Exactus Clasico Robusto (5x54)

I was contacted on Instagram by Ram Rodriguez, the owner of Exactus Cigars and Custom Sticks, about sampling some of his brand. With great excitement I said , yessir I would love to sample your cigars. I couldn't find much information on the blend but was sent a clasico, Maduro, and a Habano to try out. I let these rest for a few days after their journey to my front door and waited with great anticipation. I have seen these listed on cigarstix and knew they had to be good because Brad wouldn't list anything on his site that he wouldn't smoke. I chose the clasico to review smoke first since it is listed as the mildest of the offerings. The clasico is listed as a mild-medium body cigar on the website, so I decided to start at the mildest and work my way up. The wrapper is a beautiful golden brown with only small veins and virtually invisible seams. The body is firm and well packed with very little give and no soft spots or flaws that I can find. I straight cut the double cap with my handy Xikar cutter and found a perfect cold draw with notes of cocoa and molasses. The body offered light notes of hay and cocoa and the foot offered the same molasses and cocoa found on the cold draw. I used a single flame Xikar executive to toast the foot and get things started with no problems.

The first third opened with notes of toasted nut and a some mild fruit notes. The finish is long and toasty with a mild natural sweetness that lingers on the palate. There is a fair amount of spice on the retrohale in the first portion of the burn. The spice calms about 1/2 an inch in as the smoke become smooth and creamy.

Going into the second third some coffee notes emerge a develop rather quickly. The toasted nut flavors are still present as the fruit notes fade into the background, leaving only their sweetness. There is a doughy flavor that starts to pop in as I near the final third.

In the final third, the doughy flavor becomes more of a sourdough as the coffee notes fade to the background but remain present. As I progress into the last third some pine wood notes pop in and out. The rating smoke also has the same sourdough aroma is quite pleasant. There was a lot more going on in this smoke than I anticipated, and was pleasantly surprised.

The ash held to over an inch each time and was a light gray color. The construction on this stick was excellent, I made only 2 minor burn corrections and I attribute them to windy and rainy smoking conditions. The body, to me, remained at medium for the duration of the burn and the flavor was full. The smoke was creamy and smooth from 1/2 inch in, through to the nub. This is one of those boutique gems that you can taste the passion in commitment in each puff of smoke. Thank you Mr. Ram Rodriguez and Exactus Cigars for providing the tasty cigars for this review. I look forward to lighting up the Habano and the Maduro in the very near future. For more information on Exactus Cigars and Custom Sticks visit their webpage and you can find Ram on Instagram

A quick google search didn't turn up many options for ordering online. Luckily I can tell you where you can find these great smokes. My friend Brad Bortz has a fine selection of boutique cigars over at cigarstix.com and it just so happens that he carries the Exactus line. He actually has a sale going on right now on the 3 cigar sampler of Exactus in all sizes. What better time to grab a sampler and taste the clasico, Habano, and the Maduro for yourself. If you would like to get your hands on some you can find them HERE. You can pick up a box for around 89 bucks, making it an excellent value with a ton of flavor for your buck.

La Reina Maduro Robusto (5x50)

La Reina Cigars are a blend of Corojo and Criollo 98. Corojo offers a stronger, spicier taste. These cigars are considered Medium to Full Bodied.

 My wife was recently given the opportunity to go on a trip for work called the Master Teachers Conference. In case you were wondering, she is a teacher at the local community college. She left last Sunday morning and finally arrived back today. That left me and our 4 year old at home to have "guy time". Through the course of our time I never found a minute for a cigar as I was trying to keep his mind off his mom being gone. This is the first time, other than a 2 day stay at the hospital,  they have been separated overnight. It proved to be stressful for him so I devoted my time to keeping him preoccupied with games and fun activities after we got home from work and daycare. After she and little man retired to bed it was finally "me time". I went to the humidor to pick my night cap. I was recently sent a couple of "stix" by Brad Bortz, the owner of www.cigarstix.com, and one of those was the La Reina Maduro in robusto size. I have never tried this boutique brand before so I decided to introduce myself. The dark maduro wrapper had a few visible veins but nothing that should alter the burn. It was firm through out with no soft spots. The wrapper had slightly sweet earthy aroma to it and the foot had a sweet tobacco smell. I paired it with some cold filtered water for the best discovery of the flavor profile. The cap clipped nice and clean with my freshly sharpened scissors and the pre light draw had a same slightly sweet eathy taste as the wrappers aroma. It started out, for me, a medium body with the flavor of toasted nuts, earthy spice, and a mild sweetness in the first third. The ash was a gray color and held tight for about 2 inches at a time. The second third kicked up in body bringing it to a medium-full. The toasted nut turned to more of an oaky woodiness as the earthy spice gave way to a more peppery tone and a slight hint of cedar joined in. As I entered the final third the body was on the higher end of medium-full and the strength increased a notch. The finish went from being toasty to a more woody with the occasional hint of citrus, almost like grapefruit. The toasted nut came back in the final third and the pepper seemed to intensify just a bit. I honestly didn't expect this cigar to be as complex or a strong as it was, but it was very enjoyable and the perfect welcome back to my nightly smoking routine. The draw throughout the burn was near perfect and burn went erratic on occasion but always corrected itself while it was resting. It gained body and strength as it burned down but was never harsh or overpowering. It was a very nice balance of sweet and spicy. If you like the bold and the flavorful, this one is worth trying. Thank you again Brad for allowing me to try this brand for the first time, I will definitely have to put a few more of these in the humidor for future late night smoking enjoyment. I recommend giving these a try. They are available at cigar www.cigarstix.com along with a variety of other premium boutique brands. I believe Brad has these by the box and also available as part of a sampler pack if you wanted to give them a try before committing to a box. You can find Brad on twitter at www.twitter.com/cigarstix