AVO XO Maestro

Though I’ve had plenty of these this is the first review i’m doing for them. This one in particular my boss gave me after returning from a cruise somewhere around Spain. I thought, "Great, free cigar!". But in reality, you don’t need to go to Spain or anywhere near it to get one of these for 5 bucks. Come to think of it, I don’t even know what he paid. Hell, all I have to do is go to BevMo(Beverages and More). Anyway, on to the review.
This one had been sitting in my humidor for a few months so I was expecting a lot from it. The construction was good though I noticed a very light vein running almost from foot to cap. No big deal. The cut was very clean but noticed the unlit draw was a little too loose for my liking. Like so loose that I thought I might have a headache after smoking this one. Moving on to the toast and light... The aroma was nothing special to me. Think of warm nutmeg and very weak smell of expresso and burning leather. Uh... easier said than done I guess. The first few puffs were suprisingly mellow where I was expecting a burst of flavor like most cigars are at that point. Again, nothing special at this point. After about 2 inches in the flavors meld and I got a very smooth mild smoke- and a whole lot of it. Mild is not my thing though it was a pleasant flavor. I prefer medium to full just for the record. This mellowness lasted all the way to the last third of the cigar when I finally put the thing down. At this point it just tasted like a run of the mill, yet very smooth, everyday stogie. So now I’m thinking, "What the hell?!?!". Why does such a well known cigar cause me to give off my trademark "BAH!"?. I’m thinking it was just the humidor time, either not enough or too much of it.

This guy barely earns a 7 out of 10 and the first "BAH!" I’ve ever given to a premium cigar. Sad really...

Box only... But hey, it smells nice.

From time to time I like to buy a nice cigar box. Not only are they great for keeping cigars in, they also can hold all sorts of other random crap and they smell nice. Usually you can get one of any size from a local cigar/tobbacco shop for 5 bucks or less. Sadly they're empty except for some pieces of cedar, but hey, if you have a humidor you get some free cedar. WooHoo for free cedar!
Expect a review of the cigars that would normally come in this box soon. As you may be able to see, that would be the Onyx Reserve in the classic robusto dimensions. They're a lasting favorite of mine, not to mention I have a thing for box pressed cigars.

JR Alternative: El Rey del Mundo Cedro

This is my prized every day cigar. I smoke it... well, almost every day. It's the JR Cigar alternative to the El Rey del Mundo Cedro. Yeah thats a long description but hey, I'm bored and the more I type the longer I'll have something to do. Blaaaahhh. Anyway, I found this guy on the JR website and ordered a 20 pack. Mind you this was back when I was still searching for that every day cigar. To those of you who aren't familiar with the hobby, the every day cigar must be good quality, good tasting, and still be cheap enough to burn one every day if you wanted to. I've gone through more of these to count now but I've just been too lazy to post anything. But thats good because a number have been aging for over 2 months in my humidor now and I'm really glad I waited. Out of the box they're good but aged in my homemade humi for 2 months has really improved the blend. Very creamy Dominican leaves and a smooth and slightly spicy smoke make this guy WELL worth the(dare I say?) $1 dollar a piece pricetag. And though this isn't a Cuban or even Cuban seed, its got a lot of flavor. The aged sticks also burn very evenly. But I'm starting to sound too much like a real professional reviewer here so I'll stop with that. Though I wouldn't recommend this one for the beginner, as a developed palate is needed to really taste it. And the ability to puff a little out of your nose helps too. I usually smoke these down to about the width of 2 fingers and partly because it just gets too hot to hold by then.


This one gets a 7 out of 10 in my book. Sweeeeet.

Cheapo Factory Reject Review

Bought out of guilt from a storeowner that always slashed her prices for me. I actually wasn't going to buy anything. "Then why go?", you ask? Because it was right around the corner and I was bored dammit...
No need for a detailed review here. It was just so bland I put it down only about 1 1/2 inches in.

2 out of 10 here.

Kristian Kristiansen Review

Well here goes... Got this one from a store near my apartment after work. I was sort of in the mood for something I haven't tried before, although at that point I didn't really have much experience yet anyway. This one caught my eye because it was the only figurado in the shabby looking store humidor. I also noticed that the celophane was quite colored leading me to believe it had been aging in there a while.
Got home, cut, drew. Nice draw, a little easier than I liked but it was ok. No taste on the unlit draw. The wrapper was very oily like a maduro but the color was obviously a darker natural. I got really excited when I saw this as I'm a fan of super oily maduros. I thought it'd be comparable.
Lighting I noticed the taste of wood... just wood. Nothing special but not bad at all. This continued to the middle third of the stick. At that point there was a sudden flavor change to a somewhat harsh leathery taste. It just got bitter toward the last third. . Burn was even all the way down to the last third, when I put the thing down. I was dissapointed but then again, I really didn't know what to expect. This ended up being a way mild stick even for a beginner.


I'll give this guy a 5 out of 10