Blender’s Gold

Today’s review is an ultra cheap cigar that you may have seen on the shelves at Walgreens or various large chain drug stores. Since they are kept unhumidified, I let this one sit an extra long time in the humidor before reviewing. I couldn’t get exact info on the blend, but who cares, it’s a $2.00 cigar. My expectations were low, so with a glass of water I bring to you my review of the Blender’s Gold.

Wrapper: Sumatra

Binder: ???

Filler: Longfiller – Dominican, Nicaraguan, Honduran

Size: Toro 6 x 50

Price: Around $20.00 for bundle of 10 cigars

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark wrapper had a few medium and large veins with an overall rugged tooth appearance. The smell of the wrapper and foot had a strange odor. It reminded me of being downwind from a bum who hasn’t showered in a few days. I know that sounds horrible but it wasn’t that bad. The pre-light draw had slight resistance, and had a simple earthy flavor. The cigar was fairly spongy when squeezed, but was fairly consistent.

The burn drove me crazy in the first third, but went back to normal in the second third. The ash held for about a half an inch.

1BlendersGold

Flavor:

The first third had smooth earthy flavors. A slight peppery and woody spice was present when passing smoke through the nose. The smoke feel became thick and left a slight coating on the inside of the mouth.

2BlendersGold

The second third offered nothing new in terms of flavor. Copy my notes from the first third, and paste them here. I know that’s lame to put in a review, but really, nothing happened in the second third. Let’s move on…

3BlendersGold

The last third kept that earthy core flavor. The spice smoothed out but didn’t change in terms of flavor. The smoke feel remained somewhat thick, with an almost leathery aftertaste.

4BlendersGold

Conclusion:

This was an OK low to mid medium bodied cigar. Sure, it was one dimensional and this particular cigar had some burn issues, but as a whole they give you your $2.00 worth. It’s not like every one you smoke will have issues. If you are on a budget, I say give these a try.

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Posted in: Cigar Reviews, Value Cigar

Tags: blenders, gold

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 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.

38 Responses to “Blender’s Gold”

Scott July 7th, 2010 at 3:10 am

I’m curious, exactly how long did you keep it in your humidor? Great review btw, I look forward to reading your reviews.

Tom July 8th, 2010 at 4:15 pm

Scott, I kept them in the humidor for at least a couple months.

Tom July 8th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

I figured the below email was worth making public (of course I removed names and email addresses). We’ll call him “Joe.”

I appreciate Joe stopping by and I respect his opinion. But I think he may take cigars waay to seriously. I believe every cigar deserves to at least be reviewed. To think I am above acknowledging certain brands seems to contradict the purpose of a cigar review site.

As for my credibility being damaged… Again I respect your opinion good or bad. But I think the opposite. I am here to review cigars without prejudice. In my opinion, this review solidifies my credibility and open minded attitude towards cigars. I mean c’mon, I reviewed three ACID cigars, which in my opinion are ridiculous cigars. But they deserved a chance, just like these cheap-o’s.

There is a world famous publication that passes judgment on cigars by smoking less then 1/3 and then tossing it. Oh, and ad dollars influence their “Opinions.”

I on the other hand am honest and real. Not to pat myself on the back, but “Pat pat…”

And how about supporting your local B&M? that’s another subject in itself.

Anyone else have an opinion? I’m curious of any good or bad viewpoints.

From: xxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:19 PM
To: Tom’s Cigar Reviews
Subject: Fwd: CigarBid Invoice for: 07/08

Sorry, I’m still tweaked by your review of the $2 cigar from Walmart or where ever. No one should smoke those things but 16 year olds with their first beer or coffee. Why in world would you recommend such trash?
Here’s another of my $2 cigar purchases.
Rocky Patel seconds are high on my list, Carlos Torano, Blue Label, even Drew Estates has the La Vieda (?) or whatever at a great price. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more the $2-3 per stick for any of these.
For a couple bucks more you should be checking out anything from Taboo (Texas), Cigar.Com’s home brands or bargains at Cuban Crafters (Miami).
Heck, I have had two boxes of Cain F’s under $100 each.
I just got a box of Graycliff “white”, a $22 cigar at my local retailer, box retails for $499 and I got a box for $130. (Cigarbid.com).
Geez, why promote Wal mart?

Name brands, good growing regions, long filler, hand made.
That’s really all you have to look for in finding a bargain.
I’m not a lover of the JR copy cats however, I know a lot of people like them.
Usually I read your reviews with interest but you’ve damaged credibility with the Walmart smoke.
How about supporting the great retailers we have on line, fantastic cigars, delivered right to your doorstep.

Keith1911 July 8th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

I think “Joe” kind of over reacted. It is a cigar review site. You reviewed a cigar what is the problem? You said it was a cheap cigar at the beginning. If you want to review some weird piece of crap cigar then that is your prerogative. Now as long as you don’t just smoke these then I agree with you Tom that you didn’t damage your reputation with this review.

Tony Casas July 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm

I think this was a great review and I’m glad you stepped up and did it. Some people just find it difficult to get off their cigar smoking high horses sometimes. I’m more intrigued on why he took the time to write it in the first place.

If i were to write a carefully crafted email to the owner of any site, it would be written in hopes that action would be made from the owner and or contributors. If that’s the case, its easy for someone who visits a blog to simple skip and article they deem not newsworthy and carry on.

Any other case would be simply to call you out and feel superior.

Ive been surprised by some of the “garbage” ive picked up along my cigar smoking journey and it sounds like you have too.. After all, that’s simply the point right? to share experiences in hopes to educate and inspire growth.

keep it up Tom, i’ve always loved your reviews.

Scott July 8th, 2010 at 9:50 pm

As they say, opinions are like assholes, and some of them stink. Why would this hurt your credibility? If anything, it shows your open-mindedness about cigars and your willingness to take one for the team.

bigmikehj July 12th, 2010 at 11:38 am

Here’s my take, there are plenty of sites or forums that will only discuss the higher end brands or ones that have a lot of marketing behind them. For you to do one or two reviews of a cheapo cigar, who cares? And I’ve always wondered what others thought of those walmart cigars. Keep up the great site and look forward to more reviews.

Sticks July 12th, 2010 at 10:06 pm

I like the fact you will take a lead and review cigars at all different price points. I enjoy all of your reviews from budget sticks to high end cigars. I always make time to check out your reviews. Thanks for reviewing such a variety of cigars and for taking an unbiased approach.

Idahoser August 23rd, 2010 at 6:06 pm

cigar snobs judge cigars by how much they cost. Who’s to say their $20 cigar is any better than a $2 until they’ve tried both?

Even more to the point, a n00b that has a grand total of 3 cigars worth of experience and is looking for more info is going to know more about Walgreens brands than he is about cubans. Why is it a bad thing to give that guy some info he can relate to?

Wes August 25th, 2010 at 7:27 pm

I agree with Idahoser… I belong to some stamp and collecting forums also, and the snobs of the hobby or interest at hand always seem to come out. I mentioned cigar bands on another cigar site and somebody replied that they couldn’t believe that I would collect cigar bands/labels. Well, I can’t believe he would take time to bitch about what I do. I didn’t bitch at him about anything. I guess they develop a sense of ownership and appoint themselves the “forum police,” or something– and disagree with anything anybody else posts.

Hey I for one, understand the Walgreen cigar thing. People who are living on unemployment benefits or disability don’t have the same cash flow they did when they were working. Look around, people, times are rough. I tried one that came in the little coffin box and it could have almost crumbled, it was so dried out. If it had been humidified, it wouldn’t have been too bad. Handmade from Honduras I think it was.

Tom August 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm

Thanks for all the great feedback. I enjoyed the different points of view, good and bad. If a cigar catches my eye, I’ll pick it up and review it. It is that simple. That’s what this place is all about after all.

mattybock October 29th, 2010 at 9:07 am

I used to buy these from the local walgreens before the price increased. They’re about 6 dollars each now. The flavor was wonderful after 2 months in the humidor. I’m not a stickler for construction, but one out of each ten cigars was plugged =(
I can’t help but feel cheated after spending 6 dollars on a plugged mid-level cigar.
ps- for something neat, check out “5 dollar cigar humdor” on instructables. It’s more about cigars as a science than humidors.

brown bear November 20th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

I smoke these, and rather enjoy the flavor.
Joe can smoke whatever he wants, and so shall I!

Idahoser November 20th, 2010 at 9:14 pm

I finally got around to picking up a Blender’s Gold and trying it out. It wasn’t dirt cheap, I got a robusto in a glass tube figuring the humidity may be a little better than nothing. It seemed like a well made handmade long filler robusto. There wasn’t a lot of flavor, I’d call it extremely mild. Burn was excellent, better than many premiums I’ve had trouble with. Got a little bitter after about halfway.

I have to say, I’m glad I tried it, but if I found that I’d forgotten a cigar and this was the alternative, I’d rather just not smoke.

Matt February 6th, 2011 at 10:32 am

I just bought a 10 bundle of them last night and smoked one on the way home. Not bad for a cigar kept unhumidified, it had a nice smooth taste, but the after taste was horrible, and when I went 2 put out the half that was left before I went inside (I don’t smoke in my house, and I normally don’t have the time to finish a whole cigar) the wrap started flaking off. If you really want decent budget cigars I would go buy a 5 bundle of phillies titans, they have a smooth taste, burn somewhat even and can be saved for later if you can’t finish it then

Keith March 27th, 2011 at 5:26 am

I dont know much about the normal price these are but my local walgreens has these on clearance. A pack of ten for 8 dollars. I picked a pack up. Ive paid much more a single cigar and figured it was worth less than a dollar a piece, specially since its nearly ten dollar a pack of cigarettes where I am at. I did happen to look this page up before tasting them to see if they really were worth it. And see how many actually paid over twice as much I have for them figured it was worth a try. Although very very mild straight out of the package, even without leaving them in a humidor for a couple of months, I did find them worth what I paid. It was a flavor I could enjoy without being overwhelmed. Sometimes the moment asks for a strong flavor, and thats why they sell nicer cigars for ten to twenty times the price. But when you want something mild, than you can just puff on by yourself on your front porch, walgreens blenders gold worked quite well.

Micah April 7th, 2011 at 5:26 pm

I’ve been up and down financially most of my life, but have always enjoyed cigars. While working in sakes in the oilfield I smoked 10 dollar cigars and higher. When i worked in a warehouse it was 4-6 dollar cigars. Retired now it’s the best bundled or Walgreen cigar I can find. At least Walgreens gives you what you pay for, unlike a local tobacco shop that sprung up in my town that sells Arturo Fuente Curley heads for 12 dollars each. After bringing it to the owners attention to no avail I reported him to the BBB. Common thief he is!

NoahJ. May 12th, 2011 at 11:09 pm

I also think he over reacted a bit. I smoked this Cigar when i was just getting started smoking. The review is accurate. I think that enhances your creditability.

Mike June 9th, 2011 at 3:04 pm

I’m smoking one right now, not bad, but again, you get what you pay for. I feel, Tom, that it did enhance your credibility. I can afford a more expensive stick, but as I was at Walgreen’s I figured what have I got to lose, so I grabbed a ten pack.

Figured if nothing else it will be a cigar to grab when I am mowing the lawn…

Anonymous November 26th, 2011 at 12:34 pm

“The smell of the wrapper and foot had a strange odor. It reminded me of being downwind from a bum who hasn’t showered in a few days. I know that sounds horrible but it wasn’t that bad.”
Man, you are for real!!! I will continue to read your opinions, thank you. I began serious cigar smoking at the age of 50 with these Walgreen bundles of grass and walked around like I was the owner of the store. I have since graduated to Fuentes and I keep my head bowed to avoid being asked for one. I smoke for the good taste of smoking and not to show off my good taste.
Thanx for being one of us “ordinary,everyday” cigar smokers.

Idahoser November 26th, 2011 at 1:17 pm

nobody forces anybody to pay that. A thief gives you no choice, like the government.

Idahoser November 26th, 2011 at 1:18 pm

that was in reply to Micah, it didn’t post under what I was replying to, sorry

J November 27th, 2011 at 1:53 pm

I’m pretty new to and definitely not very educated about cigars. I can say that I recently smoked a bundle of these over the course of a couple of weeks. I had burn problems( running) on every one. I did enjoy the last 3rd of the cigar as the flavor seemed to smooth out and became more like what id expect from a maduro wrapper. I have tried a few of blenders gold honduran cigars at 5-7 a pc and the difference was very noticeable. I’m not sure I’ll buy another bundle of the cheapies, but I’ll buy their higher end stuff any day.

Micah November 27th, 2011 at 8:17 pm

Your right idahosa, nobody forced it. But to put a low end cigar next to a premium with the same brand name and then to deliberately price it like a premium so someone who isn’t knowledgeable of the difference could and more than likely has purchased is thievery.

corncobs work December 7th, 2011 at 12:23 am

Smoking these right now. Eight and something for a 4 pack at Walgreens. I’m impressed – pretty sure that with a little care one could hold the ash until the thumb and forefinger pinch. Taste – not a Hoya but if one wants to smoke and still hope to leave something for the kids they’re hard to beat. Never have understood anyone who really smokes doing over $2/ unless his lobbyist springs for the sticks. Oh – try a Cheap Bastard. At $1.99 you get one that doesn’t go out and you don’t have to bite off the end.

Kevin Dawson April 13th, 2012 at 10:15 pm

Hey Tom!
I have to say you’re spot on. I bought a Curly Head that wouldn’t burn, a Carrerras 10 Anos that was spongy and burned too fast, and I have smoked the Blenders Gold with minimum maintenance after humidor conditioning. Joe needs to know that some of his favorites are probably made in the same shop. But a good cheap long filler cigar at that price is a steal, but a cigar is only as good as the way it makes you feel and the enjoyment you get. No buyers remorse on these. Good review!

Eric Michaelson May 18th, 2012 at 11:40 am

Great review…..My train conductor was just smoking one of these and it smelled pretty good. Asked about it, and he gave me one. Not a half-bad smoke for the price. I’ll grab a bundle today.

Eric July 19th, 2012 at 8:45 pm

I am actually smoking one of these cigars right now. I wanted a cigar and my humidor was out so I decided on buying a 4 pack to see what they were like. For a cheap cigar they are what they are, a decent smoke for $2.00. You get what you pay for in my experience. The fact is they are leaps and bounds above the blunt’s they sell for $1 at 7-11 or Circle K. If you want a cigar and or you don’t have the money to spend on a name brand cigar this will fill that niche. No one is going to recommend people forgo the big name cigar brands for these but honestly like I said they are what they are, a decent smoke for $2.00. To be honest there are quite a few $2.00 cigars out there now that are decent smokes especially given the price, in my opinion it’s about time someone rated them because the state of the economy is forcing some to resort to economy brands to fill their cravings. Good for you for being brave enough to do it.

Tom July 19th, 2012 at 8:58 pm

Holy thread resurrection!
I figure if it is a “Cigar” it is at least worth a review. Like you said, not everyone can afford high dollar, or even popular name brand stuff. Now more than ever, cigar snobbery is out of control. Twitter, social media, and the various cliques are proof.
Fuck that!
Thanks for stopping by.

al July 28th, 2012 at 6:59 pm

what about the maduro churchills?

bob toth August 20th, 2012 at 10:50 pm

blenders gold at walgreens cost $4.25, not $2.00. I liked it very much. I’m a pipe smoker but this was a change. Will order more. thanks bob

bob toth August 20th, 2012 at 10:50 pm

no i didn’t bob

Buzz September 9th, 2012 at 9:34 pm

I just tried the Robusto with Dominican filler and Connecticutt wrapper and found it a decent smoke for the price $2.00+. I don’t care much for the Maduro wrappers, I have too much burn problems with them. Sounds like some who read your reviews smoke with the rings still on to show off. Bad smokers etiquette, real bad.

Rockriley November 26th, 2012 at 2:14 pm

I thought the review was done well. I have smoked cigars for at least 25+ years and everything from one end of the spectrum to the other. Does that make me an expert, no it makes me qualified to express my opinion about what I think is preferable or not. I agree with the economy the way it is, only those who are financially well well off are the ones who probably wouldn’t consider compromising on what they buy.

Unfortunately for a lot of people now-a-days we are forced to strike a balance between what we want and what we can afford. I tried these cigars and found your review to be similar to what mine would have been with this cigar. I believe a person used to smoking the finest cigars if stranded on a deserted island might succumb to smoking a dried stick, and might find it’s way better than nothing. Of course that’s just my opinion. Good review!

Tom November 26th, 2012 at 9:20 pm

I’m glad you found the review useful. It should be noted, I find a lot of the cheap maduro’s are lacking. They tend to taste cheap when compared to their natural wrapper counterparts.

I also agree, there are no experts, just people with opinions. All that matters is what you find enjoyable. It’s good to see others who don’t think cigar smoking is a representation of ones status in life.

Harry The Cat February 3rd, 2013 at 12:06 pm

OK, so this isn’t a $20 cigar. I picked up a pack of ten of ‘em the other day at Wallgreen’s, mainly because my wife (a nurse) won’t allow me to smoke cigarettes any more. She has OK’d cigars as long as I do a Bill Clinton and don’t inhale and I promise to keep ‘em away from interns.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d really like to be a cigar snob and fly mine in from Cuba, but the economy being what it is just doesn’t allow for that at the moment.

The first few puffs were surprisingly good for what these things cost. Mainly a peppery start with a hint of chocolate notes, and a rather odd hint of something that tasted like a horse might have eaten it first. Into the second third, and it started to burn a bit like a wet long on campfire. My futile attempts to get it to burn evenly sent wisps of flaming wrapper skyward. The last third was uneventful except for the occasional hot spark hitting my palate.

All in all, however, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’ve made out in this review. Methinks I’ll keep smoking these as an “everyday” smoke. At least until somebody fixes the economy. Then I’ll celebrate with a big fat Cohiba.

Tom February 7th, 2013 at 8:26 pm

Harry – Yep, some of us are fairly normal consumers who aren’t seeking status via cigar brands. Smoke what you like, and damn the opinion of cigar snobs!