2 Guys 1 Stick

We’ve been busy…

Many of you loyal readers are probably wondering if 2guys1stick is dead.  Well, that’s a good question.  Both Ben and I have been incredibly busy lately and have not had sufficient time to sit down and review cigars on a regular basis.  I realize that many of you have been refreshing our page constantly for the past few months and I apologize for not putting up this notice earlier.  For now just think of us as being in hibernation, with a slew of concise, truthful, and slightly entertaining reviews coming when the ground thaws.

Diamond Crown Julius Caesar Pyramid

Diamond Crown is one of the more old-fashioned and prestigious cigar manufacturers out there – they rarely change their ways and charge a premium for their smokes. When Ben and I heard that they were coming out with an entirely new line of cigars we had to get our hands on some! Thanks to Edward’s Pipes and Cigars in Fort Collins, CO for providing us with today’s cigars!

Pre-light: Wet, musty, slight pepper notes. Smells much like an AVO.

First Third: As soon as we light these up we are hit with a nice caramelized sugar flavor. Oak and vegetal notes fill in the background, but the sweetness is by far the most prominent flavor. One thing we notice is the lack of any harshness or pepper – the cigar is very mild/medium-bodied in the beginning. Toward the end of the first third the sugar disappears and an acidic overtone takes its place

Second Third: After the sugar went away, things started to go downhill. Our vegetal notes turned into a sour spinach and the acidity shot through the roof. A slight pepper does start to come through, but does not cover up the acidity and rotten vegetables.

Final Third: The flavors continue to displease well into the final third. Our cigars become slightly less acidic, but are still nowhere near pleasant. In the last inch my pepper picks up and provides a minute of relief from the rest of the flavors. Final smoking time was 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Ben and I are not quite sure what happened with these cigars. Diamond Crown does not put out our favorite sticks, but they sure don’t put out bad ones either. These Julius Caesars were not only less-than-stellar, they were straight up painful to smoke. We can only hope that they improve with age, but at their current price you probably won’t see me grabbing another one anytime soon. I would pay $2 for this cigar and Ben would pay $3.67.

where to find: Edward’s Pipes and Cigars – (970)226-5311

expect to pay: $17 or more, depending on local taxes

Curivari Seleccion Privada Maduro

Curivari’s new Seleccion Privada Maduro was one of our most promising pickups from this year’s trade show. Curivari has become one of our favorite manufacturers and hopefully the Seleccion Privada Maduro will be as tasty as their other lines. We don’t know too much info about this new line yet, but it was released this month and should be hitting shelves soon!

Pre-light: Wet hay, pepper.

First Third: Right off the bat we notice a distinct lemon peel flavor along with some mild pepper. Graham cracker, coffee, and an odd spinach note pop up shortly after, while Ben’s cigar has a bitter mustiness to it. His musty tones fade about an inch in and both of our cigars gain a rich, dark cocoa flavor at the end of the first third.

Second Third: The coffee flavor turns into more of an espresso while the spinach thankfully leaves. We also get a nice almond flavor to go with the mix. At this point the cigar is holding steady at Curivari’s typical medium body profile.

Final Third: The final third is more or less the same, but the almond notes disappear. Ben’s cigar gets bitter again while mine develops a floral flavor. Slight pepper notes are present at the end, but are not very strong. Final smoking time is 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Overall we were very impressed with this cigar! It is a great addition to Curivari’s lineup, and tastes like a mix between the Seleccion Privada and Cafe lines. Ben’s cigar had an awkward start and finish, but that seemed to be an anomaly. I would pay $11 for this cigar and Ben would pay $9.71. Thanks to Curivari for handing us these pre-release samples at the trade show!

Torano Loyal Robusto

The Loyal is one of Torano’s newest releases this year. Priced more moderately than Torano’s other lines, the Loyal continues a recent trend of sub-$5 cigars that we’ve been seeing from many manufacturers lately. Being fairly large fans of Torano’s other lines, Ben and I couldn’t wait to smoke their newest release! Thanks to Edward’s Pipes and Cigars for giving us these cigars to review!

Pre-light: Wet rock, must.

First Third: The Loyal starts out with an incredibly acidic, vegetal taste. There is a standard amount of pepper present as well, but it is completely overpowered by what we assume is rotten spinach.

Second Third: Our rotten spinach keeps its vegetal taste but turns tangy in the second third. The pepper unfortunately mellows out, leaving us with more of the spoiled veggies than we would like.

Final Third: After suffering through most of this cigar, the tangy, rancid spinach changes into a reasonable vegetal taste. Just as we were finishing justifying to ourselves the acceptability of spinach as a decent flavor in a cigar, the acidity came back and reassured us that it is not. The pepper also ramped up in the last inch, but it was not enough to take away from the rotting greens. Final smoking time was 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Seeing as how we both love the vast majority of Torano’s stuff, we had high expectations from the Loyal. Our hopes were mercilessly shot down and we hope that somehow we (and the other people we know who have smoked these with the same result) have unluckily picked the few rotten eggs in an otherwise great batch of cigars.  My mother would be kind enough to say that our cigars were moderately displeasing, but I will tell you flat out that these things sucked nuts.  Although I’m sure I’ll give the Loyal another shot, I am not convinced that future puffs will reveal today’s smokes to be a fluke. I would pay $1 for this cigar, and Ben would give a quarter and expect two pennies back.

where to find: Edward’s Pipes and Cigars (970-226-5311), most local brick and mortars

expect to pay: $4.50 or more, depending on local taxes