taste than the 2008 V Maduro, less sweet and a bit more meaty. After half an inch I get some sweetness after all and a herbal flavor.



After an inch and a half the chocolate and herbs gain some strength and the coffee has disappeared. The chocolate is the dominant flavor. Halfway the herbs beat the chocolate and become dominant. At ⅔ the chocolate disappears completely.



This cigar produces a lot of smoke and a firm, almost white ash. I had a few burn issues at the start, but the burn corrected itself and didn't cause any concerns later. This cigar is full bodied and full flavored



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I liked the 2008 better but the 2009 is worth smoking again too

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

0 Comments

I got this cigar from The Longfiller Company as they release these cigars on the Dutch market and they wanted me to review it. Cain, made by Oliva and Sam Leccia and the Cain F is the strongest and boldest Cain blend available. F stands for "force revined" and there are 3 sizes on the marked, a robusto called the 550 (5¾x50), a toro called 660 (6x60) and 6x54 Torpedo with the name 654T. The cigars are pure ligero and contain Esteli, Condega and Jalapa ligero. This is the review for the 550



The wrapper looks tough with one big vein, and it feels silky. The construction is good and the cigar has a mild barnyard aroma. The wrapper is quite thick and that makes the cigar hard to punch. The peppery predraw is just fine.



The first thing I notice when I light the cigar is the peppery smell of the smoke. On my palate I taste a spicy coffee, mild bitter and not very pleasant but after a few puffs it gets much better and I also get a hint of chocolate. After an inch and a half I get herbs and chocolate, the coffee is gone. The chocolate becomes the main flavor and is much stronger than in the first inch of the cigar.



Halfway the chocolate is still the dominant flavor and an earthy flavor joins the herbs. At ¾ a wood flavor and the herbs, including something minty, become the main flavors and the chocolate is just a support. At ⅔ I also get a bit of salt on the palate.



During the 1¾ hours that I enjoyed this cigar I got plenty of smoke and a great burn. This full flavored, full bodied cigar with the firm pepper & salt colored ash packs more flavor and a much better flavor vs strength balance than his bigger brother the Cain F660.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I really liked this cigar, it is so much better than the Cain F 660

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

0 Comments

This is another cigar in the series of cigars that I am reviewing for The Longfiller Company, the importer for this cigar in The Netherlands. The Ashton ESG series are created by Carlos Fuente Jr with a wrapper grown on the Chateau de la Fuente farm that has never been used on a cigar before. The cigars are created to commemorate the number of years that Ashton excists and every year a cigar will be released with this blend, but in another vitola.



The cigar, wrapped in cellophane, looks great and the band is a piece of art. This 22 year salute is a 6x52 torpedo. The oily wrapper has a nice chocolate color with only a minor vein on it. The construction feels good and so is the predraw. The cigar has a nice dark barnyard aroma.



The flavors that hit my palate are herbal, mild spicy and just a subtle hint of earthy flavors. After half an inch I also taste a mild chocolate flavor. After about an inch and a half the wrapper got torn. The flavors don't change in the first third of the cigar.



Halfway the chocolate grows in strength. The herbal flavors grow in strength too and become the dominant flavor with the chocolate as aftertaste. After the ⅔ point the chocolate disappears.



I got a great draw en plenty of smoke, although a bit thin, during the hour and 45 minutes that this cigar lasted. The ash is quite firm and light colored, almost white. The burn is a bit crooked, but that's because the thin wrapper cracked somewhere in the middle of the cigar. This cigar is full flavored and full bodied, it gave me a bit of a nicotine rush.



Would I buy this cigar again? I liked this cigar a lot, but the €20.50 fixed price tag here in The Netherlands is quite steep.

Appearance: 8 / 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: 8 / 10

0 Comments

The Longfiller company, importer of several top shelve non Cuban brands in The Netherlands, send me a few cigars to review and among them the four Tatuaje Cojonu cigars. The last of the series is the Tatuaje Gran Cojonu, a 6.5 inch x 60 Nicaraguan puro toro with a € 14.00 fixed price tag here in The Netherlands which makes it 2 euro more expensive than the others.



There are two things that make this cigar stand out between other cigars in the brick & mortars. First feature, or should I say first missing feature, is the band. There is no band. The second feature is the untrimmed foot. The dark wrapper has a few nice veins and feels silky. The construction feels good. After punching the cigar I get a loose predraw without any flavor.



I can taste a spicy coffee, mild bitter and mild creamy. The creaminess has a chocolate touch to it. The flavors are full, but not as full as the Cojonu 2006 and 2009. After 2 inch the coffee changes into a herbal taste and the chocolate gets a bit stronger.



Halfway the chocolate gets milder and the overall strength of the flavors are medium and even fade till mild. An inch later I can taste some chocolate again and the flavors slowly grow in strength again. The chocolate disappears and all I can taste are herbs with coriander as main flavor. The chocolate returns for the last few puffs.



The draw is loose but the burn is great. I get a lot of thick white smoke and the ash is firm. The cigar, which lasted me an hour and three quarters, is full bodied yet medium flavored.



Would I buy this cigar again? No, I will pick the 2006 of 2009 when I want a Cojonu

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

0 Comments

I got this cigar from The Longfiller Company as they release these cigars on the Dutch market and they wanted me to review it. Cain, made by Oliva and Sam Leccia and the Cain F is the strongest and boldest Cain blend available. F stands for "force revined" and there are 3 sizes on the marked, a robusto called the 550 (5¾x50), a toro called 660 (6x60) and 6x54 Torpedo with the name 654T. The cigars are pure ligero and contain Esteli, Condega and Jalapa ligero.



The cigar is bold and rough with a dark brown and silky wrapper with big fat veins. This is the kind of cigar you expect with a biker, just from the looks of it. The cigar has a nice small band at the foot, which seems to be the new trend. The construction feels good and the cigar doesn't have much aroma. I smell a barnyard aroma though, but not strong. The predraw is a bit hard and leaves a mild peppery flavor on my lips.



I can taste a quite full earth flavor with some leather. That sounds typical Cuban but it's not, Cuban flavors taste different. After two inch the leather becomes the strongest flavor while the earthy notes are support and the strength of the flavors tones down a bit to medium. I also get a bit of a chocolate flavor.



After ⅔rd the flavors pick up again and I can also taste some coffee. The flavors keep growing in strength and I can say that the last part, the nub, is by far the best part of the cigar.



The draw is a bit hard but still I get plenty of smoke from the cigar. The burn is good. The pepper and salt colored ash is very firm. This cigar is a powerhouse, full bodied but only medium to full flavored. Don't get me wrong, I like powerhouses like Oliva V, Opus X, some Tatuajes and even Joya de Nicaragua Antano, but while blending these cigars flavor came before strength and I suspect Sam Leccia wanted to create a cigar as strong and bold as possible and putting flavor second. The cigar lasted for 2 hours.



Would I buy this cigar again? No, this is not my kind of cigar. It's not bad, but the balance between flavor and strength is off for my palate.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 6 / 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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