Review: Ashton Señoritas

At $11.00 for a box of 10, these have to be one of the best bargains in small cigars today. Packaged in a neat white cardboard box emblazoned with the Ashton logo in black and gold, I was surprised to find these small cigars (3.5″ x 30 ring) to be unbanded, pre-cut and rather rough-looking. The text on the inside cover of the box was also printed upside-down, which didn’t help allay the overall impression of shoddy workmanship which this pack exuded.

However, upon popping one of these guys into my mouth, I found a perfect draw and a pleasing, faint aroma of leathery tobacco. The Señorita takes easily to the flame and produces a lot of white smoke. The overall taste profile is medium-bodied with sweet and creamy flavors dominating up front and some refined leather building as the cigar burns down. Occasional hints of cocoa or coffee come and go but remain little more than faint background notes.

The burn on these little guys is pretty good and problems were always self-correcting, though the ash is ugly and unstable. Overall, however, this is not a bad cigar: the flavor is good enough to smoke on a day-to-day basis, though it’s nothing award-winning. In summary, good size, good taste, good value. 3.5 / 5

A Marvelous Discovery, Part Deux

A few weeks ago, I discovered a new way to enjoy my favorite tobaccos when I took a chance and rolled a cigarette from a cherished pipe blend. Now I am proud to report back to you with a new dimension to my homemade cigarillo hobby: the rolling machine.

I have been smoking these homemade sticks almost exclusively over these last few weeks and I’ve been loving it. I’ve got a pretty good rolling techinque down now, but there’s always some variation in the 100% handmade products. It’s quaint, I suppose, but there’s a part of me that wants to be assured of a perfect smoke every time. Today I made a foray over to a gas station I knew sold RYO materials and picked up a $3.00 rolling machine like the one pictured in the video below (an RYO how-to). I just rolled a smoke with it and I have to say, it’s already been worth every penny (and then some – the thing was cheap!).

On my first try, I got a tightly rolled, perfectly shaped, even-ended cigarette. It was truly a thing of beauty, and it smoked like a dream. I have to say, I’m proud I know how to roll a cigarette by hand, and I wouldn’t have felt right doing it by machine without having perfected my no-frills technique first, but nothing beats quality control and you just can’t always get a perfect roll by hand.

I highly recommend this way to enjoy your tobacco. It’s economical, travels well, and you can try an endless variety of tobaccos in the elegant, time-friendly cigarillo format. What’s not to love?

Review: Nobel Petite Brasil

The only problem with the C.A.O. Brazilia Minis, which I really enjoyed when I reviewed them last summer, is that they are increasingly hard to find. My B&M no longer carries them and I can’t find mention of them in a cursory search online. Luckily, however, the Nobel Petites seem to be available everywhere. I read about them in a Cigar Aficionado piece a while back, then last year I spied a box at Peretti’s in Boston. They’ve been behind the counter at any number of shops I’ve stopped at in the interim, but for some reason I’d never bought them until a couple weeks ago. When I saw a 20-pack of these ubiquitous cigarillos on sale for $10 at a local cigar bar, I decided to right a wrong and give them a try. I was not disappointed.

Rough-looking but toothy, these smokes have a heady pre-light aroma of pepper. On firing them up, however, the Nobel Petite Brasil is less reminiscent of a Pepín García spice-monster than it is a Padrón maduro: woody, earthy and pungent. If smoked slowly, these cigars retain their balance and leathery notes mix pleasantly with creamier tones to create a rich whole. An excellent accompaniment for a cup of coffee, these small cigars do fine outside the humidor. Even after a couple weeks’ rest on my shelf, they’re as full-bodied as ever.

I actually wonder if the Brazilia Minis were just a re-branding of these smokes. The Nobels are imported by C.A.O. and in every respect bear a striking resemblance to the Brazilia cigarillos. I for one, am happy they do. 5 / 5

A Marvelous Discovery

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. School has gotten in the way of writing for some time. However, I’ve just made a wonderful discovery and I thought this was the perfect forum for sharing it.

I begin with this question: what is the ultimate selling point for cigarillos? The best small cigars are both flavorful and quick, offering taste for the time-pressed smoker. The problem, however, is that there are precious few offerings which truly satisfy the palate of someone who’s used to the rich depth of full-sized cigars or pipe tobacco. What is more, those which are available have a small following (though it is growing) and are sold in a relatively small number of premium tobacconists’ shops. What, then, is the aficionado on the go to do when he runs out of his favorite cigarillos while traveling abroad or when he can’t get to the tobacco shop before closing time?

Why, roll his own, of course! After a bit of hesitation (cigarettes have never really appealed to me) I decided to try solving this problem by rolling a sort of homemade cigarillo with one of my favorite pipe tobaccos. I picked up a pack of rolling papers for $2.00 at a gas station and rushed home to try out my purchase. I filled the paper with a rich, hearty English blend and rolled it up. After one faulty product, I got what I thought would be a pretty good smoke: evenly filled, tight roll, lots of tobacco. I took it outside and lit up.

It was heaven. The moist tobacco burned slowly and well. It tasted of rich Latakia – just as good as filling a favorite pipe with the same blend – and lasted a good ten minutes or so. The flavor was excellent down to the nub and the cigarette met my time constraints easily (I don’t think I can rightly call it a cigarillo because it’s not tobacco-wrapped). I heartliy recommend this method to anyone who is looking for a quick, delicious smoke on the go. Once you get over any initial reservations about smoking something wrapped in paper, I think you’ll find it a wonderful experience.

Review: C.A.O. Brazilia Minis

Not to be confused with the Cariocas (which are about 4×40 – by my estimate – and come in tins of 5), the C.A.O. Brazilia Minis are cigarette-sized, come in packs of 20 and are, like the larger vitolas in the Brazilia line, a full-flavored treat. Unlike many cigarillos which don’t produce the rich taste many cigar smokers are after, the Brazilias pack a pretty big punch and are not overwhelmed by a strong drink – an aspect I find particularly appealing.

Wrapped in a toothy, thick, rosy wrapper resembling that of their larger cousins, these cigarillos are a bit rough in appearance but alluring nonetheless. The aroma of a freshly-opened pack is also wonderful: earthy and pungent tobacco. Upon lighting, the first few puffs smack of chocolate but never cloy: the sweeter notes are balanced by leather, earth and cedar. Through the heart of the 12-minute smoke, the taste is a hearty blend of these flavors with the occasional addition of a floral note or a whiff of dried fruit. As the cigarillo closes out, spicy cedar tends to dominate. Don’t smoke these too fast: the spice will overpower the nuances which linger all the way down to the nub.

Add to these flavors a white ash which is surprisingly solid and a “real cigar” aroma, and you’ve got a winner. I wish more cigarillos were as full-bodied as the Brazilia Minis, but whether or not other brands follow C.A.O.’s lead in the future, these small cigars will remain one of my reliable favorites. 5 / 5

A great introduction

Israeli food and wine writer Daniel Rogov gives a great introduction to cigarillo production and the market in various countries in this essay.

The piece opens with an elegant description of cigarillo culture at the Paris opera:

I was still quite young when I realized that for two hundred years the intermission between the first and second acts at the Opera in Paris has been timed to last precisely nineteen minutes. That provides enough time to stroll from my opera box to the bar, to acquire glasses of Veuve Clicquot Champagne for my date and myself and to find a place to stand overlooking the grand staircase, there to ponder on the qualities of the Champagne, the opera, or the romantic history of the exquisite rococo building in which I was standing. If there was anything at all to destroy this otherwise perfect setting, it was the knowledge that the eight minutes remaining in the intermission did not offer enough time to enjoy the cigar I was carrying in the inner pocket of my smoking jacket.

Whatever I may have been as a young man, I was not completely obtuse, so it did not take long to realize that the solution of the most sophisticated cigar smokers during such occasions was to turn to a cigarillo, one of those small, thin elegant cigars meant largely for those who do not have the leisurely hour or so that a Churchill or a Double Corona requires. Today, more than half of all European cigar smokers carry a cigar case in their right hand jacket pocket and a small, elegant white box of cigarillos in their other inner pocket.

The author then goes on to describe the production of cigarillos and to highlight some of his favorites. As the title of this post states, a great introduction to the world of small cigars and well-written, too.

Cigarillos in Cigar Aficionado

A couple of my favorite articles on cigarillos come from past issues of Cigar Aficionado. Though the publication rarely devotes many column inches to small cigars, these pieces – spaced ten years apart – give a sense of where the small cigar market was in 1994 (the owners of the Danneman brand hoped at the time that it would be up-and-coming) and a decade later in 2004 (when the explosion of cigarillos had just begun). Check them out.

Review: Café Crème Arôme

Blonde in color, these cigarillos appear to be made of homogenized wrapper leaf due to their seamless look. While I have a knee-jerk aversion to the mass-produced feeling which such a construction instills in a cigarillo, the truth is that these cigars are no more commercial than their rougher-looking natural-wrapper counterparts. And as it turns out, whatever the manufacturing process for the Café Crème Arômes, it seems to be working pretty well. These are a pretty darn good smoke and are among the most consistent small cigars I know.

Upon opening the tin (I got a 5-pack for about $3.50), I was met with a strong scent of aromatic tobacco, not unlike a sweet pipe blend. Upon lighting and taking the first draw, the cigar tastes quite sweet, with caramelized sugars and a buttery texture overpowering any nuance. However, after the first couple of puffs, the flavor mellows out to a smooth combination of sugar and some floral notes with whisps of earthy tobacco underneath. As the 15-minute smoke wraps up, the flavor shifts away from sugars and into the realm of toasted tobacco.

In all, I was very pleasantly surprised by the assertive yet attractive flavor of these cigars. The Arômes pair well with coffee because they provide a sweet counterpoint to the drink’s darker flavors. If you’re looking for an interesting sweet smoke, you should definitely think about picking up a pack of these treats from Café Crème. 4 / 5.

Review: Zino Red Mini Cigarillos

The Zino Red Mini Cigarillos come in a very attractive ruby cardboard box filled with 20 small cigars. According to the New York City Davidoff Shop website, these cigarillos come with a Brazilian wrapper, a binder from Java and a filler of Brazilian and Javanese tobaccos along with French Burley. My guess is that it is the burley which lends these cigars their distinctive pre-light aroma of hay. Whatever it is, these Zinos start off with an unusual and pleasant mild note.

Upon lighting, the cigarillo has a sweet, mild flavor consisting mostly of hay, but which builds with the addition of vanilla and hints of wood. Due to their mild profile, these smokes wouldn’t lend themselves to being paired with a strong drink, though a smooth scotch or a cup of tea might work out well. Overall, a quality quick smoke for those who like a mild cigarillo. 3.5 / 5

Past Articles

The decision to start a new blog dedicated solely to cigarillos was a long time in coming. For the last year or so, I have been posting off-and-on to my other cigar blog, Coffee & Cigars. Recently, however, I find myself smoking more and more small cigars and wanting to review them. These reviews, however, have felt a bit out of place among the many full-size cigar review sites. I decided they needed a home of their own. Hence CIGARILLO was born. In order to kick off this new site, I’ve pulled together the links to some of my old cigarillo-related posts from Coffee & Cigars. Enjoy!

• Cigarillo Review: Agio Mehari’s Brasil
• Storing Dry-Cured Cigars
• Cigarillo Review: Three Cigarillos (The Griffin’s Griffiños, Davidoff Mini Cigarillos, C.A.O. Brazilia Minis)