LONSDALE love!

[borndead1]

Charter Oak maduro lonsdale (6.25" x 46)

SOLID smoke. Good construction, burn, and draw. Straight medium as far as 'strength' goes, pretty typical maduro flavors of cocoa/coffee/coconut. Coconut becomes more pronounced around the halfway point.

Not a cigar you would give as a gift, but definitely above yard 'gar status. At around $5/stick retail, a pretty good value.

I'll put it this way (and yooz guys will know exactly what I'm talkin' about): this is one of those cigars that you buy a few of at the local cigar lounge, because they're decent smokes and you wanna support the place that lets you smoke.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by borndead1

I'll put it this way (and yooz guys will know exactly what I'm talkin' about): this is one of those cigars that you buy a few of at the local cigar lounge, because they're decent smokes and you wanna support the place that lets you smoke.

Absolutely.

[borndead1]

Man O' War corona (6 X 44)

This one has been resting nekkid in the humi for well over a year, so I feel like what I'm tasting is legit.

It's just OK, and that's only until just past halfway.

I remember being sorta infatuated with ol' AJ Fernandez when he first began producing cigars. And there are still a few of his smokes that I enjoy regularly. But I feel like production quotas have taken a bite out of quality. And when I say quality, I mean properly aged/fermented tobaccos.

Much like Drew Estate, Tabacalera Fernandez is pretty top notch in terms of construction. I rarely smoke an AJ cigar that is poorly constructed. But there is really no legitimate reason that a Nicaraguan cigar, without cellophane, resting for over a year at 62 to 65 percent humidity, should have a heavy chemical/ammonia aftertaste by around the halfway point. The only reason that happens, IMO, is from using underfermented tobacco.