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Headbanger Reverse Contest, Starting Reviews

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Still not sure I am correct in the assessments, but sure am trying hard a hell. I too wish I could ask the players now, but gave them all letters and buried who they were as to not influence my thoughts. I know who player C is because C2 was in the worst shape of any stick in there, made me concerned for sure.

All sticks have been so different, no two even close to one another in profiles. 5 down, 15 to go. Thanks again to the players for their sticks.
 
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Player H, Stick 1, Overall score is 94
Irritech, Cabaiguan Robusto

Appearance and Construction: 18 of 20

This estimated 5 1/2 x 50 good looking medium brown wrapper. Couple blemishes like a small repair where the wrapper connected, a different spot where the wrapper did not connect too well and one small hole. Took 2 snips of the Palio as first one made the cap bunch up somehow. Otherwise this stick looked pretty and smooth. A pleasant tobacco aroma very present. An interesting looking foot too, various dark and light color tobacco were noticed.

Pre-lit draw 9 of 10

This one was just a tad too tight and into the first inch while burning and glad it opened up. A nice tingle on the lips with sweet twang presence.

Burning and lighting 15 of 15

The burn on this was very good. This stick virtually did not steer off course and was near straight for the most part, always self correcting minus 1 small touch-up toward the end. Took well to being purged. The draw started a little tough, it yielded a nice smoke volume all the way. The ash was solid grey and held on very nicely.

Flavor, taste, changes in profile: 28 of 30

Very nice start showing various woody qualities with a touch of herbal as background. Smooth and sweet mild start. Mid way was stronger various woody tastes. Nice and complex this cigar was and well balanced throughout. The ending was more of the same. Grew into a nice medium strength. Normally I like the cigar to mix it up or change, but this stayed very pleasant woody with changes within that profile, it did not need to do more than that as was surpurb.

Overall Finish: 9 of 10

More of the same, very good woody finish to the end. Lingering woody on the pallet for what seemed like hours. Very smooth in my throat was noticed too, adding to the smoothness.

Summary: 15 of 15

This stick lasted me 80 minutes, putting it down with maybe 1" remaining. I am pretty sure where this stick came from, but it would have to be a corona gorda size of 5 5/8 x 46 unless I messed up when estimating. I would call this stick as being “on!”, meaning very smokeable and should have been somewhat aged. I would estimate cost at $7-8 bucks. I would seriously consider a box purchase of this cigar. Thanks for sharing this cigar with me.
 

indyrob

BoM Feb '06 & Sept. '08
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headbanger said:
A1
A2 72 pts. post #199
B1
B2 84 pts. post #200
C1
C2 96 pts. post #198
D1
D2 90.5 pts. post #169
E1
E2
F1
F2
G1
G2
H1 94 pts. post #212
H2
I1
I2
J1 86 pts. post #164
J2
I'm looking forward to what C2 is!
 
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Player F, Stick 2, Overall score is 84
IndyRob, La Flor Domica Ligero

Appearance and Construction: 18 of 20

This estimated 5 1/4 x 50 round, very dark brown (maduro?) wrapper looked very nice. Shows some signs of age with the veins showing up lighter somewhat. Some cracking on the feet and parts of the smooth wrapper were raised up a bit. Sweet tobacco nice scent.

Pre-lit draw 10 of 10

Pretty nice draw showing earthy and sweet tobacco. Taste was very nice overall to both the nose and mouth, two thumbs up.

Burning and lighting 13 of 15

Took well to the lighter, had a few too many correction issues later on. Might be from the raised wrapper, but wrapper burned too slow in spots and overall burn was very slow. Needed some extra torches due to the slow burn. The ash was med. grey and held nicely.

Flavor, taste, changes in profile: 25 of 30

First part was a little earthy, cedar wood, smooth and sweet tobacco. Nice medium strength starting stick. Mid way got stronger turning to more straight woody, losing the sweet and earthiness. The last third started to kick my butt, going to the harsh side of things, completely lost the smoothness and did not feel very well balanced. This stick became too strong for my liking.

Overall Finish: 8 of 10

Nice and pleasant woody flavors lingers along with some bitterness as well.

Summary: 10 of 15

This stick lasted me 67 minutes, putting it down with about 1.50" remaining as I was woozy toward the end . A great starting stick that went south on me. The nicotine and probable strength of the ligero overpowered the flavors that were very enjoyable at the beginning. Lost a few points mostly cause too strong for me. If someone likes stronger sticks, would be several points higher. Might have needed more age to smooth this out as felt imbalanced. I would estimate cost around the $6 buck range. Thanks for sharing this cigar with me.
 
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Player G, Stick 2, Overall score is 81
Wasch_24 -

Appearance and Construction: 19 of 20

This estimated 6 1/8 x 42 round, very light brown wrapper looked to be several years old (5-7?). The stitching and wrinkled blond wrapper looked nicely aged and well taken care of. Only a very few small veins showed. The color was very even. The wrapper was rather bumpy and showed up a few soft spots and bumps too. Leniency was given due to the estimated age. The smell was sweet aged tobacco.

Pre-lit draw 10 of 10

The draw felt just right, nice and easy. Smooth woodiness and some earth like age tobacco were noticed in the draw. Nice smooth tobacco and tingle on the lips.

Burning and lighting 9 of 15

The stick took to the torch well. Started off straight for about an inch, then went to hell the rest of the way. I lost count of the times I had to torch to correct or re light. The burn on the wrapper was awkward and crooked. The inside always seemed to burn faster than the wrapper. Even touching up and then purge, 1 minute later the cheery would go out. The ash was dark grey, with blackish looks throughout. (The various burn issues most definitely took away from my enjoyment, made things frustrating).

Flavor, taste, changes in profile: 25 of 30

Smooth creamy woodiness with mild spice in the background greeted me to start with nice toasted tobacco. Mid was more of the same, less smooth cream, more woody with intermittent harshness. Not much was noticed in the last third as this is when I struggled mightily with the burning issues.

Overall Finish: 9 of 10

The lingering woodiness on the pallet and throat was nice and lasted a good while.

Summary: 9 of 15

This stick lasted me 79 minutes, putting it down with about 2" remaining as I grew tired of fighting with the burn issues which did not improve, only got worse. It is hard to review a cigar fully, when the main issue might have simply been a bad roll. But as I only have one stick, I can only grade this one unfairly. I would estimate cost around the $8 buck range. Thanks for sharing this cigar with me.
 
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