My review of Puros Indios Limited Ed. Viejo

[N99]

Puros Indios Viejo, Limited Edition, with "99" on the band. It was a lonsdale size cigar generously gifted by Frank Santos from the Cuba Aliados/Puros Indios thread in the Smoking Room.

The cigar looks nice, a dark maduro with a faint barnyard aroma. I like lonsdale sizes, and was looking forward to this cigar. Pre light draw was good, not too easy, not tight.

Upon light, the cigar started to tunnel, uh oh, but the flavors came out with a bit of spice, cocoa and earthiness. Not bad, I thought. However, getting a bit into the smoke, the tunneling got worse, and the cigar got hot. I worked with it as best I could to keep the thing cool, but it affected my enjoyment of the cigar a lot. It was somewhat creamy, and cocoa-ey with good tobacco undertones when on (the spice subsided early), but acrid when it would get hot, a total change. Finish was light and pleasant.

All in all, it had potential, but the construction was very poor, I would not be inclined to buy any if this is a representative sample.

Appearance - 9 of 10
Draw - 9 of 10
Flavor - 7 of 10
Finish - 8 of 10
Construction - 5 of 10

Score - 76 of 100

[N99]

I'll tack on my review of another of the Cuba Aliados cigars that I received from Frank here.

Cuba Aliado 1924 Anniversary: A short Perfecto, maybe 5 inches or so, with a rotund body about 54 ring gauge. The cigar was a bit rough looking , and the wrapper looked a bit mottled, but almost maduro dark. Pre light draw was good, unexpected from such a constricted looking perfecto shape.

Upon light I noticed strong tobacco flavors with undertones of cocoa and muted spices, this lasted halfway through the cigar until a leathery note dominated the cocoa, but the spice never went away. Finish was strong and leathery. Burn was very good for a perfecto, but a few corrections were made to make up for wrapper bits that got "left behind" by the main burn. Construction seemed good, firm and no soft spots with a bit of an easy draw as smoked.

Appearance - 8 of 10
Draw - 9 of 10
Flavor - 8.5 of 10
Finish - 7.5 of 10
Construction - 8.5 of 10

Total rating - 83 of 100 Not a bad cigar at all. Not outstanding though.

[N99]

Ok. Last review of the cigars Frank so generously sent a few tasters here at CW. A Cuba Aliados toro extra. A big honkin 6 x 60ish monster cigar.

Pre light draw on this cigar was a bit easy. Getting this monster lit was a task in itself, and the construction issues started in earnest with voids and a runner that ran up one side of the cigar. Flavor was creamy with tea and some spice. Tunneling and runners really marred the smoke, and a couple times it got hot and acrid, I had to wait and let it cool a lot throughout the first inch or so. About 2 inches in it finally settled out to an even keel, but then the wrapper split at about an 2-1/2 inches and it unraveled. I had enough and put it down. Sorry, but this cigar was a dud.
Finish was spicy, like a red hot almost, but more muted.

Appearance - 8.5
Draw - 8
Flavor - 7
Finish - 8.5
Construction - 5

Total rating - 74 The flavors of the cigar when it did burn well (about 1/2" worth) were very nice, but it fell apart

[CHESS NUT]

In my experience I've had anything but pleasurable smokes from PI.
They have all been tasty and well made. I've tried all thir lines and they all have been great for my tastes. If ya got any ya dont want send em my way!

[jazznut]

Thanks for the triple-hitter, Jeff...
Very informative.