Connoisseur’s Corner: 1492 (1992)
This is a 30-year-old marvel. It’s the second one I have smoked, the second 1492 I have scored 99 points, and this one somehow seems even better than the first. The brownish-red wrapper is laced with dark swirls of oil. The performance is perfect, with a solid draw and even burn. Thirty years have evened out the delicious combination of flavors. Strong hints of dark coffee bean at the start shift slightly toward sweetness as it warms up. There are hints of cocoa, a sweet mid-palate floral note and a finish of sweet earth and chocolate. From the first puff to the last, this is a smooth, rich smoke. And there is still a lot of life left in this cigar. —Gordon Mott
Slim and alluring, the antithesis of the fat smokes that are so popular today, this little Hoyo is lively and bold from the first puff. It’s loaded with strong wood, crème brûlée, a touch of herbs and some red wine notes, with a heavy minerality to the finish. I could burn through a box of these in a weekend. —David Savona
Because these long, skinny Dominican smokes came from a cardboard five-pack, there isn’t the woodiness of cigars stored in cabinets. It starts with a dusty taste but develops the warm, sweet properties of gingerbread, nutmeg and molasses. The draw is firm, the burn even and overall combustion, cool and slow. —Gregory Mottola
A long, slim and quite rough looking smoke that’s a blast from the past, made by J.B. Back and Co. in Kingston, New York, which closed in the 1980s. The cigar claims to have some Cuban tobacco in the mix, which is possible, if not evident in the flavor. The smoke is rather simple, chewy and nutty, with some cocoa powder notes. A fun taste of yesteryear. —David Savona
