Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5″ x 54 ring gauge
Price ~$7.25 MSRP
Obtained From SmallBatchCigar.com as a review sample
Background
When I was handed this cigar this past weekend I hadn’t heard anything about it. All I was told is that it is a new cigar and they think the wrapper was barrel aged. In doing a little research I was able to find out that the wrapper on this cigar is a maduro that is aged for 6 years before it spent an additional 14 months aging in a bourbon barrel. The cigar then has filler and binders from the Condega, Jalapa and Esteli regions of Nicaragua. They come in five different sizes and range from $7.25 to $8.75 a cigar. This was the first one of these I smoked.
Prelight
The band is all Perdomo, big and bold with lots of metal foil. I actually like it and it is pretty clear what the blend is and where the tobacco is from based on the info contained on both of the bands. The wrapper was a very dark brown in color with almost black mottling to it. It had a good amount of oils as well as a slight amount of tooth. When I gave it a squeeze it was fairly firm without any soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I got the aroma of tobacco, with raisins coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I noted slight flavors of raisins and cherry with an ok draw.
Flavor
It start off with lots of spice on the retrohale and tongue. After a couple more puffs I could taste some earth, coffee and cinnamon. The strength was probably at the upper end of medium to start. The spice did die down quite a bit towards the end as well. When I got into the second third the flavors changed slightly to earth, coffee and wood, with a slightly sweet finish. The strength mellowed a bit, down to medium, during this third. The spice did start to come back during the final third, but it wasn’t as intense as the first third. The flavors changed slightly again to earth, leather, coffee with the sweet finish. It ended up back at medium-full strength.
Construction
The draw was a little tight but some help from my MTX made it better. The burn line was pretty straight as well.
Value
It’s good to see another release at this price point.
Conclusions
Overall this cigar was just ok. I don’t know what it is, even though bourbon is my go to drink, and bourbon aged beers were my favorite (when I could drink beer), I haven’t been impressed by any of the liquor aged cigars I’ve had. They seem to be muted in a way and just don’t hit the spot for me. I’m guessing that this is just me as others seem to enjoy these types of cigars.
