BOLIVAR Poderosos Exclusivo Belux (Regional Edition Belgium and Luxembourg 2013) Tasting and Review

Length: 18cm
Ring Gauge: 54
Factory Name: Poderosos
Vitola: Double Pyramid
Type: Rodolfo
Presentation: Box of 25s (Only 2,000 Serial numbered)
Special Presentation: Jar of 25s (Only 100 Serial numbered) exclusive to LCDH Knokke & Gent
Release Date: Last quarter 2013
Price: $700

The Poderosos is the second exclusive release for the 2013 BELUX region (Belgium and Luxembourg) following its predecessor the amazing La Gloria Cubana Belux No.1 back in 2011.  They hale with an awesome new size of a double pyramid and a ring gauge of 54. Named "Poderosos" which is Spanish for The Mighty and Powerful, I can only imagine what I am in for...I have been resting those Poderosos for 8 weeks now but I can't wait any longer to try them... so lets take a look.

The Construction - A dark matte Colorado Claro wrapper with a few visible protruding veins giving a rough texture and feel to the cigar. Quiet firm and resistant with fairly packed tobacco and finished with a near perfect pyramid cap. It is long and thick so clear your schedule.

The Draw - with a double blade cutter, a 7mm snip off the cap gave this cigar the perfect draw. Not much resistance yet not too loose and in fact it shows that it will be a long slow smoke. Notes for the cold draw gives a roasted coffee taste with hints of dark cocoa. Slight hints of dark wood and meaty taste.

 

The First Burn - a sweet smoky flavor with a light peppery taste on the very first couple of puffs. Little tingle as your let the smoke out of the nose and taste of light ammonia which quickly dissipates. Once you get an even burn then you can really pick up on some of that green peppery, earthy taste with fresh tasty leather scent. I can't tress more about how perfect the draw is. Smoke is warm and smooth while the ash is crumbly soft and has a few dark shades of grey.

The Middle Burn - character development starts to kick in with distinctive dark cocoa and light roasted coffee highlighted with leather notes. Some bitter aftertaste but probably from the tar build up near the cap. If you are a slow smoker like me, be prepared to relight this cigar once or twice during this part. As I take my time, I am trying to make sure I have a slow burn on the Poderosos so I can savor those many flavors that can be shadowed from these different characters. Smoke tends to be light but full on flavor and ash holds on pretty well. 

The Final Burn - Coffee roast flavor deepens and the leathery taste turns rubbery. Some sweetness to the smoke but the dark cocoa hints somehow comes and goes. The spicy pepper has faded away and can hardly get picked up from all the sweet coffee and leathery/rubbery notes This is where you really feel the powerful taste of this Bolivar Poderosos, full flavor and full bodied. Smoke is rich and smooth and smells magnificent.

The bitterness at the cap is expected since this is a long cigar and the tar keeps building up. To avoid much of this bitterness try to not wet the cap with your saliva or cut the tip before lighting it up a centimeter or so and you should be fine.

A truly full flavored cigar and that is just the beginning. The Poderosos will definitely refine its character with time and is a perfect candidate for again as well. I am in love with this size and can't wait to revisit them again once they hit a one year mark! This is another smoke which I really hate for it to end...

The Pairing - With such a flavorful smoke you need something as full bodied to balance it out and truly savor the cigar character. The Nespresso Roma, with intensity level 8, complements the Poderosos with its sweet and woody notes that will keep the palate tasting fresh and not over powering your taste buds. 

Enjoy!

BOLIVAR Poderosos Exclusivo Belux (Regional Edition Belgium and Luxembourg 2013) Tasting and Review

Length: 18cm
Ring Gauge: 54
Factory Name: Poderosos
Vitola: Double Pyramid
Type: Rodolfo
Presentation: Box of 25s (Only 2,000 Serial numbered)
Special Presentation: Jar of 25s (Only 100 Serial numbered) exclusive to LCDH Knokke & Gent
Release Date: Last quarter 2013
Price: $700

The Poderosos is the second exclusive release for the 2013 BELUX region (Belgium and Luxembourg) following its predecessor the amazing La Gloria Cubana Belux No.1 back in 2011.  They hale with an awesome new size of a double pyramid and a ring gauge of 54. Named "Poderosos" which is Spanish for The Mighty and Powerful, I can only imagine what I am in for...I have been resting those Poderosos for 8 weeks now but I can't wait any longer to try them... so lets take a look.

The Construction - A dark matte Colorado Claro wrapper with a few visible protruding veins giving a rough texture and feel to the cigar. Quiet firm and resistant with fairly packed tobacco and finished with a near perfect pyramid cap. It is long and thick so clear your schedule.

The Draw - with a double blade cutter, a 7mm snip off the cap gave this cigar the perfect draw. Not much resistance yet not too loose and in fact it shows that it will be a long slow smoke. Notes for the cold draw gives a roasted coffee taste with hints of dark cocoa. Slight hints of dark wood and meaty taste.

 

The First Burn - a sweet smoky flavor with a light peppery taste on the very first couple of puffs. Little tingle as your let the smoke out of the nose and taste of light ammonia which quickly dissipates. Once you get an even burn then you can really pick up on some of that green peppery, earthy taste with fresh tasty leather scent. I can't tress more about how perfect the draw is. Smoke is warm and smooth while the ash is crumbly soft and has a few dark shades of grey.

The Middle Burn - character development starts to kick in with distinctive dark cocoa and light roasted coffee highlighted with leather notes. Some bitter aftertaste but probably from the tar build up near the cap. If you are a slow smoker like me, be prepared to relight this cigar once or twice during this part. As I take my time, I am trying to make sure I have a slow burn on the Poderosos so I can savor those many flavors that can be shadowed from these different characters. Smoke tends to be light but full on flavor and ash holds on pretty well. 

The Final Burn - Coffee roast flavor deepens and the leathery taste turns rubbery. Some sweetness to the smoke but the dark cocoa hints somehow comes and goes. The spicy pepper has faded away and can hardly get picked up from all the sweet coffee and leathery/rubbery notes This is where you really feel the powerful taste of this Bolivar Poderosos, full flavor and full bodied. Smoke is rich and smooth and smells magnificent.

The bitterness at the cap is expected since this is a long cigar and the tar keeps building up. To avoid much of this bitterness try to not wet the cap with your saliva or cut the tip before lighting it up a centimeter or so and you should be fine.

A truly full flavored cigar and that is just the beginning. The Poderosos will definitely refine its character with time and is a perfect candidate for again as well. I am in love with this size and can't wait to revisit them again once they hit a one year mark! This is another smoke which I really hate for it to end...

The Pairing - With such a flavorful smoke you need something as full bodied to balance it out and truly savor the cigar character. The Nespresso Roma, with intensity level 8, complements the Poderosos with its sweet and woody notes that will keep the palate tasting fresh and not over powering your taste buds. 

Enjoy!

EL RAY DEL MUNDO Infantes Exclusivo Cuba 2013 Tasting & Review

Length: 12.4cm
Ring Gauge: 50
Factory Name: Infantes
Vitola: Robustos
Type: Robusto
Presentation: Box of 10 Serial Numbered (only 5,000 boxes made)
Release Date: 3rd Quarter 2013
Price: $170.00 - $250.00 / box

Image courtesy of Mr. Muqdad Alqattan

As the news hit that the El Ray Del Mundo Infantes Regional Cuba 2013 was released, a friend of mine was lucky enough to score a box from Cuba just a day after its release. Let and be hold, I too was lucky as he offered me one to try and maybe write up a review about. Anxious and in the same time worried, I know this smoke will be too young to savor its real characteristics and give it a fair tasting. But on the other hand, it might show potential and what to expect. So without further do, lets take a look at the Infantes

The Construction - a light Colorado claro wrapper with few small visible veins, a rough texture and rigid in appearance. It is firm from the foot and cap but is a little soft in the middle. This cigar is fresh out of the box and did not have much time to rest in my possession except in a cedar lined tubos for a almost a month.

The Draw - offers a good draw but not too open or loose where you can also pick up a subtle taste of fresh tobacco. It has a distinctive floral scent, little reminiscent of freshly opened teabag with a slight cedery accent.

The First Burn - offers a blast of white peppercorns that gives a tingling sensation in the back of your throat and nose with a taste of dry cedar wood. It burns nicely but with a bitter aftertaste from the smoke and after a few draws the highlighted character showcases as a spiced dry wood.

The Middle Burn - ash holds up pretty well but had to drop it because I had the feeling it might fall off. Spiced wood seems to be the dominant flavor I keep picking up but it settled down a bit to make way for some citrusy taste, Grapefruit maybe? the smoke keeps giving me that bitter aftertaste. The bitterness isn't as bad as it may sound but its clearly is pushing against the woody flavor. Another interesting note I'm picking up is that floral scent which is slightly sweet but again turns it into that bitter citrusy aftertaste.

The Final Burn - comes with a deeper woody note and a little sweetness with the smoke. Naturally, the spicy kicks are reintroduced but not as strong as the first part yet bitterness keeps on sticking around with the smoke. Overall, the Infantes keeps burning perfectly and only once did it die out in the middle where I had to relight it again. Main characteristics stuck throughout the smoke leaving it a single journey with not much flavors.

It goes without saying that the EL RAY DEL MUNDO Infantes are fairly young cigars and would definitely use a quiet bit of aging. I think a 3-5 years resting and conditioning period would make this a very enjoyable smoke. Will try to revisit this cigar in a year or so to see how the flavors develop.

The Pairing - Since I only sipped on some water throughout this tasting, I can fairly say the best Nespresso Grand Cru pairing with the Infantes has to be Capriccio, with intensity level 5, it offers a cereal notes with light acidity to help balance out the woody and bitter flavors of the cigar.

Thanks again for my friend Mr. Muqdad Alqattan for his generosity and support

Enjoy!