thegoldenmackid
Why Can't I be a Lancero?
A month or so ago, I made some stupid comment. That led to this.
The one on the far right was unbanded. The only hint I got was:
"it's a package of Fuentes since I'm a Fuente whore. There's also a mystery stick in there if you want a blind challenge."
Anyways, I'll try to keep it in a similar format as I do my site.
Name: Something Fuente?
Shape: Corona
Size: 5.5 x 42
Wrapper: ?
Binder: ?
Filler: ?
Country: ?
Price: ?
Source: MU Mike
Time in Humidor: ~1 Month
Cut: Xikar Xi3
Light: Colibri Boss II
Beverage: Coke
Smoking Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Today's Smoke
My first guess was Añejo Reserva 46, but it's a bit shorter and the wrapper is noticeably softer and has much more oils. I'm not good enough yet to pick up the differences in wrappers, but I'd say this isn't my beloved Cameroon. It seems to have a bit more color than almost all the Cameroon I smoke and too much oil. While there are no imperfections, there are tons of veins of various sizes. I get a medium leather with a bit of sweetness from the wrapper. To the touch, it's a good resistance and the foot confirms it's been packed well. Aroma from the bottom of the cigar is a medium cocoa and earth mixture.
Lighting
I clip this with my Xikar, everything goes well. The head is complex, rather complex actual. Lots of herbal spice and red pepper contrast a bland earthy tobacco. The cold draw is a bit tighter than my preference, which is slightly tight, but of no concern. A mild-medium flavor that I can only describe as like Red Hots, the candy, is short and the only thing I get. Lighting via cedar obviously complicates trying to pick up the aroma, but I do get a noticeable amount of pepper in the air underneath the cedar. First draw is a medium pepper with a tasty rich and sweet cocoa on top of cedar that I would peg somewhere slightly north of medium, but not medium-plus on Teh Official Charlie Flavor Meter™.
First Third
Ten minutes in, the flavor starts to change. The dust settles and it's cocoa on top of toasty and cedar notes. What's apparent from the start is this is going to be a flavor bomb. The first third might have been the most amount of flavor I've gotten from a cigar all year long. Finish is beautiful: cedar and cocoa dominate while herbs and toastiness emerge towards the end of the extremely long and flavorful finish. Fortunately, the draw loosens to essentially medium, while delivering tons of smoke in and outside my mouth.
Second Third
It's getting cold, but honestly softball size hail isn't going to keep from finishing this. Smoother baker's chocolate takes over the flavor profile while a hearty molasses comes in via the retrohale. Cocoa, oak and herbs dominate the mild tobacco on the finish, which remains just as strong and long as the first third. Little changes in the other categories: burn is still good, strength is still medium, and while the aroma changes from toasty to leather, smoke production is still the same. The light grey ash is now extending to the inch and a half mark, as opposed to the inch chunks from the first third, but that's not my largest of concerns.
Final Third
I wrote down "much of the same" on my notes. I didn't put unicorns and stars around it, but I should of… That's because much of the same is a good thing. The tobacco becomes a bit more prevalent and the baker's chocolate bitters a bit more while some of the rest of the flavor seems to sweeten. As the cigar finishes, the oak begins to overtake the ending notes. While the flavor changes a bit, some others take on more noticeable changes. The strength is now in the medium-full range and smoke production picks up delivering tons of smoke at the end.
Final Guesses…
I got no clue, but damn was this good. Big thanks to Mike for sending an absolutely incredible set of smokes. Okay… Mike, what was this beauty?
