r3db4r0n
BoM Jan '11
After 8 months of waiting, with an additional three hours to bored the plane, six and a half hours in the air, two hours waiting for luggage and car rental, plus an additional 5 hour drive from Las Vegas to Bishop, I finally made it to the land of misty mountain tops, climbing, and California Sun. But today is a rest day, and as promised its time to write up a review.
As the first entry in my vacation reveiw series, I decided to go with the most polled for cigar - the Liga Privada T52 - courtesay of Excel (whodeeni).
Sitting in the hotel BBQ pit watching my friends play scrabble, I eagerly anticipate lighting this tastey Drew Estate cigar. A Toro measuring 6x52, this smoke boasts an interesting and complex variatey of tobaccos. The Filler comes from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua, while the binder is a product of Brazillian Mata-Fina, with a beautiful deep rich American "Habano" wrapper bringing everything together.
Upon closer inspection, this T52 appears to be a product of good construction; firm when rolled between the fingers, visible but tight seams, and no major veins, though small surface veins run in every which direction for a picturesque leathery effect.
Pre-light draw: After moistening the head, the cap comes off easily with a swift clip from the blades of my Palio and I move to draw on the cigar. The draw is excellent, but offers surprisingly mellow flavors with little more than strong tobacco and some spice present. The aromas from the wrapper and foot are considerably more complex, giving off strong notes of cedar, sweet tobacco, and a slight hint of that banyard nuance. I remain rather optimistic as to how this cigar will behave after lighting.
Light: Now, I am normally accustomed to a jet flame lighter, but bringing compressed combustable materials onboard an airplane is prohibited by the TSA. Unwilling to buy butane that I would other wise not be able to bring home with me, I have decided to settle for the soft flame of a barbecue lighter, though, there is no wind and the foot toasts and lights well. The draw is excellent, bringing forth notes of sweet tobacco to the pallet, along with some spice and toasted nut.
First Thrid: After smoking through the light and letting the flavors sink into the pallet, more complex flavors start to become discernable. Cedar notes join the sweet tobacco on the draw, while the spice and toasted nuts deepen and linger as the draw is expelled. The retro-hale shares heavy cedar fragrences with the draw as well as undertones of sweet tobacco and spice, while the ambient burn offers waves of sweet spice. The burn in the first third is excellent, holding ash for 2 inches without dropping, topped off with a razor sharp burn line.
Second Third: Moments into the second third, the 2 inch ash gives way, leaving a fresh face for the flavor profile. This T52 appears already appears to be strengthening, with cedar remaining dominent, though, more intense with the spice following closely behind. The sweet tobacco has arisen from an undertone to a full on flavor, although the toasted nut seems to have died away, replaced now by espresso, with strong cedar nuances lingering on the pallet as the draw is exphaled. Cedar has now melded with the sweet tobacco creating an intersting nuance carried on the retro-hale, with some spice still detectable. The ambient burn has enhanced to bring forth aromas of sweet cedar, while still retaing the spice. Unfortunately midway through the second third, a gust of wind knocked the the cigar from its perch on my the Palio, removing two thirds an inch of ash, although, roughly an inch still remains while still exhibiting an excellent burn.
Final Third: I am captivated by the strong cedar nuances this Drew Estate masterpiece has exuded throughout the entirety of this cigar, although the ash has dropped once again leading into the final third, leading the way for a open canvas in the finale. Not surprisingly, this cigar continues to strengthen as it has in the previous two thirds. Espresso now accompanies the cedar for an interesting but well balanced meld, still retaining some sweet notes. Toasted almond - which often seems to accompany Nicaraguan tobaccos - makes an apperance. Sweet cedar is still heavily present on the retro-hale, and now shares the almond-espresso nuance existent on draw. The ambient burn retains the sweet cedar that it has through out the majority of the smoke, though, the spice seems to have died away. The burn continues to come across in excellent form with only one minor anomaly due to a vein near the end, though, this quickly corrects it self as the ash approaches the nub. The ash it self holds well for an inch and a half to two inches towards before finally letting go.
Final Thoughts: In my opinion, this was the epitome of what I consider a good cigar. It started off short and sweet and steadily developed its flavor profile and aromas as the thirds progressed. At $10-14 dollars a stick, this may be slightly more expensive than the average premium, but it is definitely worth the price tag for anyone willing to pay a little more for a bit of variety into their smoking line up.
Total smoking time was an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes.
Cheers,
Shawn
As the first entry in my vacation reveiw series, I decided to go with the most polled for cigar - the Liga Privada T52 - courtesay of Excel (whodeeni).
Sitting in the hotel BBQ pit watching my friends play scrabble, I eagerly anticipate lighting this tastey Drew Estate cigar. A Toro measuring 6x52, this smoke boasts an interesting and complex variatey of tobaccos. The Filler comes from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua, while the binder is a product of Brazillian Mata-Fina, with a beautiful deep rich American "Habano" wrapper bringing everything together.
Upon closer inspection, this T52 appears to be a product of good construction; firm when rolled between the fingers, visible but tight seams, and no major veins, though small surface veins run in every which direction for a picturesque leathery effect.
Pre-light draw: After moistening the head, the cap comes off easily with a swift clip from the blades of my Palio and I move to draw on the cigar. The draw is excellent, but offers surprisingly mellow flavors with little more than strong tobacco and some spice present. The aromas from the wrapper and foot are considerably more complex, giving off strong notes of cedar, sweet tobacco, and a slight hint of that banyard nuance. I remain rather optimistic as to how this cigar will behave after lighting.
Light: Now, I am normally accustomed to a jet flame lighter, but bringing compressed combustable materials onboard an airplane is prohibited by the TSA. Unwilling to buy butane that I would other wise not be able to bring home with me, I have decided to settle for the soft flame of a barbecue lighter, though, there is no wind and the foot toasts and lights well. The draw is excellent, bringing forth notes of sweet tobacco to the pallet, along with some spice and toasted nut.
First Thrid: After smoking through the light and letting the flavors sink into the pallet, more complex flavors start to become discernable. Cedar notes join the sweet tobacco on the draw, while the spice and toasted nuts deepen and linger as the draw is expelled. The retro-hale shares heavy cedar fragrences with the draw as well as undertones of sweet tobacco and spice, while the ambient burn offers waves of sweet spice. The burn in the first third is excellent, holding ash for 2 inches without dropping, topped off with a razor sharp burn line.
Second Third: Moments into the second third, the 2 inch ash gives way, leaving a fresh face for the flavor profile. This T52 appears already appears to be strengthening, with cedar remaining dominent, though, more intense with the spice following closely behind. The sweet tobacco has arisen from an undertone to a full on flavor, although the toasted nut seems to have died away, replaced now by espresso, with strong cedar nuances lingering on the pallet as the draw is exphaled. Cedar has now melded with the sweet tobacco creating an intersting nuance carried on the retro-hale, with some spice still detectable. The ambient burn has enhanced to bring forth aromas of sweet cedar, while still retaing the spice. Unfortunately midway through the second third, a gust of wind knocked the the cigar from its perch on my the Palio, removing two thirds an inch of ash, although, roughly an inch still remains while still exhibiting an excellent burn.
Final Third: I am captivated by the strong cedar nuances this Drew Estate masterpiece has exuded throughout the entirety of this cigar, although the ash has dropped once again leading into the final third, leading the way for a open canvas in the finale. Not surprisingly, this cigar continues to strengthen as it has in the previous two thirds. Espresso now accompanies the cedar for an interesting but well balanced meld, still retaining some sweet notes. Toasted almond - which often seems to accompany Nicaraguan tobaccos - makes an apperance. Sweet cedar is still heavily present on the retro-hale, and now shares the almond-espresso nuance existent on draw. The ambient burn retains the sweet cedar that it has through out the majority of the smoke, though, the spice seems to have died away. The burn continues to come across in excellent form with only one minor anomaly due to a vein near the end, though, this quickly corrects it self as the ash approaches the nub. The ash it self holds well for an inch and a half to two inches towards before finally letting go.
Final Thoughts: In my opinion, this was the epitome of what I consider a good cigar. It started off short and sweet and steadily developed its flavor profile and aromas as the thirds progressed. At $10-14 dollars a stick, this may be slightly more expensive than the average premium, but it is definitely worth the price tag for anyone willing to pay a little more for a bit of variety into their smoking line up.
Total smoking time was an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes.
Cheers,
Shawn
