I hate pompous reviews. Those things you read in CA about “citrus bursts and hints of currant” because I mean really, how many of us actually know what currants taste like?
For that reason and that reason alone I apologize for this review.
At a herf in the summer I got a single puff on a puff puff pass clear Havana at Trishields house. It was only one puff but it was stellar and it planted a seed in my mind to go after some if I could find them. But when the opportunity presented itself I stalled a little bit. I mean how do you even know that cigars are from 1950? How do you know they have been well maintained all that time? And how do you know they were good to begin with; I mean would a Philly Blunt improve with 50 plus years of aging? But I pushed aside my fears and popped a box of these sight unseen.
The wrapper is not yellowed, its yellow. I mean if this was snow you definitely wouldn’t eat it. You can see in the cello where this cigar has been through pluming (is that the proper usage). The cigar itself is not flawed but has seen better days. Its not unattractive per se, but it looks old. It looks so old that if it told stories they would all start with “Back in my day….” And it would also employ the word “whippersnapper” and while telling these stories he’d hitch up his suspenders a lot. I suspect even when it was new it was not as handsome as todays sticks.
The stick has a faint smell of cinnamon and an even fainter smell of oranges. What? Don’t look at me like that, I swear its true. I didn’t cut it, all these sticks are constructed with a hole in the cap for easy of smoking. I also didn’t predraw it as it looks slightly fragile (its not) and I didn’t want to over handle it.
It lit easy, almost too easy and while I was toasting I feared that maybe these had been sitting in a closet and were awfully dry. That maybe my fears of buying 50 year old tobacco and it giving me cooties was spot on. I was afraid I had wasted a decent sum of money on these things.
Then I pulled on it.
I want to tell you it was buttery but that would be a disservice to the taste. When I was a kid, I remember there was this Tom & Jerry cartoon where Jerry sits on a spoon and Tom puts it over a lit candle. Jerry gets burned and runs across the table and sits on some butter that instantly melts around him and turns into a throne of butter. That’s what the stick starts like. Its an amazing experience, its like deep, rich, sweet, creamy, butter. And in that delicious sea of luciousness there are mixed nuts and a mild sweetness that reminds one of fresh bread. My mouth watered for actual food as soon as I drew the cigar.
The smoke is thick and white as any I’ve ever seen. The ash is whiteish gray, and thick; as sturdy as the unburned part of the cigar. The burning scent is so good and so clean that I can’t actually describe it. Its like heaven, or at the very least the way a mother must smell to a newborn.
Then about a third of the way thru it mixes in some spiciness that gets progressively stronger. It does it evenly but by the last third its very Pepin like. In fact N3uka remarked exactly what I was thinking “By the time you get to the last third its like a completely different cigar.” And that cigar is also extremely excellent.
The last 1/2 inch has to be burning before the cigar delivers even a smidgen of heat to your fingers.
I have never had a cigar this flavorful and complex before.
Appearance – 9
Construction – 10
Flavor – 10
Value – 10
Overall Experience -10
Overall Grade – 9.8
Final Verdict – Mindblowingly good. The best thing you can have in your mouth that is not Scotch or the female anatomy.
For that reason and that reason alone I apologize for this review.
At a herf in the summer I got a single puff on a puff puff pass clear Havana at Trishields house. It was only one puff but it was stellar and it planted a seed in my mind to go after some if I could find them. But when the opportunity presented itself I stalled a little bit. I mean how do you even know that cigars are from 1950? How do you know they have been well maintained all that time? And how do you know they were good to begin with; I mean would a Philly Blunt improve with 50 plus years of aging? But I pushed aside my fears and popped a box of these sight unseen.
The wrapper is not yellowed, its yellow. I mean if this was snow you definitely wouldn’t eat it. You can see in the cello where this cigar has been through pluming (is that the proper usage). The cigar itself is not flawed but has seen better days. Its not unattractive per se, but it looks old. It looks so old that if it told stories they would all start with “Back in my day….” And it would also employ the word “whippersnapper” and while telling these stories he’d hitch up his suspenders a lot. I suspect even when it was new it was not as handsome as todays sticks.
The stick has a faint smell of cinnamon and an even fainter smell of oranges. What? Don’t look at me like that, I swear its true. I didn’t cut it, all these sticks are constructed with a hole in the cap for easy of smoking. I also didn’t predraw it as it looks slightly fragile (its not) and I didn’t want to over handle it.
It lit easy, almost too easy and while I was toasting I feared that maybe these had been sitting in a closet and were awfully dry. That maybe my fears of buying 50 year old tobacco and it giving me cooties was spot on. I was afraid I had wasted a decent sum of money on these things.
Then I pulled on it.
I want to tell you it was buttery but that would be a disservice to the taste. When I was a kid, I remember there was this Tom & Jerry cartoon where Jerry sits on a spoon and Tom puts it over a lit candle. Jerry gets burned and runs across the table and sits on some butter that instantly melts around him and turns into a throne of butter. That’s what the stick starts like. Its an amazing experience, its like deep, rich, sweet, creamy, butter. And in that delicious sea of luciousness there are mixed nuts and a mild sweetness that reminds one of fresh bread. My mouth watered for actual food as soon as I drew the cigar.
The smoke is thick and white as any I’ve ever seen. The ash is whiteish gray, and thick; as sturdy as the unburned part of the cigar. The burning scent is so good and so clean that I can’t actually describe it. Its like heaven, or at the very least the way a mother must smell to a newborn.
Then about a third of the way thru it mixes in some spiciness that gets progressively stronger. It does it evenly but by the last third its very Pepin like. In fact N3uka remarked exactly what I was thinking “By the time you get to the last third its like a completely different cigar.” And that cigar is also extremely excellent.
The last 1/2 inch has to be burning before the cigar delivers even a smidgen of heat to your fingers.
I have never had a cigar this flavorful and complex before.
Appearance – 9
Construction – 10
Flavor – 10
Value – 10
Overall Experience -10
Overall Grade – 9.8
Final Verdict – Mindblowingly good. The best thing you can have in your mouth that is not Scotch or the female anatomy.
