Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
Alright guys, you got 2 weeks to review our fourth cigar. Lets see what you think!
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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.
Review Contest cigar 4!!!!!!
- Thread starter Benzopyrene
- Start date
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
bump for 1 week notice!:eyebrow:
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
Anybody had a chance to smok this sucker yet besides me???
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
Dang you guys is really slacking on this one!!!!! Just a few more days!
It's a beautiful Mississippi night and my fiancee is out of town, so you all know the drill: I headed out to the bench under my carport and settled in for a quality smoke. Quick preview: this cigar did not disappoint.
Appearance: 15/15
The vitola for this beautiful, silky, dark-brown cigar seems to have been "Rich's Middle Finger". For an old picture to give you an idea of the size, click here. The construction on this small stick was perfect, and it was topped with a triple-cap. I don't think Benzo ever buys cigars with fewer than 3 caps.
Draw: 9/10
Before my pre-light draw, my Palio busted caps like a rapper. Or busted caps on the wrapper. Your choice. Either way, the pre-light draw was a sign of good things to come. I could only detect faint earthy and woody flavors, but the air came through like a dream. After the stick was lit, the draw continued to be awesome throughout.
Smoke: 10/10
This cigar pumped out voluminous white smoke like it was its job. In retrospect, that sort of is its job, so it makes sense. Smoke poured out at all times, and I really like that in a cigar. Every time I puffed, I got a mouthful of delicious smoke.
Ash: 7/10
The ash was somewhat weak, falling off at about an inch each time. In the beginning, the ash was dark-gray, but that gave way to a dirty white ash after the first inch.
Burn: 8/10
The burn was generally good and even, but at times it canoed a bit. Nothing major, just not quite perfect.
Flavor: 20/20
Throughout this cigar, a jalapeno flavor dominated. It was like nothing I've come across before, or perhaps I've just never associated it with jalapenos. It was the perfect kind of spicy that you know is strong, but isn't completely overpowering. While the jalapeno was in the forefront, the background tastes changed several times. A strong earthy taste began the background flavor profile, which gave way to creaminess, which was followed by woodiness, which came full-circle to earthiness again. My palate was pleased by the varying flavors and the way they interacted with the spiciness.
Finish: 12/15
The spice lingers, but the rest of the flavors quickly die away. A generic tobacco flavor also added itself to the finish, which takes a couple of points off in this category.
Uniqueness: 9/10
As I said, I've either never tasted that jalapeno flavor before or never noticed that that's what it was. This blind review thing is making me think that everything is unique because I find I pay more attention to the flavors than I usually do when I smoke.
Final Thoughts
I'd smoke this cigar again in a heartbeat. It took me about 45 minutes to smoke, and every minute was awesome. Each puff brought me the familiar spice, but also a potentially new flavor mixed in with it. It was a well-constructed palate-pleasing cigar.
Final Score: 90
Appearance: 15/15
The vitola for this beautiful, silky, dark-brown cigar seems to have been "Rich's Middle Finger". For an old picture to give you an idea of the size, click here. The construction on this small stick was perfect, and it was topped with a triple-cap. I don't think Benzo ever buys cigars with fewer than 3 caps.
Draw: 9/10
Before my pre-light draw, my Palio busted caps like a rapper. Or busted caps on the wrapper. Your choice. Either way, the pre-light draw was a sign of good things to come. I could only detect faint earthy and woody flavors, but the air came through like a dream. After the stick was lit, the draw continued to be awesome throughout.
Smoke: 10/10
This cigar pumped out voluminous white smoke like it was its job. In retrospect, that sort of is its job, so it makes sense. Smoke poured out at all times, and I really like that in a cigar. Every time I puffed, I got a mouthful of delicious smoke.
Ash: 7/10
The ash was somewhat weak, falling off at about an inch each time. In the beginning, the ash was dark-gray, but that gave way to a dirty white ash after the first inch.
Burn: 8/10
The burn was generally good and even, but at times it canoed a bit. Nothing major, just not quite perfect.
Flavor: 20/20
Throughout this cigar, a jalapeno flavor dominated. It was like nothing I've come across before, or perhaps I've just never associated it with jalapenos. It was the perfect kind of spicy that you know is strong, but isn't completely overpowering. While the jalapeno was in the forefront, the background tastes changed several times. A strong earthy taste began the background flavor profile, which gave way to creaminess, which was followed by woodiness, which came full-circle to earthiness again. My palate was pleased by the varying flavors and the way they interacted with the spiciness.
Finish: 12/15
The spice lingers, but the rest of the flavors quickly die away. A generic tobacco flavor also added itself to the finish, which takes a couple of points off in this category.
Uniqueness: 9/10
As I said, I've either never tasted that jalapeno flavor before or never noticed that that's what it was. This blind review thing is making me think that everything is unique because I find I pay more attention to the flavors than I usually do when I smoke.
Final Thoughts
I'd smoke this cigar again in a heartbeat. It took me about 45 minutes to smoke, and every minute was awesome. Each puff brought me the familiar spice, but also a potentially new flavor mixed in with it. It was a well-constructed palate-pleasing cigar.
Final Score: 90
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
Nice review! Glad you liked it!
741 posts so far this month and you don't have time to smoke a cigar? :rolling:
Just bustin' yer balls. haha
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
yeah 741!!!!!:stretchgr
Appearance: 15/15
This was a beautiful deep brown wrapper that looked of dark chocolate. Wonderfully constructed triple cap. No major veins this cigar look impeccable.
Draw: 7/10
Lost points here because the draw was a little hard, not plugged just tightly packed. will discuss problems with this later in the review.
Smoke: 8/10
Smoke was a nice white/blue and was a little lacking in the beginning but after it went out because i neglected it a little to long being a small ring gauge. But after relighting the smoke was generous.
Ash: 7/10
The ash was great except for the part were the wrapper was burnt around due to the burn but i figure it falls in the ash category as well.
Burn: 9/10
Great burn never had to fix anything but did burn around a small part of the wrapper which was unattractive.
Flavor: 15/20
The first third was great had no problems rich creamy with little spice. Not nearly what Rich K had i was hopping for a little more. Was also earthy with slight hints of cocoa and coffee. After having to relight there was more spice and cream and less of the more subtle flavors. a good smoke until it got harsh and i had to put it down thats why it lost points here.
Finish: 13/15
The finish was long and creamy with a little spice. Im glad i put it down before the harshness had a time to stay in my mouth.
Uniqueness: 6/10
Was not very unique i would like to try another example latter on to see if it had more uniqueness like Rich experienced.
Total: 80/100
Final thoughts:
I think this cigar has some great potential and would love to give it another shot with some more age on them. I would recommend this cigar and would smoke one again. Look forward to finding out what kind of cigar this is. I have a pretty good idea but we will see. sorry this took so long the next one will be up much sooner.
This was a beautiful deep brown wrapper that looked of dark chocolate. Wonderfully constructed triple cap. No major veins this cigar look impeccable.
Draw: 7/10
Lost points here because the draw was a little hard, not plugged just tightly packed. will discuss problems with this later in the review.
Smoke: 8/10
Smoke was a nice white/blue and was a little lacking in the beginning but after it went out because i neglected it a little to long being a small ring gauge. But after relighting the smoke was generous.
Ash: 7/10
The ash was great except for the part were the wrapper was burnt around due to the burn but i figure it falls in the ash category as well.
Burn: 9/10
Great burn never had to fix anything but did burn around a small part of the wrapper which was unattractive.
Flavor: 15/20
The first third was great had no problems rich creamy with little spice. Not nearly what Rich K had i was hopping for a little more. Was also earthy with slight hints of cocoa and coffee. After having to relight there was more spice and cream and less of the more subtle flavors. a good smoke until it got harsh and i had to put it down thats why it lost points here.
Finish: 13/15
The finish was long and creamy with a little spice. Im glad i put it down before the harshness had a time to stay in my mouth.
Uniqueness: 6/10
Was not very unique i would like to try another example latter on to see if it had more uniqueness like Rich experienced.
Total: 80/100
Final thoughts:
I think this cigar has some great potential and would love to give it another shot with some more age on them. I would recommend this cigar and would smoke one again. Look forward to finding out what kind of cigar this is. I have a pretty good idea but we will see. sorry this took so long the next one will be up much sooner.
Attachments
Altercall
I beat you all May '08 :)
This one will be short and sweet.
I've still got this sinus stuff and can't taste a whole heck of alot. FrankN was pulling a little prank in the garage all night by having everyone smell the spices that he bought for the crawdad boil tomorrow. Everyone else just about choked when they sniffed em. I took two large whiffs and couldn't smell a dang thing!
Plus, I don't like Maduros!!!
Anyway, here we go:
Nice coloring in the cigar. It was a average looking maduro petite corona. Nice triple cap with no large veins or imperfections in it. It wasn't what I would call smooth, but just your average looking maduro. After snipping the cap felt a pretty tight draw. I was expecting that as I had some idea what the cigar might be from the size of it.
I didn't get the nuances of the flavors, but it did get two main flavors. There was alot (ie something I could taste) or peppery spice. There was also alot of chocolaty coffee (mocha chino if you will). Those that know know the depths to which I hate coffee!!! Thankfully, I couldn't taste enough of it to really hate the cigar.:thumbsup: It was a very meaty cigar, though. I could really feel the flavors as I smoked it. Even though I couldn't taste alot of it, I could tell it had alot of flavors there. What I could taste was consistent throughout.
It had a dark gray/black as for the first half. At the half way point one side kept the dark ash and the other went to a mid/light gray ash. Pretty weird. It ashed about every 3/4 inch. Full volume of smoke, especially for the draw. Had minor burn problems, but it always corrected itself.
Ratings:
Appearance: 12/15
Ash: 7/10
Draw: 8/10
Burn: 9/10
Smoke: 10/10
Flav/Blend: 7/20
Uniq: 9/10
Finish: 10/15
Total: 72/100
That's actually a pretty good rating for a Maduro from me!!!
I've still got this sinus stuff and can't taste a whole heck of alot. FrankN was pulling a little prank in the garage all night by having everyone smell the spices that he bought for the crawdad boil tomorrow. Everyone else just about choked when they sniffed em. I took two large whiffs and couldn't smell a dang thing!
Plus, I don't like Maduros!!!
Anyway, here we go:
Nice coloring in the cigar. It was a average looking maduro petite corona. Nice triple cap with no large veins or imperfections in it. It wasn't what I would call smooth, but just your average looking maduro. After snipping the cap felt a pretty tight draw. I was expecting that as I had some idea what the cigar might be from the size of it.
I didn't get the nuances of the flavors, but it did get two main flavors. There was alot (ie something I could taste) or peppery spice. There was also alot of chocolaty coffee (mocha chino if you will). Those that know know the depths to which I hate coffee!!! Thankfully, I couldn't taste enough of it to really hate the cigar.:thumbsup: It was a very meaty cigar, though. I could really feel the flavors as I smoked it. Even though I couldn't taste alot of it, I could tell it had alot of flavors there. What I could taste was consistent throughout.
It had a dark gray/black as for the first half. At the half way point one side kept the dark ash and the other went to a mid/light gray ash. Pretty weird. It ashed about every 3/4 inch. Full volume of smoke, especially for the draw. Had minor burn problems, but it always corrected itself.
Ratings:
Appearance: 12/15
Ash: 7/10
Draw: 8/10
Burn: 9/10
Smoke: 10/10
Flav/Blend: 7/20
Uniq: 9/10
Finish: 10/15
Total: 72/100
That's actually a pretty good rating for a Maduro from me!!!
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
Nice reviews guys!
Appearance: 15/15
This was a beautiful cigar. The wrapper was flawless and just looked great. In fact I couldn’t wait to smoke it when we received the blind review cigars.
Ash: 10/10
For such a small ring gauge cigar, the ash was great. It was very sturdy.
Burn: 7/10
The burn on this cigar was great and razor sharp. My only problem is that the smoke went out twice, which kind of ticked me off.
Draw: 7/10
The draw was very nice, just a little deliberate, but that was not bad since it fill you mouth with a ton of smoke every time I took a draw.
Smoke: 10/10
The smoke in this cigar was nice. Every puff I took gave me a mouthful of smoke.
Flavor: 7/20
I did not enjoy the flavor of this cigar. It was very bitter the whole way through. It was also very hot after the first half.
Uniqueness: 4/10
From this experience, I would not recommend this to anyone else, but would probably try another since I think I might have gotten a dud.
Finish: 7/15
I did would not claim to have finished this cigar. In fact it got so hot it had to toss it.
Overall Score: 68
Unfortunately this cigar did not stand up to my expectations. Great looking, but not very good. I really hope I got a dud.
This was a beautiful cigar. The wrapper was flawless and just looked great. In fact I couldn’t wait to smoke it when we received the blind review cigars.
Ash: 10/10
For such a small ring gauge cigar, the ash was great. It was very sturdy.
Burn: 7/10
The burn on this cigar was great and razor sharp. My only problem is that the smoke went out twice, which kind of ticked me off.
Draw: 7/10
The draw was very nice, just a little deliberate, but that was not bad since it fill you mouth with a ton of smoke every time I took a draw.
Smoke: 10/10
The smoke in this cigar was nice. Every puff I took gave me a mouthful of smoke.
Flavor: 7/20
I did not enjoy the flavor of this cigar. It was very bitter the whole way through. It was also very hot after the first half.
Uniqueness: 4/10
From this experience, I would not recommend this to anyone else, but would probably try another since I think I might have gotten a dud.
Finish: 7/15
I did would not claim to have finished this cigar. In fact it got so hot it had to toss it.
Overall Score: 68
Unfortunately this cigar did not stand up to my expectations. Great looking, but not very good. I really hope I got a dud.
I will get my review up tomorrow morning 3/30/08