Cigar Weekly

 

Published Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Compiled by Doug McGuire (Mad Dawg)

Reviews Editor

 

This review marks the return of formal blind reviews to Cigar Weekly, after an extended period of quiescence.

 

The Urban line is a new offering from Augusto Reyes Cigar Co. The cigars for this review were graciously provided by Denisse Montoya, Manager of Operations for Augusto Reyes. From their web site:

 

Information provided by Ms. Montoya indicates that the Dominican leaf in the filler is seco, but not much additional information is available about the line.

 

 

bigw: Firm no soft spots noticed med brown w/ a few veins. Pre-light draw was ok and not to loose, tasted of almonds toasted and wet wood

briandg: The cigar was well built, well shaped and rounded, with a decent cap. The wrapper was glossy and smooth, no tooth, but it was a little bumpy from lumps in binder and bunch.   Overall, the appearance was fine for a bundle or inexpensive box, but I'd expect better from a costly smoke.   Draw was fine, in spite of the firm bunch. No lumps in the filler, and the foot looked evenly distributed. The first was terribly built, with a bunch that was full of stems and compressed leaf, but the second was just fine.

Coach: GREAT LOOKIN STICK. HAS THE LOOK OF BEING AN EPIC SMOKE. FIRM AND NO SOFT SPOTS

gui_tarzan: This sample is almost identical to the first sample. Many of my comments will reflect both cigars. The wrapper looks extremely thin and shows all the veins.

The pre-light aroma reminds me of something from long ago but I can’t pinpoint it; vegetative, musky, almost like an antique book leather. The wrapper on sample #1 has a sheen, almost like an oily maduro, the wrapper on the second was less so.

Poohdvm: Coarse feeling but oily looking wrapper. You can see some large veins in the bunch. The draw and the burn were both great; razor straight burn with a solid white ash that hung on forever.

Smoker06: It’s amazing. This cigar was absolutely perfect in its pre-light characteristics. The feel was solid. As you held it in your hand, it had a certain heft to it. The wrapper, while not oily, was smooth and leathery, medium brown in color and flawless -- only the smallest of veins. The clip was clean and straight. Pre-light draw was perfect with only the slightest resistance. The initial light was easy and the burn was straight. The initial impression, first few puffs, strong, toasty tobacco flavor. Like I said, this cigar was absolutely perfect in it pre-light performance.

 

 

bigw: I thought they were on the medium side, but the strength crept up on me after I finished, I felt a bit light headed…The first one tunneled for about ½ inch towards the first third, but it was a quick fix and the 2nd one was perfect…Both were smoked mid morning and paired with a dog walk. They were not dry and I was not needing any beverage with it. An overall enjoyable smoke.

briandg: There was a peppery component to the taste. My first specimen had a very dense chunk of filler in the bunch that circled inside the binder, blocking the wrapper from the core, and ruining the burn totally. A hollow spot also allowed tunneling. There was no way to get anything enjoyable out of the fitful wisps of smoke coming from the only parts of the filler that were actually burning. The second performed well, but the wrapper still burned crookedly and needed a minor touch up. Aroma was complex and varying, a very nice smoke in a lot of ways. It had a mildly sweet component with some spices. Taste was unusual to me, it had a bitter and peppery component, and just an unusual profile overall, in my experience. The finish was lingering and slightly sweet, and overall, it I'd still smoke them again. In retrospect, I actually went through and revised the scores upward a few points, as the first specimen prejudiced me to the possibilities that the second one fulfilled.

Coach: OK SMOKE BUT DIDN’T WOW ME. THOUGHT BY ITS LOOK IT WAS GOING TO BE EPIC. FAILED IMO

gui_tarzan: There’s an overwhelming pepper taste a few minutes after lighting. I can’t taste anything else, just pepper. Fifteen minutes in, about an inch gone and the pepper taste subsided for the most part, but it’s still mildly peppery in the nose. Has a flavor I would colorize as light red with black overtones like a charred jalapeno pepper. Ample smoke. Nicotine level is very strong after the halfway point, not for the timid or someone with a weak stomach! Still quite peppery toward the end, has a one-dimensional taste.

The excessive tongue burn and sharpness is due to the peppery smoke. After an inch or so it’s not as pronounced but at first it is like eating freshly ground pepper. Smoke burns the nose most of the way through.

Poohdvm: I really liked this cigar. Tons of flavor, powerful smoke, just the way I like them. It has lots of spicy woody flavors and slight sweetness on the tongue in the aftertaste. Nice nicotine bomb in this cigar. Some may call the cigar one-dimensional because of the in your face spicy flavors but that’s the way I like’em.

Smoker06: And that’s where my adoration for this cigar ended, with the pre-light. Once the cigar got going, it had the weirdest finish. It was “mediciny”, almost eucalyptus-like. Now maybe it’s just me, but the finish detracted significantly from the cigar experience. I could notice nothing else. My thoughts were, “hurry up and finish this and smoke something else to get the taste out of your mouth.”

 

 

bigw: None.

briandg: All things considered, a good cigar. I'd expect a bargain cigar that can be had for $3 or under, and well worth it. Aged stock may be markedly better. It was relatively well constructed, and had a good blend of tobaccos, with a quality flavor and aroma, good smoking characteristics, and a lack of harshness that I usually find in cigars that are this full.    I'd buy them. If I find that these were new stock, I'd sock them away for a year or two, and see what happens.

Coach: NONE.

gui_tarzan: Some people enjoy pepper, I don’t. This isn’t even a spicy burn to me, it’s a solid black pepper smack to the senses at first. Had this not been a review cigar I would have thrown it out after the first couple of inches. It eventually settles down so I think several months of resting may help ease the initial wow factor. If there was as much flavor as spice and if the draw was just a bit tighter, this would probably be a good cigar. As it stands however, I will be glad to know what this one is so I never buy any.

Poohdvm: Let me know what this is so I can make it a part of my regular rotation, if it isn’t there already. A strong in your face cigar that you had better be prepared for or it will hurt you. No hot boxing this cigar, it makes you slow down and respect the cigar.

Smoker06: It just goes to show you that your preconceptions aren’t always right. In an earlier CW survey, I wrote that construction was the most important attribute of a cigar -- even more so than taste. Well, I no longer feel that way. This cigar had perfect construction but was very unpleasant. While I have pitched cigars with poor construction (plugs, canoes, etc.), I finished this cigar and didn’t pitch it. But I’m wondering if that was for the sake of the review.

Reviewer	Appearance and Construction (0-5)	Burn (0-5)	Draw (0-5)	Aroma (0-5)	Flavor (0-10)	Taste and Aftertaste (0-10)	Overall Quality (0-10)	Total (0-50)
bigw	4	3	5	4	8	8	8	40
briandg	4.2	4.2	4.4	4.3	8.5	8.5	8.6	42.7
Coach	3.5	4	3.5	3	7	6	6.5	33.5
gui-tarzan	3	2	3	3	1	2	1	15
Poohdvm	3	5	5	3	9	8	9	42
Smoker06	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	35
Averages	3.78	3.87	4.32	3.72	6.42	6.25	6.35	34.70
To achieve the final score we throw out the high and low total scores then average the remaining scores. For more details please refer to the Review Methods page

 

Final Score: 37.63 out of 50 - 4 Stars -- Excellent

From the heavy Nicaraguan ligero content in the cigar, I expected a very strong, very peppery smoke. Instead, I would classify them as medium-bodied and, unlike some of the reviewers, I detected no trace of pepper in them. Instead, I got a kind of a musty impression from the pre-light flavors that persisted throughout the smoke. I kept waiting for the pepper to appear, or for the flavor profile to change, but neither happened.

 

For a cigar that had such flawless construction, the flavors left me wanting. I got the impression of well-aged filler leaf, but the bottom-line impression I got was pleasant, if unremarkable.

 

According to the Augusto Reyes web site (http://www.augustoreyescigars.com/Urban.php), the Urban line is offered in five sizes:

 

Robusto

Toro

Churchill

Belicoso

Gordo

 

I’ve been unable to find or receive any information as to the specific dimensions of those cigars. I would like to have found that information, as I would like to have some idea of box prices, but I was unable to find any of that information online.

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