price: $6.75 retail
smoking time: 5 minutes


I bought this on the recommendation of the friendly shop owner who, (I'm learning) has unfortunate tastes in cigars. I should have known. It isn't the first time he's convinced me to buy a dog rocket. but this one he said, was very popular and several customers had come back to buy more.

The first thing I notice is that it's very soft. I also bought an Ashton vsg that is firmly rolled and heavy, the way I prefer. But hey, just because it's a little loose doesn't mean it's going to be bad right?

The band is placed near the back middle of the cigar so I take it off prior to lighting. There is a long crack running the entire length of the sizable band and it looks a little squished, as if the band was too tight, or the cigar expanded after rolling. The wrapper is paper thin and brittle or, "aged" if you prefer :-)

Initial flavor tastes like a typical dark maduro, but not the sweet kind. more like strong ligero tobacco, similar to a LFD. nothing complex going on but strong enough that I think I can enjoy it. [5 minutes pass] I'm bored, let's pull the wrapper off a bit since it's already unraveling.

What the hell? The inside looks like a Cohibo. The filler is made up of what looks to be completely random floor scraps. some of them pitch black. I don't even want to know what that is. I'm guessing this is what medium filler looks like. It's not short filler, but I know what long filler tobacco looks like, and this ain't it.

oh well, If the shop owner asks me, I'll probably say it was good and thank him graciously. He and his wife are very friendly, and in their defense, they do run a nice place. Maybe if I paid top dollar for this, I would say something but I don't like to complain.

I did however send a quick email to Esteban Carrera's customer service though, letting them know these cigars are a joke. :-)
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I thought the smoking time was a mistake at first! 5 minutes? OUCH...
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Is this the same Esteban Carrera made by Rocky Patel? Or are there two Esteban Carrera labels?
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no clue, although it seems unlikely that there would be two Esteban Carrera labels.
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