About an inch in to the cigar, I've picked up some subtle spice or peppery hints but certainly nothing too strong thus far. It's started out as a good medium bodied cigar. The burn is razor sharp and the ash is holding nicely even though it's fairly windy out today. The draw is perfect thus far, offering just the right amount of resistance. Smoke output while resting is still plentiful, but seems less so when I take a puff for some reason.
20ish minutes in, and I'm really impressed with the construction and burn of this cigar. Also important for those of us with wives who tolerate our habit, the ambient smell is very pleasant. There hasn't been a lot of complexity to this point, but the burn and draw continue to be flawless. There's just enough pepper there to keep me interested in the flavor.
There's one significant sized vein in the smoke, but it has yet to have any effect on the cigar
The first ash falls on it's own, just past the 30 minute mark of the cigar. Burn continues razor sharp. Picking up a bit more pepper in the middle third too. The damaged cap hasn't been a problem at all since a bit of maintenance right at the beginning.
Getting a bit more rounded flavor now, less on the pepper, a bit more of a cocoa/dark chocolate like sensation in the back of my throat. I haven't had to touch up the burn a single time since the original light, which I'm a huge fan of. This counts among the ultimate in 'low maintenance' cigars I've ever had. As expected, the amount of smoke being drawn through the cigar really increased after the ash fell off.
Really noticeable decline in the spiciness of the cigar in the middle third. Even the sharp chocolaty taste went away. Getting a lot of wood/cedar at this point. Still a big fan though. Hoping it picks back up for a strong finish. Coming up on an hour in and still only ashed once. I know I keep bringing it up, but the construction is phenomenal.
2nd ash happens almost exactly at the 1 hour mark - directly on to the laptop as I was typing...lol
The band comes off flawlessly with little effort and no wrapper damage at all from the glue, another tip of the cap to the rollers. Picks back up a slight bit on the pepper side but not to the level it once was.
The flavors near the end of this have suddenly turned somewhat acrid on me though, not sure where that came from. Totally uncharacteristic from the rest of the cigar. Really confused about the end of this cigar. Wonder if the oils may have thrown the taste off or something. All in all a VERY good cigar, one that I definitely see being put in to regular rotation, but as I say the final third left something to be desired.
