RIOT 55

I'm sure you've seen the post by now about my closing of the blog. Well, I was contacted by the lovely Sheryl over at StogieBoys and asked I would be willing to review their newest exclusive release. Who am I to say no to Sheryl and the fine folks at StogieBoys? So here we go without further ado, the short story behind the RIOT cigar line. The RIOT is a brand that will be exclusive to StogieBoys and is blended by none other than Master Blender Jose Dominguez himself. If you are unfamiliar with Jose, I'm almost willing to bet you have smoked a cigar at some point in time that he blended or had a hand in blending. Without listing all of his blending accomplishments, let's just say the man knows his tobacco. The RIOT is available in 3 sizes: the 45(figurado), the 55(robusto), and the 65(toro). Each of the size offerings are mad of the same Dominican tobaccos wrapped in a dark chocolate brown maduro wrapper. What makes the RIOT so unique is the chisel tip at the foot. This allows the cap to opened with just a squeeze and eliminates the need for a cutter to enjoy the cigar. The band has RIOT across the front in red letters but the i has been replaced with a Molotov cocktail. The words at the bottom are somewhat inspirational. The band reads "The successes of a man is his riot against mediocrity".  Now to the nitty gritty, let's see how it smokes. I have to admit I have smoked more than one, so I already know how this is going to end muahahaha. 

Before lighting I addressed the cigar and found a rather rustic chocolate brown wrapper with visible but smooth veins. The body of the cigar was pretty firm but with some give, I would say it falls right in between spongy and rock-solid. With that said, I'm anticipating a quicker burn than some cigars but it shouldn't burn hot or have a wild burn line. The body of the cigar offered notes of sweet field grass and the foot offered notes of cocoa with a mild sweetness. I squeezed the chisel cap and it opened perfectly, allowing me to test the cold draw. I found the cold draw to be a bit on the tight side and offering notes of cocoa with a hint of molasses. I used my handy Bugatti torch to get things toasted up and smoking with no problems. 

The initial third opens with a ton of flavor, the most notable being toasted nuts. The finish is long and nutty and there is a nice amount of spice on the retrohale but note nought to be unpleasant. Around 1/2 of an inch into the burn the spice has calmed some and the flavors are that starting to define themselves. The toasted but flavors are gaining some depth as they are joined by a oaken woodiness. The finish has found a peppery tingle that lingers on the palate that wasn't present at the time of lighting. 

As I enter the second third the toasted nut flavors are still going strong as the woody notes are moving into the background. There are some coffee notes beginning to emerge and a very faint hint of dark chocolate that pops in every now and then. The sweetness of the maduro wrapper is also starting to make itself known. So far the burn has only required now small correction and body has been consistently medium-full. There has not been any harshness, in fact it's really mellowing out for the finish.

The final third didn't see any new flavors. The complexity of this stick comes from the depth and presentation of the flavors and not so much from the amount of flavor transition throughout the burn. I don't mind a cigar being one dimensional as long as it's a good dimension. One of my favorite lighter cigars, the perdomo champagne, is fairly one dimensions but is an excellent smoke. I would put the construction and flavors on par with some cigars I have had that are double and even triple the price point of the RIOT cigar. I can only imagine what some aging would do for this already good cigar. I may just have to grab a box and age the for a bit just to see. Final verdict is that RIOT cigars are a hit and a great value smoke. StogieBoys has these for around 4 bucks per stick and I would say they are well worth that and more. Thanks to StogieBoys and Sheryl for sending these samples for review, they are quite tasty.

A couple of Diesels

I'm a little late with my post, it should have been posted last month, but we had a swarm of sickness hit our household. Appearantly either my son's school or my daughter's daycare had an outbreak of roto virus. My son had the unfortunate luck to get sick with it twice instead of just once. He was sick from the first day of our family vacation until we got home. We eventually ended up in the E.R. getting some I.V. fluids and having some test ran to make sure it wasn't appendicitis. We are now 100% well, for now anyway, and back to life as usual.

Last month's Big Sexy Cigar Club shipment from StogieBoys was a Diesel Shorty Ltd. and a Diesel Unlimited D7. If you're not familiar with the Diesel line, it is the product of master blender A.J. Fernandez. I would try to list all the blends and brands that A.J. has had his hands on but that list would be HUGE. I have had a few of the Unholy Cocktail cigars from the Diesel line and found them to be very tasty, so lets see if these two follow suite.

Diesel Unlimited D7

The Diesel Unlimited D7 is a churchill size cigar (7x58) with dark chocolaty brown wrapper. I found a firm to the squeeze body with little give, and only light veins. The body offered very light notes of molasses and some barnyard. The foot offered the sae molasses notes but with more gusto and some cocoa. I clipped the cap and found a surprisingly easy draw, considering how tightly rolled the cigar felt on initial inspection, with notes of mildly sweet molasses. I used my handy torch to get the foot toasted and get things underway.

The initial third opens rich tobacco notes with hints of toasted nuts. The finish is long and toasty with a fair amount of peppery spice on the retrohale that lingers on the palate. At about 1/2" into the burn the peppery spice doe calm a bit as the flavors start to become more defined. This cigar isn't a palate buster but it does have a bit more body and oomph than I was expecting. It has started out of the gate full flavor and full body and I don't expect it to mellow a whole lot. Before the first third ends, there are notes of dark chocolate and very faint hints of coffee starting to emerge.

The second third sees the spice calm a tad more as some caramel-like notes begin to pop in on ocassion. The dark chocolate and coffee notes that were starting to work into the mix as the first third ended have gained depth and developed nicely. The dark chocolate and coffee have pushed most of the toasted notes out of the profile. They continue to develop and are in full swing as the second third draws to an end.

The final third brings some earthy tones to the party but not much else of a change to the profile. I have to be honest, I wasn't upset by the lack of change in the final third. This cigar wasn't overpowering or harsh but does have a nice full body. Overall I would say this was a great smoke. The Construction was great and burn was perfect with no correctons needed. The ash held to over and inch before falling each time and was a dark grey color. If you haven't had any of the Diesel line, I would say get atleast one of each blend because they are worth giving a try.

Diesel Shorty Ltd.

The Diesel Shorty Ltd. is a 4.5x60 power house. The Connecticut broadleaf wrapper houses a Nicaraguan binder and filler blend comprised of tobaccos from the Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli regions of Nicaragua. The wrapper is very dark brown with minimal veins and nearly invisible seams. The body is firm with only minor give and offers only faint notes of cocoa. The foot offered only the smell of rich tobacco. I clipped the cap and found somewhat sweet grassy notes inside of a near perfect draw.

The initial half opens with a ton of toasty notes with hints of dark chocolate laced in. The finish is long and has the same toasty tone. There is a fair amount of spice, especially on the retrohale, and a tingle that radiates from the tongue to the back of the throat. The body is on the medium-full end of full and there isn't a stitch of harshness to be found.

At around the halfway mark notes of leather emerge and develop quickly. The toasty notes have faded into the background as notes of espresso join the dark chocolate and leather. The lack of different flavors is offest by the way they present themselves. They dance around your palate in a well choreographed dance just for you. The Shorty Ltd. is right on par with the rest of the Diesel line. It has flavor by the bucket load with a full body and smooth delivery. The construction was great and burn only required one small correction (it probably would have corrected itself but I'm retentive about such things). A.J. Fernandez certainly knows what he's doing in the blending room.

The fine folks at StogieBoys have both of these Diesel blends in stock and ready for your smoking pleasure.

The Unlimited in the D7 (churchill) size can be had in boxes of 20 for right at 90 bucks, making it a great value for the taste to cost ratio.

The Shorty Ltd can be had as a single for around 5.00 or in a box of 24 for just under 100.00. The shorty is only available in the 4.5x60 size. This one also offers a great taste to cost ratio and a pleasure to burn.

Victor Sinclair Connecticut Yankee box press robusto (5.5x55)

Victor Sinclair cigars.

Victor Sinclair cigars are the creation of master blender Jose Dominguez, a rising star in the worldwide cigar community.

In his Santiago, Dominican Republic factory, Jose has created a number of tantalizing blends that reflect quality workmanship and bold blending that are attracting the attention of cigar smokers everywhere. Victor Sinclair has continued sharp growth for more than a decade and there is no sign of a slow down.

Victor Sinclair is a quality brand with very affordable prices and the blends challenge the smoker and create unique, daring flavor profiles that keep you wanting more.

This cigar was part 2 of my StogieBoys Big Sexy Smokers Club shipment this month. The SB Classic was the first half and was an impressive stick, in my opinion. Like the SB Classic, the Connecticut Yankee comes from master blender Jose Dominguez. This is one of a few of the Victor Sinclair line of cigars that I have yet to try so I'm looking forward to this one. I had a few hundred of the Series 55 Corojo cigarillos I used to keep in their own humidor because they were perfect winter time smokes or lunch break smokes.

The Connecticut Yankee has a rustic appearance to it. It isn't unsightly but it has a certain ruggedness. The habano connecticut wrapper is a dark brown with slightly blotchy coloration. The veins are visible but smooth and I don't see them causing any burn issues. Underneath the wrapper lies a mixture of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. The wrapper has very little aroma to it, the only thing I can detect is a faint hint of barnyard. The foot offers up a good bit more smell, offering notes of barnyard with hints of cocoa. I was going to v cut this one but decided against it and instead used a punch to clip the cap. I found a near perfect draw with notes of cocoa and a very faint sweetness. I used my buggati b1 that my loving wife gave me to toast the foot and get things started.

The initial third opens with a barrage of flavor, the most noticeable being notes of wood with a mild earthy spice. There is very little spice to be found, even on the retrohale. The finish is long and woody and seems to be very crisp so I'm glad i I brought plenty of water with me. You may notice in the pictures, I also brought a very bright flashlight and one of my pistols. The question has been asked of why I seem to have a pistol with me when I smoke at night, so I will answer that here for you all to see. I live well outside the city limits and we have dogs that run the rural roads. Most of the dogs will run from their own shadows or if you make a loud noise. Others are not so leary or skiddish. In fact, not terribly far from where I live, a four year old was mauled to death by a group of these dogs just a few days ago. I have also seen big cats in my neck of the woods, and I don't mean the domestic house cat type. But oh well, back to the cigar. As I progress through the first third of the cigar the woody notes become more of an oaky flavor as notes of espresso begin to pop in and out.

Going into the second third the woody oak notes move out of the foreground to give the espresso some time in the sun. The espresso notes have fully developed and are very pleasant. Towards the end of the second third there are some notes that resemble sourdough that jump in very briefly.

The final third brought the woody oak notes back to the foreground as the espresso begins to fade away. The sourdough flavors are still present and have been joined by a salty component.

This one was a bit of a disappointment for me to be perfectly honest. While tasty, I expected more flavors with so much going on in the first inch of the cigar. It was very smooth and well constructed, only requiring a couple of very minor burn corrections. The body has been consistently medium throughout the burn and it was never at any time harsh on the palate. The ash held to over an inch before falling each time and was a salt and pepper gray. I would recommend giving this one a try, especially for the price point. It would be a perfect yard-gar or work smoke. The price point on these is 2 dollars and some change so you wouldn't be out much to give them a try. You can grab a box of 30 of the robusto box press for less than 70 bucks at http://stogieboys.com/victor-sinclair-connecticut-yankee-box-press-robusto.html 

You can also get your own membership to the Big Sexy Smokers Club from StogieBoys at http://www.stogieboys.com/cigar-club 

By joining, you can have a mini Christmas every month like I do. You will also receive a complimentary desktop humidor, lighter, and cutter just for joining. It's a win-win situation so jump on over and smoke next months cigars with me!

StogieBoys SB Classic Belicoso (6.5x52)

                                                 

This is one of the two sticks that came in this month with my Big Sexy Smokers Club membership. I ws pretty stocked when I opened the package and saw a cigar band I had never seen before. I'm always excited to try new sticks and especially the ones that are new to the market and not just new to me. So who, might you ask, would StogieBoys choose to blend their signature house brand? Well, these are blended by master blender Jose Dominguez. Jose is responsible for the incredibly tasty and wallet friendly Victor Sinclair brand. He also has his own brand known as the Jose Dominguez Signature Series, which I have reviewed one of here in the past. He has factories in the Dominican Republic and produces some very fine cigars.

Now to the part that you want to know about the most, how does it smoke. I removed the cellophane from the cigar and found the body to offer notes of hay and sweet field grass, while the foot offered notes of hay and molasses. The Conecticut wrapper houses a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and filler leaves. The wrapper has a beautiful light brown, oily shine with visible yet smooth veins. The body of the cigar is a bit on the spongy side so I expect a nice easy draw but there are no soft spots or imperfections. I clipped the cap with my trusty V cutter and did find an easy draw with notes of molasses. I toasted the foot and began my journey.

The initial third opens with toasted nut flavors by the bucket load. It is off to a very smooth start with only a touch of spice on the retrohale. The finish is toasty but does leave a bit of black pepper tingle in the back of the throat. At about half of an inch into the burn the toasted nut was joined by notes of coffee and an unidentified sweetness. The finish has taken a caramel-like tone and the smoke has become very creamy. As I progress through the first third, the flavors are developing nicely. The toasted nut flavors have moved aside a bit to allow the coffee notes to take the spotlight.

As I begin the second third the coffee notes gain a touch more depth and are still being supported by the toasted nut notes in the background. There are very faint notes of cinnamon that keep coming and going. They are infrequent and faint but still detectable. There are also some caramel notes popping in every once in awhile. Somewhere around the halfway point of the burn, the cinnamon notes become more defined and more frequent. They remind me somewhat of the "red hots" candy hearts and even seem to have a touch of sweetness to them.

The final third didn't see a whole lot of change, but I've got no complaints. This has been one very tasty and oh so smooth cigar. The coffee notes held the foreground, pretty much, since they joined the profile but were nicely supported by the other flavors. 

Final Thoughts? StogieBoys has hit a homerun with this stick. It started out, for me, medium in body and held at that point consistantly throughout the burn. Construction was top notch. The ash held firm to over an inch each time before falling. I made no burn corrections or relights while smoking this stick. The SB Classic is an incredibly smooth and flavorful cigar that would be perfect for a beginner or a seasoned smoker. It would not only be a perfect morning smoke with a cup of coffee, but a great any time smoke as well. I thought it might be a quick burner being a touch loose on the roll but it took about an hour from clip to nub to smoke. 

You can find these only at StogieBoys (stogieboys.com/sb-classic) and are priced at around 3 bucks per stick. I can see me grabbing a box of these to fill the humidor I received with the Big Sexy Smokers Club.

Loose Cannon a Trigger Happy toro (6x54)

 

After its debut in 2011, C&C Cigars is quickly becoming a top brand in the cigar industry. Owner Joe Chiusano knows a thing or two about cigars, having once been the president of Cusano Cigars. He understands that cigars not only need to be quality, but at a price that appeals to everyone. These handcrafted blends come in an array of strengths and sizes to suit the needs of every consumer. Try C&C and you will see what the fuss is all about!

I was sent some of the new offerings from C&C Cigars awhile back and am finally getting around to getting them reviewed. Following our blizzard last week, more of an ice storm really, we ended up with a few really nice smoking opportunities. The weather was a nice 67 degrees and the wind had finally died down. What better weather to send a few cigars to the ash heap? Sorry I don't have pictures of the whole smoking session, my iPad died and I was enjoying the cigar too much to go inside for my phone.

The Loose Cannon series is one of the newest offerings from Mike Chiusano of C&C Cigars. He is the former president of Cusano Cigars, so he is a seasoned cigar veteran. The body of the cigar is firm with with a touch of sponginess but no soft spots or imperfections. The milk chocolate brown wrapper has minimal veins with visible but smooth seams. The body offers notes sweet field grass and the foot offered notes of molasses and hay. I V cut the cap with my StogieBoys V cutter and found a perfect draw with only the flavor of sweet tobacco on the cold draw. The wrapper is a Dominican Habano that houses a Dominican binder and filler. I used the lighter that came with the StogieBoys Big Sexy Smokers Clube welcome kit to toast the foot and get things going.

The initial third opens with a ton of woody notes and just a total barage of flavors. The flavors started to settle in around the half inch mark as the woody notes became more of a sweet cedar flavor. There is  nice bit of spice to counter the sweetness, especially noticed on the retrohale. The spice is a black pepper spice and isn't overpowering, it does leave a nice tingle on the palate and the back of the throat. As I progress through the first third the sweet cedar gains some character and definition as it is joined by some honey-like sweet notes. The finish is crisp with a toasty tone. Nearing the end of the first third, some espresso notes join the mix.

The honey notes kick it up a notch in the second third as they are joined by a nutty almond flavor. It reminds me of the honey-almond nouget inside a toblerone candy bar. The sweet cedar moves into the background a bit to give the honey and toasted almond some time in the spotlight, which is shared with the notes of espresso. The sweetness has increased just a bit and so has the black pepper spice. This cigar is very well balanced on the sweetness and spice so far. The body started out just a touch on the medium-full side of medium and has been consistent so far. Somewhere around the midway point some fruit flavors begin to pop in and out.

There wasn't a lot of change in the final third, but no complaints from me. The fruit notes take on an apricot flavor, really more of a candied apricot. The honey-almond, sweet cedar, espresso, and black pepper all survived through to the end. This was a fairly complex cigar with the way the flavors presented themselves and danced around on the palate. It was smooth and never harsh throughout the burn and the burn line required no corrections. The ash held firm with a dark gray color for just over an inch at a time before falling off into my waiting ashtray. Overall this was an outstanding cigar, which I have found to be the case with all the C&C Cigars I have smoked so far. It is the quality and flavor you expect from Mike Chiusano. I look forward to what he has instore for C&C Cigars' future blends. StogieBoys has these for 8.25 per stick in the toro size reviewed here, or a box of 20 for about 112.00. This is about the price point I would expect for this flavorful stick. At the time of this review the loose cannon cigars are buy one get one free on singles and five packs, so what better time to grab a few. You can find this deal at http://stogieboys.com/cigardon-feature .

Loose Cannon 1206 by C&C Cigars Toro (6x54)

It's hard to believe the year is almost over. I realize the lack of new content here has probably lost some readership but it has been one crazy year. I spent the first part of the year getting the house, specifically the nursery, ready for our baby girl. Along with welcoming our baby girl into the world, we had to say goodbye to a couple of grandparents who passed away. I promise to make more of an effort to get the reviews pumping again, I have so many sticks I have been forced to let sit and age (not exactly a bad thing I guess). So without further delay let's get to the good stuff, a great stick that was provided for review by the great team at StogieBoys.com.

I have reviewed several of the offerings from C&C and have been very impressed with the outcome. They offer wallet friendly sticks that are oh so very tasty. The Loose Cannon 1206 has a Dominican filler and binder that is wrapped in a maduro sumatra wrapper. The wrapper has minimal veins and is a bit lighter than maduros I am used to seeing. This cigar is lightly boxed pressed and is firm to the squeeze with only a little rebound. The wrapper offered notes of light notes of cocoa and barnyard with a mild sweetness. The foot offered the same cocoa notes with more of a fruit-like sweetness. I decided to go with a punch cut on this one, for no other real reason than I wanted to. Testing the cold draw of the freshly punched cap, I found the draw to be perfect with notes of hay and sweet field grass. I used y handy single flame torch to get things going with minimal effort.

The initial third opens with warm notes of cedar and a long toasty finish. The finish has a mild sweetness that lingers on the lips and palate. There is a fair amount of spice to the retrohale, which helps to balance out the maduro sweetness. The spice lingers in the throat and on the back of the tongue. As I progressed through the first third, notes of earth and black pepper begin to develop as the cedar gains some depth.

The second third sees a slight increase to the sweetness but no real flavor changes. The flavors are complex in their presentation as each takes turns sharing center stage with each puff. The black pepper, earth, and cedar all gain depth in the second third as hints of coffee start to pop in and out. The cedar becomes the more dominant flavor around the mid-point of the cigar. The other flavors are not muted by the cedar but are complimenting it very nicely.

As I start the final third, the sweetness begins to fade out The smoke has taken on a very creamy texture. The black pepper is starting to fade out with the coffee, earth, and cedar still going strong. As the black pepper fades, toasted nut flavors take it's place. The finish become more crisp in the final third as I find myself wetting the palate a bit more frequently. It's not like a desert in your mouth but just enought to notice.

With the Loose Cannon 1206 nubbed, I find myself satisfied and ready for bed. This was just what I expected from C&C, a great cigar with a ton of flavor. The body remained, for me, medium thoughout most of the burn with a slight upkick to med-full just after the halfway point. At no time was there any harshness or hot burn. The Ash held to over an inch at a time and the burn required only one very minor correction due to wind and misty rain. If you are thinking about trying the Loose Cannon, I recommend it. It was a fine smoke and I will be hitting StogieBoys.com to place an order when I get some room in the humidor. You can grab these for 5.75 as a single, 25.95 for a 5 pack, or a box of 20 for 101.95 at StogieBoys. I think I may just have to go for the box, any less and I would just go through them too fast. Stay tuned for an upcoming review of the the Loose Cannon Trigger Happy from C&C.

Thanks to Sheryl and the crew at StogieBoys.com for providing the samples for this review, they were great. 

Alec Bradley "It's A Girl" Toro (6x50)

Wrapper: Honduran Connecticut Shade

Binder: Honduran

Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran

Body: Medium

I know I have been missing in action for awhile now but I promise it has been for good reason. Over the course of the last few months, my wife and I have been preparing for the arrival of our second child. I have remodeled a bathroom, purchased a storage building, cleaned out and entire room (and moved it's contents to the storage building), panicked over lost baby furniture hardware, and worked my tail off at work. Finally, on August the 15 our healthy baby girl came into this world. As soon as we found out the sex of the baby I knew I would have to find some cigars for the occasion. After weeks of checking out the options, I decided on the Alec Bradley Classic "It's A Girl" Toro.

I ordered two boxes so I could be  sure I had enough cigars for those who would want one. I smoked several of these before the baby was born, I wanted to taste test them before I handed them out. The first thing that caught my eye about these was the box. They are available as boy and girl and are colored accordingly. The girl version came packaged in a nice pink box with storks on the bands. I really like the picture frame on the top of the box. Inside the lid is a place to fill in the baby's birth information.  But let's get to the meat and potatoes shall we.

The Honduran Connecticut Shade wrapper had a smooth velvety texture with a but of oil. There were a few small veins but nothing that should alter the burn. The wrapper presented notes of hay with a mild sweetness and the foot had notes of barnyard with the same mild sweetness. I clipped the double cap with my trusty Xikar cutter and found a perfect draw with notes of of sweet cocoa. The body had a bit of sponginess but no soft spots or imperfections that I could find. I used my Xikar Executive to toast the foot and get things started.

The first third opened with notes of toasted nut and a touch of honey. The crisp finish it long and toasty. There is a hint of spice on the retrohale that I expect to smooth out as I progress through the burn. As I progress through the first third a few light berry notes pop in and out. They are very faint but still noticeable. At around the one inch mark the smoke takes on a warm and cozy tone. It almost compares to eating your comfort food on a dreary day. The body through the burn so far has been mild-medium and very smooth.

As I start into the second third the toasted notes have fully developed and gained some depth. There are some notes of cocoa starting to ease their way into the mix. The cocoa develops rather quickly and the toasted notes change just a bit with each draw. The resting smoke has a very pleasant aroma with a touch of sweetnesss to it. Most of the honey notes have disappeared as I near the end of the second  third.

The final third brings even more depth to the toasted nut flavors as the cocoa notes fade into the background. There are some leather and black coffee notes popping in and out and compliment the toasted nut nicely. Somewhere around the halfway mark the body kicked up a notch to about medium. 

I am very glad I chose these as my handout celebration cigar. They are flavorful and mild enough for any level cigar smoker to enjoy. The ash held strong to about an inch and a half with a dark gray color. The burn was a touch wavy but required no touchups or relights. I also purchased a box of these to age. I plan to smoke 1 out of the box every year on her birthday until the box is done. I was also able to make someone's day at the hospital with one of these cigars. Our anesthesiologist was elated that I thought to offer him a cigar. When I asked if he smoked cigars he excitedly told me he enjoyed them very much. He said in the ten and a half years he had been giving epidurals he had never been offered a birth announcement cigar by anyone. If you are planning a new arrival and want a good cigar that won't break the bank to stock up on, the Alec Bradley birth announcement cigar is worth checking out. I have seen the price on these range from 45-100 dollars. I was able to pick up 2 boxes for less than 100 bucks with some good online research. Now it's time for me to put this keyboard down and go cuddle my sweet baby girl. I hope to get back to posting regular reviews soon so stay tuned. Long ashes and happy smoking!

C&C Connecticut Robusto (5x50)

Last but certainly not least in the C&C Cigars sampler is the Connecticut. If you have read through some of my reviews then you know I once was anti-Connecticut. The Connecticut wrapped sticks today are not the flavorless air balls that I once believed all of them to be. The C&C Connecticut is certainly not one of those flavorless sticks that you just don't want to smoke again. The C&C Connecticut sports an Ecuadorean Connecticut wrapper, Dominican Olor binder, and a filler blend of Dominican Criollo and Corojo Ligero. The wrapper is a beautiful light mocha color with only a few small veins. The body is fairly firm with a touch of sponginess. The body offered notes of barnyard and hay, while the foot offered notes of hay and molasses like sweetness.I used my trusty Xikar cutter to straight cut the triple cap and found the draw to be on the loose side of perfection. The pre-light draw was easy and had notes of sweet field grass.

The initial third opens with notes of hay and toasted nuts. There is a nice touch of spice to the retrohale and a lingering sweetness compliments the long nutty finish. Somewhere around half of an inch into the burn notes of cedar begin to emerge.

The toasted nut notes have fully developed going into the second third and is joined by an earthy spice. The body seems to ramp up just a touch but is joined by a slight increase to the mild sweetness. Around the mid-point of the burn, faint coffee notes begin to make there way into the mix as the sweetness begins to fade.

The final third doesn't see much change from the second, not a bad thing in my opinion. The earthiness seems to be the dominant flavor but isn't so much to overshadow the nut and coffee notes that are still present. The notes of cedar are still noticeable in the background.

The robusto had a flavor profile that pretty well matched the toro. The robusto seemed to have just a bit more sweetness than the toro size but both were creamy and full of flavor. The spice was just enough to keep things interesting and balance the sweetness. The body remained medium-full throughout the burn and was exceptionally creamy and smooth. Ash held to just over an inch before falling each time and was a light gray color. I would recommend this stick to anyone wanting a break from a more full bodied smoking routine or even a cigar newbie. I can't say enough good things about C&C cigars so go grab a few so you can say your own good things about them. The 3 stick sampler is available from StogieBoys and contains one of each blend. Thank you to Sheryl and the StogieBoys crew for providing this sampler for review. I just hope the sinus infections are over and I can keep pumpin out fresh reviews.

http://www.stogieboys.com/c-and-c-cigars-en/c-and-c-robusto-sampler-3-pack.html