Wrapper: African Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Cibao Valley
Filler: Brazil, Cameroon, Dominican Cibao Valley
Size: 6 x 54 Toro Especial
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $15.00
My cigars received 4 months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I bought a tenner. A week after receipt, lit one up. After an inch, I tossed it. It was flavorless. So, I waited. I’ve smoked the other blends in the Preferidos 1903 line (Ecuador, Maduro, Connecticut, Broadleaf Maduro, and Corojo) and they all required some down time to breathe and relax.
This is a nicely built stick. It’s firm and properly rotund. Not a lick or thought of soft spots. So instead of licking it, I sniff it and find aromas of melting butter, oak, and aged leather.
The fantail on the cap is no match for my PerfecPunch. I hear screams but it’s only the voices in my head triple dog daring me to blog another few months before the shilling comes to an end. I can do that. Dare accepted. The cold draw tastes of buttered popcorn, sweet caramel, and salty pretzel.
I light the cigar and the screams stop. Psychosis meds keep most reviewers in tune, but I get mine from Amazon so they take longer to work.
A leathery start. Lots of smoke to disguise Charlotte raising a kitchen knife to me ala Tony Perkins.
I no longer have a review schedule. It is pure dread. For most of my nearly 17 years doing this, it was a regimen that was difficult but easily adaptable. I chose to give up the ghost at the right time. It was a prescient decision 9 months ago. At 77, I’ve earned my right to retire. Maybe I’ll run for president.
Early impressions are earthy oak, burnt caramel, café au lait, white chocolate, and sweet hay. It begins like a dessert cigar but without the treacly taste that occurs with those infused cigars.
In my 20’s and 30’s, I worked for a Hollywood record producer named Gary Gladstone. He owned a studio in Beverly Hills. His regular dough came from engineering for famous producers at studios all across Los Angeles. I was fortunate and got a lot of studio dates because of Gary. But I swear, the method was always the same. Not once in dozens and dozens of calls, did I go in and record with a live band. Each time I’d come in, and I’d be the only musician scheduled to record. I’d sit in the studio, while a lot of people would be in the control booth, who must have thought hanging in a recording studio was cool. Sometimes I’d be given charts. But most times, it was listening to the songs a couple of times and the producer would say, “Play like you.” It was scary the first few times because of the pressure and not wanting to see the suits stare at their wrist watches and shaking their heads.
My favorite thing about smoking cigars is the taste of the wrapper. Nothing makes me happier than cigars providing a ceremonial toast to my lips like sipping fine bourbon. Just because I don’t drink doesn’t mean I don’t love the taste of good spirits. It’s the effects after the sip that keep me from imbibing regularly. Alcohol makes me immediately queasy and ill. No idea why but it’s been like that since I became legal. The only time I could drink happily was the early 80’s when cocaine was plentiful and de rigueur.
Savory kicks in. A nice counterbalance of rich earthiness, oak, almonds, and light malt.
Like all producers, Gary thought his methods were the only true ones. The first time I did a date for Gladstone, I sat in the studio with my bass, headphones, and a cable that had me going direct instead of playing through an amp. Each time I ran through my part, Gary would say, “You’re approaching average.” I thought what the fuck is he talking about. If I am playing beneath average, why did he ask me to come in? After several takes and those ‘average’ comments, I thought damn it, I’m going to say something. And then the last straw… “What the fuck are you talking about, Gary?” He explained that average is perfect. Huh? Average is what the listener needs to hear. He went on ad nauseum. This was convoluted at best. But I pretended that I got it. Of course, it would have been helpful if my lord and master had told me this before I began playing. From then on, I sought the skill to play average.
The first third, while interesting, feels like standard fare for a Cameroon blend. It was nice but not exotic or adventurous. I scroll up to see what I paid. $11.00 not $15. There is an invisible demarcation point. $15 seems luxurious but $11 or under seems reasonable. If you knew what the actual cost to produce a cigar costs, you’d shit yourselves. This is why retailers can easily absorb sale prices. No seller loses money.
Once, while in Gary Gladstone’s studio, the band was asked to record a tune that he wrote. It was a straightforward rock song and as we were working on parts, Gary suggested I do a 4-bar bass solo. Oh fuck. I hate bass solos. To make things worse, he wanted me to play it live. In other words, I had to play the song with the other musicians and then all of a sudden take off to the stratosphere and then come back home. After a few takes, where no one was happy, the guitarist all of a sudden started screaming at me. I hunched down in embarrassment and shame. The epithets and insults flew at me. I was so angry that when we did the next take, I played a beautiful and complex solo flawlessly…out of spite. The guitarist smiled and said it was part of the process. Maybe, but I would have preferred gentle coaxing instead. I have the song on cassette and plan on transferring it so I can show off to my peeps. That’s you. I will always be thankful to the dearly departed Gary Gladstone. It was he that got me the Barbra Streisand gig. As well as many other memorable dates.
And then on inch number three, Joe Exotic kicks in. The blend becomes smoother. More relaxed. Creaminess caps off the rough edges. Almost like sweetened condensed milk. Raw cashews, caramel, oak, light malt, cinnamon, and graham cracker…and the tiniest of tiny lemon peel. The blend just got better.
I’ve found the biggest difference between good cigars and better cigars is that the great ones delve instantly into sublime richness within a couple minutes of lighting up. The good ones need little time to evolve. I am a harsh critic of expensive cigars that need an inch or two to develop. This is why I don’t like doing blind taste tests. I have reasonable expectations. We all do.
The number of recording sessions I played quantripled after becoming owner of a recording studio. Bass lessons galore. But I had the requirements of playing after the studio was closed for the night. I had too many duties to be able to stop and spend hours on the wrong side of the control booth. For the most part, one ever had issues with that. So, I’d sit in the booth, all by my lonesome with my bass, headphones, and cable going direct into the board. The only bothersome thing was I had to control the tape while trying to concentrate on my playing. But I learned to overcome that. I’d spend all night playing songs at my discretion. As the sun came up, I’d call it quits, go home and get a few hours sleep and return to the studio a new man. And then do it all over again. Of course, the best times occurred when drummer Hal Blaine came in to work for me, and I found myself taking my time and laying down tracks to his incredible chops.
As the second half begins, the late start of the goodies is dismissed. A lot of smokers swear by Cameroon. There is a legion of them. It’s taken me a while to get on board. Due to it not being an easy blend to get right. The best at producing good Cameroon blends is Meerapfel but you pay dearly for the privilege.
Spiciness has been very mild. The white pepper evolves into black pepper at this point. But its kick is warm and a mere trifle.
I take my first sip of water. I don’t care for cigars that make me thirsty. We all know what that’s like. Those dastardly devils make you grab for a libation two minutes after lighting up. I don’t believe those blends are of sound mind.
I love the perfect savory v. sweet balance. As I enter the last third, strength is just barely medium/full with zero nicotine.
There are no changes in the last third. The blend passes average. Maybe that’s what those other guys mean when they review cigars. I just got it. For $11, this is a good cigar. Maybe not as your first of the day with little food in your belly, but as a cigar that can cut through the morass of a hearty dinner, it works beautifully.
My sponsor Cigar Page has stepped up with the Krazy Katman’s Bargain Basement special that premieres today and lasts one week. Bargain Basement changes every Friday. The first special is only good on the Toro (5.5 x 54). This cigar retails for $15.00. Not today. Price per cigar, in a fiver, is $6.40. The price per cigar in a ten pack is $4.90. This is 60%-70% off retail. No promo code is required. Sale ends July 3, 2026.
RATING: 94
Go to Krazy Katman’s Bargain Basement HERE.
Cigar Page is offering a flash promo code that ends at 11:59pm ET tonight. You will get another 10% off when you use ELEVEN. For today only, this promo brings the price down to $4.40 per cigar. But the sale for the Cameroon is good for a week. I wouldn’t have discovered this promo if not for the good graces of Cigar Deal Hunters by Smoking Hub.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
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