Spring Sluggers

Source from:  smokemag.com 05/29/2008

What do Pepin Garcia, Rocky Patel, Jonathan Drew, and Henry "Kiki" Burger all have in common? Each hit a home run with a top-rated, medium- to full- bodied cigar in our newest Spring 2008 Cigar Review, conducted as always by an ever-changing panel of 20 tasters who sample cigars at their leisure in a blind tasting and in return provide us objective and honest assessments of the cigars they smoked. Remember the boom-era boutique brand Cupido? Well, its back, once again being made by its original producer, Tabacalera Esteli's Kiki Berger, who also has the honor of owning the brand this time around. He devilishly threw our Spring reviewers a curve ball with the striking figurado shape of his new Cupido Criollo Corto (9.3), but proved he could indeed follow through with fine execution, as panelists sat aside their trepidation and thoroughly enjoyed this Nicaraguan puro, which taps tobaccos grown right in the fields outside Kiki's factory. Rocky Patel's formidable Honduran-made RP Sun Grown Sixty (9.3) was described as a "tree trunk of a cigar," which in this case is a good thing, referring to the hefty 6 x 60 toro shape that afforded smokers plenty of time to savor this rich, medium-bodied cigar with a dark Ecuadorian wrapper. When Drew Estate's founder and master blender Jonathan Drew brought former CigarNexus.com creator and J.R. Cigar scribe Steve Saka onboard as the company president, one of Saka's first directives was a challenge to the counter-culture crew in Estelí: create a rich, full-bodied cigar that would appeal to his own personal tastes. The result was the Liga Privada No. 9 (literally, private leaf) which quickly became a Saka favorite and is now available in limited quantities for purchase. Our panelists were equally enamored with this traditional-style smoke full of pungent flavors. Pepin Garcia can seem to do no wrong with every appearance at bat, and his very own Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ Selectos (9.2), made at his original Miami factory, continues his ever-expanding winning streak with this spicy offering. Other panelist favorites included the CAO Gold Perfecto, Bolivar Gigante, Habana Gold Dominican Selection Robusto, and Carlos Tora?o Signature Collection Toro. So bid the cabin fever farewell once and for all, embrace once again the wide open spaces of the great outdoors-even if it's just the back yard-and explore some new smokes in your leisure time. Enditem