George Rico S.T.K Miami American Puro "Corona"
17 days of rest
Soft Light
Water
So, this is a pretty unique blend. It is a Connecticut wrapper and binder around a filler of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Kentucky fire cured tobacco. I've read that it is rolled in Miami. Well, so much for American workmanship. This thing looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. It has big veins, small veins, inconsistent seams, no oil, and it pretty misshapen. It is flat in some spots like it had a weight laid across it. It bulges in one spot and dips in the other.
At this point the light was hard, a piece of the wrapper flaked away, and the foot had explode. Plus, the ash had dropped off. A horrible start to the experience. The flavor was leather, cream, tobacco, and oak. The body was mild and the flavors were mild-medium in intensity. So far, nothing special.
The bands keep slipping around like the cigar was at least two ring gauges larger when they were applied.
Getting to this point the flavors had ramped up. They were moving up to medium presence with a spice that made it feel like it was punching above it's weight. The cream was thick and enjoyable. The spice was slowly ramping up and the tastes of oak and hickory were coming out. The list was cream, spice, leather, oak, and hickory. I was thinking, this might be a good morning smoke.
The cream backs out and the leather ramps up. Then it fades back and the wood comes up a few notches. The spice disappeared. Still nothing wows me. It tastes like a $3 stick. Too bad it retails for nearly $8 at CI. This was the definition of mild-medium and the flavors were mostly dominated by the leather and wood.
I'm searching for something entertaining to type. The truth is this cigar just doesn't make one think of entertaining. It is kind of interesting because of the provenance. However, it really isn't showing off the potential of the Kentucky or Pennsylvanian tobacco.
Then it does an about face and the hickory and oak come to the front with a syrupy sweetness and a toasty texture. It starts to show some potential to be interesting.
The ash fell and the spice ramped up with the sweetness. Then they both broke and it was back to cruise control with leather, oak, cream, spice. It isn't bad it is just so hum drum. Nothing is popping, flavors get muted and then come back. Plus the burn line is wavy with a huge indention on one side.
It stays this way for a while. I actually consider tossing it out. The only saving grace is that occasionally a new flavor pops in or the fire cured stuff takes hold.
Am I smoking a bread stick? For a few puffs it really tastes like a dry bread stick. Not the great French or garlic type. Think of a pretzel with no salt. Then, bam spice ramps up, a molasses like sweetness comes in, leather comes back, and hickory swings back from obscurity. That lasts for a couple of minutes and then we get a decent complexity with the gooey molasses in charge. But, the char line starts running away on one side and the flavors go flat.
The ash drops off and then the char line gets worse and the flavors flatline. All I'm getting is a tobacco taste and hint of spice. I touch it up and it starts kicking off a heavy spice and smoky wood. Then the ash falls again. What the hell? I get it up and running, the burn line does a runner, and the ash falls. I decide to look and see what is going on.
The picture sucks. The jist of it is simple though. There is no filler to speak of on one side. Plus there is a large hollow spot. I was tired of dealing with the stick at this point. So, I grabbed a toothpick and stuck it in the hollow spot. There was a lack of filler in that area long enough to fit half the stick in there. I tossed it.
For $3 per stick on Cbid this thing is still no bargain. It just never comes together in any way that holds my attention. It required numerous touch ups. It exploded less than a quarter-inch in and I had to touch that up because it threatened to rip the wrapper in half. Part of the wrapper flaked off and it nearly lacked filler on one side for over an inch. Even when the flavors come out they are never more than medium in presence. They lack anything that captures my attention or really makes it stand out. If you want a simple mild-medium Connecticut cigar a CAO Gold will give you a much better return on investment. If you are on a budget and need a three dollar stick the list of better alternatives is quite long. A Perdomo Habano, Alec Bradley American Sun Grown Blend, Diesel Unlimited Maduro, Diesel Unlimited, or Perdomo Lot 23 would be a much wiser investment.
It isn't a dog rocket, but it doesn't stand out enough to compete with a number of sticks in the same price range. Plus the quality control and construction is horrible. I can't recommend this stick in good conscience.
17 days of rest
Soft Light
Water
So, this is a pretty unique blend. It is a Connecticut wrapper and binder around a filler of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Kentucky fire cured tobacco. I've read that it is rolled in Miami. Well, so much for American workmanship. This thing looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. It has big veins, small veins, inconsistent seams, no oil, and it pretty misshapen. It is flat in some spots like it had a weight laid across it. It bulges in one spot and dips in the other.
At this point the light was hard, a piece of the wrapper flaked away, and the foot had explode. Plus, the ash had dropped off. A horrible start to the experience. The flavor was leather, cream, tobacco, and oak. The body was mild and the flavors were mild-medium in intensity. So far, nothing special.
The bands keep slipping around like the cigar was at least two ring gauges larger when they were applied.
Getting to this point the flavors had ramped up. They were moving up to medium presence with a spice that made it feel like it was punching above it's weight. The cream was thick and enjoyable. The spice was slowly ramping up and the tastes of oak and hickory were coming out. The list was cream, spice, leather, oak, and hickory. I was thinking, this might be a good morning smoke.
The cream backs out and the leather ramps up. Then it fades back and the wood comes up a few notches. The spice disappeared. Still nothing wows me. It tastes like a $3 stick. Too bad it retails for nearly $8 at CI. This was the definition of mild-medium and the flavors were mostly dominated by the leather and wood.
I'm searching for something entertaining to type. The truth is this cigar just doesn't make one think of entertaining. It is kind of interesting because of the provenance. However, it really isn't showing off the potential of the Kentucky or Pennsylvanian tobacco.
Then it does an about face and the hickory and oak come to the front with a syrupy sweetness and a toasty texture. It starts to show some potential to be interesting.
The ash fell and the spice ramped up with the sweetness. Then they both broke and it was back to cruise control with leather, oak, cream, spice. It isn't bad it is just so hum drum. Nothing is popping, flavors get muted and then come back. Plus the burn line is wavy with a huge indention on one side.
It stays this way for a while. I actually consider tossing it out. The only saving grace is that occasionally a new flavor pops in or the fire cured stuff takes hold.
Am I smoking a bread stick? For a few puffs it really tastes like a dry bread stick. Not the great French or garlic type. Think of a pretzel with no salt. Then, bam spice ramps up, a molasses like sweetness comes in, leather comes back, and hickory swings back from obscurity. That lasts for a couple of minutes and then we get a decent complexity with the gooey molasses in charge. But, the char line starts running away on one side and the flavors go flat.
The ash drops off and then the char line gets worse and the flavors flatline. All I'm getting is a tobacco taste and hint of spice. I touch it up and it starts kicking off a heavy spice and smoky wood. Then the ash falls again. What the hell? I get it up and running, the burn line does a runner, and the ash falls. I decide to look and see what is going on.
The picture sucks. The jist of it is simple though. There is no filler to speak of on one side. Plus there is a large hollow spot. I was tired of dealing with the stick at this point. So, I grabbed a toothpick and stuck it in the hollow spot. There was a lack of filler in that area long enough to fit half the stick in there. I tossed it.
For $3 per stick on Cbid this thing is still no bargain. It just never comes together in any way that holds my attention. It required numerous touch ups. It exploded less than a quarter-inch in and I had to touch that up because it threatened to rip the wrapper in half. Part of the wrapper flaked off and it nearly lacked filler on one side for over an inch. Even when the flavors come out they are never more than medium in presence. They lack anything that captures my attention or really makes it stand out. If you want a simple mild-medium Connecticut cigar a CAO Gold will give you a much better return on investment. If you are on a budget and need a three dollar stick the list of better alternatives is quite long. A Perdomo Habano, Alec Bradley American Sun Grown Blend, Diesel Unlimited Maduro, Diesel Unlimited, or Perdomo Lot 23 would be a much wiser investment.
It isn't a dog rocket, but it doesn't stand out enough to compete with a number of sticks in the same price range. Plus the quality control and construction is horrible. I can't recommend this stick in good conscience.
