09/08/14
7:45pm
Blind Review #4
Courtesy of: Jim aka Problemsolver
Expected Vitola: 6x54 Torpedo
Appearance: Medium roast coffee colored wrapper, this wrapper really looks like a leaf. Multiple veins running from head to foot and circling around. It's a very durable wrapper and has been rolled well. It has a leathery feel with consistent construction.
Pre-lit Aroma: strong cedar and tobaccos.
Cold Draw: sweet, salt, cedar. Nice open draw.
Torch Time! Cream, caramel, sweet cedar, lemon... To be honest the flavors are coming, going...morphing.. I'm really curious to see where this cigar settles after the first inch. Medium body.. Strength is yet to be seen. Wavy yet straight burn line. The first inch has come and gone leaving cream, lemon, cedar.. Moderate smoke production and the smoke is staying nice and cool. Medium body/medium strength with mild pepper on the RH.
Going into the second here the cream is building some toasty richness and the lemon is coming across as more of a hard candy and the cedar still mixing into the profile. Burn is perfect, draw is perfect. The pepper is building on the finish. An earthiness is building on top of the cream. There are some flavors in there that I'm missing/can't put my finger on yet...maybe floral and the cream is more of a creaminess than cream in the sense of milky. There's a chalkiness left on the lips. Still medium body and strength. Coming towards the end of the second; licorice, leather, strawberry notes with a nice peppery finish.
This thing is full of flavors and to be honest, they change from one puff to the next but at the same time, there is consistency in the creamy/hard candy/peppery finish. The body, strength hold medium, while the burn and draw stay solid throughout. The earthiness has also hung around since the middle of the 2nd. The pepper on the retro hale has continued to build evenly as I burn towards the finish. There is a bit of strength picking up into the finale. The cream has fell way to a pepper blast on the senses. A little bit of spice scratches at the back of the throat. If you draw lightly, you can still enjoy the cream and hard candy or take a longer pull and experience the earth and licorice. The strength has built considerably working through towards the nub.
Final Thoughts: This cigar started out rich right from the start. There were plenty of flavors swirling around popping in and out throughout. The draw was great, burn was wavy but straight throughout. Smoke production was moderate and enjoyable staying cool throughout. The strength stayed consistent until the final third where it picked up and tapped you on the shoulder. There were nice transitions but also a consistency that culminated into a well balanced yet wide ranged flavor profile. Very enjoyable to smoke and would work well with a bright cup of coffee.
Nub worthy/Finishes Strong
Burn Time: 1hr 45mins
Scoring:
Overall Appearance and Presentation: 17/20
Lighting and Burning Properties: 14/15
Construction Properties: 30/30
Taste Properties: 30/35
Total: 91/100
REVEALED AS: ALEC BRADLEY NICA PURO
*I use a cigar rating sheet found online and while the taste might be a delight and definitely worth smoking, the overall score takes more than that into consideration. I refer you to the actual review to get a feel for what I think about the flavors and enjoyability of the cigar.
**These one off blind reviews are for a snap shot of this cigar; a fun way to share with you my initial impression of a smoke I know nothing about and (possibly) have never tried before. This review, in no way reflects a professional opinion. That would require more stringent guidelines and the smoking of more than one cigar per review. Although I will always try to be as professional and thorough as possible.