Cigar #3 from Bob
Eyeballing cigar number 3 it appears to be about 5.25" x 50 ring, robusto sized stick. I just finished smoking this stick which I started to smoke on my back porch but shortly moved to a seat in the garage to avoid the slight breeze. It being be late September, and my favorite season, autumn, I paired the cigar with an Otter Creek Oktoberfest Autumn Ale (which is delicious by the way)- which did nothing to change the fact that it was 90 today and 70 and muggy tonight- much to my chagrin (sp?). Anyway...
Appearance/Construction:
This stick had a silky, milk chocolate brown wrapper of almost identical hue to the brown beer bottle i was drinking from. It lacked any tooth with just a couple minor veins. It had a perfect, symmetric and large triple cap that was affixed loosely to the sides of the cigar. From mere appearance I already had an inkling to what kind of cigar i thought it was. Afraid that a zikar snip might fray or pull the loose cap, i used my zikar punch instead which worked beautifully and the cap remained in tact and presented no problems through the whole smoke.
Prelight Draw/Taste:
The draw is PERFECT. I knew I'd be in for billows of smoke, and it had just the right resistance on the pull. The cigar/wrapper presented very little to almost know prelight taste on the lips, with only a bit of spice on the lips and a slight hint of wood.
1st Third:
I lit the cigar with wooden matches, my preffered tool as of late, and it lit a bit difficultly. Once going the burn was rock solid and straight until just past the last third. Indeed the draw was perfect and produced volumes of smooth, cool smoke with only a slight bit of bite on the nose which quickly subsided. Never again after the first few puffs did this stick present any spice. The first third sat solidly at medium body, and despite the large quantity of smoke it produced, the mouthfeel of the smoke was light and whispy. Steady flavors of dry earth and leather continued and just as the ash fell at the 1/3rd mark, I picked up an interesting yet brief taste of cocoa, but not the chocolately kind but a more dry, not sweet at all type of dry cocoa powder kind similar to what might be used for baking or that nestle's mix kind.
2nd Third:
The cocoa is gone with earthy flavors becoming more intense and the leather giving way to more of a woody flavor. The body is picking up to the fuller side of medium and the smoke much heavier. The smoke is still remarkably dry, enjoyably so, and remains cool and balanced. The burn is still perfect and the ash a beautiful light grey shell with dark tones beneath. The earth and woody flavor continue through as the ash falls again nearly perfect at the 2/3rds mark.
Final Third:
The smoke begins to pick up some heat but only enough warrant mention in relation to the remarkably cool smoke of earlier. Earth and wood gain intensity and it seemed i began to pick up a slight hint of black coffee in the back, perhaps only due to a slight bitterness as i near the end of the cigar. At this point the burn, which had remained perfect, began to stray a bit but nothing requiring attention or touch up, just a slight angle to it. The body again picked up in the last third, as is often customary and a bit of bite returned to the nose. I smoke the cigar to the nub before it met a slow demise of extinguishing itself in the middle of my driveway.
Conclusion:
I'm sort of torn on this cigar. On one hand, the draw, billowing, smooth, cool smoke, with balanced, smooth flavors of earth leather and wood were fantastic. On the other hand, i usually prefer a more full bodied smoke and these flavors while quite enjoyable, were not extremely intense. This lack of intensity is one I would normally welcome, if they came with added complexity and nuances normally associated with an older, well aged cigar. However there was little complexity and the flavors were pretty straightforward, save the regrettably brief note of cocoa. The dry, and amply cool billows of smoke and balance were great though.
My rating: A firm 7.5/10
My guess(es): My initial guess from appearance and the first third of the smoke was this has to be a Montecristo Edmundo, but i began to second guess this a i continued to smoke it. My second guess would be a Vegas Robaina Famoso, however this is purely speculation as I have not previously smoked a VR but that i have heard other reviews and tasting notes that seem similar to what i experienced with this stick. Either way I'd also guess the cigar had a few years of age on it, maybe an 05 or 04?
Regardless, this stick was very enjoyable and my thanks to Bob for the opportunity spend an hour relaxing with it.
ps. sorry for the absurdly lengthy review, its the first formal one i've done/written and perhaps i overkilled it, lol
Eyeballing cigar number 3 it appears to be about 5.25" x 50 ring, robusto sized stick. I just finished smoking this stick which I started to smoke on my back porch but shortly moved to a seat in the garage to avoid the slight breeze. It being be late September, and my favorite season, autumn, I paired the cigar with an Otter Creek Oktoberfest Autumn Ale (which is delicious by the way)- which did nothing to change the fact that it was 90 today and 70 and muggy tonight- much to my chagrin (sp?). Anyway...
Appearance/Construction:
This stick had a silky, milk chocolate brown wrapper of almost identical hue to the brown beer bottle i was drinking from. It lacked any tooth with just a couple minor veins. It had a perfect, symmetric and large triple cap that was affixed loosely to the sides of the cigar. From mere appearance I already had an inkling to what kind of cigar i thought it was. Afraid that a zikar snip might fray or pull the loose cap, i used my zikar punch instead which worked beautifully and the cap remained in tact and presented no problems through the whole smoke.
Prelight Draw/Taste:
The draw is PERFECT. I knew I'd be in for billows of smoke, and it had just the right resistance on the pull. The cigar/wrapper presented very little to almost know prelight taste on the lips, with only a bit of spice on the lips and a slight hint of wood.
1st Third:
I lit the cigar with wooden matches, my preffered tool as of late, and it lit a bit difficultly. Once going the burn was rock solid and straight until just past the last third. Indeed the draw was perfect and produced volumes of smooth, cool smoke with only a slight bit of bite on the nose which quickly subsided. Never again after the first few puffs did this stick present any spice. The first third sat solidly at medium body, and despite the large quantity of smoke it produced, the mouthfeel of the smoke was light and whispy. Steady flavors of dry earth and leather continued and just as the ash fell at the 1/3rd mark, I picked up an interesting yet brief taste of cocoa, but not the chocolately kind but a more dry, not sweet at all type of dry cocoa powder kind similar to what might be used for baking or that nestle's mix kind.
2nd Third:
The cocoa is gone with earthy flavors becoming more intense and the leather giving way to more of a woody flavor. The body is picking up to the fuller side of medium and the smoke much heavier. The smoke is still remarkably dry, enjoyably so, and remains cool and balanced. The burn is still perfect and the ash a beautiful light grey shell with dark tones beneath. The earth and woody flavor continue through as the ash falls again nearly perfect at the 2/3rds mark.
Final Third:
The smoke begins to pick up some heat but only enough warrant mention in relation to the remarkably cool smoke of earlier. Earth and wood gain intensity and it seemed i began to pick up a slight hint of black coffee in the back, perhaps only due to a slight bitterness as i near the end of the cigar. At this point the burn, which had remained perfect, began to stray a bit but nothing requiring attention or touch up, just a slight angle to it. The body again picked up in the last third, as is often customary and a bit of bite returned to the nose. I smoke the cigar to the nub before it met a slow demise of extinguishing itself in the middle of my driveway.
Conclusion:
I'm sort of torn on this cigar. On one hand, the draw, billowing, smooth, cool smoke, with balanced, smooth flavors of earth leather and wood were fantastic. On the other hand, i usually prefer a more full bodied smoke and these flavors while quite enjoyable, were not extremely intense. This lack of intensity is one I would normally welcome, if they came with added complexity and nuances normally associated with an older, well aged cigar. However there was little complexity and the flavors were pretty straightforward, save the regrettably brief note of cocoa. The dry, and amply cool billows of smoke and balance were great though.
My rating: A firm 7.5/10
My guess(es): My initial guess from appearance and the first third of the smoke was this has to be a Montecristo Edmundo, but i began to second guess this a i continued to smoke it. My second guess would be a Vegas Robaina Famoso, however this is purely speculation as I have not previously smoked a VR but that i have heard other reviews and tasting notes that seem similar to what i experienced with this stick. Either way I'd also guess the cigar had a few years of age on it, maybe an 05 or 04?
Regardless, this stick was very enjoyable and my thanks to Bob for the opportunity spend an hour relaxing with it.
ps. sorry for the absurdly lengthy review, its the first formal one i've done/written and perhaps i overkilled it, lol
), I have to agree with Chris on this one. The 03's are just now coming into their own. That's not to say you can't smoke younger ones, but you won't get the full enjoyment out of them. Just like RASS, they smoke well now, but you never see 5-year RASS (which are heavenly) because everybody smokes them so soon.