Cuban Crafters Cigar Sampler: Part 1

(Firecured) Having read some good things about Don Kiki Brown Label Limited Reserve Figurado (Botella) Cigars, I ordered a box and liked them quite a lot. They are plenty strong, just the right size for an after dinner smoke, and get better as they burn down to a tasty finish. Kim calls them "grown-up cigars," meaning they are too strong for her. I call them finger burners because they are too good to quit. We both call them la marranita or little pig, because of the cigar's odd shape.
While I was at it, I ordered a sampler covering most of Cuban Crafters other brands. It's been an interesting and enjoyable experience. So far, all the cigars we've smoked have been quite good: they are all well constructed, they all produce clouds of creamy smoke, and they all produce a fine white ash - the usual for premium cigars. In particular, I can offer the following notes:

La Carolina: This brand is identical to the once and present Cupido, a very popular brand. The cigar started off light, and a little sweet, somehow though, I didn't really like it at first, but it grew on me. After the first inch or so, the flavor became nutty and smooth, staying that way for the duration. There were also traces of what I called citrus, and Kim called bitterness. We have one more of these to sample.

C.E. Beck y Ca: A very smooth, mild cigar, it seemed to us, "like a big cigarette," said Kim. Perhaps Beck's subtleties escaped us. I have a feeling that people who like light cigars (or perhaps those with a more refined palate), would enjoy this brand very much. This was the most evenly burning cigar in the bunch, thus far. We have two more of these left to try.

Don Kiki Green Label Limited Reserve: This was also a mild cigar, but much more flavorful than the Beck. It had a very agreeable woody/nutty/citrus flavor and retained a mild sweetness throughout. If you like Don Kiki Brown Label, but find the flavor to be a little too dry, you may want to try the Green. It's likely that I will order more of these.

J.L. SALAZAR y HERMANOS Reserva Especial: This was an interesting cigar, the darkest one in the lot, it came on strong and stayed there. A very flavorful smoke, cocoa being the predominant flavor. I couldn't figure this one out in one sitting and am likely to buy a couple more at my local shop, just for the sake of rumination.

That's all for now, but we still have the lion's share of the sampler to get through, which I will write up at a later date. For the specifics (filler, wrapper, etc.), you can check out Cuban Crafters website. We have discovered their descriptions, which we read after sampling, to be fairly accurate. Continue to part 2.