I picked up a pretty good deal this week at Cigars International. They had a cigar called, oddly, a Fighting Cock, which is a cigar made in Nicaragua, and possessing an extremely strong flavor. My typical cigar is oftentimes a mild cigar like the Macanudo Gold or an Arturo Fuene, and since it’s been a while since I’ve smoked a strong cigar, and since I was able to pick them up for less than $1 apiece, I put an order in. (A plug here for CI… it got to me in two days, even with normal ground shipping.)

My first impression is that it is a well made cigar. It’s solid, with very little give when you squeeze. When I lit it, I was immediately greeted with a strong, thick flavor. After a while, not only were my taste buds affected, but I started to get a little light headed. It didn’t burn perfectly even, nor did I manage to keep it lit, but I think that was due to the fact that I needed to set it down every few minutes to allow my head to stop spinning.

Once I got beyond the strength, I did enjoy the interesting spicy flavor that was clearly present. I think it needed a good strong ale to go along with it. This isn’t a golf course cigar, but more one for sitting down and enjoying for its own sake. For a dollar cigar, I think it ends up being a good deal.