Suprized by a cigar I expected to be s^&%

JF

About a month ago, my father, meaning well, sent me a couple bundles of cigars as a very touching spontaneous present. Knowing nothing about cigars, of course, I was not blown away by his selection, but it really is the thought that counts.

He sent me a Victor Sinclair (a brand I've never heard a good word about) flight-sampler from their bottom-level blend (in four wrapper types; Connecticut, Maduro, Rosado, and Sumatra), and a bundle of miscellaneous sticks from short-run blends even they won't put their name on (including two very rough-looking, barnyard-smelling corona-sized torpedos called, "el Hippe", that I immediately remarked I expect to taste like bathwater from it's namesake).

Last night I decided to give the Rosado torpedo a go, and was really pleasently surprized. It wasn't great, by any means. But being essentially a $1 cigar, anything better than putrid is a shocker. There was a tiny bit of cream and pepper, as well as a mild clove note - the flavor was very mild overall, and remained unchanged throughout. The one major hit against it is that it seemed to absolutely destroy my throat (I do not inhale), which it's very rare for cigars to do to me.

stephen_hannibal

How are those Victor Sinclairs? I always see them and I'm like hmmm.....

JF

I always assumed they're of very poor quality, certainly their marketing and the nature of the places that push them seem to suggest that...nevertheless, the one I just had exceeded my expectations for such a low-price-point cigar. That is the one and only Victor Sinclair I've ever had.

betasynn

I had the Bohemia, I did not like it.

YankeeMan

I have had several of the Sinclairs, including the 10th Anniversio and the Connecticut Yankee. I do like them and I found that the longer you let them rest, the better they are.

I tried the Anniversario not too long after I got them and they were OK, but a little bland. The ones that have rested do seem to have a much better flavor. I picked them up on a special and they have certainly been worth it.

nickgonzo

I've tried all the series 55 and actually have a 5er of the triple corojos coming. The sungrown and the corojo serie 55 were my fav of the bunch. For the price I think they are a good deal. Not an everyday smoke for me but I think in terms of quality/price/taste ratios they fall just under the regular 5vegas brands (classic, gold, series a).

disclaimer, I tried the 55s about 3 years incase there has been some changes in the brand quality. But that fiver of triple corojos should be landing this next week. I'll prolly smoke one OTT and post my thought in this thread. Cheers. Nick

JF

YankeeMan:

I have had several of the Sinclairs, including the 10th Anniversio and the Connecticut Yankee. I do like them and I found that the longer you let them rest, the better they are.

I tried the Anniversario not too long after I got them and they were OK, but a little bland. The ones that have rested do seem to have a much better flavor. I picked them up on a special and they have certainly been worth it.

I'm interested to see that other favorable experiences have been posted - I'll have to try another one in this line next weekend and post back.

Edit:

The ones I have appear to be the "Tobacconist Series", which are a cheaper blend generally sold in bundles.

fla-gypsy

The VS Conn Yankee and the Triple Corojo are actually quite good for cheap cigars. They can be had for little dough.

kuzi16

i like the 55 maduros.

the "55" stands for 5 country blend aged for 5 years... im sure this is part of the reason why its a decent cigar.

its similar to Australian wines in the sense that, if you pull tobacco from may regions you have a tendency to bring out a very classic tobacco taste out of it; much like pulling grapes from many fields yields a flavor that is more typical of that particular grape than one pulled from one field.

as far as VC goes, i have always wanted to try more but i always seem to want to try other things even more. I do like that they make a perfecto size for all of the 55 line

dennisking

i had some originals that had been sitting in my buddies father in law's humidor for god knows how long. we passed them up a bunch of times, but finally tried them, good smoke. 1.5 hours, and i smoked it to the end, and i mean burn fingers. not a bad smoke, not my fav but not bad

JF

Had the Sumatra version of this blend the other night; not dissimilar to a CAO Black. Which is odd considering that it is, in fact, a Sumatra - not the flavor profile I was expecting, but certainly a pleasant surprise.