I stopped by the B&M today and saw some new boxes in the humidor. Nick's Sticks, which I had never heard of before. Considering the price ($3-$5), I picked up two, a Torpedo Maduro and a Robusto Sun-Grown.

I got home, did some research, and then settled down outside to smoke and read (my almost daily ritual). Here's my review of the Torpedo Maduro:

Construction: The construction of this cigar was beautiful. I've only smoked a couple of torpedoes before (a Nub and an Olivia Serie V) and this was on par with those. The torpedo end was very sharp, and the wrapper was tight, but with quite a few veins. The wrapper was a rich, brown color, a little bit lighter than a chocolate bar.

Pre-light: The wrapper has a leathery smell, with a bit of pepper on the head. The foot tasted rather earthy. The cut was easy, and after removing about 3/8" from the end, the pre-light draw was excellent. The draw held and earthy flavor.

First third: The earth and leather tones held nicely through the first third. The ash was a beautiful white color, much like I've experienced with Drew Estate Java's. The smoke was rich and velvety, with a cocoa aftertaste and smell. I did experience a harshness on my palate, but I'm attributing that to the wind making it burn hot and the Sweet-N-Low in my tea.

Second third: The second third was almost forgettable, holding a lot of the flavor notes from the first. (I'm chalking the forgetfulness up to being enthralled in my book, however. =) )

Final third: Excellent! Definitely hit it's sweet spot here. The earthiness got a lot stronger, with a really strong coca flavor to the smoke, not just as an aftertaste. The harshness had also disappeared by now (but so had my tea).

Burn: This stick burned great, and simply rotating it fixed any slight problems I had with unevenness.

Ashing: I ashed this a lot more than normal, in about 1" increments. This was due to the wind blowing the ash in my face and book, but it felt like the ash could hold on for a bit longer.

I left about a half inch of smokable room on the cigar, because I smoke a lot slower than most and this was a much larger cigar than I was used to (about 5.5-6" long). However, I really enjoyed it, and think that once I get a humidor set up I'll be getting a few of these for daily smokes and to let them age a year or two.

Final Score: 8/10. Great cigar, great price. Check your local B&M for these, most definitely.

~Brian the Bearded

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"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

Dang, the man show's up and bestows the awesome.
Great review, might have to check these out as Perdomo are in the top 3 of favorite brands for me.

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I am the rocks of eternal shore: Crash against me and be broken!~ En Sabah Nur

Tried a maduro a month or so ago at a Perdomo event, was really impressed with everything about it. Another good new Perdomo is the Cuban Bullet, sorta similar to Nick's Sticks but not quite as rich in flavor, goes for a lower price too, so it's kinda like the little brother of the two blends.

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"Beliefs are neat. Cherish them, but don't share them like they're the truth" Bill Hicks

I've always shy-ed away from these guys... honestly, just because of what they look like... the name and the brand...

I guess I'm biased against bad logo's

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Who Farted?

Perdomo is really hit or miss with me. The mistakes are really good(still workin my way through em Joe!) and the esv an habano maduro are good. Everything else he's makes tastes kind of flat, to me atleast. I'll go huntin for these though, hell I'll smoke anything once!

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"I can't stop stupid sir, i can only slow it down!"

Central CA ATF Herf

Lasabar:

I guess I'm biased against bad logo's

I am too, sometimes! Honest-to-God the only reason I bought these is because of the sampler order of C.Com house blends on its way to me, making me say to myself, "You trusted another $3 stick, trust these."

Of course, my dwindling cigar fund helped sway the vote, too...

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"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

There are some really bad labels out there but if you pull it off and enjoy the flavor what difference does it make?

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There is no blender but AJ, and The Beard is his merchant

MOW Special Forces Badge Recipient

smoked this at the show. For the money, you really cant beat it.

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Alex Svenson
Chief Merchant
Cigar.com

I saw these at the local shop last night. Glanced briefly at them, saw the band and price and moved on. Am I turning into a snob?
I'll have to nab a few next time I'm in, thanks for the heads-up.

LeftFive:

I saw these at the local shop last night. Glanced briefly at them, saw the band and price and moved on. Am I turning into a snob?
I'll have to nab a few next time I'm in, thanks for the heads-up.

Not a SNOB, I feel the same way for when I started smoking I would buy the B&Ms sampler packs, $30 for about 10 sticks of varying degrees and the bands were usually gaudy (think Quorom) or bland (think Cuba Cuba or Flor De Cuba) and those sticks were okay, and they really were great smokes, but I've had my fill of "Cheap sticks that get me into trying different stuff" and more into, read the reviews, find out what wrappers or binders are on it and smoke what I think I'll like.

I've had WAY too many cheap sticks that were just that cheap sticks, I don't want to put time into finding that Diamond in the rough and would gladly spend more for a better stick I know I'll like!

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Who Farted?

If I had seen the cigar and didn't know a thing about it, I probably would have kept on walking too. As much as I like Perdomo, I think the band on this cigar is a little cheesy looking.

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"Beliefs are neat. Cherish them, but don't share them like they're the truth" Bill Hicks

I picked up one each of the Maduro, Sungrown and Connecticut in Churchill size yesterday. I had the Sungrown at lunch. I have to say, I was really impressed with it! It was really a tasty smoke that I will keep in my humi from now on. I can't wait to try the Maduro and Conny out. I could care less about what the band looks like. I just like to enjoy a good cigar and not feel I have to spend a lot of $$ to get one. I would rather enjoy 3 of these and get 4 1/2 hours of smoke time than pay $12 for one stick of something "better" and only get 1 1/2 hours out of it.
Maybe it just does not take to much much to impress me,lol. I love a good beer....but I am perfectly happy drinking a PBR, Natty Light or Miller High Life,lol.
I have had a couple of higher end sticks in the short time I have been smoking, but nothing about them do I enjoy over the less expensive sticks. So long as I get good flavor & no major burn issues, I am happy. I have had some major burn issues out of a couple of sticks I have paid $20 + for.

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Death By Diesel

I just had the maduro last night. And I really enjoyed it. I'm picking up more as soon as I have the space.

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I am the rocks of eternal shore: Crash against me and be broken!~ En Sabah Nur

i had the nick stick maduro at a event with hays, he had the connie...him and I i think are on the same page...its good, but really kinda no flavor to it in my opinion....I can think of other sticks with way more flavvor like the la vieja habano brazilian maduro....amazing for 3 bucks right there..

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wwester: You have the right to persue happiness, not the right to have happiness given to you at others costs.


MOW Special Forces General-Combat Patch, Ranger tab to!

Not had the conny yet, but the sungrown I had, had plenty of flavor to me. And was definitely full bodied. I will try the conny this weekend though.

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Death By Diesel