danthebugman
BoM Nov '10
Size: 5.5 x 52
Wrapper: Connecticut Medio Tiempo
Binder: Dominican La Vega Especial
Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero & Dominican Piloto Cubano Ligero
Price: $5-6
Intro: This cigar is one I always eye when I'm in the local B&M. I always think to myself, man that's a dark ass wrapper. For some reason I seem to have an attraction to the dark leaf :dunno:. This particular size comes packaged in a sealed glass tube. I have stored the cigar outside the glass tube for a few months now.
Prelight: The Black Label features one of the darker wrappers I've seen. A pitch black in color and mottled with a slightly lighter, but still very dark brown throughout. Seams are tight and blend in well. The cap is a little lop sided and one edge is sticking up. It seems as though the cap may have a large vein in it. There are also a handful of veins running through the cigar, a few run the length of the cigar. There is a faint, but pungent barnyard aroma rolling off the wrapper. Feels well packed with no obvious soft spots. A swift snap of the Palio was all it took to cleanly remove the cap from the rest of the cigar. The draw was a little tighter than preferred, but tolerable so I went with it. Cold draw flavors were a rich tobacco with a slightly nutty finish and a very delayed tickle of pepper at the back of the tongue. Like I've had to do all week, I stepped into the shed to fire this puppy up...
First Third: First off the smoke has a very creamy texture to it. It's smoother than you'd probably expect also. Initial flavors are a sweet tobacco flavor with a little leather and a sort of tanic finish (like strong tea). Occassional hints of black cherry show themselves also. Overall the flavors are fairly nice. The burn started out well, burning evenly for about the first inch. Then things started to go downhill. It wavered to and fro and the wrapper refused to burn in some areas.
Second Third: Continuing into the secong third the flavors remained mostly the same. The hints of black cherry seemed to crop up a little more frequently and there was a faint pepper that became present. However, the burn went from bad to worse. It seemed like I was touching it up, or attempting to, every five minutes or so. This was a little frustrating as I was also doing some clean up around the yard. It also seemed when drawing on the cigar that at times parts of it would go out and a few times it seemed on the verge of going out all together.
Last Third: Didn't make it this far. I gave up due to the frustrating burn.
Final Thoughts: I've had a few of these in the 4.5 x 54 size and liked 'em enough to keep a few in the humidor. I don't recall having a burn issue like this with them so maybe it was the veins that reaked havoc and maybe it was being outside, though it wasn't particularly windy. The flavors aren't bad and I liked them okay, though they don't really change over the course of the cigar so some will certainly find them a little boring. Still, I enjoy one every so often. I think I will probably stick to the 4.5 x 54 size in the future, though there is a 5.5 x 50 size that may find it's way into the humidor.
Dan
