It’s once time again for another issue of Brian’s The Week In Smoke. In case this is your first Week in Smoke, be advised that it covers many (though not necessarily all) of the cigars I’ve smoked in the past week (or the past month, or however long it has been since the last issue), along with a couple of quick thoughts that came to me at the time. These are not full reviews, but quick blurbs based on a single smoking experience. As such, they may be influenced by the natural variations that occur from one cigar to another. Your mileage may vary. (If I know the cigar well enough to comment, I may mention if an experience strays from what understand to be the norm.)

An appearance in The Week in Smoke does not preclude nor guarantee a future in-depth review. Whenever possible, I’ve linked to more a thoughtful and thorough review of the cigar in question. (Or maybe I’ve linked to a photo of Jerry The ‘Stache. You won’t know until you click.) Enjoy!

A. Flores Gran Reserva Half Corona* **
I love the size of the Short Corona, it delivers the experience of a proper cigar, but it scaled down to fit tight schedules. And of course I’m a fan of the smaller ring gauges. But the important part is how it smokes, and it does that well. This well-aged sample packed quite a bit of pepper, and a touch of sweetness. As that subsided a bit, I picked up some cedar, leather and coffee, but pepper was never far behind. It’s a great little smoke.

Brick House Maduro Robusto
I probably looked at this Brick House Maduro every day for a year, but it never made it into my travel humidor until this week. I think I developed a condition I’m calling Brick House blindness. I’m all better now, smoking this one will ensure I never skip over one of these again, it was delicious. The flavors it presented were rich chocolate, earth, coffee and raisin syrup with a touch of pepper. It won’t be my last.

Drew Estate Undercrown Dogma *
I saw an email recently that site sponsor Smoke Inn was selling a limited number of these box-pressed Undercrown Dogmas this week, and it seemed like a good time to light one up. Conveniently, Walt also posted a review this week, so you’ve got several opinions to check out if you’re on the fence. But unlike Walt, I think I like this Dogma more than the Corona Viva, that being said I’ve only had just this one. It was full of rich, sweet, thick flavors like earth, pepper and wood, that just seemed better than the last Corona Viva I lit up. Whichever you prefer, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Espinosa Maduro Robusto
A friend gave me one of these a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it, so tracked down another to include in this Week in Smoke. Unfortunately, it was a humid evening following a storm, and that interfered with the burn somewhat. But not so much that it kept me from completely enjoying the smoke. The flavors were great and varied- earth, wood pepper, creamy cocoa, cedar and caramel to name a few. It’s a really worthy cigars.

Señorial By Jose Blanco Paco Robusto
This is the cigar I’ve been waiting to try since I heard Jose Blanco and Joya De Nicaragua were parting ways. I think we all knew something like this was coming. Accordingly I wasted no time lighting one up when they became available at my local shop. Now to be fair, this cigar was fresh off the truck, so the true test will be to smoke it again in the coming weeks as it recovers from its travel. But no matter, it smoked well, starting with pleasant aromatic tobacco flavors, followed by sweet earth, cedar, roasted nuts, oak and lingering spices. There was also a sour touch that was present at points, but worked pretty well with the overall profile. It’s a good cigar and I look forward to getting to know it better.

Tabacalera Zapata Toro *
This sample was provided by the people from Kuuts. I don’t know a much about this cigar other than the blend is heavily influenced by Honduran tobacco. Once lit, the cigar produce a good amount of creamy and bready smoke with cedar, hints of raisin sweetness and mild spices following later. In all a pretty solid, easy going cigar.

Tatuaje Avion 12 Short Perfecto
I’m developing a bit of a crush on the Avion line. It just tastes great from foot to cap. I noted wood, chocolate, pepper and sweet syrupy flavors along the lines of butterscotch. If you haven’t had one yet, you really should try one.

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* Big Brother would have you know these cigars were gifts or free samples, and that my opinions on them is suspect. My opinions (and this bottle of rye) are my own, your response to them is your own. All your base are belong to us.

** I have too many smokes, and this denotes that the smoke in question has been sitting in one of my humidors for at least a year, and thus qualifies as “aged”. If my collection continues to grow, the chances are good I’ll be on that Discovery Channel show about people who hoard stuff and face eviction.

Some of the pictures in Brian’s The Week In Smoke first appeared on twitter. If you’d like to see these lists constructed in real time, follow Brian on twitter. If you don’t, you’ll make the Fail Whale cry. And he’s ugly when he cries.