danthebugman
BoM Nov '10
The weather this week has been mostly cold and windy which isn't exactly conducive to cigar smoking. I was pretty excited when yesterday turned out to be a sunny, warm day. I had a few projects I wanted to work on and certainly wanted to enjoy a cigar while I did so. The only problem was deciding which one. Should I go with something new...:scratchhe...or something tried and true...:scratchhe. I finally came across the Ave Maria that Braden sent me about a week ago and the matter was settled. The Ave Maria is a new cigar from AJ Fernandez, who many of you will recognize as the man behind the Diesel Unholy Cocktail and Man O War. I like both of those and so was looking forward to seeing what he'd done with this cigar.
The Ave Maria has Nicaraguan filler/binder and is draped with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It comes in 9 different vitolas, but the one I am smoking today is the Ark of the Coventant, which measures a chunky 4.5 x 60. Upon inspection the cigar seems well constructed. There are only a small amount of veins and nothing that seems it will lead the burn astray. While the seams are visible, they are tight and the cap is neatly applied. The cigar feels well packed, but not overly so. By far the most noticeable feature of this cigar is it's band, which is large and adorned prominently with a knight.
The cap gives way easily and leaves behind and effortless draw. The draw carries faint flavors of tobacco and some spice.
Toasting the foot proves to be a small chore. Mostly because my Ronson ran out of fluid after only a few seconds and I had to use my Bic. Despite that, it did toast evenly and I had no real troubles. Initial flavors were faint, but consisted of a mild tobacco. After a few puffs the cigar started to pick up and I got a heavier tobacco flavor with a nutty finish and some pepper/spice through the nose. It was pretty enjoyable.
The cigar is putting out smoke like a freight train. The ash is white with black flaking to it and is holding fairly strong. I did a trial kick and the ash came off at about 1/2", but I feel would have held longer without intervention.
The burn on this cigar is great. It was a little wavy at first, but soon corrected itself. While not razor sharp, it remained straight through much of the cigar. Never needed a touch up.
As the cigar progressed to about the 2/3 I started to pick up a caramel flavor with the nuttiness on the finish. It was very good in combination with the other flavors. While not a real complex cigar so far, there are enough flavors to keep you interested and overall they mesh well together.
In the 3/3, the cigar took a turn for the worse. While the burn is still great, the cigar started to develop a harshness to the flavors. I let it sit for a while as I worked and returned to it every few minutes in the hopes that it would work itself out, but no such luck. I finally called it quits.
Overall I'd say AJ has done a nice job with this release. The flavors were good, until the end when it started getting harsh and I don't think that is an example of the line in general. Construction and subsequent burn were top notch. Was it mind blowing...no, but a solid medium body cigar. I'd buy a few more to keep in the humidor and definitely want to smoke some other sizes also. For those wanting to get some of these try CI or Cigar.com.
Dan
The Ave Maria has Nicaraguan filler/binder and is draped with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It comes in 9 different vitolas, but the one I am smoking today is the Ark of the Coventant, which measures a chunky 4.5 x 60. Upon inspection the cigar seems well constructed. There are only a small amount of veins and nothing that seems it will lead the burn astray. While the seams are visible, they are tight and the cap is neatly applied. The cigar feels well packed, but not overly so. By far the most noticeable feature of this cigar is it's band, which is large and adorned prominently with a knight.
The cap gives way easily and leaves behind and effortless draw. The draw carries faint flavors of tobacco and some spice.
Toasting the foot proves to be a small chore. Mostly because my Ronson ran out of fluid after only a few seconds and I had to use my Bic. Despite that, it did toast evenly and I had no real troubles. Initial flavors were faint, but consisted of a mild tobacco. After a few puffs the cigar started to pick up and I got a heavier tobacco flavor with a nutty finish and some pepper/spice through the nose. It was pretty enjoyable.
The cigar is putting out smoke like a freight train. The ash is white with black flaking to it and is holding fairly strong. I did a trial kick and the ash came off at about 1/2", but I feel would have held longer without intervention.
The burn on this cigar is great. It was a little wavy at first, but soon corrected itself. While not razor sharp, it remained straight through much of the cigar. Never needed a touch up.
As the cigar progressed to about the 2/3 I started to pick up a caramel flavor with the nuttiness on the finish. It was very good in combination with the other flavors. While not a real complex cigar so far, there are enough flavors to keep you interested and overall they mesh well together.
In the 3/3, the cigar took a turn for the worse. While the burn is still great, the cigar started to develop a harshness to the flavors. I let it sit for a while as I worked and returned to it every few minutes in the hopes that it would work itself out, but no such luck. I finally called it quits.
Overall I'd say AJ has done a nice job with this release. The flavors were good, until the end when it started getting harsh and I don't think that is an example of the line in general. Construction and subsequent burn were top notch. Was it mind blowing...no, but a solid medium body cigar. I'd buy a few more to keep in the humidor and definitely want to smoke some other sizes also. For those wanting to get some of these try CI or Cigar.com.
Dan
