Victor Sinclair Vintage Select Steve R If there’s one thing I love, it’s a super dark, super smooth, super oily box-pressed cigar. Among my favorites are the Torano Exodus, Gurkha Regent and Nester Reserve. Slow-burning, densely packed, hefty handmades filled with chocolatey goodness. Victor Sinclair of the Dominican Republic has their own version of dark, box-pressed beauties called the Vintage Select. Truth be told, this is a cigar we stopped carrying a couple of years ago due to slow sales. At the time it was rivaling the success of Bohemian and Serie ‘55’ – a tall task. Regardless, it was sad to see this cigar removed from our shelves, because it really is a quality smoke. But, to my delight, the big guy recently landed a sweet deal allowing us to re-introduce this line at over 50% off our original retails. Sweet, chocolatey goodness! It’s safe to say the quality and consistency of Victor Sinclair cigars are top-notch, and the Vintage Select is no exception. The other day we received a small shipment of Torpedos, which has already sold out, but I managed to score one of the boxes. (Don’t worry, more are arriving any day now) Anyway, I’ve since smoked close to half the box, and every single cigar was just like the last. Each is beautifully constructed using a silky Brazilian Maduro wrapper and a hefty blend of Cuban-seed Dominican tobaccos, including a generous helping of Dominican Olor. This mixture makes for an extraordinary assortment of flavors. The wrapper has a naturally fermented sweetness that’s subtle but nice, while the fillers offer a robust character that hints at roasted coffee, with an underlying rich creaminess. The aftertaste is long and pleasant, leaving a dark, espresso-like flavor on my palate. Incredibly smooth right up to the nub, it ends with a velvety, full-flavored finish. Tasty. It’s not full-bodied, but boy is it satisfying. The Vintage Select will please just about anyone. No spice, harshness or dizzy-spells, just a smooth, rich, flavorful cigar that maxes out a medium-bodied. I really hope this cigar does better this time around – it deserves it, easily.
Victor Sinclair Vintage Gonz For some reason, this review took an extensive amount of "research"... Monday - "ok, Bob E. from Wyomissing, PA said that I need to spark up one of these Victor Sinclair Vintage Selects, haven't had one for a while, but that was when it was a pricey jobbie. Whoah, not bad, easy draw, good looking box press, fires up easily, this is primed for a Gonz's Pick." Tuesday - "ok, one more VS Vintage Select that tickles my fancy, and I'm making it a Gonz's Pick. Yum, yum, damn that's too deelish to quit, wow I nubbed that one fast. Maybe one more to make sure." Wednesday - "I have to play hoops with the CI team tonight, and I can't let a cigar slow down my prowess on the court, just a quick few puffs on a VS squared....whoah I nubbed that fast!" Thursday - "I'm ready to write this review, I can get inspired if I just spark up one more Vintage Select. Doh, my water bill is 3 weeks overdue, crapola! 2 Vintage Selects later and the bills are paid." Friday at 6:31pm - "Finally, just a little peace and quiet time! Let me put my phone on "Do Not Disturb" and the "Go Away!" sign on my door." Seriously, I'm a 1/2 box into this cigar and I can't get enough of it. It's been consistent and creamily delicious all along the way that I simply can't put it down once I start smoking it. I've asked other guys around the office and they've said things like "nice" or "not bad" or "surprising" or "never had one" and while I'll say that it's perhaps not something to do cartwheels over (not that I could anyway), but it definitely deserves a good ol' fashioned "Dude, you gotta try this!". Plus, I think my brain is so fixated on price that my flavor expectations fall in line. For example, if a Fuente Opus X cost $3.00 a stick, I'd probably say "wow! great cigar." But, at $30 a stick, my reaction is "ehh, not bad". Seriously, I'm not sure if you guys are the same, but give me value and I'll give it a fair chance. Well at $2 and a few pennies per stick for the Vintage Select, they're so damn good that I'd welcome anyway to prove that there's a better quality to price ratio cigar out there. The sharply box-pressed nature of the cigar makes it unique, and that gets me nervous sometimes with the draw. Not so here, I find the draw effortless, an expertly rolled cigar. The flavor profile is uniform throughout the cigar, but hey, it's summertime, and I don't need a hot rollercoaster screwing up my ketchup and chili covered hotdog. Soft to slightly medium in body the smoke is rich yet smooth with a creaminess (which is almost buttery) and subtlety that doesn't linger on the tastebuds. Well constructed the speckled gray ash will hang appropriately. A well made smoke that will have you dragging for more. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar and I'm going back for more. A perfect mid-summer special. Spark'em up, - Gonz
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