Bonita Smoke Shop-House Blend #3 Maduro
Not long ago I took a little trip to Bonita Springs, FL to visit the Bonita Smoke Shop. You can get an idea of what kind of place it is by checking out this quick video. The owner, Jackie, gave me one of their house blends to try. I enjoyed it, and picked up a few more to review. From what I understand, this is considered their value line, with a premium line that is soon to follow. They also come in a natural wrapper, which I’ll have to try at some point. As always, I paired this cigar with water and bring to you my review.
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Size: “No. 3” 6 x 54
Price: $4.45
Construction & Pre-smoke:
The dark maduro wrapper had a rugged appearance, with some light and dark patches. There is no dying of the wrapper leaf for sure. The wrapper had a nice mild earthy & natural tobacco smell, while the foot had a slight sweet spicy odor. I pinched the cigar from head to foot, and found it to be a little spongy, but evenly packed. This made for a nice free draw that wasn’t too loose. The pre-light draw had a interesting taste that I couldn’t pin down. It was almost sweet but barn yard-ish. That makes no sense, but what can you do…
The burn required one minor touch up, and the ash held for about an inch.
Flavor:
The first third started with nice earthy notes in the background. A coffee-ish flavor came in with a tinge of nuttiness. When exhaling though the nose, there was pepper that had a nice, yet easy “Nic-Zing.” That phrase referrers to a sensation you often get from Nicaraguan tobacco. One of the Dog Watch guys came up with that phrase. Anyway.. Back to the cigar. The smoke was plentiful and as I progressed it became thicker feeling.
As I dug into the second third, a sweet flavor came in. It was like adding sugar to your coffee, but just a little bit. Eventually the coffee went back to it’s black coffee taste. The sweetness was mild yet typical maduro, and eventually developed into mocha. As time went on the sweet mocha increased in strength to match the coffee. Lastly, the pepper mellowed out and became more of a sweet spice with a nice zing.
The last third stayed pretty much the same as the second third. The main difference was some draws would have a dominant mocha flavor. Other draws would have coffee as the dominant flavor. The sweet peppery spice remained and had a slight zing. There may have been some woody notes in there somewhere as well.
Conclusion:
This was a good medium bodied cigar. Considering most store “House blends” are cheap generic bundle sticks, I am always leery of them. The Bonita house blend was a pleasant surprise that I actually enjoyed, and they are consistent. Before you haters say I am just pandering to a site sponsor, I can assure you I am not. Had I not liked it, you would hear about it here. For a nice cheap smoke, I have to recommend giving this a try.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews, Value Cigar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Sticks June 11th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Great review of a cigar with a great price point. You always do a great job of reviewing and I always know I am getting an impartial review of a cigar.