Reviews of Nicaraguan Habano & Wrapper Samples

[BarG]

Save a little of the Bezuki for a special occasion. I don't have any more and now that I'm not selling it, I can tell you where it came from.

I pulled a few strings and called on a favor to get that Bezuki. It was from the 2008 crop and held in the Oliva warehouse in Tampa...yep, the same stuff used by the premium cigar maker.

I can't get any more of that particular batch, but I'm hoping my newest supplier can come through with something close.

I think you guys are going to be surprised with some of the stuff I have an eye on.

Youv'e been hinting on running out and I sure am glad I ordered that last lb. Now I know for sure to make it it last as it has been a mainstay for my cigars. You are providing some fantastic cigar leaf Don.

 

[BarG]

I lay out my leaves with the veins going the same way usualy and hold in my hand across my palm and cut along bottom of palm about, and stack and cut again the same and usualy have three stacks wich I fold and squeeze to make round and start rolling. It makes just the right size and length for the duration I like in my cigar. They vary somewhat.

 

[DonH]

Youv'e been hinting on running out and I sure am glad I ordered that last lb. Now I know for sure to make it it last as it has been a mainstay for my cigars. You are providing some fantastic cigar leaf Don.

Before the Seco and Viso came in, I didn't have any filler, so I still have a pound of the Bezuki luckily.

 

[Knucklehead]

After Don ran out of Bezuki, I tried another supplier. It was crap. It was classed as wrapper, but Don's Bezuki binder was much cleaner and less holey than this so called wrapper grade. It was also crispy dry and suffered shipment damage. Lesson learned. I plan to stock up on the Maduro wrappers pretty soon. The Nicaraguan filler is awesome.

 

[DonH]

After Don ran out of Bezuki, I tried another supplier. It was crap. It was classed as wrapper, but Don's Bezuki binder was much cleaner and less holey than this so called wrapper grade. It was also crispy dry and suffered shipment damage. Lesson learned. I plan to stock up on the Maduro wrappers pretty soon. The Nicaraguan filler is awesome.

Yeah I am going to get a pound of the Maduro wrapper so I can make the Bezuki last.

 

[Knucklehead]

Yeah I am going to get a pound of the Maduro wrapper so I can make the Bezuki last.

Call me crazy, but If I had to pick between the two right now, I'd lean slightly towards the Maduro anyway. It is close though. But that Maduro compliments the Nicaraguan like it was made for it.

 

[DonH]

If your having issues with draw..tightness etc..try the book roll...it's definitely the way to do it when you want to be sure it will burn and come out ok..it's for sure the easiest way...u can't go wrong..I have never had draw or tight/loose issues since changing to this method. .just make pile...strong on top..cut to length u want..fold filler in half..then half again as you start rolling..tucking start of bind leaf in 2nd fold..easy as

Rolled a couple today and the book method worked great! Thanks, Todd, this will be my method going forward. Tightness and good draw.

 

[Matty]

I've been going through the wrapper samples a little over the past few days sampling the leaves one at a time. Here's what I found.

Indonesia ZB
Burns good, extra light grey ash, taste a bit of toasted sunflower seed, a nice leaf. Not overpowering in any way but brings it's own nuances through clearly.

Capote Sumatra
First impression was how much it resembles the Bezuki. There's a cocoa bitterness and a flavor of cocoa beans. I got a bit of tongue bite on this one. Grey ash with some black near the center. I got a strong ammonia smell near the end, perhaps it is still a little "young". This leaf closely resembles the bezuki.

Ecuador X2 RDA
Unlit leaf has very light smell. First observation after lighting was a sparky fizzle on the end. Fizzling diminished near the middle. Lite grey ash, near white. Very light flavors, nothing overly distinguishable, salty near the end.

This is what I got so far, anyone wish to compare?

 

[jekylnz]

Rolled a couple today and the book method worked great! Thanks, Todd, this will be my method going forward. Tightness and good draw.

Here's a easy example from another post a while back

 

[ChuckP]

Howdy Y'all!

I thought since their was some discussion on pairings of tobacco and spirits. This site might be of interest: http://www.sipsmokesavor.com/index.php/blog/664-fine-art-of-matching-cigars-and-whisky

 

[ChuckP]

Howdy Y'all!

We rolled a couple dozen stogies this weekend with our new shipment from Don & Company. First we rolled a dozen with the Habano viso and Ecuador Maduro wrapper. Nice and smooth with a semi-sweet chocolate flavor.. Then we rolled a couple with with the viso and Bezuki wrapper. We tried one and I waited for my wife's opinion.

She said exactly what I was thinking. It reminded us of a Partagas. So I pulled out the remaining few leaves of Penn Red and rolled another one. Let it dry in the sun for a few minutes and then lite it up. Absolutely wonderful! It added a nice note of richness. Then we rolled about a dozen more. Now I have to save the Bezuki wrapper from dwindling too fast.

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm going to guess that the Nicaraguan Viso is running about 15% leaf that is usable as wrapper. They're not huge, but can easily work as wrapper (and even a higher percentage as binder) for a 6" x 50 ring cigar, sometimes larger. As a wrapper, the taste is deep, earthy and smooth, and provides a real maduro heft. The viso seems to be much more durable for such use than the seco, and touching the mouth, tastes milder and smoother than the seco. The opposite is true when used as filler.

Using the viso as both wrapper and binder adds less of a nicotine hit than the same quantity of viso within the filler. I suspect this is true because more of the wrapper/binder smoke is lost as side-stream, whereas the filler gives you the full strength of the leaf.

If you're into saving your expensive wrapper, do give the viso a try in this role. I've taken to setting aside the full and intact viso leaves for wrappers and binders, rather than just indiscriminately using them all as filler components.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Don requested more info in another thread about the seco vs viso. I like them equally. My cigars lately consist of one viso leaf and one seco leaf. Occasionally I will add one half leaf of the liguero.

 

[DonH]

Don requested more info in another thread about the seco vs viso. I like them equally. My cigars lately consist of one viso leaf and one seco leaf. Occasionally I will add one half leaf of the liguero.

I'm pretty sure Don was not asking about Seco vs. Viso, but about the Seco and Viso from the group order vs. the Seco and Ligero we got as samples.

 

[DonH]

So I rolled a couple quick ones and did the Deluxestogie roll-n-smoke. The first one was from the sample Nicaraguan Seco and Ligero. It was mostly Seco with one strip of Ligero. It was wrapped in Seco from the same sample to get a good test. The second was from the group order Nic. Habano Seco and Viso. One strip of Viso, the rest Seco and wrapped in a Seco.

The sample filler was more flavorful, the group order filler was lighter, but still tasted good, lighter yet spicy. The sample stuff tasted more like it already had a maduro wrapper on it, if that makes sense. Of course, when you're choosing four leaves the sample leaves can vary a lot in the same batch so I'd be interested to see what others think.

 

[FmGrowit]

Thanks and sorry for asking for a reply in a locked thread. I'll copy your replies to that (now open) thread.

 

[BarG]

I am trying to set aside the time to go thru my 5 lbs and bag into smaller vapor proof bags for long term storage. Thanks for the suggestion of separating out the different uses as wrappers, binder and filler. I will save on my special wrappers that way. The Ecuadoran is on my list for a wrapper purchase for sure.

 

[BarG]

My FTT hats off to smokesahoy for initiating this buy and to Don for jumping thru hoops making it happen. My Cigars I smoke and rolling just keeps getting better and better.
You guys are great.
[My biggest problem now is not how to roll a great tasting and burning cigar, but which leaves to choose and combine]

 

[BarG]

I don't understand Rye bourbon ? A typo maybe?

Moses took how many of each animal on his ark? Thats called a brain teaser.

 

[DGBAMA]

Moses took how many of each animal on his ark? Thats called a brain teaser.

none.....but I bet he had a good smoke between his thumb and forefinger when he made that decision.