I’m still out of service due to a head cold and sinusitis.
I’ve been re-posting older reviews for cigars that are still available…and sticks that I want to remind you about. Not every cigar is going to be a steal. But in the case of this review, Luxury Cigar Club is selling this cigar for just a few cents more (after using the 15% off promo code) than its release price when I reviewed the cigar August 2020. You can also find this blend if you snoop around the internet.
It is a very flavorful knockaround cigar.
Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, USA
Size: 5 x 50 Robusto
Strength: Medium
Price: $6.95
The cigars have been marinating naked in my humidor for two months.
BACKGROUND:
“Sinistro Cigars is a Glendale, California brand of Dominican cigars manufactured at the prestigious La Aurora factory, under the supervision of master blender, Manuel Inoa.”
SIZES AND PRICING:
Belicoso 6.25 x 52 $7.95
Presidente 7 x 58 $8.95
Robusto 5 x 50 $6.95
Scala Perfecto 4.5 x 48/60 $11.95
Toro 6 x 54 $7.95
SMELL THE GLOVE:
Running neck and neck are floral notes, black pepper, and dark chocolate. Creaminess and cinnamon become a Cinnabon. Notes of sweetness appear as banana, caramel, and root beer. This is getting interesting. There are also hints of malt, cedar, cloves, and rich espresso.
The cold draw presents flavors of dark Swiss chocolate, black pepper, creaminess, malt, licorice, cinnamon buns, banana, cedar, and root beer.
FIRST THIRD:
The draw is first rate so I can put away my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for a poorly constructed stick.
The cigar just pours smoke over the room and wafts up to the rafters as if my toupee caught fire…it’s the hairspray that makes the beast volatile.
Right away, the blend delves into seeking out its mission. An immediate complexity gets a grip on my palate. This is such a good sign. I tire of cigars in which the blender decides the first third is just a warmup for a better cigar experience to unfold in the second half.
I get an oddball Sangria flavor that I’ve never tasted in a cigar before. The spiciness is a combo of both black and red peppers; not overwhelming or distracting, but rather working at a nice even keel to give the cigar some oomph from the start.
Strength is medium and holding.
There is a nuttiness that is more like peanut butter or almond butter. Flavors are beginning to transition now with some surprising speed. Whizzing by like the cop car you were sure was going to stop you but zooms by to catch some other chump.
The char line burn gets a little wonky but then self corrects very quickly. A self-healing cigar. I can get behind that.
Creaminess just leaps like Giannis Antetokounmpo and slams it home. It kicks the complexity into high gear. The cigar is impressing me at a very early stage. The last couple reviews egged me on to hang myself. Not David Carradine hanging; rather, one that is less fun.
I smoked one a week in and it didn’t come close to what I taste now. Let ‘em rest.
Still hanging at medium strength. It seems stronger because the blend is busy with elements swirling at once giving the impression that the stick is stronger than it really is. Typical Penn & Teller trick.
Dudes, this is a good cigar. What I’m having serious trouble with is that this is a $7-$8 cigar pretty much across the board in the different sizes.
If this was a better-known boutique manufacturer, the cigar would be $12 and only 435 available.
But this is a regular production cigar. I can taste the passion of the Sinistro gang and the blender, Manuel Inoa. This was not a blend made in a hurry or found in some obscure farmer’s loft, long forgotten about and while once lost, is now found. (Not very subtle…I know).
Instead of the review dragging on for millennia, this one is doing Formula 1 across my palate.
Balance is tight. Nuances aplenty with little bits of flavor moments that come and go like the first moment you realize that the acid you took is now kicking in.
I’ve got the Jimi album “Songs for Groovy Children” playing, recorded at the Fillmore East in 1970. Perfect. My head is bopping up and down to the beat with extreme prejudice.
Chocolate surges along with the espresso. The creaminess grabs both by the balls and whips them into some kind of exotic dessert that will send you into diabetic shock.
SECOND THIRD:
The cigar is constructed beautifully. No burn issues. A slow roll that my greediness for more appreciates. My palate does a reach around and puts a big smile on my puss.
I believe the blend wants to go medium/full and does as I write this…I’m getting a little buzz now. It’s only temporary blindness.
The richness the blend brings to the table is fucking delicious. You do not have to be a smoker who bothers with dissecting flavors…this is the perfect cigar for those who know what they like and don’t care about the rest. It is a full buffet…without standing behind the 300lb women piling their plates full of mac and cheese.
Ever notice that your local buffet TV advertisements always show skinny people eating at the tables of the restaurant? A real misrepresentation…skinny people are often eaten by mistake in the frenzy when new crab legs are placed out.
And ladies and germs, may I introduce you to the Mr. Red flavor profile: Chocolate, cinnamon bun, extreme creaminess, peanut butter, malt, root beer, cedar, a touch of black licorice, banana bread, potent espresso, and a hint of butterscotch. Savories include smoked meat, French fries, and oatmeal. I am now beginning to wonder if being hungry is influencing my palate. I don’t remember a cigar I’ve reviewed lately that has this mosh pit of such interesting and pleasant flavors.
My dear readers…this is a must try. I can’t think of another $7 stick that has this much going for it. (Hang on, I gotta’ empty my colostomy bag).
A sip of water and my head caves in. I’ve led a good life. I want to be buried next to Hunter S. Thompson.
This is a high-quality smoke. I believe that Sinistro Cigars is really undervalued by the smoking public. They are consistent from blend to blend.
Strength has settled on medium/full as I enter the last third.
LAST THIRD:
This is a good cigar for cigar wusses to try. Time to step up to the plate and explore. It is by all accounts, a medium strength cigar that is a steppingstone for the inexperienced smoker. And at this price point, you won’t have buyer’s remorse.
It seems apparent now that the blend is not going to go full tilt in the last third. It remains at a healthy medium/full that is easy to take. It’s about the flavors.
Everything has morphed now into a ride on the Matterhorn.
Know what I like best about this cigar? Little flavor elements pop up for a few moments and then passes the baton to the next onslaught of flavor nuances. This is the kind of thing that can only be documented when smoking and writing contemporaneously. I’d never remember to notate the horn o’ plenty elements if I smoked a few over a week and then made my notes.
Not a lick of harshness or bitterness as the cigar goes into its death throes.
God damn the Pusherman…what a spectacular blend.
The finish on this cigar is one of the best I’ve encountered. It is so rich and thick with depth of flavor. Just outstanding.
I plan on nubbing this baby.
I’m happy to sit here and smack my lips indulging in the character of this blend. Actually, I’m never really happy. But I want you to think I’m well adjusted.
With less than an inch to go, the cigar is going bat shit crazy pumping out more and more complexity. Wow.
And the dreaded nicotine level is barely noticeable…or maybe I should say, it is manageable as not much attention is given to this distraction because the cigar is so fucking good.
You can purchase this cigar from my sponsor, Luxury Cigar Club. 15% off with promo code ‘katman.”
RATING: 95
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
