CAO Brazilia Gol Robusto

Purchased: Stockholm
Stars: 2
Size: Short Robusto
Smoked: London, 23/01/15
Notes: Much like their country's dismal performance at the 2014 World Cup, the CAO Brazilia Gol Robusto was a huge letdown. I had high expectations for this Honduran cigar, mainly due to its dark appearance and healthy-looking shape. Perhaps it had not been stored in perfect conditions, but still, you'd expect there to have been more flavour than burnt tobacco leaves. It was not a subtle or complex taste at all, somewhat like the outside of a burnt marshmallow on a campfire. The construction was tight and I had no issues with lighting, although I didn't have the same confidence it wouldn't go out that I get from other cigars like the HDM Petit Robusto, or the wonderfully packed Bolivars you can get. For the price and size, the Macanudo Titan would be a much more satisfying smoke.

At least the conversation and rum saved the evening. Damn tasty stuff that El Dorado.

Macanudo Maduro Diplomat

Stars: 4.5
Purchased: Stockholm
Smoked:London 05/09/14
Country: Dominican Republic?
Size: 4.5"
Notes: Juxtaposition. If there's a word most overused in high school English classes, this would certainly be it. 

noun

1. the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

If juxtaposition were to grow as trees, and the leaves of those trees were cut, dried, cured, and rolled into a cigar, they would call it the Macanudo Maduro Diplomat. This brown, smooth-talking civil servant is anything but diplomatic. He is a creamy delight of a smoke and one who requires no time to warm up. Notes of coffee, cream, Brazil nuts, chocolate, and brandy. And yet, he still manages to look like a dark lump of shit. If that's not juxtaposition, I don't know what is.

1.