Well, Ji mentioned he liked reading my reviews and looking at the pics so he asked me to do a blind review on a stick of his choice that he would include with my poker winnings. Well they arrived the other day and I have been eyeing the stick...curious to what it might or might not hold. Tonight I got a little free time to step out to my smoking room and have a little fun, so this puppy was just right for the situation.
Construction is excellent. Beautiful wrapper with a slight shine. A figurado shaped smoke with a mid-range RG (40ish id guess?) Head and foot were very well done.
I clip the head and give a pre-light draw. Draw is dead on balls perfect. Toast the foot slowly and eventually take a few puffs to see what hides behind the ash. The first few puffs were very bland. Not nasty but just nothing really there yet. I didnt lose interest though and burned through the first inch. About that point some lovely flavors begin to arise through the soft mellow smoke. A nice leathery flavor with some hints of maybe coffee and/or toffee. The cigar was so very mild at this point and the flavors just shined right through. The stregnth came no where near overpowering and really just let you enjoy the lovely flavors.
About halfway through the strength picked up slightly but I would still rate it on the lower end of "medium." The flavors changed slightly as the toffee backed off and a nice creamy taste with some hints of cedar replacing the toffee. Really tasty!
It spiced up slightly towards the end but only enough to tickle your lips a little bit. Nothing really strong. The spice and flavors stayed throughout the end and really blended well together.
I definitely thought this cigar had a few years on it already as it didnt taste young at all. A nice mellow smoke with a variety of different flavor combinations that progressed throughout the smoke. The nice creamy smoke was very mild and let you really pick out the flavors from the cigar fairly easy. Considering the flavor/enjoyment and construction of this cigar, I would guess it would be in the upper end price range of premium NCs. Im thinking around $15 a stick or so. Now I just wait for Ji to chime in and let me know what this thing was. I dont smoke NCs much at all anymore, however this cigar was easily enjoyable.
Construction is excellent. Beautiful wrapper with a slight shine. A figurado shaped smoke with a mid-range RG (40ish id guess?) Head and foot were very well done.
I clip the head and give a pre-light draw. Draw is dead on balls perfect. Toast the foot slowly and eventually take a few puffs to see what hides behind the ash. The first few puffs were very bland. Not nasty but just nothing really there yet. I didnt lose interest though and burned through the first inch. About that point some lovely flavors begin to arise through the soft mellow smoke. A nice leathery flavor with some hints of maybe coffee and/or toffee. The cigar was so very mild at this point and the flavors just shined right through. The stregnth came no where near overpowering and really just let you enjoy the lovely flavors.
About halfway through the strength picked up slightly but I would still rate it on the lower end of "medium." The flavors changed slightly as the toffee backed off and a nice creamy taste with some hints of cedar replacing the toffee. Really tasty!
It spiced up slightly towards the end but only enough to tickle your lips a little bit. Nothing really strong. The spice and flavors stayed throughout the end and really blended well together.
I definitely thought this cigar had a few years on it already as it didnt taste young at all. A nice mellow smoke with a variety of different flavor combinations that progressed throughout the smoke. The nice creamy smoke was very mild and let you really pick out the flavors from the cigar fairly easy. Considering the flavor/enjoyment and construction of this cigar, I would guess it would be in the upper end price range of premium NCs. Im thinking around $15 a stick or so. Now I just wait for Ji to chime in and let me know what this thing was. I dont smoke NCs much at all anymore, however this cigar was easily enjoyable.
