Sweet and/or Sweetened Tip smokes?

[Bruzee]

I have access to some Dunhill seconds at my local B&M. They have a sweet tip, but are not flavored or infused. They run about $3.50 each and are very good cigars. I'm not sure if you have access to them or not, but if you don't, let's me know. I can always send some your way.

[shopkins82]

So far I've tried the following, all with enjoyable results...

- Baccarat
- Baccarat Maduro
- Diamondback
- Natural by Drew Estate - Dirt
- Natural by Drew Estate - Clean Robusto
- Especial by Drew Estate - Dulce
- Kinky Friedman 'Sweet' Kinky Lady

Those I have tried and not enjoyed...

- Natural by Drew Estate - Root (not sweet, very earthy and toasty)
- Tatiana Mocha (extremely light draw, several voids)
- Tatiana Honey (extremely light draw)

Those I plan to try soon...

- Natural by Drew Estate - Dark Angel
- Isla Del Sol by Drew Estate
- CI Legends Copper Label by Drew Estate
- Oliveros Gold - Cognac
- Oliveros Platinum - Sweet
- Oliveros Platinum - Vanilla Fudge
- Piratas Pequenos (4x40, 8/tin for $5)
- Erin Go Braugh Irish Whiskey

So far my favorites are the Natural Dirt, Natural Clean Robusto, and Baccarat Maduro. I have high hopes for the Isla Del Sol and Legends Copper.

Are there any other Natural vitals (or other Drew sticks in general) I should avoid for lacking sweetness? I'm trying to avoid most fruit or otherwise aromatic infusions, sticking with just sweet, coffee, alcohol, and chocolate/caramel infusions.

[oooo35980]

Avoid Acid Nasty like the plague. Also if you are looking for uber sweetness, try the Java or Java mint.

[IlmProcess]

I used to smoke Javas pretty regularly when I first got into cigars - rather sweet. I've not had one for years, but they might be worth a shot.

I smoked a Flor de Oliva Panatela last night - slightly sweet tip with a solid, tasty tobacco flavour with a bit of nutty goin on in there too. Great price point and burned perfectly. I have a bundle of these and am going to be really happy if they all smoke as well as the first I had.

[shopkins82]

I'll probably end up with some an Acid or two since I'm bidding on an Infused Brown Bag on CBid... I'll give them a try, but I don't have high hopes for many other than maybe the Blondie, Kuba Kuba, and Deep Dish.

[Sonic04GT]

Originally Posted by oooo35980

Avoid Acid Nasty like the plague. Also if you are looking for uber sweetness, try the Java or Java mint.

Great smokes. Very chocolatey.

[shopkins82]

Pirata Pequenos are a winner for everyday office break smokes. At $5 per tin of 8 they won't break the bank. Anyone know if full-size bundle Piratas are sweetened?

Another to add to my trying soon list is the C'est La Vie Robusto Sweet... $15/25 puts them at around the same price range as the Pirata Pequenos, but in a full-size stick (45 min instead of 25 min).

[shopkins82]

One note on the Pirata Pequenos, calling these a 40 ring gauge is a big stretch... these are somewhat rough-rolled and might be 40 gauge at one spot right in the middle, but are more like 32 at the tip and foot. Still, decent for a cheap sweet 20-25 min coffee-break smoke. I'm about to go have one with a cup of coffee right now.

[shopkins82]

CI Legends Copper (Drew Estates) are a winner... The hazelnut and amaretto is subtle and the sweetness is mild but lasts for most of the stick.

Oliveros Gold Cognac was a big time dud... No sweetness at all, and tasted like dried out potpourri.

[Jonathan Drew]

I just want to say hello to everyone hanging around these ways.....

Best,
JD

[lenguamor]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Drew

I just want to say hello to everyone hanging around these ways.....

Best,
JD

Sup JD.

Tabak Especiale Negras FTW. Awesome smoke.

[gosh]

Profesor Sila (no clue why professor is mispelled) is a cheap CI brand that is actually fairly nice in the sweetened-tip-mild department. Often suffers from cheap-stick-syndrome (one a box is rolled a hot dog, burn kind of sucks) but you can pick them up on Cbid for under a buck pretty regularly.

One of my new favorites is La Fontana. Like Baccarat, it's a Camacho stick (love me some Camacho) and it's less sweet and more medium in body than the Baccarat. It's slowly been replacing Baccarats in my humidor for my go-to morning smoke. Altho the Baccarat maddies will always have a place.

Oh and when it comes to the infused sticks, Acid Kuba Kuba all the way, but it is very much infused. And the Oliveros Vanilla Fudge on your list is not nearly as good as it sounds >.< Erin Go Braugh is pretty damn nice, and the Isle Del Sol is a Java Jr imho (not like that's a bad thing).

Phillies grape blunt!

[shopkins82]

I'll add Professor Sila to my list and keep an eye on CBid. I'll also keep my eye out for the La Fontana.

The Isla del Sol is the one I'm looking forward to the most as I can easily see it becoming a box-purchase if it's very similar to Tabak and Java. Cheaphumidors.com has boxes of robusto for $52 and I'm sitting on a $50 credit there, so it seems like a natural fit. Cigar Monster had a 5-pack for $10 over the weekend, but it wasn't free shipping and I didn't feel like adding anything else just to get the free shipping.

So far my top-5, in no particular order, are:

- Baccarat Natural & Maduro
- CI Legends Copper Label
- Diamondback
- Natural Clean Robusto
- Natural Dirt

[shopkins82]

I had an Isla del Sol Gran Corona (5 x 44) today and wasn't impressed. There was barely any coffee infusion that I could notice and the sweetness wore off within the first 1/3. I picked it up at a B&M Head Shop I stumbled across in my home town... everything in their small walk-in had a thin layer of dust on it, so you could tell Cigars were not a major part of their business. I also cut it with a V-Cut that went a bit deeper than I expected which may not have been the best for a smaller ring-gauge stick. I'm going to hold judgment until I can get my hands on a Robusto, but the one I had was not quite the TabakEspecial-Lite I was hopping for.

[gosh]

Oops I got the Isla del Sol and the Tabak Especial confused >.< Meant to say the Tabak was a Java Jr, not the Isla.

Can't say I'm a huge fan of the Isla's for the reasons you just gave Shop.

[shopkins82]

Had an Oliveros Platinum Sweet today... mediocre in general, neither displeasing or impressive. I probably won't buy these again unless I come across some extremely cheap. I'm also less inclined to try and track down a Vanilla Fudge.

I've started noticing an interesting way of gauging how much I'm enjoying a cigar in general... by how much of my drink (usually a 12oz Dr. Pepper or Root Beer) is left once the cigar is finished (usually Robusto or Corona size). If I finish my drink before the cigar, I'm not enjoying the cigar much and will pitch it at that point regardless of how much is left. If I finish the cigar and drink at roughly the same time, I'm enjoying the cigar an average amount, enough not to pitch it early. If I have a lot of drink left when I finish the cigar then I've thoroughly enjoyed the cigar. The drink acts as a gauge of how much of my positive attention the cigar is demanding as well as how frequently I feel the need to cleanse my pallet.

Obviously the above wouldn't apply directly to longer (Toro or Churchill) or much larger ring gauge (54+) sticks, but adjusting to a 16oz or 20oz drink might keep the general comparison in-line. Also, as a baseline, the drink needs to be vending-machine cold (around 38 F I think)... if it's warmer (fridge temp or room temp) then I drink much faster to begin with.

[FNA]

I've only smoked a couple of DE Naturals but I thought both of them tasted very 'pipey'.

[shopkins82]

I'm adding Pai Gow, Maroma Dulce, La Fontana Vintage Galileo, and the bundled Baccarat Sumatra to my list to-try list... all of the above will probably come up on Cigar Monster sooner or later.

[fsjonsey]

From what I've heard, cigars with sweetened caps are usually dipped in some solution of water, gum arabic, and an artificial sweetener, be it saccharin, Sucralose, or NutraSweet, as sugar would attract too many insects in shipping and storage.

It wouldn't be too hard to make your own sweetener solutions and apply them to the cap of any cigar you wanted.