Cigars and Wine in Grapevine

Don Lino Africa is hand made in Nicaragua and has an exotic blend of tobacco from Africa, Mexico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The dark-brown wrapper is Habana-seed and grown in Nicaragua.

The cigar started a little bland, but peppery.  But the flavor quickly developed into a bold earthy flavor and remained peppery throughout the entire smoke.  This was my first Don Lino Africa cigar. It isn’t the greatest smoke I have ever had, but it is quite good.  At $6.25 it was a good price for a size that was just a bit shorter than a common Robusto, measuring 5×50.  I’d rate this cigar at a B.

Don Lino

I picked this cigar up from The Grapevine Cigar Shop during Grapefest. I was quite impressed with the 2000 series cigar that I smoked yesterday, so I grabbed this one, along with a Padron Londres.

The Delicias was a smaller ring gauge, measuring 46×4-7/8. This made the cigar a bit more harsh than the 2000 series, but it was still quite a good smoke. The flavor and draw were just as good as the 2000, it just wasn’t quite as smooth as the 2000.

Padron is becoming one of my favorite cigars quite quickly. I am looking forward to trying out all the other lines that they offer. I rate this Delicias series at a A-.

Padron

This was my first Padron cigar and it is quite possibly the smoothest cigar I have ever smoked.  I bought this a week or two ago and had it in the humidor and have been wanting to try it, so I fired it up yesterday.  The taste was a touch peppery and not hot at all.  The draw flowed very easily and the smoke flavor was quite nice, without any harshness at all.

This cigar measured 5×50 in the Robusto size and for a price of under $4, it really is a terrific smoke.  This might define a need to purchase a whole box   Grade: A.

Padron

http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?page=weekly_specials

The Best of General Cigar Dominicana
MSRP: $142.00
Email Special Price: $69.95 

This is a GREAT package of cigars for the price.  Here is what you get…

Onlline Specials

Wow, i had forgotten how good this cigar was.  It had been a few years since I smoked one before today.  I wanted a quick smoke and it’s little brother would have been best, the regular sized Chateau, but I didn’t have one, so I lit up this bad boy.  The flavor was extraordinary, definitely one of Fuente’s best smokes.  The Cameroon wrapper made for a mild taste, so I look forward to trying the Maduro next time.  The Chateau is one of my top 5 with a score of “A”

Arturo Fuente

I haven’t smoked one of these hard-to-find cigars in a few years. The first one I smoked, a friend of mine gave me one time when I was over at his house. That was somewhere in the late ’90s. And since I have started taking more of an interest in cigars lately, I remembered the brand name and have been looking for these. The only place that I have found them, to date, is a shop in Coppell called Cigar World.

This smoke started out with the smooth and mild taste that I remembered, but it quickly turned hot after the first few puffs. The heat lasted for about an inch of the cigar, then it went away, leaving behind a smooth and smoky taste like I remembered. The remainder of the smoke stayed constant and I smoked it down to the very nub, savoring the entire cigar. It wasn’t real spicy or woodsy tasting, just a plain, good cigar. The Robusto variety measured 5×50 and was very well priced at $3.50. I found a good-priced place online to get them in more variety for an even lower price. Visit JR Cigars

I rate this cigar at an A- for its mild smooth taste and long-lasting freshness till the very end. The hot-burn at the beginning was a disappointment, but that didn’t last long and I am glad I re-tried this old favorite of mine.

Don Diego

I smoked a Series V about a week before I started this blog and I thought it was pretty good, but not as good as some others I have had.  My brother loves it though, so I might try another one soon.

So I picked up this little 4×48 48 Special and smoked it 2 days ago.  It was MUCH tastier than the Robusto Series V I had about 2 weeks earlier.  It was a short smoke, but didn’t burn hot until the very end.  It had good draw and terrific flavor,  woodsy with a hint of spice.  I like it so well that I went and bought one and smoked it the next day.  I am anxious to try to Robusto or Coronado sizes next and see if they measure up to their little brother.  Solid A-

Oliva

I smoked this cigar at the recommendation of my brother from this site…
http://chadscigars.wordpress.com/2007/08/30/la-aroma-de-cuba-robusto/

This cigar was quite a good smoke.  It was a loosely wrapped cigar that pulled very easily when smoking it.  I thought the flavor was quite nice, but a tad less dense than I was expecting.  It seemed to smoke rather quickly and the smoke wasn’t very thick, but that was alright, I still thought the flavor was quite good.  I had never smoked an Ashton before and although this one didn’t actually carry the Ashton band, it is made by the same line.  I look forward to trying more of this brand.

I will be picking up another one of these soon.  It was a good cigar for $5.50 that measured 6×50

Ashton