Don Kiki Brown Label Review

A Cuban cigar produced by Cuban Crafters, Don Kiki Brown Label are "made in small batches with attention to each and every detail".
I recently purchased a box of these bad boys on a recommendation from an old friend. Having smoked a few, I can understand the recommendation.
Initial inspection of the Cuban cigars showed an attractive stick, with a light brown, grainy cover and a metallic brown and gold band.
Cold drawing revealed a pleasant earthy taste and the Cuban cigars exhibited a pleasant smell.
Upon lighting, the senses are hit with taste that is both complex and exquisite.
Clove and graham are prominent with flavors of leather and earth keen to join in shortly after.
About an inch down, flavors of chocolate and licorice emerge complementing the other flavors excellently.
The stick has an even burn, but about half of them were underfilled, providing too easy a draw, which was quite unfortunate. Using a cigar punch on these bad eggs instead of cutting them helped to control the draw.
For only $2 a pop, you can't pass on these. I think Don Kiki Brown Label will become one of my favorite Cuban cigars for cold Winter days.

Pluses:
complex and delicious taste
pleasant aroma
only $2/stick

Minuses:
can be underfilled

Rating:
3.5/5 An enjoyable Cuban cigar good for the budget.

Cohiba Robusto Review

I recently purchased a box of these fine Cuban cigars from Cuban Cigar Online for $300 and have smoked my way through 4 of them.
While not quite living up to their hype, Cohiba Robustos are a great stick.
The wrapper was smooth and veinless and cold drawing revealed good construction and grassy flavors.
For the first quarter inch I found the flavor to be a little rough. The eventual transformation to a smoother, full-bodied smoke with wooden and nutty flavors was delightful.
The Cuban cigars provided a smooth, even draw throughout and 3 of the 4 gave an even burn. The aroma was exceptional and the flavor good, if somewhat lacking in complexity.
I'm leaving the rest of the box in my humidor to age a few years. I look forward to smoking an older Cohiba Robusto, and will be purchasing more in the future.

Pluses:
a powerful, full-bodied smoke
good taste
exceptional aroma
perfect draw
even burn

Minuses:
costly

Rating:
4.5/5 A wonderfully constructed stick.

How to extinguish and relight Cuban Cigars

To extinguish Cuban cigars, allow the ashes to gently fall from the cigar. Cuban cigars are not meant to be tapped like a cigarette. You can carefully roll the ash off using the edge of an ashtray if you prefer to.

Cuban cigars may be relighted. To relight Cuban cigars, simply clean the ashes from the foot of the cigar by twisting its sides on the edge of an ashtray and then relight it.

Cuban Cigars: 5 Top Tips!

1. Don't inhale the smoke.
Smoking Cuban cigars is all about enjoying the taste and aroma. Drawing smoke into your lungs will not enhance the enjoyment and will likely shorten your life span.

2. "Purge" your Cuban cigars.
Every few puffs, you should purge your Cuban cigars by exhaling through it for 2-3 seconds. This will help prevent the build up of tars inside the length of your cigar, giving a sweeter smoke.

3. Make sure your Cuban cigars continue to burn evenly all around.
Examine your Cuban cigars periodically while smoking. Is it burning unevenly down one side, or "tunneling" into the filler? If so, do not continue to puff on the cigar, as this will draw a sooty, charred taste down its length. Instead, try purging your Cuban cigars as detailed above. Continue to do this until you can see the cigar burning evenly across the entire circumference.

4. Savor the smoke, don't hold it.
Don't hold the smoke in your mouth. Instead, take little puffs and raise your tongue towards the roof of your mouth, letting the smoke seep out slowly.

5. Don't oversmoke your Cuban cigars.
When smoking you will reach a point where purging will no longer prevent bitter tastes in your Cuban cigars. At this point, its time for a new cigar.

How to Light Cuban Cigars

Lighting Cuban cigars is one of the most enjoyable parts of smoking one and there are a variety of different ways to do it. Rather than giving you a comprehensive guide, I will go over the basics of how to get your Cuban cigars lit and you can adapt your own style.
I will break the lighting process down into steps for ease of use:

1. Heating.
Hold your flame near the tip of the Cuban cigar but not touching it for about 15 seconds to warm it up.

2. Lighting.
Bring the flame a little closer to the Cuban cigar but still not quite touching it. Begin to take short gentle puffs, or inhale and exhale through the Cuban cigar to draw the flame onto it, rotating the Cuban cigar as you go so that it is lit slowly and evenly.

3. Inspection.
When you think the Cuban cigar is lit, take it out of your mouth and blow gently on the lighted foot and, ensure that the Cuban cigar is lit evenly across its entire ring. If it isn't, repeat step 2.

Now, the other question that needs answering is, what should you use to light your Cuban cigars? I would recommend the following:

1. Non-butane needle-flame alcohol torch. These are great for lighting Cuban cigars as they burn cooler than butane. You can find them in laboratory supply houses. Use methanol (denatured alcohol) for a cool, even light.
2. Wooden Matches. Make sure you wait a few seconds after striking for the head to completely burn off before bringing the match near your cigar. This will stop your Cuban cigars getting a terrible sulphur taste.
2. Flint-style Butane Lighters.
3. Torch-Style Butane Lighters. These lighters can reach a temperature of over 1500 degrees. Because Cuban cigars are better when lit coolly, make sure you keep the flame away from the cigar and use its ambient heat for lighting.
4. Car cigarette lighter. This is a great tool for lighting Cuban cigars, giving a cool even light. Remember, these are designed for cigarettes, so will not work for large gauge cigars.
5. Cedar spills. This is a long thin strip of Spanish cedar which you light with another source and then use to light the cigar. It is quite difficult to use but looks impressive. If you like to be showy, give this a try.

Try to avoid the following methods for lighting as they will impact badly on the flavor of your Cuban cigars: Zippo lighters, candles and paper matches.

My style for lighting changes depending on which Cuban cigars I'm smoking and who I am smoking with. A majority of the time I like to use a simple butane lighter and I exhale rather than puff when lighting so that I don't draw smoke through the Cuban cigars from the initial light, as I find this can make Cuban cigars taste bad.
When I'm smoking with my buddies and trying to show off, I like to use wooden matches and cedar spills and short gentle puffs, as it looks far more impressive.
The milder a cigar, the slower and gentler I will light it, so as not to interrupt its flavor.

How to Cut Cuban Cigars

There are a few different ways to cut Cuban cigars, and each uses a different tool.

The most common way to cut Cuban cigars is with a guillotine cutter. This produces a straight across cut which provides a clean, open drawing area and disperses the smoke to avoid "bite". Guillotine cutters come with a single or double blades. I prefer the double bladed varieties as they tend to give a better cut. Most guillotine cutters will have stainless steel or titanium blades and come with a lifetime guarantee. Make sure you buy a cutter that will accommodate the size of cigar you like to smoke!
Using a guillotine cutter:
Hold the cutter in one hand and your Cuban cigar in the other. Insert the cigar into the cutter so that you can snip the tip without cutting the body, as this would cause the body to unravel. If new to this, try placing the cutter on a table top and inserting the Cuban cigar to snip. This should produce the correct depth.

My favorite cutting tool is a V cutter or wedge. This is similar to a guillotine cutter, but the shape of the blades removes a "V" shaped wedge from the cigar tip, providing ample area for proper air circulation, while keeping the bitter tars at the deep end of the "V" and away from your tongue.
Using a V cutter is the same as using a guillotine cutter.

Another cutting tool is cigar scissors. They produce a cut like a guillotine cutter but look like a set of scissors. Some people think they look sophisticated, or find them easier to use. I personally think guillotine cutters look better and are easier to use. Try them yourself and see if they work for you.

Another way to remove the cap from your Cuban cigar is with a cigar punch. Punching is the process of removing a round hole in the cap of a cigar. In theory, this little hole directs the flavor of the Cuban cigar to the appropriate area of your palate. This is my least favorite method of cap removal, as I find that the intense jet of smoke produces a rather sharp "bite" as it hits the tip of the tongue. Cigar punches can be good to use on under-filled Cuban cigars, reducing the amount of smoke that will be drawn.
Using a cigar punch:
Extend the blade of your punch by pushing the plunger or twisting the body of the punch. Carefully push the punch into the cigar cap while gently rotating the Cuban cigar. If you apply to much pressure to the punch or hold the Cuban cigar too firmly, you can cause the Cuban cigar to unravel. You only need to remove about 1/16" of the cigar cap. Remember to remove the cap from the cigar punch after use. Most cigar punches have a cap removal. Usually it is an ejecting button that retracts the blade, or twisting the body to retract the blade. This will cause the cap to pop out.

How to Calibrate your Hygrometer

Hygrometers are the gauges which measure humidity levels and are found inside humidors. They should be re-calibrated at least once a year, preferably two.

Calibrating a hygrometer is a relatively easy process.

First, take a wet towel (it doesn't have to be dripping wet, just soaked through) and completely cover the hygrometer with it. Leave it for half an hour and check the reading. It should be greater than or equal to 98%. If it is then nothing else need be done.

If it isn't, look for a screw on the back of the hygrometer and screw it until the reading is 98%. You have successfully calibrated your hygrometer.

IMPORTANT NOTE: make sure you use distilled water on the towel, NOT tap water. This is because tap water contains minerals and residue which may end up inside of your hygrometer, potentially causing bad taste and odors on your cigars.

How to Store Cuban Cigars

In order to maintain the perfect environment for your Cuban cigars, they must be stored correctly. A regular environment can wreak havoc on your expensive Cuban cigars.

Whether aging your Cuban cigars or storing them for only a few days, any cigar aficionado can tell you the best way to store them is within a humidor.

Humidors are boxes for Cuban cigars which maintain a certain temperature and humidity. A good humidor will contain both a hygrometer (for measuring humidity) and a thermometer (for measuring temperature). Your Cuban cigars should be kept at a temperature of 60-64 degrees Fahrenheit (16-18 degrees Celsius) and humidity levels at 65-70%. This is vital for the health of your Cuban cigars; a dry cigar can be harsh and overly moist cigars can be hard to light.

Humidors come in various shapes, sizes and designs and can be a visually pleasing decoration in itself. Most good Cuban cigar stores will sell various humidors so it is never very hard to find one to suit your needs. Just check out your local cigar shop or alternatively, check out the links below for a couple of online stores which sell reasonably priced, high quality humidors:

www.cubancrafters.com
www.cubancigaronline.com

How to Pick a Good Cuban Cigar

Picking good Cuban cigars has a lot to do with personal preference.
An enjoyable smoking experience is one where the aroma, taste, site and draw of a cigar are just right. If you use your senses to rate Cuban cigars, its hard to go wrong.

Look at the Cuban cigars wrapper. The wrapper color has little or no effect on the strength of the Cuban cigar and is purely functional and aesthetic. However, you should pick Cuban cigars which look good to you.
Wrapper color varies depending on a few factors:

1. The manner in which the plant was grown. The more shade the plant has, the lighter the leaves.
2. The section of the plant which the leaves came from. The higher the leaves on the plant, the darker (more sun exposure).
3. How long the leaf has fermented. The longer, the darker.

Color range:

Feel the Cuban cigar using your thumb and forefinger down its length. It should feel firm but springy and have a consistent resistance for it entirety. Avoid cracked or brittle Cuban cigars, they are dried out and horrible. Avoid Cuban cigars which are very hard, they are packed to tightly and will be difficult to draw on. Avoid Cuban cigars which have soft and hard spots, they have been poorly made and will have a bad draw and flavor.

Smell both the box and the unlit Cuban cigars. If it has a pleasant aroma now, it is a testament to the flavor and aroma to be had.

Consider how much time you have to smoke your Cuban cigars. Different Cuban cigars will take a different amount of time to smoke. The seller should be able to give you an indication of how much time each Cuban cigar will take to smoke.

Lastly, consider your price. Most true Cuban cigars are expensive because of the high demand. There are many other cigars out there that are still great to smoke and cost much less. Think about how much you are willing to pay and factor that into your decision.

Get out there and give it a try and pretty soon you will have a long list of favorite Cuban cigars.

How to locate Cuban cigars

Most people will have heard of Cuban cigars. Anyone who knows anything about cigars will agree that the best in the world come from Cuba. They are renowned for their high quality, great taste and wonderful aroma. It is no wonder that most cigar lovers crave a Cuban.

Unfortunately, back in the 60s, US President Kennedy ordered a trade embargo on Cuba, making the importation of our favorite Cuban cigars illegal. The only way to legally bring Cuban cigars into America is to go to Cuba on an official trip and purchase not more than $100 worth. Fines for trading Cuban cigars in the US can be as hefty as $50,000.

This has led to a lot of imitation Cuban cigars flooding the market, most of which do not originate from Cuba and whose quality is questionable.

So, where can you locate legitimate Cuban cigars? Check out: www.cubancigaronline.com