5 Vegas Classic Torpedo (6x54)

I have had this 5 Vegas torpedo and a robusto hanging out in the humidor for awhile now, just waiting for me to pick them out to smoke. They seemed to get left behind after each trip I made to the humidor, each time new cigars were added they were pushed deeper and deeper. I found them after work one day and rescued them for review. The robusto was first to be burned so the torpedo was left for the formal review and photo shoot.

The 5 Vegas Classic sport a milk chocolate brown Sumatra wrapper that houses a Cuban-seed blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican long fillers. The mildly oily wrapper has minimal veins and a touch of tooth to it. The body is firm and well packed with no soft spots or flaws to be found. This is one of the pointiest torpedo cigars I have ever seen. The wrapper offered only a mild note of coffee and foot offered a notes of sweet tobacco. I went with a v cut, as I usually do with a torpedo, and found a near perfect cold draw with a touch of sweetness. I used my Xikar Executive II to toast the foot with no problems, and I was on my way.

The first third opens up with a nice light roast coffee flavor and notes of roasted nuts and a mild sweetness to support it. There is a fair amount of spice on the retrohale but the sweetness balances it out nicely. The finish is medium and has a roast nut tone to it and a bit of that mild sweetness lingers on the palate.

Just before the start of the second third, the spice calms a bit as the smoke takes on a more creamy characteristic. The coffee notes gain some depth and become more of an espresso. There are a few dark chocolate notes forming in the background and they bring with them a slight bitter sensation. The ash was a bit on the flaky side but strong enough to hold on to just over an inch and a half.

As I started into the final third there were some woody notes that popped in and out. The sweetness has faded some as the bitter sensation of the dark chocolate sees a bit of an increase. The woodiness has developed into an oaky flavor note and the espresso is still present. The oaky wood note moves into the forefront as I progress through the last third. The sweetness is still present but only in enough capacity to balance the bitterness that the dark chocolate brings. The bitterness isn't overpowering and doesn't detract from my enjoyment of this stick.

Final verdict for me: This was a solid cigar. The body stayed consistently medium with a full flavor. The burn was a bit wavy but never bad enough to warrant a touch up on the robusto or the torpedo smoked for this review. I have one more robusto hiding in the bottom of the humidor and think I will leave it be for a future humidor diving trip. I love finding sticks I forgot I had in the bottom of the humidor. This would be a smooth enough medium body cigar to introduce to a new smoker or one that is newish and wants to journey beyond a mild offering. i say it has enough body and complexity to satisfy a seasoned smoker as well. This was a decently complex stick with good flavors and solid construction and the price point makes it an excellent value. These can be had for around 3.50-4.50 depending on whether you are buying a single or a box. StogieBoys has these available as a single and in boxes. I can see myself grabbing a box of these in the future, especially at only 70 bucks for a box in the torpedo size. The torpedo size was a slow burn and smoked for close to 2 hours.

Padilla Maduro Robusto (5x50)

I like Padilla cigars, maduro wrappers, and discount email notifications. When I got an email from Cigars International telling me they had a bundle of Padilla Maduro cigars for 25.00 I had to jump on it. I have already smoked through over half the bundle so the time to get a review up has come. The Mexican San Andreas Maduro wrapper houses a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. The dark, oily wrapper has a rustic look with small to medium size veins but nothing that should alter burn. It is firm to the squeeze with just a little give and no soft spots that I could find. The body had a barnyard aroma and the foot offered the smell of sweet tobacco with a bit of cocoa. I clipped the cap with my scissors and found the cold draw to be near perfect with a sweet tobacco flavor. It was effortless to light after toasting with my single flame torch. The Initial third opened up with a rich tobacco core and notes of coffee and leather. There was some black pepper to the retrohale that complimented the mild sweetness of the maduro wrapper nicely. The finish is lingering and nutty. In the scond third the leather notes move the background as notes of dark chocolate join the rich tobacco and coffee. I noticed a few earthy notes that seemed to come and go in the second third. In the final third the coffee and dark chocolate notes are still in the foreground as most of the leather notes have faded away. The final third also brought light notes of mildly sweet cedar and cinnamon to the profile. This is a pretty straight forward cigar, offering some complexity to it's core flavors of leather and dark chocolate. It maintained a consistent medium body throughout the burn and produced ample amount of smoke. The burn was near perfect on every one of these I have smoked, requiring maybe 3 touch-ups over the course of 13 or 14 sticks. If you are looking for a medium body stick with some mild sweetness and spice, a decently complex flavor profile, and excellent construction you should give these a go. I have seen them on a few other sites for around bucks a stick, which is about right for this stick. If you keep an eye out on Cigars International they may get some more of these in and put them on discount. At 25 bucks for a bundle of 20 I really wish I had ordered more. You can find more information about Padilla Cigars at www.padillacigars.com. Be sure to check out there new lines that should be hitting shelves soon, if they haven't already. They are also on twitter at http:/twitter.com/PADILLACIGARS

www.CigarsInternational.com