LA Sirena Cigars Original Trident in Review

BRAND: La Sirena
BLEND: Original

WRAPPER: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Trident (750)
ORIGIN: Nicaragua (La Zona)
INTENSITY: Medium-full
SPICE: 3/5

NOTES:
Ginger | Milk Chocolate | Cayenne

Sand ginger powder is an interesting thing. It's a type of ginger, of course, but one that's a tick less gingery. More woodsy-citrusy. Sweet-earthier. That's all over this. With accompanying notes of milk chocolate, other exotic spices, clarified butter, and a lovely cayenne kick. Really an eye-opener smoke.

Nuanced and sating, but also bright and quite delineated, complex. A real zinger like the barbs exchanged twixt Dorothy and Sophia on Golden Girls. Now my mind wanders to Miami and vibrant tropical floral notes. I never got how their family was supposedly Italian yet obviously Jewish.

What's the old Hollywood adage? "Write Yiddish, cast British." I think so. Now I truly wander. I'll digress. this is truly a shayne maidel of a cigar in spirit. Although there are blemishes which make her approachable at a dance. A somewhat janky burn and some awkward seams. It all sweetly works, tho.

A shayne maidel is a pretty girl. It's particularly apt here if said woman has a rapier with and perhaps slight ketsem yofi... that means birthmark; but literally it means mark of beauty. I call it character. Perhaps flavor. All apply. Such a smoke, epes! I'll stop now. Fuhgettaboutit!

TASTE: A
DRAW: A-
BURN: B
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very ::: 

Bolivar Cigars Aniversario LE in Review

BRAND: Bolivar
BLEND: Aniversario LE

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Habano
BINDER: Brazilian Arapiraca
FILLER: Colombian, Brazilian, Paraguayan, Argentinian

FORMAT: Toro (652)
ORIGIN: Honduras
INTENSITY: Medium-full/Full
SPICE: 2/5

NOTES:
Peanut brittle burnt in an oven, then placed in a smoker. Crumbs from a corner piece of brownie. A separate dark chocolate syrup flows and grows. A bit gruff, somewhat aggressive. Stiff leather over compost grounding. Some pipe tobaccos ghost pipes. This cigar ghosts the palate. Lo-o-o-ong finish.

At the far end of that finish, a dose of brown sugar drops and bleeds into the next draw and the next draw and the next draw, etc. Somewhere in the core is a ruby red grapefruit, baked--and on top of that is where the sugar goes. Excellent burn and draw. Isn't aggressive then is again. Some guys like that.

There's some dusty spice hither-thither.
This one might age exceptionally well.

TASTE: B+
DRAW: A-
BURN: A-
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very ::: 

Kaplowitz Media. Cigars of the Month for April 2026

Kaplowitz Media.
Cigars of the Month
for April 2026

(listed in alphabetical order)
(names are links to full reviews)

Bariay 1492 Red Label
Bariay 1492 Black Label

Bariay? More like BariYAY! 

::: very ::: 

Punch Cigars Rare Corojo 25th Anniversary Toro in Review

BRAND: Punch
BLEND: Rare Corojo 25th Annv

WRAPPER: Honduran
BINDER: Honduran
FILLER: Honduran

FORMAT: Toro (654)
ORIGIN: Honduras
INTENSITY: Medium
SPICE: 2/5

NOTES:
Chocolate (unsweetened) | Earth | Wine (Tempranillo)

Tempranillo: a medium-full bodied wine, high in acidity and tannins; think red/purple fruits and leather. Dang near peppery edges. Earthiness fills out the middle here, and the middle balloons. Unsweetened chocolate happens on the other end of fuzzy borders. A warm grapefruit note twirls about.

Nice lively tension. Quite unchanging. A bit drying-tiring to the palate. Retro-hales are important and crisp-up the profile while dropping white pepper to the tongue. Not ever too terribly delineated nor complex. Enjoyable meditatively, paired with an Ethiopian coffee roasted to the light-side of medium.

TASTE: B
DRAW: B+
BURN:B
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very :::