Paul 85 – Very dark, slightly mottled wrapper, minimal veins, light tobacco and cedar aroma, no soft spots, tight cold draw, sweetness. First 1/3: Leather, sweetness, woody notes, medium amount of thin smoke, draw opens up, sharp burn line, light gray ash, mild plus strength, light body, and a medium finish, very mild retrohale, sweetness fades. Second 1/3: Leather starts to fade, wood, dryness, ash gets flaky. Last 1/3: More of the same, medium strength, light body and a medium finish. An easy to smoke cigar.
Rob 93 – Tightly box pressed oscuro toro sized cigar. Extremely firm stick with very shiny, but non oily wrapper. It does have a small 1 cm blemish on one side of the stick. Well done triple cap. Very tight and invisible seams with negligible veins running through the wrapper. Using a V cut still yielded a fairly tight draw; is this due to the very firm box press? Sparking up, I get a very nice smoke output. There is slight black pepper with a nutty background. Definitely some sweetness coming from the oscuro wrapper. At one inch the cigar reveals a very nice white ash burn line (not razor sharp), with a quite firm ash. The draw has loosened up a bit; still too firm but manageable. Smoke production is staying great. I am not getting any black staining on my lips; hence not an artificially dyed wrapper. Still getting a slight pepper tingle on the tip of my tongue. flavor profile is staying consistent. At the half way point, I’m getting a hint of cinnamon and chocolate. The smoke is coating my entire palate. The ash is still firm, and the draw continues to loosen. As the smoke wraps up: the burn has been close to perfect the entire way. Smoke output has been great. Absolutely no construction issues and no complaints. Very enjoyable smoke.
Jim 92 – A nice dark looking boxed pressed toro. The darkness on this cigar almost looks like they brushed it on. There are a lot of protruding veins on the wrapper. The double cap looks sloppily applied. After lighting, right off the bat I am getting maduro like flavors of chocolate and a coffee finish. As I seem to experience in many box pressed cigars, the burn is very uneven and will probably have to level off at some point. Flavors are developing nicely. Those classic maduro flavors are rich with a black pepper finish on the back of the throat. The draw started out tight but is near perfect now. Miracles happen, the cigar leveled out on its own. As I progress, the strength and body are both increasing. It is somewhere between medium to full in strength. Definitely full bodied and very rich. Almost to the point of being too rich but I am actually really enjoying it. In the last third of the cigar the profile stays the same but the pepper spice is gone. Overall a very interesting maduro. Really good flavors but as rich as you can go without being overbearing.
Artie 85 – This square-press churchill is a dark brown maduro (San Andres?), and has the cold nose of sweaty socks…for real! Well, maybe not as strong as that, but it’s a sour, damp kind of odor. The cap is crude and there are two visible glue spots where the wrapper has been repaired. But let’s not judge this stick before we smoke it, so here goes. Lighting is easy, in spite of a tight draw. But the thing puts out enough smoke to provide initial flavors of earth, wood, pine needles. It’s got the “feel” of a walk through a Sequoia campground after a spring shower. At the mid point, the dampness has diminished and I’m getting some black pepper and leather. So far this is a pleasant cigar of earth notes. Moderate complexity but good construction and burn-a-bility. Not a whole lot of personality or nuance. The nub tastes okay, with no bitterness and the strength comes through. This is not a cigar that stands out.
Will 84 – 6 x 48 very dark stick with a rough wrapper full of seams and a sloppy cap, very rustic looking stick. The cold nose is red pepper and an earthy barnyard. The cold draw is very similar to the aroma. I spark this stick up and the initial aroma is a very acrid smoke that burns my nose, the draw is very firm so I put a second v-cut with a 180 degree turn, this opens the draw up a bit but not much, I literally have to bite the head to draw this puppy. The flavor is malty and earthy with a bit of red pepper on the short finish. This stick has very visible “goma” on the seams and the burn is wonky with no breeze at all. At the 15 minute mark the flavor kicks up a notch with notes of anise and malted milk balls. The burn continues to be erratic and I am getting tired of touching it up, this stick is a mess but the flavor ain’t too bad. i let it go at the 50 minute mark, too much effort. This cigar lost major points for crappy construction which contributed to poor draw and burn.
