Welcome back to yet another Monday Review here at Stogie Review. As I mentioned in the last video it is getting to about that time of year when our wallets begin to groan as we set our “Almost Christmas” routine into motion. Just as I did last year, the idea here is to review cigars that cost less than $3.00 on the B&M Level and less than $3.00 (including shipping) at the online level. Wit that said, lets get things started off by smoking the Havana Sunrise in a Robusto format (5.00 x 50). This particular brand is made by Nestor Plasencia in Nicaragua and sports a Connecticut Wrapper, Nicaraguan Binder, and Honduran Filler.

During my pre light inspection I found the wrapper to have a nice toothy appearance (tiny bumps and specs of oil) while exhibiting a dull sheen. When handled it had a slightly rough texture from the wrapper with only one medium sized vein. When pinched it felt as if the cigar was filled nicely with tobacco and no soft or spongy spots were present.

After a quick cut and light I had my cigar evenly lit and producing a good volume of dense smoke. The initial body was Mild with a smooth finish. There was not a whole lot to the base flavor at this point. The only discernible flavor to me was a smooth, natural tobacco flavor with a bit of Nicaraguan zing that must have been coming through from the binder.

The burn line was thin and crisp as well as even. The burn rate was about middle of the road for me. It Didn’t seem too fast but wasn’t as slow as I prefer. The ash was tight and compacted while being light in color. After about three quarters of an inch it would drop suddenly from the cigar without any warning.

After some more puffing I found myself into the second third of my Havana Sunrise. At this point the cigar seemed to mellow out a bit across the board. The body remained in the mild range but seemed a little lighter than it was previously. The finish was smooth and crisp while the base flavor seemed to lose something. The flavor was still pretty much a straightforward natural tobacco flavor with a bit of a Nicaraguan zing, but it wasn’t as flavorful as in the first third. I was also starting to pick up a bit of a salty flavor on my tongue that seemed a bit out of place but didn’t hinder the enjoyment of the smoke.

The burn rate remained about the same as did the evenness of the burn line. The ash remained compacted but still dropped off of the foot at about three quarters of an inch. The draw was free with little to no resistance and produced a dense cloud of smoke after each puff.

When I reached the final third of the cigar It seemed to be more along the lines of the first third. The base flavor picked up and was back in the Mild to Medium range with a smooth finish that left me with a crisp and light mouth feel. The base flavor was once again a rich natural tobacco flavor with a little bit of an edge that I would assume is coming from the Nicaraguan binder. The salty aftertaste faded and was replaced by a mild nutty like flavor that blended well with all of the other aspects of the cigar. The ash, draw, burn rate, and burn line all remained the same and made for a solid and well performing smoke.

Overall I think that was a good smoke for the money. At roughly $2.20 per stick at the online level I think that is a good buy for anyone one a budget (much like myself). If I could change the blend a bit I would switch the first and second third so that it started off a little milder and progressively worked towards the final Medium to Full spectrum. After smoking a few more to confirm my feeling on this stick I’ll definitely be picking up more and smoking them as a morning stick.