Signature Series Litto Gomez

[Kohnhed]

My success, or lack thereof, in writing cigar reviews is attributed to Famous-Smoke.com. They read a few of my reviews of their cigars on their site and built a whole page around my pen name: Katmancross.
They believed in me and I probably pumped out a dozen house brand reviews for them. And then it happened. My style is different than most reviewers because I inserted silly or funny stories into the body of the review.


I got noticed.


Word got back to the powers that be that I was writing for other online cigar firms and the top blew off the kettle. We did not have an exclusivity agreement. They sent me 5 packs of the cigar to be reviewed and that's that.


So my cigar blog grew without the backing of Famous. But to this day, a couple of their employees remain good friends.


I continued to buy from them; mostly through cigaraucti0neer.com. My budgets were small and this site allowed me to get cigars at a price I could afford.


A couple months ago, I won a box of Signature Series Litto Gomez.
Cigar maker Litto Gomez is best known for establishing La Flor Dominicana and growing the brand to a highly successful company. He did so through by building a loyal and passionate following for his strong, innovative smokes.


This is what it says on Famous' site:
"Seamlessly handcrafted with a full-flavored blend of choice Nicaraguan longfillers and Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed binders rolled inside dark, shimmering Nicaraguan wrappers, you'll enjoy a creamy smoke teeming with rich, earthy tobacco flavors augmented by an underlying sweetness in the mix."


I smoked one on delivery and it was strength but no character. So I let them rest. A couple months in, I tried again. Different story now.

This is one of those blends that needs time in your humidor to develop. After I smoke this cigar for the review, I shall do my best to let them sleep for another year or two before smoking another stick. I shall amend my review at that time.


This is a well constructed stick. An aroma of leather and cocoa is evident off the foot.



Upon light up, the toro starts as you might expect from any Litto Gomez blend: a blast of black pepper. Leather is prevalent with strong hints of black cherry. In fact, the entire cigar is redolent of some dark fruits. Currants pop in and out.
Oils glisten from the stick.


The first half of the cigar is strong in body and this never dissipates. While this is not a cheap cigar, you can taste the work and passion that went into it, unlike most house cigars. Gomez had to be proud of this cigar.


The second half flattens out and like the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, you go on a hallucinogenic ride of power and flavor. This cigar grabs you by the balls and never lets go.


You must smoke this stick slowly or you're in for Mr Toad's Wild Ride.


I commend Famous for luring Mr Gomez into providing a house blend because I don't think he's done this for any other company. As all experienced smokers know, house brands are a booming industry. Look at Gurkha, Rocky Patel, and to my chagrin: Alec Bradley.


Now the retail on this is around $152 for a box of 20. I paid $90 against no bidders. At less than $5 per stick, this is a tremendous deal.


The last third requires a chair and a whip. Like his La Flor Dominicana line, the power is absolutely nuts. I had to put it down several times and take a walk around the room.



If you are looking for a powerful cigar to compliment a big dinner, this is your baby. I would hesitate giving one of these to your less experienced cigar smoking friends.


Go to cigarauctioneer.com and get yourself a box. These smokes shall lay proudly next to your collection of La Flors.



And now for the superflous....

Carol Kaye.

The monster of studio bass players that made her name as part of the L.A. Wrecking Crew. This bunch of rotating musicians played on every single hit made in the 1960's.

In 1968, my famous sax playing cousin, Fred Selden, got me an intro to Carol and she allowed that I take lessons from her.

I shall never forget the first time we met. It was in her North Hollywood home in the hills. We sat on two straight back chairs in her living room of her modest home.

She kibitzed with me for a bit and then asked me to play something. I did and felt pretty good for exhibiting some good chops.


Then she played.

I felt 1" tall.

OK. I was put in my place.

Her style was based on the pick method. She had her own set of music instructional books. And each note had a mark above it denoting whether you bring the pick up or down on the string. Mind you....you could play the riff perfectly, but if you're pick position was wrong you got a nun's ruler to the knuckles.

Needless to say, I had lots of bruised knuckles. I stuck with it for about 6 months but the cost of the lesson, $15 for an hour and the drive from Long Beach to Hollywood was killing my finances.

I was 18 and working part time at Knott's Berry Farm while going to college full time.
And $15 was a lot of dough back then....so I had to bow out. But I'm very proud that I had this opportunity. Learning from a master.