601 La Bomba Napalm (5x52)

I am a fan of strong cigars and Nicaraguan tobacco. With that said, I have the only cigar I have seen with a warning label up for review. The La Bomba actually has a warning inside the box lid letting you know it is not for the novice smoker. I looked forward to lighting one of these up and almost did so before letting them rest. Luckily for them a series of life events kept me from getting into them, and they found a couple of weeks to stabilize in the humi. The La Bomba is a blend from Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega that was originally produced in the My Father factory in Esteli Nicaragua. Some of the older boxes that are still out there bear the My Father seal and the newer boxes I have seen have the La Zona seal, indicating that they were produced in Erik's factory in Esteli. I am unaware of any changes to the blend, if there were any, between the two. I have enjoyed every EO brand, Ortega, and Espinosa cigar that I have had to date. The 601 green label is one of my favorite cigars and I will have formal review of it up soon, I hope.

My son recently picked up a nasty stomach virus that put him in the hospital for a night to get IV fluids. Our local hospital doesn't allow smoking or tobacco use of any kind on their premises, so getting a cigar in was out of the question. I enjoyed this stick the day after he was released to come home and feeling much better. It amazes me how fast children bounce back from being sick, and it seems to take us adults forever to get over an ailment. He is much better and I thank all of you that offered prayers and encouragement. It was his first hospital visit since he was born and scared me and his mother pretty bad. I know, so on with the review already lol.

The milk chocolate Habano wrapper on the La Bomba had only minimal veins and a cool pigtail resembling the fuse on a stick of dynamite. The body was well packed and firm with a little give. There we no soft spots or imperfections that I could find. I used my trusty Xikar cutter to clip the cap and found the cold draw to be perfect with notes of cocoa and a mild sweetness. The body offed notes of cocoa with hints of barnyard and the foot had the same mild sweetness and cocoa that the was present on the cold draw. You can tell by that aroma emanating off of this stick, it is going to be tasty and strong. I used my favorite torch, my Xikar executive II, to toast the foot and get things started with no problems.

The initial third explodes with flavor, after all it is a bomb. The first flavors that grab the attention are notes of coffee and cocoa. There is mild caramel tone that comes in on the finish and brings a touch of sweetness to the peppery spice of the retrohale. As I progress into the first third, notes of leather start to emerge. The finish is long and leaves a touch of caramel on the palate and a nice peppery tingle in the sinuses.

Going into the second third the leather notes gain some momentum as the cocoa notes begin to fade into the background. The caramel notes are still hanging out in the background as some toasted nut notes start to pop in and out. I was almost ready to discard the extra full body claim until I hit the half-way point. That is when the body went from full, to wow that is strong. It was strong, but never harsh in any way.

The final third brought a slight increase to the natural sweetness, it helped to balance out the increase in body. The peppery spice that has been tingling my sinuses is now starting to leave a tingle on my palate as well. The coffee notes are still present, but are definitely in the background. The caramel notes that have been lingering in the background gain some depth but also become more infrequent. The leather notes really take the spotlight in the final third, and man is it good. Shortly after starting into the final third there is an earthy note that pops in and out, it's faint but noticeable.

A great stick for those who love full body cigar bliss, I know I sure do. This stick is strong, never harsh, and has a great deal of complexity to boot. I would not recommend this for a cigar newbie or someone who only smokes mild body cigars. The ash held to over an inch each time and I only made 1 small burn correction between the 2 I smoked for the review. If you eat full body cigars for breakfast and have not yet had the La Bomba, I ask what the heck are you waiting for? There is no better time than now. Espinosa Cigars is having a La Bomba challenge going on right now and there are some awesome ashtrays to be won. There is even a autographed box of La Bomba cigars up for grabs!

For More information on the 601 and Espinoa lines visit Espinosa Cigars
You can also chat Erik up on twitter
He runs a t-shirt giveaway on Tuesdays known as "T-Shirt Tuesdays". Who wouldn't want an awesome cigar shirt from Espinosa cigars? I love mine! So if you feel up to the challenge, grab a La Bomba, your camera, and slap some creativity in with it. You better hurry though, 2 winners have already been selected so your time is running out.

La Zona Habano robusto (5x52)

I won "T-shirt Tuesday" a couple of weeks ago from Espinosa Cigars on twitter. When I DM'd my address, they asked if I would like a few sticks to review for the blog. Well of course I said Yes please. I received a couple of the La Zona in Connecticut and Habano wrapper as well as the "Espinosa" branded stick. They all look and smell terrific, so first up for review is the La Zona Habano. The La Zona line of cigars offered by Erik Espinosa is named after his factory in Esteli, Nicaragua and is a Nicaraguan puro. The wrapper is a light-medium chocolate brown with very small veins and some oily sheen. It is tightly packed with no soft spots or visible wrapper imperfections. The wrapper offers up a light scent of hay and the foot offers the same hay scent with a touch of sweetness. I clipped the cap with my Xikar MTX and found a perfect draw with a fruit-like sweetness. After a quick toasting of the foot with the single flame torch I was up and smoking. The initial flavors were rich and delicious. The first flavored I noticed were caramel and toasted nuts with a mild sweetness. The finish was lingering and toasty with a bit of zing on the retrohale. The body starts out on the strong side of medium. About an inch in the smoke takes on a creamy component. The second third brought some buttery notes and coffee toasted nut becomes more of a toasted almond. The caramel flavor is still present as the body picks up to a solid med-full in the second third.
Somewhere around the midway point there were a few faint floral notes that would pop in on occasion. They were faint but enough to make you stop and take notice. The natural sweetness really shines in the final third as the caramel, coffee, and toasted almond are joined by notes of leather and some oaky woodiness. Body remains a med-full as the leather really moves to the foreground shortly into the final third. There was a slight bitter sensation that came in on the final third but was nothing that detracted from the enjoyment of the cigar. The ash held tight for about two inches at a time and was light-med gray in color. The burn was perfect and required no corrections. The draw remained perfect throughout the burn as well. This was a great full flavor cigar with excellent construction and good complexity. I have been able to find these at very few online retailers but my friend Brad at cigarstix.com does carry them. They are available in robusto (5x52) and super toro (6.5x52) and can even be had in 80 count crates. Price point on these is around 5 bucks per stick if purchased in a box and a bit cheaper if the crate is purchased. Brad offers a "make your own sampler" so check with him if you would like to give them a try without committing to a crate of 80. I must say though, 80 of these are welcome in my humidor anytime. Thanks to Erik and Espinosa Cigars for providing these samples for review, they are super! Keep an eye out as the other blends will be up on the site soon. You can find more information on Espinosa Cigars at www.espinosacigars.com www.facebook.com/espinosacigars and http://twitter.com/espinosacigars If you would like the link to this cigar at cigarstix.com it can be found HERE. Like I said, if you want to try them but don't want to commit to 80 at a time just contact Brad and see what he can do for you.