Paul 85 – Rich chocolate mottled oily wrapper, medium veins, soft spots throughout, deep tobacco aroma on the wrapper, well made cap, loose cold draw. First 1/3: Leather with some chocolate and coffee, medium amount of smoke, woody notes, short lived oats, draw has tightened nicely, mild retrohale, dark gray ash, excellent burn line, medium strength, body and finish. Second 1/3: Leather continues to dominate, chocolate and coffee fade, solid ash, medium plus strength, long finish. Last 1/3: it ran out of gas as all flavor faded. A good beginning but it was down hill the rest of the way.
Rob 91 – The cigar has a silky smooth maduro wrapper. There are very tight, invisible seams. Somewhat of a sloppy triple cap. The stick is rather heavy for its size, and is firmly packed. Even so, with this firm pack the guillotine cut yields a rather loose draw. The pre-light aroma is a bit medicinal. The start up is rather bitter. Even purging the cigar, did not eliminate this pervasive flavor. The smoke output is good, and the draw is turning out to be perfect, not too loose as I expected pre-light. Once I got an inch in, the bitterness disappeared, and a real syrupy mouth feel took over. After thinking about it and trying to recognize the flavor, I was able to pinpoint a candy caramel taste. As the stick progressed, this caramel flavor persisted, and made me think how nice the stick would be with a cup of coffee. Now I was getting a generous amount of soft smoke, with a reasonably straight burn. As I neared the end, the sweet caramel subsided, and left me with an earthy vegetal taste. Only problem was need to relight the stick as it was getting shorter.
Jim 90 – This nice dark maduro robusto definitely has some strong barnyard scent as I inspect this next cigar and prepare for tasting. It seems to be well made and packed, firm to the squeeze. Right off the bat I am getting some deep dark chocolate flavors. As it heats up I’m getting a slight hot cinnamon spice on the back of my throat on the finish. Draw is decent and smoke is thick. Wavy burn but it is still relatively even. This cigar really is following a classic maduro profile as flavors of dark espresso combine with the deep dark chocolate. These flavors certainly hang on your palate in between puffs. As I get more into this cigar the flavors really start to blend, there is definitely a richness to these flavors and it’s strength has been increasing. After the halfway point, the spice dropped off. Towards the last third, the cigar continued to strengthen and the flavors intensified as well as maybe got a little too strong and a bit muddy. However, I really liked this cigar and I think a little aging would only improve it.
Artie 92 – Somewhere between a toro and a robusto, this fat, dark brown, silky smooth cigar, has lots of nose, and a delicious cold draw. Some small stems are visible, but the draw is firm yet open. Upon ignition, a strong coca-cola taste and effervescence hits the tongue. Lots of pepper tingles the nostrils. As the cigar “warms up”, a cinnamon bun sweetness developes, and smoke output increases. This cigar wants to burn. Further in, notes of orange peel appear, making the taste evolution of this cigar off the charts. Mid way the burn line gets a bit crooked, and a slight touchup is needed. But otherwise this stick burns evenly. Although the ash is flakey and doesn’t want to “hang on”, the construction of this cigar is good, with no soft spots and a solid feel. At the nub you get a very satisfied feeling and its strength becomes evident. This is a great cigar with tons of character.
Will 85 – Very dark rustic looking 5 x 52 robusto, wrapper leaf has very prominent veins and a sloppily applied double cap. The cold nose is a briny red pepper and elicits two sneezes. When I clip the cap the wrapper leaf tears and requires a bit of goma to repair. The cold draw on this stick gives me pepper and barnyard. The cigar combusts easily and immediately produces lots of smoke. The initial draw produces flavors of over roasted peanuts with a citrus tang that coats my tongue, a tad bitter but not unpleasant. Within the first few minutes the tart finish dissipates and the roasted nuts give way to a dark roasted coffee profile and a salty leather finish. The burn on this stick is razor sharp and the ash holds on for almost 2 inch increments. A good smoke although something is missing but I can’t put my finger on it. At the halfway point the flavor has not changed and the salty leather finish is becoming bitter, the flavors are muddled and not as defined so I Artied it at the 40 minute mark.
Please explain “so I Artied it at the 40 minute mark”
Your quote of Will “Artieing” a cigar at the 40 minute mark is a self-contradition. To “Artie” a cigar is to put it down soon after lighting because it tastes too awful to continue smoking. So to “Artie” after 40 minutes means Will has already smoked most the the cigar. At that point it really can’t be “Artied”. But I get what he’s saying…after 40 minutes he simply didn’t want to smoke anymore of that disappointing cigar.