Think I found a new favorite NC

[Wushy]

I was recently given a Warped La Colmena Black Honey. This is the first Warped cigar I've ever had and went in blind without reading any sorts of reviews. All I knew was that people have high remarks for this stick. I won't go into a full detail review, but I gotta say, if this was handed to me while I was blindfolded and asked where the tobacco same from, I would never have guessed Ecuador, Dominican, and Nicaraguan. Honestly, I would've guessed Cuban due to the silky smooth retrohale and the graham cracker nutty flavors I got.

Has anyone else here tried these?

I think these may end up being my very first NC "box/bundle" purchase. I'm thoroughly impressed by the flavor and experience. Not so much by the price though to be honest. ~$13-$15 per for a 5 x 48 belicoso

[PrairieSmoke]

Yeah, people are loving this cigar. I’ve yet to have one myself but it’s high on my list when I get a chance to try one.


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[garbandz]

do please try 4 or 5 more and tell us of the experience........... 

I would never judge a cigar line by one stick.............

if you like it that much, it is worth the $$$........

Just stop paying unimportant bills..............

[Islandboy]

I’ve been thinking I should try a few of these, as I thoroughly enjoyed a box of La Colmena (pre-Black Honey version) a few years back.

[Danimalia]

I haven't had one of the Black Honeys, but I did have one of the coronas, which I enjoyed. A bit pricey, but it is made in America. Probably, my favorite Warped that I've had so far is the Flor Del Valle. 

[Diabolicalpherpher]

  You should try the reina.

[Danimalia]

7 hours ago, Wushy said:

I was recently given a Warped La Colmena Black Honey. This is the first Warped cigar I've ever had and went in blind without reading any sorts of reviews. All I knew was that people have high remarks for this stick. I won't go into a full detail review, but I gotta say, if this was handed to me while I was blindfolded and asked where the tobacco same from, I would never have guessed Ecuador, Dominican, and Nicaraguan. Honestly, I would've guessed Cuban due to the silky smooth retrohale and the graham cracker nutty flavors I got.

Has anyone else here tried these?

I think these may end up being my very first NC "box/bundle" purchase. I'm thoroughly impressed by the flavor and experience. Not so much by the price though to be honest. ~$13-$15 per for a 5 x 48 belicoso

In regards to price.. I agree. It's why I'm not totally on the Warped bandwagon. Try some Casa Fernandez and Illusione if you haven't yet. They use a lot of the same tobaccos as Warped, and tend to offer comparable quality at more reasonable prices. Casa Fernandez Miami and Aganorsa Leaf lines are great, and the former is almost impossibly low-priced for a cigar made in the US. Illjusione Fume D'Amour, Erpernay and the core, "Original Documents" line are all excellent.

Curivari also makes some outstanding Nicaraguan cigars with a lot of Cuban sensibilities that tend to be priced affordably as well.

[godpheonix]

7 hours ago, Danimalia said:

In regards to price.. I agree. It's why I'm not totally on the Warped bandwagon. Try some Casa Fernandez and Illusione if you haven't yet. They use a lot of the same tobaccos as Warped, and tend to offer comparable quality at more reasonable prices. Casa Fernandez Miami and Aganorsa Leaf lines are great, and the former is almost impossibly low-priced for a cigar made in the US. Illjusione Fume D'Amour, Erpernay and the core, "Original Documents" line are all excellent.

Curivari also makes some outstanding Nicaraguan cigars with a lot of Cuban sensibilities that tend to be priced affordably as well.

i agree. the Illusione lines and Casa Fernandez do have great value for such tasty cigars! maybe this will sound crazy but i had a box of CF arsenio robusto maduro stashed away that i totally forgot about and i happened to find it last year, i bought them years ago, probably around 7 years ago, and decided to try one. i was really stunned! the best way i could describe the flavor was, it reminded me of the flavor profile of a Cohiba Robusto supremo. Basically full of rich and creamy chocolate flavors with graham cracker notes. yes its got the benefit of age over the Cohibas but when you consider the price difference...well you see where i'm going with this! haha

Lets just say i've smoked 3 or 4 in the last summer! thinking about getting a few boxes to stash away!

 

[Wushy]

14 hours ago, garbandz said:

do please try 4 or 5 more and tell us of the experience........... 

I would never judge a cigar line by one stick.............

if you like it that much, it is worth the $$$........

Just stop paying unimportant bills..............

Funny you should say that because I just ordered a bundle of 10. Looking forward to seeing if this was a one off experience or not. Fingers crossed for the latter.

12 hours ago, Danimalia said:

In regards to price.. I agree. It's why I'm not totally on the Warped bandwagon. Try some Casa Fernandez and Illusione if you haven't yet. They use a lot of the same tobaccos as Warped, and tend to offer comparable quality at more reasonable prices. Casa Fernandez Miami and Aganorsa Leaf lines are great, and the former is almost impossibly low-priced for a cigar made in the US. Illjusione Fume D'Amour, Erpernay and the core, "Original Documents" line are all excellent.

Curivari also makes some outstanding Nicaraguan cigars with a lot of Cuban sensibilities that tend to be priced affordably as well.

I will definitely look to trying these eventually. I was just surprised I got no black pepper spice from this black honey despite having Nicaraguan tobacco filler in it. I should try more NCs. Maybe I've just been looking at the wrong places for them.

[Doctorossi]

4 minutes ago, Wushy said:

I was just surprised I got no black pepper spice from this black honey despite having Nicaraguan tobacco filler in it.

Not all Nicaraguan tobacco is peppery. Aganorsa, in particular, tends to be creamy and sweet with some baking spice notes.

[encephalization]

Warped does a great job especially with the lighter blends. Most Connecticut wrapped cigars tend to be pretty bleak in my opinion but the guys at Warped (and a few others) have stepped it up a notch. It could be partly due to them using an Ecuadorian Connecticut. Crux Epicure is another example of a well blended Ecuadorian.

 

[garbandz]

don't expect pepper in everything.

there are dozens of flavors found in tobacco,and I don't get pepper a lot.

Really don't enjoy pepper at all, it was a sign of immature tobacco back in the old days.

[HoyoFan]

Agree with the above comment regarding pepper. What else do you guys like in NC that's flavorful and pepper-less. I'll throw in Fuente Anejo's as my recommendation for a fantastic smoke that's complex and no pepper at all.

[Wushy]

1 hour ago, garbandz said:

don't expect pepper in everything.

there are dozens of flavors found in tobacco,and I don't get pepper a lot.

Really don't enjoy pepper at all, it was a sign of immature tobacco back in the old days.

I must've gotten unlucky from my NC choices then lol. Even highly regarded cigars such as Padron 64 for example, I got pepper from retrohaling. Then again, I haven't smoked a ton of NCs yet. It wasn't meant to be a blanket statement, just that from the Nicaraguan cigars I've had thus far, the vast majority I did not enjoy too much because of that flavor characteristic.

[HoyoFan]

Padrons are notorious for pepper. Not a pepper bomb like some of Peppin’s stuff but there is definitely a good deal coming through on the retrohale

[squizz]

Not a fan of the Black Honey at their price point.  But I highly recommend the Skyflower if you can find some.  They release once a year and are about $10/each.

[garbandz]

that's not pepper, that is pain..........

[fastkiller13]

3 hours ago, squizz said:

Not a fan of the Black Honey at their price point.  But I highly recommend the Skyflower if you can find some.  They release once a year and are about $10/each.

I'm looking forward to try some of them, they don't seem to be for sale anywhere currently. Do you know what time of year they normally get released. How about the regular Flor Del Valle?

As for the original question I have had one black honey out of a bundle, It seemed a bit young to me so I'm giving them more time down before I smoke another one. 

~Ted

[cardinalfan85]

Never tried the Black Honey but the La Colmena line is a favorite NC for me.

[Wushy]

3 hours ago, HoyoFan said:

Padrons are notorious for pepper. Not a pepper bomb like some of Peppin’s stuff but there is definitely a good deal coming through on the retrohale

That's what I find interesting about Padrons and the review they get. People generally point out notes of leather, earth, cocoa,and sweetness but not really pepper. My brain goes "that sounds yummy" and I tried both the regular thousand series and 64, later to be a little disappointed. Having said that, I do think the Padrons are fairly priced and are complex good smokes. Just not for me. 

On a side note, I've tried the Anejo 46 from Fuente as well and thought it was just okay. There's a mustiness that I don't like too much, but a lot of people seem to love that. Maybe it was a dud? Dunno. Maybe the shark is a different experience.

[HoyoFan]

That's what I find interesting about Padrons and the review they get. People generally point out notes of leather, earth, cocoa,and sweetness but not really pepper. My brain goes "that sounds yummy" and I tried both the regular thousand series and 64, later to be a little disappointed. Having said that, I do think the Padrons are fairly priced and are complex good smokes. Just not for me. 

On a side note, I've tried the Anejo 46 from Fuente as well and thought it was just okay. There's a mustiness that I don't like too much, but a lot of people seem to love that. Maybe it was a dud? Dunno. Maybe the shark is a different experience.

I’ve found that time helps tremendously with pepper. The rocky Patel sun grown maduro reserve is a good example. Those boys are peppery and full flavor but after a year in the humi, they were chocolate bombs with strong espresso and almost no pepper. The padrons are similar in this way

[miurajus]

Always have been a fan for the Epernay line from Illusione.  Have a 50 cab of la petite that with almost 3 years on them have been working their way upwards consistently in my tastings.

Body of a Bolivar/lush Monte mid game, floral and sweet with finesse at the open, short enough of a smoke not to red line in the final third.  Complex and relatively consistent construction.

[Danimalia]

14 hours ago, fastkiller13 said:

I'm looking forward to try some of them, they don't seem to be for sale anywhere currently. Do you know what time of year they normally get released. How about the regular Flor Del Valle?

As for the original question I have had one black honey out of a bundle, It seemed a bit young to me so I'm giving them more time down before I smoke another one. 

~Ted

Flor de Valle is very good. Only had two, but they open with some of that subtle Jalapa sweetness. Some nice floral notes in there as well. I’ve had the robust extra size, but they make a corona grande 6” x 42 size that I’d like to try.

As for the talk about pepper, I like a bit of pepper and spice in a cigar. In my experience, most Nicaraguan cigars have at least some. How much really depends. My Father/Pepin is famous for it, and tends to front load a lot of their cigars with it, so the first few puffs can be explosive. 

[Danimalia]

13 hours ago, Wushy said:

That's what I find interesting about Padrons and the review they get. People generally point out notes of leather, earth, cocoa,and sweetness but not really pepper. My brain goes "that sounds yummy" and I tried both the regular thousand series and 64, later to be a little disappointed. Having said that, I do think the Padrons are fairly priced and are complex good smokes. Just not for me. 

On a side note, I've tried the Anejo 46 from Fuente as well and thought it was just okay. There's a mustiness that I don't like too much, but a lot of people seem to love that. Maybe it was a dud? Dunno. Maybe the shark is a different experience.

I’m with you on the Anejo. I’ve tried several, and it just doesn’t do much for me. They’re not bad. I would even say I like them, but at that price, they need to be better than they are, IMO. Might be decent with some age on them. The best size I’ve had is the 888, which is basically a figurado lonsdale, but I found myself wishing they’d just make the Rosado Sungrown or Don Carlos in that size

[squizz]

23 hours ago, fastkiller13 said:

I'm looking forward to try some of them, they don't seem to be for sale anywhere currently. Do you know what time of year they normally get released. How about the regular Flor Del Valle?

As for the original question I have had one black honey out of a bundle, It seemed a bit young to me so I'm giving them more time down before I smoke another one. 

~Ted

Usually April.  And they sell out pretty fast.  For good reason.