Published Monday, November 05, 2001

Pre-Smoke Comments

Ben Hicks (grinnin): Nice looking corona 5 ""x 42, moderate boxpress with a silky medium brown finely veined wrapper. Even firm construction, well applied cap. Slight cedary aroma before lighting. Clipping revealed a bunch tighter on one side, leaving me wondering how it will burn. Initially slightly uneven burn quickly straightened itself out. Small cone-flat coal. Average ash consistancy, Medium-dark grey, easily held on an inch at a time. Excellent draw, giving plenty of smoke. I just had some water while smoking this to keep my palate clear.

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): Cigar was a toro-sized, box pressed cigar with a natural wrapper. A little discoloring on the wrapper and the cap was a little rough. Cigar was solid with no soft spots detected. Good pre-light aroma and draw. Cigar burned evenly the entire smoke with no corrections needed. Ash was solid with a dark gray appearance.

Daniel Bienkowski (DanB): The problem with blind reviews is that you don't know the strength. Should you smoke it in the morning when your palate is fresh, or wait until after dinner so that you aren't blown away? I took a shot with Cigar #1 and smoked it right after breakfast. Cigar #1 was 5.5 x 42 with a slight box press. The cap was roughly applied and the bunch was just a little south of firm. The wrapper was very thin and smooth with a somewhat mottled coloring. I trimmed the cap with my trusty Swiss Army cutter and toasted the foot with my camouflage Blazer. (It IS hunting season after all.)

David Deibert (Purosdave): This cigar is a box-pressed corona with an unpleasant pre-light aroma. The wrapper is a colorado maduro color as defined by Ruddman's latest book with a few small veins. Pre-light draw is firm but not plugged. The filler is well bunched with no hard or soft spots. I smoked this cigar about an hour and a half after a chicken alfredo dinner and a drank water during the review.

Jon Adams (spiridon): A nice looking medium brown wrapper on a corona sized stick..fair amount of tooth with a fairly "dry" feel. Not a very "heavy " cigar..but seems to be nicely filled with no soft spots. A boxpressed cigar, (not too severe) it felt "nice" in my hand. It clipped nice and clean.

Rick Boothman (Eduardo): Cigar #1 was box pressed, dark brown in color with a very fine textured smooth wrapper. Veining was very slight. A nice looking smoke. It seemed to be very well bunched. Once cut the pre-smoke draw was good. My only complaint in construction was the cap, a little sloppy. At first look I thought it might be Cuban but the cap gave that away.

Todd Crandall (sevenmag): Nice Wrapper and good bunch. Pre light draw was tight but the flavors came through fine. No trouble with the cut or the cap. This is a good looking little box pressed corona wiht a nearly perfect rosada wrapper.

Smoke Comments

Ben Hicks (grinnin): At lighting, a bit grassy and burning on the back of the tongue, kind of harsh. Quickly smoothed out and developed medium-strong flavor and medium body. Unique complex flavors. I can't really pin down the taste. I'd describe it as something of a toasty but just slightly sweet woody caramel, with a pronounced long lingering but overall dry aftertaste. A peppery quality comes and goes throughout the smoke. I haven't had a cigar in a few days, and at the " way point I am definitely feeling the nicotiene. I am glad I had a good lunch a little while ago!!

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): Plenty of smoke with a medium - full flavor. The cigar had a very rich body to it, great flavor that went well with the Irish whiskey I was drinking while smoking it. I experienced no burn in the throat or on the tongue. Nice aftertaste.

Daniel Bienkowski (DanB): Despite the slight underfill, the draw was perfect. The flavor started out smooth and mild with lots of smoke -- a big plus for me. The flavor has just a hint of sweetness and a slight bitterness, which reminds me of other sticks with Cameroon wrappers. I picked up some nutmeg and coffee flavors, with a light woody aftertaste that I enjoyed. I never experienced any of the harshness you get with young tobaccos. At the halfway point the flavor picked up a more salty flavor and a touch more spice. The one problem I had was that the burn required a few adjustments to keep it in line.

David Deibert (Purosdave): Immediately after lighting the cigar it started out very strong and had a pronounced harshness. The smoke has a much better aroma then the cigar had unlit but is not comparable to anything else that I can think of readily. The harshness calmed down just past the one third point allowing the flavor of the cigar to finally come through. Even though the harshness has mellowed the strength has not. Each perfect draw provides tons of smoke with flavors of strong spice and a slightly sweet earthiness. The burn stayed mostly even needing only one small correction with the torch at about the halfway point.

Jon Adams (spiridon): Upon lighting, the first impression was of a medium bodied cigar with a pretty straightforward tobacco taste. If I had to guess, I would say the filler is Nic....just seemed to have "that" Nic. Taste. The "medium body" & strength stayed pretty constant throughout...without a lot of compexity. The burn was even with no runners or canoeing. The draw was just the way I like it, not too hard, but a little resistance. Nice volume of smoke.

Rick Boothman (Eduardo): It burned very even throughout the entire smoke with a flat to slightly rounded dark grey ash. As far as flavor or lack of, this cigar was very strong. So strong, that what flavor was there was hard to detect. I did detect an earthy flavor that I liked but it was hidden by the strong peppery overtone.

Todd Crandall (sevenmag): I like the Flavor and the kick. This was a strong little unit. A bit one dimensional flavor wise but a good dimension. Nutty and slightly sweet with plenty of power. Some might say it was all power and nothing else. I had to take my time with it, as it tended to get metallic and harsh if I didn't let it rest some between draws. As long as I did that it was a good tasting smoke and even had a hint of earthiness on the nose. The burn was fine even after I dropped the damn thing on the coal. The draw stayed to tight throught the smoke but it wasn't bad enough to call it a real problem.

Summary Comments

Ben Hicks (grinnin): Summary: I liked this cigar a lot. It's not one I would smoke daily, but a interesting and enjoyable change of pace. I would not recommend this cigar to a mild cigar smoker, it really builds in power. This is a cigar to be smoked slowly, huffing on it makes it a bit harsh, but smoked slowly is very enjoyable. If it were a bit smoother overall, this would be a truly amazing cigar! This is one of the cigars I submitted for our reviews. In writing the review I was attempting to review as if I had never smoked one before. Here's a little more about this cigar based on my previous experience: The first one of these I smoked I got from a box pass and smoked it while drinking a fat tire trippel belgian ale. The combination of flavors absolutely knocked my socks off. It was one of the best smoking experiences I have ever had! The cigars for the test came from the beginning of the second box of these I bought. So far the couple I've smoked from this box are not as smooth and rich as the first box. These cigars need to be smoked slowly. If they are smoked hard, they can get pretty harsh. They get especially harsh if they go out and need to be re-lit, more so to me than most other cigars. I've found these to be a unique smoke that combines incredibly well with a hoppy British style or Belgian ale. I'm hoping that when I buy more they are more like the first box. Maybe more aging with this box will smooth them out some more.

Bill Orlando (ÞShadow): This was an excellent cigar that I would recommend to anyone.

Daniel Bienkowski (DanB): I thought this turned out to be a good choice for a morning smoke, being mild to medium strength with a nice straightforward flavor. I did notice a slight buzz afterwards, so it probably would have been too much on an empty stomach. The flavors were good but mostly one-dimensional with not much complexity. I could never get a handle on the country of origin for this stick. There didn't seem to be enough earth flavors for a Nicaraguan and there wasn't the sweet and sour flavors I associate with mostly Dominican sticks. My guess is either a mix of Nic and Dominican or predominately Honduran tobaccos. If I was forced to choose which cigar this was at the point of a gun I would say the Camacho Havana blend -- but don't hold me to that. I enjoyed this stick as a good change of pace, but doubt that I would include it in my regular rotation. I do know that I liked being on this side of the reviews much more! Thanks Grinnin for including me!

David Deibert (Purosdave): This is a lip-tingling, tounge-numbing, nose hair burning powerhouse of a cigar. I would recomend this as an after dinner smoke not to be enjoyed without proper ventilation. I did not think at first that I would enjoy this cigar, but after the harshness gave way it rounded out into a cigar that I would definately recomend to the seasoned coniseur.

Jon Adams (spiridon): I would give this cigar a "thumbs up". There was not much compexity there, but it was a good Medium bodied, straightforward smoke. I probably wouldn't mind having a box of these on hand.

Rick Boothman (Eduardo): Overall the first two thirds were good. The final third an ammonia taste developed which stopped me from finishing the cigar at about an inch and a half. For the most part a good looking and smoking cigar, a little on the strong side. The only bad comments were that the strength coupled with the ammonia taste in the last third. I fear that I might be a little too critical this being the first of the review, but i give it a 33.

Todd Crandall (sevenmag): Overall this was a good cigar. A bit tight on the draw and not particularly complex, but the flavors were good and it had a nice kick. I was able to smoke it down close to the band before it got to harsh. The construction was good other than the tight draw. I gonna go out on a limb and guess LRE.

Scores

 Review Results
Final Score: 36.2 out of 50

4 Star -- Excellent