Appearance and Construction: 6/10
I noted some of the appearance issues in a post on the NC forum; in short,
it is an ugly looking cigar with a messy cap and a bumpy but very oily wrapper.
The band is immaculate, one of the best in the industry. Filling looked a
bit spotty but that didn't end up being a problem.
Flavor: 17/20
At cold, the cigar had a bit of spice and a heavy hay/grass taste, that's
generally a good sign. After firing it up the smoke had just a bit of spice
in the nose and some well placed toasted tobacco notes. At about the 1/4 or
so the cigar came through with a strong black coffee flavor that was very
nice. This proceeded till about the 1/2 way and then the cigar really picked
up the pace. It took on more spice, a red pepper feel and the flavors became
quite complex, changing each couple of puffs. Between here and the end of
the cigar the toasted tobacco was no longer evident, the coffee took a back
seat and it came through with anise and citrus notes initially, which changed
to cocoa and then some bready flavors. I was quite surprised by this, over
the course of the cigar the flavors reminded me of Cuaba Salomones (which
I like, but no one else seems to ) and then CAO Brazilias. The finish was
a short and a bit dry, if I had the fault the flavor for anything, that'd
be it.
Smoking characteristics: 9/10
After all my bitching about construction and appearance this cigar was a model
of well behaved. It burned super even the entire way through, the ash was
chunky and grey/black and held on to well over an inch (I knocked the cigar
into the ash tray about an inch in, but it would have held for much longer).
The draw was a bit on the loose side at first but firmed up and became quite
nice as the cigar progressed. These cigars are being advertised as very full
bodied but I really found them to be a solid medium, tip-toeing over to full
just at the end.
Price: 3/5
It's a good cigar and will be able to command a good price, however I feel
that 15 dollars is a bit much for it. Maybe the price will settle down after
these have been on the market for a time.
This was an odd cigar for me. It had all the makings of a great smoke and
really came through on all counts but it just didn't do it for me. If you'll
pardon the expression, it was missing some X-factor that would make me jump
and want to buy a few more. Sort of the same deal as CAO Brazillias or LDF
Ligeros, good cigars by most measures but I just don't like them enough to
smoke them regularly. This is an expensive cigar from a brand that is known
for making smokes an generally reasonable price points and is definitely not
a cigar for newbies. 15 dollars is quite a bit of dough, so I'll be interested
to see how this pans out with regular cigar smoker crowd. I'd say "give
it a shot" to any experienced cigar smoker with the expectation that
maduro lovers will jump on a box of these...but they just aren't for me...weird.
Score: 78/100
For me, its about right but to be honest it feels a bit on the low side. Its
a good cigar, so give it a try.
© Blowinsmoke.net 2007
