La Flor Del Cano-Selectos
Origin / Cuba
Box code/date: OEB/ SEP06
Acquired: December 06

Nice aroma upon opening the box, no apparent ammonia smells. Not a strong barnyard either but enough to be interesting.

Appearance upon opening was neat and tidy. All cigars are very uniform in color, with no wrapper variations what so ever. I would say a large stick at the price.

Wrappers are thick, supple and show some apparent mild veining not normally seen in a premium stick. I did see two sticks with minor construction flaws, nothing major, just a couple of sloppy caps. The color was a nice medium milk chocolate. Cigars feel a little spongy, maybe under filled.

Pre light draw was very interesting, stronger that expected. Medium to strong in capacity
Lighting was pleasurable, as this one put out some nice flavor quickly, Tobacco, earth and a little mix spice, very smooth. The sponginess felt in the construction is apparent in the draw, although the looseness does not distract from the delivery. I welcome this, considering my past experience with Tripa corta stick. This stick did not change its genetics from one end to another. It stayed right on queue all the way through, I did not once get a bitter or arid hint.

I would have to consider this one of my “keep around cigars”, not necessarily a must have, but definitely worth the time, considering price and overall enjoyment. I would consider this one before most other any another none Cuban sticks in this price range. I would also rate this as the best TC cigar available.

quote:

Originally posted by elaw:
I would have to consider this one of my “keep around cigars”, not necessarily a must have, but definitely worth the time, considering price and overall enjoyment.

I think you'll find that to be the case with lines like Cano, Stratos deLuxe and the machine made/hand finished versions of RyJ, etc. It's worth the few extra bucks to get into 100% handmade sticks like Monte #4 and Partagas Petit Corona Especials.

Nice review, thanks, most prople don't take the time to review the machine made and hand finished brands, even though lots of people smoke them.

Nice review - exactly the same as my experience. However, I'll never buy another box since it's too mild. A correction to the previous post...Partagas PC Especiales are hand finished and not totally hand made.

quote:

Originally posted by poupon:
Partagas PC Especiales are hand finished and not totally hand made.

Are you sure? I always thought the Mille Fleur was mm/hf and the Petit was all handmade. The Petit is listed in the Habanos guide "Cultivating a Tradition of Perfection" as a Mareva, same as a Monte #4, which is handmade.

My sources tell me that both the Mille Fleurs and the PC Especials have been hand made since 2003. I had more than my share of the Mille fleurs but never had a PCE.

According to my neighbourhood LCDH, the PC Especiales is machine bunched/hand finished. They say it is a common misconception that it is totalemente a mano.

But what do they know?

Probably if they stopped stamping the boxes with "totalamente a mano" it would help clear up any misconceptions. I have boxes of both, purchased from Spain, and they are stapmed as such.

Of course, it should be noted that "machine bunched" is something of a misnomer -- the 'machine' is really a hand-operated rolling aid, kind of like the bamboo thing sushi chefs use, and it usually results in a more consistent bunch than some all-handmade sizes because novice rollers tend to be assigned to the mareva bench. I've had more than a few Monte 4's that were plugged in the past but never a Mille Fleur or PCE.

I guess that would indirectly explain why the Por Larranaga Montecarlos I bought in Paris had totalemente a mano on the box although they are known to be machine-bunched/hand-finished also.

Could it be that they extended the meaning of the phrase to all cigars that have direct human intervention in the fabrication process?

quote:

Originally posted by flashman:
Could it be that they extended the meaning of the phrase to all cigars that have direct human intervention in the fabrication process?

That would be my guess, too. Using a small hand tool to create the bunch, then hand aplying the wrapper and triple capping it, qualifies in my book as handmade.

One thing that I have noticed with TC's in general is that all the triple caps are sloppy, They are there, but they are nothing like premium caps