Paul 87 – Light brown, mottled, oily, slightly toothy wrapper, box pressed, no soft spots, two glue spots on the wrapper, nice looking triple cap, light tobacco aroma on the wrapper, dark fruit on the foot, cold draw a little loose with dark fruit notes. First 1/3: Leather and oak, medium amount of smoke, light gray ash, peppery retrohale, smooth, medium strength, body and finish, scalloped burn, draw has tightened, some mouth dryness. Second 1/3: Leather and some earth, medium strength and body, long woody finish, flaky ash, wrapper cracks at the foot. Last 1/3: Leather, woodiness fades, uneven burn, medium plus strength, medium body, long finish. A solid performer.
Rob 90 – This is an oval cigar, with a dull brown wrapper. It measures 5″ by length, and a 60 ring guage at its largest radius of the oval construction. There is a significant vein running down the length of the cigar. There are tight, but visible seams. I don’t get much from the wrapper itself, but a sweet tobacco aroma coming off the foot. A massive triple cap covers the heady head of the stick. The cigar feels of average weight, but after guillotining the cap I’m getting a fairly loose draw. Hmmm. Upon lighting the loose draw continues but generates a ton of smoke. The burn line is sharp. At 1 inch all is well, however, flavor has been primarily a charred tobacco. Then it morphs into a nice stick – the flavor and smoke have smoothed out and gotten silky. Flavor has picked up a combination of peanuts and cedar. No spice or pepper is apparent. The ash is hanging on in a solid chunk, however, I chose to tap it off at this point in order to avoid the inevitable mess in my lap! At the 1/2 point, the smoke is still filling the room. Mouth feel remains silky smooth. The nutty flavor is still hanging on especially in the retro hale. I’m now down the the final third. A mild cocoa has sneaked into the mouth peel and complimenting the retro hale. The cigar is staying remarkably cool, which surprises me with such a loose draw. The finish is also surprisingly long, quite nice with the chocolatey essence. As the cigar is still smoking very cool I am going to keep on smoking. There has been no spice or pepper from this cigar. All in all a very relaxing fully body smoke. I enjoyed it completely; as much as an Oliva MB# or AJ Fernandez San Lotano Oval.
Jim 89 – A nice fat box pressed robusto that feels chunky and nice to hold! The weight alone lets you know that this cigar is just packed with an abundant amount of cigar tobacco! The cap is applied a little sloppy but who cares as this cigar is screaming “smoke me” so I will. First initial draws are very full and strong! Slap in your face with the taste of deep dark rich espresso and some pepper in the back of the throat that lingers. The draw takes a little more effort but I think it is still acceptable for this much of a tobacco packed cigar (I punch cut it) and it just billows with thick smoke. The intensity lessens as it heats up but this is still a FULL cigar for sure. In addition to the espresso I’m also getting dark chocolate, earth and leather on this finish. Burn is wavy but relatively straight and the ash is very firm. Passing the halfway point and the flavors are somewhat the same with the strength still very full. However, the spice has dropped off completely. It got a little too earthy and muddy towards the end. This is definitely a cigar that would improve with some age and probably be ranked in the excellent range. If the cap was applied better, the construction would be outstanding. Well made!
Artie 98 – This is a box pressed robusto and it’s quite the chubster. Lots of visible stems in the foot (which I recently learned isn’t a bad thing), and there’s a stem that I can feel running the length of the cigar just under the wrapper. Dark brown in color (colorado-maduro?), this is an inviting cigar. The cold aroma is of sweet, well-fermented tobacco. The draw is absolutely perfect. Once lit this thing puts out tons of spicy, black peppery smoke. And it doesn’t take long to let you know this cigar is a powerhouse. Besides black pepper, I’m getting rich, herbal notes of oregano, cumin, and cardamom. Lots of earthiness too, but with no bitter finish. This cigar tastes like a potpourri of Nicaraguan ligero. It would pair well with a glass of cabernet and a steak or beef bourguignon. Mid way I’m getting a nice cigar buzz that is not overpowering…it’s making me feel…happy. That’s what a good cigar should do…make you feel happy. Towards the nub, the burn is still spot-on, and the flavors have gotten creamy and coat the palate. Ourstanding cigar.
Will 89 – A short fat robusto, boxed press with a dark wrapper, minimal veins and somewhat oily, triple capped, seems a bit under-filled. The cold nose is earth and red pepper which draws out a single sneeze, the cold draw is toasty tobacco with red pepper. I use my brand new Xikar V-cutter and fire this fatty up. I get a sweet aroma immediately and I am pretty sure this is sumatran wrapper leaf, it has that tang. A minute in and I am getting tons of smoke that has a marzipan sweetness with a long salty leathery finish. A few minutes later the flavor is joined by a dark molasses essence too. Full bodied but medium strength. At the 10 minute mark the burn is getting wonky, I set the cigar upright in my Delue PVC holder and within a couple minutes the burn self-corrects. Perhaps I am hitting this stick too hard because about 20 mins in it is burning pretty hot, flavors remain constant although the super long finish has shortened up a bit and is still salty however the strength of the stick has ramped up to a solid 7.5. This stick had that umami tang that some of us love, so for that reason I gave it a one point WOW factor, I would like to smoke this stick in a smaller vitola.
