Paul 86 – Deep brown wrapper with some prominent veins, faint barnyard aroma on the wrapper, a few soft spots, good resistance on the cold draw, dark fruit and sweetness. First 1/3: Malt, cocoa, toasted tobacco, light gray ash medium amount of thin smoke, medium strength, light body, medium finish, mild retrohale. Second 1/3: malt and cocoa fade, woody notes, some tartness, more smoke production, scalloped burn line, ash gets flaky. Last 1/3: Very smooth with some pepper spice, medium strength, light body, medium finish.
Rob 88 -This is a beautiful slightly mottled oscuro cigar. It is a 46 ring gauge, and with its length, does not fit into a parejo classification of corona nor toro (most definitely not a churchill) sized cigar. It has a very firm pack and unfortunately a corresponding tight draw. There are few veins and tight invisible seams. Again, quite a nice looking stick. It lit with no trouble and started off with a nice toasted tobacco flavor. There is no ignition bitterness at all. Quite quickly, my mouth is coated with a mocha flavor and a reasonable amount of smoke. At the one inch point, I am getting a bit of a wavy burn, but not enough to need a correction. A nice firmly packed bright white solid ash is hanging onto the end of the cigar. I am getting a touch of black pepper now to replace a little of the mocha. At the one third point, the pepper has vanished and I am left with the original combination of mocha and toasted tobacco. The burn has corrected and is now razor sharp. Still a very tight draw. With just one third of the stick left, the flavor has transitioned to a grassy smoke with some nuts in the background. The smoke output has diminished a bit. The cigar has transformed from a very firm pack, to being very mushy at this point. Again, unfortunately still at this point, the draw is still very tight.
Jim 88 – This cigar has a nice dark and very rich looking maduro wrapper. My initial draws are very smooth with notes of coffee and leather. I am expecting some spice with this dark oily wrapper but none. As it heats up I am getting some dark chocolate combined with the other flavors. The draw is very good and the burn is razor sharp. Almost 2 inches in and I am finally picking up some hints of bakers spice. I’m surprised how mellow this cigar is for a maduro. It is in the medium range as the blend of flavors give it some nice body. As I approach the halfway mark the sweetness and bakers spice has increased as I have visions of chocolate candy bars as I puff away. After this point the cigar stayed consistent down to the nub. I found this cigar to be interesting from a flavor standpoint as something I haven’t found in other cigars. It did not blow me away but enjoyed the uniqueness of the flavors.
Artie 83 – This is a rustic looking, colorado/maduro churchill of approx. 48 ring gauge. It’s got a super-rich cold aroma and the filler is nicely bunched. With a tight draw, this cigar is stingy with its smoke output so I’m resorting to the PerfecDraw tool. After a few deep penetrations of the “spear”, I’m able to get enough smoke to really taste this cigar. The initial flavor is rich and spicy, with notes of bittersweet chocolate. Now that it’s burning well, the ash is rock solid with a lot of “grip”. Mid way the pepper drops off and a nice smoothness is starting to happen. Towards the nub the flavors remain strong, but unchanged. Unfortunately, the finish leaves my mouth with a bitter, charcoal aftertaste.
Will 79 – 6.2 X 50 toro with a dark colorado wrapper with lots of veins and a sloppy 2 seam cap. This cigar has a very visible stem just under the wrapper that starts at the shoulder and runs 3/4 of the length of the stick in a slightly crooked path. Cold nose is light tobacco with a graham cracker smell. The cold draw is the same with a slight bit of pepper. The draw is very firm. Upon initial light I am getting a vegetal mushroom flavor. About 5 minutes in the flavor moves to a light coffee and cream profile with a vegetal finish. The draw remains much too firm for my liking and I run my cooking needle through the cigar to open it up a bit. It doesn’t help much. The flavor profile is not changing and trying to get any smoke out of the stick is trying my patience. I let it go about 35 minutes in, very disappointing.
