Wrapper: Ecuadorian Claro, Nicaraguan Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan, USA Pennsylvania
Size: 6 x 52 Torpedo
Strength: Medium
Price: $7.00
I aged my cigars naked for two months.
BACKGROUND:
Go to the El Viejo Continente website here.
I discovered this brand of cigars on Cigar Page. I bought the entire line. Today’s review cigar is only available in their 16-count sampler for $59.99. I bought a couple samplers and all their fivers. And I snagged a couple different blends of their Culebra Quad+ Pack, which I don’t see available anymore.
El Viejo Continente is distributed across 49 countries spanning the globe.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
This is how it works: 99% of smokers will check out the price when opening my review. Scroll down to the cigar’s rating. And then either boogie to get some. Or if you are at work and bored silly, maybe you read my review. If you just read this, you are bored silly. No worries. Unless you work in the cigar industry, every reviewer gets the same treatment. No one really reads us. Open. Scroll. Rating. Gone. Don’t cry for me Argentina.
Very chocolatey exterior. Like me. I was born a poor black child.
Steve Martin and I both went to CSULB. We both worked at Knott’s Berry Farm. We both took banjo lessons from John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Steve wrote for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. I saw the show taped live at CBS in 1969. Steve is Baptist. I’m Baptist. He dated Dalton Trumbo’s daughter. I watched “Trumbo” on Netflix. We both studied geology and philosophy in college. Steve said this: “If you’re studying geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life.” He is brilliant. I’m average. I guess that’s it.
Not a heavy cigar. Yet the resistance of the draw is just fine. Not whistlin’ Dixie. My PerfecDraw tries to sing along but has no ear.
The cigar begins nicely. I like a blend that gives me hope. Notes of dark chocolate, espresso, creaminess, caramel, and assorted nuts.
An amazing richness unfolds that one never sees in budget cigars. Now generally, this line goes for $6-$9 per stick. The price I paid works out to be $3.75.
I won’t fool you now and lead you to believe that this is a killer cigar. But it is a very good cigar for the buck, that exceeds what we expect from something so inexpensive.
Construction is spot on. The char line is a thing of beauty.
I have a bunch of these cigars in a wide spectrum of blends. I hope they are as enjoyable as The Circus.
If you look at the photo of the sampler, these are nice looking cigars that could easily pass for expensive blends. So how did El Viejo Continente accomplish this feat. Dunno.
Caramel meets black pepper. A mild spiciness gives this medium strength cigar the proper kick in the arse.
The Curse of Oak Island. Know what the curse is for Rick and Marty Vagina? They find the gold and the show is cancelled. 11 seasons is enough.
Despite the size of the cigar, it will be only an hour-long cigar. Which is just fine with me. No one wants a two-hour yard gar.
The balance is on the money with a variety of sweet and savory notes. It is slightly complex which keeps me puffing away and not losing interest. Sometimes you want to smoke a cigar and not think about it. Every time I smoke a $15 stick, I feel the need to pay attention. Now and again, I want my mind to lay just there like my first wife.
Not linear. No surprises. Not doing a Humpty Dumpty and falling into the abyss halfway there.
“Now and Then.” I like it.
Charlotte talked her father into taking her to see The Beatles in Hamburg in 1962. The boys were living in the back room of the club. She remembers that they didn’t smell very good. To this day, she prefers the Stones. I bet they didn’t smell nice either. 12 years later, I toured with a British band, and they only bathed once a week. A touring car with the windows closed in winter. Oh lawdy, the aroma.
The pre-eminent flavors remain a creamy caramel and dark chocolate.
The richness remains with no hint that it might dissipate. Solid. Groovy. I refused to use that word in the 60’s.
My high school band played a lot of expensive house parties with psychedelic light shows. Try playing your axe with a strobe light in your face. Great way to induce epilepsy.
No complaints. Strength hits medium/full.
The blend is very consistent. We have all smoked big brand catalog cigars for $7 and know the depths of uselessness.
2” to go and a sweet spot lands. The nature of its complexity is OK. But the richness of the blend has increased. A warmer palate pleasing set of nuances and subtleties arrive.
I believe soul patches have become passé for men. Not sure when that happened. Still cool for your Aunt Rhoda.
I think you should give this brand a shot. Cigar Page has them all. At $4 a stick, you can hand these pretty things to your mooch friends.
My rating is based upon the price. You won’t be swept away. We all need sticks we can toss if our wives approach with a honey do list.
RATING: 87
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
