Te Amo World Selection Series- Dominica 59

Just finished the second in the Te-Amo World Selection Series. This one was the Dominica Blend. It also was a Churchill size. This was not a dark cigar and was very mild. I did have a little problem with it being too tight and hard to draw. It also had some canoe issues. So this one is just rated about average.

My cigar rating system

OK, after discussing cigars and likes and dislikes for while now, I decided I need a numerical way to measure the cigars so I can keep better track. After much internet searching and deciding that I like a number scale over 5 starts etc. I developed the following scale.

This shows that Cigar Flavor, which includes 3 categories, the aroma, taste at beginning and taste at end comprise 50% of a cigar score. How a cigar burns is 30%. And 20% is the feel and appearance of the cigar. I thought about including price, but that does not effect how a cigar smoked which is the main point. Besides, if 2 cigars both rate 90 and one is $10.00 and the other $5.00, then you can make the decision on how much to spend and which ones to buy.

Cigars.about.com had a nice little writeup about taste and aroma that I am including here:

Smell and taste belong to a chemical sensing system that our physiology has called chemosensation. The complicated processes of smelling and tasting begins when molecules released by the cigars, tobacco and smoke stimulate special nerve cells in the nose, mouth, or throat. These cells transmit messages to the brain, where specific smells or tastes are identified.Olfactory cells are small nerves that are stimulated by the aromas around us such as the toasting of the foot, the smoke from the cigar or even just the smell of the tobacco in the cigar prior to smoking. These nerve cells are found in a tiny patch of tissue high up in the nose, and they connect directly to the brain.Gustatory cells are the taste nerves that react when you put the cigar in your mouth or draw on the cigar to bring smoke in your mouth. The cigar tobacco and smoke mixes with saliva and stimulates these nerves which are clustered in the taste buds of the mouth and throat. Many of the small bumps you can be see on your tongue contain taste buds. These surface cells send taste information to nearby nerve fibers, which send messages to the brain.
This system is much more complex than I described but I think you get the idea. Taste and smell cells are the only cells in the nervous system that are replaced when they become old or damaged. Scientists are examining this phenomenon while studying ways to replace other damaged nerve cells. The taste and smell sensors are directly connected so that the sensations are linked, which is why we feel that we can taste things just by smelling them

Te Amo World Selection Series

I finally found a web site that sells this series. Cigar Afficianado always has a big ad but no one carries it. I liked the original Te Amo I tried last year at the Kentucky Derby and wanted to try these. Mainly because I like a maduro darker cigar. This one was the Honduras blend. It was an OK smoke for the money, but not as flavorful as I would have expected. I can't wait to try the other 2 types.

Drew Estate La Vieja Habana

I have not been particularly fond of Drew Estate Cigars, especially flavored cigars. I prefer cigars that are flavored by the fine blending of leaves and regional differences. However, I had this one and decided to go ahead and give it a try. I was pleasantly supprised at how pleasant a smoke it was. I am finding now that I have a good humidor that having cigars at a good humidity level really lets the leaves burn the way they were intended. This one is a keeper. I wish I remembered the price tag.

Mother of all Humidors

OK, I mentioned possibly getting this in a previous blog. I went ahead and ordered it.


The 'Mother of all Humidors'. Here is the pic from ThompsonCigars.com.

It was exactly as pictured and arrived in great shape. I still have not received my LeVeil humidifier yet, but the six rectangle sponge humidifiers are working too well and I had to

take some of them out. I am extremely pleased with this, now I can buy cigars in larger quantities, plus not have to worry about constantly refilling humidifiers in my smaller boxes(which now fit inside of this one). This was $399.00, but hey, since I have a nightime job, teaching on the side, even the wife cannot complain to much.

Blending cigar leaves

Cigar.com had this interesting article on blending cigar leaves. If you have not subscribed to their newsletter, you need to . It is always full of useful info(as well as selling cigars, of course).

While a blender will concoct his creations based on flavors stemming from certain plants grown from specified seeds in specified regions, determining the strength and intensity of the competing aromas in a complex cigar is an art in itself. A typical tobacco plant has roughly 18 usable leaves that are spread among 5 primings. From bottom to top, these primings are referred to as Volado, Seco, Viso, Ligero and Corona. To alter a cigar’s flavor intensity, blenders will mostly utilize the middle three primings. The strength of any particular tobacco is determined by the thickness of each leaf and this thickness is directly proportional to the amount of nutrients it receives from the soil and sun. For this reason, the leaves in the higher primings of the plant tend to have more texture and more flavor as they are exposed to more sunlight. Also, when the leaves are harvested they are picked from the bottom to the top over a two-week period. With the lower primings removed, more of the soil’s nutrients are funneled to the top of the plant where the leaves remain for a longer period of time. How does a blender utilize this process? It depends. If he wants to increase the strength of the entire blend, he may amp up all of the leaves (i.e. change all of the Seco tobacco to Viso, Ligero, etc). However, and most commonly, the blender will change the primings of only some of the tobaccos in an effort to balance the competing aromas. For example, if the sweet notes from a leaf of Cameroon are dominating the palate too much and overshadowing some of the other more subtle notes, a blender might change to a lower priming of the Cameroon (i.e. change from Ligero to Viso) or he might use higher primings from some of the other tobaccos to round out the blend. As you might imagine, blending quality cigars is more than just throwing together random leaves of tobacco. Narrowing the flavor profile of tobacco down to seed, country, region, farm and priming creates endless possibilities. For this reason, some of the world’s greatest potential blends have most likely not been discovered.