Blind Cigar Review Thread #2

[modo22]

So it is a beautiful day out for this time of year. Mid 50's and finally a chance to work in the garage! So after waiting a week to get to the cigars NASTY sent me, I am ready to review the mysterious unbanned one.

So I have to say upfront that when I saw this cigar I immediately thought of what it was. Upon first glance and smell, I am thinking a RP Edge Sumatra. The cigar is a 6ish x 50ish torpedo, it has a wonderful aroma pre light with hints of vanilla and clean healthy tobacco.

First third: After lighting I got some spice after the fist few draws. I started to think of a Tat, but surprisingly after a few draws the spice, white pepper taste dwindled. The predraw had alot of sweet vanilla and woody flavor; but postdraw, the aroma was heavy with cedar.
First half: The cigar continued to have a smooth and even draw with large amounts of warm vanilla and cedar. As I enjoyed this I had a cup of coffee, it really brought out the taste in the beans and the two accented each other so well, it almost seemed like I did that on purpose. The light gray ash began to flake off and the half way point.
Last Half: The spice began to pic back up as I finished my garage work and the cigar. Not having a clock outside, I can only assume it took about an hour and 45. With the spice picking back up I expected the vanilla to go away, but it didn't. Even with the pepper flavor back, the warm vanilla remained strong. This made the cigar very balanced and enjoyable. It was a perfect return home cigar. Very relaxing. By the end of it I wish I had another!

I am still stuck on the Edge Sumatra as my guess.
And the winner is:

WOW, would have never guessed! But now I get to cross one off my list! I will defiantly be getting this again.
Cain Straight Ligero Habano

Again, Thank you so much Los, that was a great package!

 

[NASTY]

Glad you enjoyed that Cain. I smoked my only one at a shop recently and I thought it was okay. It's an alright smoke, I wasn't too wild for it though.

 

[Franco593]

I Received DeVonn's bag of goodies and let the Blinder rest for a day before I sparked it up. It was a robusto 5x50 and had a wrapper as dark as any I have seen. The cigar had a scent that was "woody' but really no prelight flavor. I cut the stick and got a nice open draw. Cracked a Guinness and lit the bugger up.

First Third
Upon lighting I got some spice up front but nothing "Pepin" like.After it settled I tasted plain and simple cocoa/coffee sweetness. I not a super taster like some of you guys so basically it was just really sweet tobacco flavor. It was a taste that was familiar to me.As you'll see in the note I was thinking ..Liga Privada..but no..wrapper to dark. Camacho or Cain...as they have very dark wrappers but I don;t really know there flavor profile....Casa Magna..smoked a bunch of those but Colorado Robusto does not have a dark wrapper like this.

Second Third
Still the same profile. Lots of smoke and great sweet flavor. I 'm getting really pissed at this point because I know this taste profile but have never had a wrapper this black that I can remember.

Last Third
Still the same flavors....I really like this stick but I know I'M close to the finish and have to guess. The only smoke I've had that is close was a Liga Privada Oscuro so I go with that.

Nope...looky here..

I knew some of the profile and wasn't totally stumped but I had never had a cigar that was this sweet in my life. It was very enjoyable and I will be buying some for sure.
Thanks again DeVonn !

 

[Kingantz]

Nice review Frank! I gotta try one of those oscuro CM, see how they compare to the colorados.

 

[amateuraficionado]

Excellent review Frank and glad you enjoyed it. You had it, but I figured the wrapper and sweetness would throw you off a bit. I remember likening the Cohiba Secretos to Cocoa Puffs when I first tried them but as far as sweetness, they've got nothing on these. Great job!

 

[amateuraficionado]

So after a busy week I decided to buckle down and finally review the blind stick I received in Ben's package earlier this week. Since the temp. was a toasty 29'F I decided it would be better if I head over to my local B&M to be able to enjoy this smoke without risk of frostbite. After trying to get together with Randy aka JerseyStepUp all week we were finally able to connect today as well. When I performed my last blind review I think I faked myself out from the beginning. I wanted to try to avoid that this time around but I have to say that as soon as I laid eyes on this cigar I immediately got one particular stick in mind which stuck with me all week. When it came time to review this stick I attempted to clear my mind and go into this without any preconceived opinion. This cigar is a 5 in. x 42 rg corona sporting a chocolate brown wrapper and triple cap. There are two prominent veins, that together run the length of the cigar.

I clip the cap and prelight draw yields the perfect amount of resistence.

I toast the foot and light. The first draw is a voluminous, sweet cloud that is spicy on the back of the throat, and the draw is indeed perfect! I immediately know that this is something I've had before. I don't know if I've smoked this particular stick but I've definitely smoked something from this line.... and I like it.... a lot! Definitely a med/full bodied cigar from the start. Perfect!

Going into the second third the flavors don't change very much and I really couldn't discern many particular flavors. Just rich, full flavored, quality tobacco. Sweet and spicy..... that's all I kept thinking! I'm thinking maybe a hint of cocoa in there somewhere but that may have just been the lingering thoughts of the first cigar I had in mind. Heading into the second half I'm practically convinced this is Nicaraguan tobacco.

Into the final third and the flavor begins to flatten out a bit. It now requires periodic purges in order to restore the flavor and as always they do the trick. About every 4 or 5 draws I purge and the flavor returns to that rich sweet spiciness. After another 4 or 5 draws, another purge, rinse repeat.

At about the 1 inch mark I think this one is done!

This was a very enjoyable smoke with a perfect draw, no burn issues and suited my palate well! As soon as I laid eyes on this cigar I thought it was a Monte #4. Probably the biggest mistake I made was holding this cigar side by side a Monte #4 earlier this week. It was the only cigar I compared it to like this and these two cigars looked virtually identical! The ring gauge, the length, the cap, the wrapper color. They could literally have come out of the same box. That was my biggest mistake. I knew from the first draw though that this cigar was not cuban, in fact that it was Nicaraguan. I believed it was a Pepin cigar. Yet and still, for the length of the cigar, for some reason, I kept going back and forth between something Pepin and a Monte #4. Randy, who had already taken a look at the band, asked me what I thought it was when I finally finished. I told him I thought it was either a Tatuaje, maybe Noella, or.... that damn Monte #4 I couldn't get away from! And the envelope please......

Yep! Never even thought Illusione and now it made perfect sense. Sweet and spicy Pepinesque flavors, rich Nicaraguan tobacco. This was an excellent cigar. I haven't had an Illusione in quite some time and I believe that's probably the reason it never occurred to me. I love the 68 and 888. I've never had an MK and ironically this is one cigar I have wanted to try for a very long time! Thanks very much Ben for the opportunity to smoke such a great cigar. I definitely plan on getting my hands on more of these! It was also great to finally meet and enjoy a smoke with Randy. I'm sure he got a kick out of it too!

 

[Jerseystepup]

It was definatly fun watching DeVonn try and figure out what he was smoking. He was going back and fourth between the monte and pepin the whole time. At least he was close in the fact that it was a Nic puro. I took a peak at the label before he lit up, and keeping a poker face every time he mentioned a "tat noella" was tough.. Nice job though!

 

[modo22]

Ha! Thats the way to do it! Have a friend watch and laugh! Cool story and nice review.

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[bigmanfromou]

After being snowed in and trying to catch up after a lost week of work, I finally had a chance to go to my B&M and take a stab at Jnknzz's blind cigar.

I forgot my camera so you will have to use your imagination.

I suck at reviews so please bear with me.

Derek's blind cigar arrived with no band and I'm thinking it was from a SLB that didn't have bands. The cigar was 46x5.6", had a triple cap, and had that cubanesque aroma to it. I clipped the cap and took a draw. The pre-light didn't have much taste to it, but the draw was great. Maybe a little sweet tobacco taste was present. I put flame to foot and took a few short draws. The first few puffs were a bit sour in taste but quickly turned to nice woody tobacco with a lightly sweet, dry finish. Into the first inch, the cigar really came into it's own. Lots of white smoke, but with a very weak ash...dang thing ashed on me twice. Into the second 3rd, a bit of spiciness started to peak through. All the while it was still presenting it's woody-sweet taste. It had a razor sharp burn through the first and second 3rd, but into the last it began to run and burn hot. I slowed down and everything returned to normal.

All in all this was a tasty cigar. I'm going to guess it was a pre-2005 HdM Epi no. 1

 

[jnknzz]

Punch RS 11 '00.

Glad you enjoyed it (I love a good aged Punch to start the day). I wanted to include that you should probably smoke this earlier in the day.
They're relatively light for my palate, but perfect for the first of many cigars in a session.

Good job on your review! :thumbs:



Derek



*my review to come...

 

[Jsanzone23]

Well first off sorry this took so long to get to. Today is the first day I can actually sit down and write more than one line...And on we go

Initial look of this smoke is beautiful. Gorgeous red almost Colorado wrapper. It has a hint of spice on the initial pre light draw. Ok I lie it had a lot of spice. The only flaw with this smoke is that I can see exactly where the band of this smoke used to be. Way to much glue put on by the folks who made this.

First couple of puffs were spice bombs....good stuff. I feel like I have smoked this cigar before but I cant remember where. The cigar was running a little and required a few touch ups. Nothing major to slow me down though. As the cigar progressed I got a lot of spice, leather and wood notes to it. I am enjoying this smoke thoroughly. Just when I hit my peek of excitement with this cigar I hear the dreaded sound of a splitting wrapper. Just as I thought would happen, the spot where the label was had split. Not gonna lie bummed me out.

The cigar was not complex but full of the spice and leather flavor that went perfect with the day. The ash on the cigar was white as white could be so based on that and the lack of prominent veins running throughout the cigar, its not Cuban. I am thinking Dominican based on the wrapper itself. Im hoping this is not a cigar that is going to be hard to find..lol..

As I continue past the halfway mark the cigar starts to pop some more and is falling apart. The cigar itself never got hot I just think its from the manufacturer putting too much glue on the band…Damn them!! The spice has mellowed out to a sweet taste but notes of cedar are abundant in every puff.

The smoke never once ran straight and required a few touch ups here and there but nothing that would make me not buy this cigar again. I think that some down time would do this thing well. And now for the reveal.

Fuente Rosado R52!!! Have not had the pleasure of trying this cigar yet, but already a huge fan of 858 Rosado..I must say a thousand thank yous to Franco593 for this smoke..Now on to finding some...lol

 

[Franco593]

Sorry to hear about the wrapper. I've had about 5 of these and they all stayed together well. Now I need to find some more also to rest em!Great review John...and beautifil dog!

 

[Goldie]

I was very excited to do my first review, so I got started on it right away. On Friday I decided to pick up a 6 pack of Sam Adams Boston Lager to celebrate (Or maybe I should say drown my sorrows) for bombing one of my midterms, and I still had one left over, so I grabbed it out of the fridge, and popped the cap. I also grabbed some Country Time Lemonade for backup. I power up the stereo and Dark Side of the Moon starts.

Let me add that I don't really think I have quite developed the ability to pick out all the flavors and notes that you see in some of the professional reviews. But everyone's gotta start somewhere, right? So lets get this shindig started.

Initial thoughts:
5 X 54 according to my Cigar Passport
Very dark oily wrapper with a few noticeable veins running throughout, and a little bit toothy. Heavy in the hand. The filler in this cigar is almost as dark as the wrapper itself, with some parts just a few shades lighter than the wrapper.

I easily punched the cap and took a few dry draws. I got a very good draw, with a slightly sweet taste of tobacco. I thought to myself, “This is going to be a good cigar”.

Initial draw:
I immediately picked up some spice on the back of my throat and pallet, and I instantly thought of a sun grown cigar.

1” in:
The spice is making a strong hold, and I picked up a few “charred” notes. Which I guess makes sense since it’s a cigar. The cigar is producing a nice thick white smoke that is quite smooth.

2” in:
The spice is starting to mellow out, and I pick up a flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on. After a few more puffs I still have the same flavor and it is slightly sweet. The best I could describe it would be a slightly sweet, light black cherry flavor.

½ through:
I start to pick up a woodsy/woody taste but still a bit of sweetness. The ash starts to get a bit darker than at the beginning.

¾ in:
The spice starts to make a comeback as well as the black cherry flavors. The ash is quite dark now, but the smoke is still white and smooth.

Nubbed:
The ash stays quite dark throughout the last inch. I still have the same slight black cherry flavor, which I enjoy. The smokes starts to have a bit of a yellowish/brown tint to it, but still has a lot of flavor.

Jerry Springer final thoughts:
I liked this cigar A LOT. I think to myself, “I hope this isn’t something rare, or too expensive, because I want more of these”. After killing it off, I think to myself this might be a VSG or possibly a Cain Maduro Robusto. It didn’t have quite the amount of power behind it as I have experienced with Cain’s, but I have only had the Toro, never a Robusto.

My guess:
Like I said above I would guess on the high end, a VSG, something a little less expensive a Cain.

Reality:
Liga Privada T52. This is only the second Liga I have had the chance to smoke. The first I had was a Toro, which unfortunately yielded a bad experience. The Toro had such a tight draw I could hardly get a complete draw on it, so I ended up chucking it less than half way through. The T52 on the other hand, was a great renewal for the Liga lineup. I wouldn’t hesitate to get another one of these, I was impressed to say the least. Thank you for the opportunity Julius, and thanks to those that took the time to read my thoughts. Now back to my regularly scheduled homework.

 

[jnknzz]

Sorry again for the delays, guys. Finally had a chance to sit-down and have a cigar this weekend (which is worth it's weight in gold). Sorry for not having any pictures...reviewed this at the local shop.

Received this cigar from John (Jsanzone23). It's a robusto sized rather hefty cigar. It has a very dark, almost oscuro wrapper. Triple cap. The foot shows quite a bit of bunched ligero...good thing I just ate!! Pre-smells offer little to nothing.

Punch the cap. Cold draw is of damp earth and a little on the loose side. Lights easily and provides more than enough smoke. Slight pepper with kind of a buttery taste. The pre-light hints of damp earth and definitely there; it tastes like a wet forrest smells. ??? Gradually the white pepper picks up, providing a perfectly smooth smoke. Mottled white ash which holds through the first 1/3.

Ash and purge. The earthiness deepens and the pepper continues to build. The ligero is slowly catching up to me, too. :love: Through the 2/3 mark, the cigar remains the same. Not much complexity to it. Simple and tasty.

Heading for the nub, the spice is really prominent. Not bitter or hot (which was unexpected with the loose draw). The cigar finishes like a champ with a perfect spice lingering on the palate.


Thoughts:
Besides a loose draw, perfect construction with no touch-ups. This cigar was exactly what I had hoped for...delicious. Would purchase in the future...

Guess
I'm leaning towards Nicaraguan. Didn't notice any sweetness so I don't think it's sungrown. I'm going to guess it's a Tat T110 (doubtful since it wasn't that stout). Either Tat or an LFD oscuro.

Time to peek!



Derek

 

[jnknzz]

Weird. The only other time I had this cigar, it nearly put me down. I didn't experience too much dizzying this round (although a little). I guess the same cigar will have different results under different conditions. But both times, I'd put this smoke into my Top 10...just perfect for me. :thumbs:

Thanks for the great cigar, John!! Like I said, I'd love to buy more. Damn you, Pete Johnson!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry:

 

[mjolnir01]

Alright, I'm finally over my cold and my jet-lagged family went to bed at 8:00 pm. Time to review this dark, fat belicoso Drew (Goldie) sent. I'm guessing it's 5 x 56 and it's round, ie not box-pressed. It smells great-- almost chocolaty. I have it paired with a Wild Hare Organic Pale Ale from Bath Ales here in the UK.

I clip the pointed head and take a cold draw. The flavor is grassy and barnyard-like with a tad bit of spice. I'm glad I had a good sized dinner tonight! I toast the foot with a couple of matches and with a third I get it lit. I'm greeted with a huge blast of pepper flavor. I set the cigar down and give it a minute to cool down.

The first third gives some great flavors. There is a solid tobacco core to the smoke. The pepper splash subsides a little from the initial draws, but is still very prominent from the tip of my tongue to the back of the throat. It's good! Medium body. The mystery cigar produces a medium amount of smoke and is pairing tremendously well with the Wild Hare. The ash kind of flaky and falls off into my ashtray after half an inch.

As it burns into the second third, the pepper drops off a bit. It's still there, but the core flavor is noticeably woody. I alternate between resting it for a few minutes then hotboxing it to see what kind of flavors develop. Not much change between the two. I let it cool back down and I get back to my one double-tap draw every minute-ish. That's the rate I normally smoke at (at least I think so-- I'm not so geeky as to actually time that!). Despite the hotbox-abuse, the cigar remains very smooth. I think I may have smoked this guy before, but no guesses yet. I'm definitely thinking it's Nicaraguan.

Heading into the final third, the profile remains unchanged from the second third. The ash is getting a bit flakier. Not too much of a nicotine-kick. With about 2 inches left, my 18-month old daughter wakes up crying upstairs. To her she should have just gotten up from her nap, so she's awake and ready to play. I set the cigar down and spend the next several hours with Segen, figuring out all the new dances, tricks and words she learned with her grandparents in her 6 week visit in the States. I've missed her so much. By 0100 she's getting tired again, so I take her up to bed and come back to my den. I relight the cigar and get a very spicy smoke out of it. The flavors are still there, but after about another half inch, I find I probably let it sit too long. There's that ashtray-licking flavor there that comes after a relight, so I let it go out with about an inch and a half left.

I enjoyed this cigar. It didn't blow me away and I don't think I'd get a box of them based only on this tasting, but it was certainly likable and worth a fiver. I'm stumped as to what it is... I'm sure it's Nicaraguan and the flavors are familiar. I don't recognize this fat of a beli as something I've smoked before however. I'm stumped... I'll guess some sort of Rocky Patel...

Wrong. Diesel Unholy Cocktail. Very nice, Drew! I can't say I've even heard of these guys, so I look them up on Cigarcyclopedia. Looks like I nailed the size-- 5 x 56, so I'm proud of that. Nicaraguan-- rolled in Danli with all Nicaraguan leaf save the wrapper, which is Pennsylvania broadleaf maduro. Interesting--I know Flatbed was working on a Pennsylvania broadleaf for a new Panacea, but I wasn't aware of anyone else using it. Very enjoyable... thanks for giving me the opportunity to try it, Drew!

 

[Kingantz]

Blind PIF Stick
5 3/4 x 46

What a gorgeous week it’s been with absolute perfect weather. The temperature today is in the mid 80F range with a slight breeze blowing just right. Of course, with the warm weather comes the bugs, tons of wasps flying around everywhere, probably killed at least a dozen or so on the back porch already. And certainly can’t forget the pollen, a yellow coating is already covering the cars. Unfortunately, with the weather as incredible as it is, the whole family has come down with some really nasty stuff, Jess came down with it first with high fever and rattling in her chest, doctor says it’s strep. Next was the wife that came down with it and now I’ve got the crud. We’re all on antibiotics amongst other meds, so hopefully it’ll be knocked out soon enough. I feel like crap, however after taking an Allegra D this morning, I’m breathing great and am able to taste just fine, so decided to have a go at the blind PIF stick received from Barry (mjolnir01) last week.

The cigar has a medium, dullish brown wrapper with a prominent vein running the length, slight oil, and noticeable tooth throughout. It feels firm when squeezed with no soft spots to be found, has a good weight in the hand, and after punching the cap carefully (seemed to be a bit dry/fragile) I found the draw to be spot on with a good, straightforward tobacco taste coming through.

I filled up a bottle of filtered water and headed out front to relax under the walnut tree, the wife and baby girl were already out there enjoying the day. I got comfortable and began torching the foot, blowing on the embers to get an even burn going. The initial aroma of the smoke produced was rich in the nose with a slight sweetness. After a couple of quick puffs to get the smoke flowing, I take a long draw and get both a mild spice on the back of the tongue and mild strength with the body rather light and creamy. Flavors are indeed rich and quite sweet with tastes of toasted bread, nuts, and cedar wood. The finish is delicious and lasting on the palate.

A third in and into halfway, the burn is sharp with a good bit of tooth showing in the medium to light gray ash forming that holds well until tapped off. I notice there’s a crack mid way up the stick, however nothing to impede the smoking. I’m still getting a rather mild spiciness on the back of the tongue with the smoke itself continuing to be more on the mild side, however the flavors more than make up for where the strength is lacking. There’s a deep richness left on the palate after slowly exhaling, incredibly delicious with the finish lasting and lip smacking good.

Into the final third, the strength and spice did pick up however only slightly, the rich toasted bread taste really intensifying and downright delicious on the palate. The burn remained sharp to the nubby little end, where I was disappointed to actually sit it down. This was an incredibly good smoke, and I have to admit I’m not sure what it is. My immediate thought on this cigar was an Ashton, just by the look of it. Rustic looking brown wrapper with tooth and after tasting it, I’m going to go ahead and stick with that thought. Am very curious to see if I’ve got it right!

 

[whopper]

Well? ??? Chew a peppermint to clear you nicotine ridden mind and let us know what it is.

 

[Kingantz]

Hot dog!! I was thinking a VSG, but it being as mild as it was kinna threw me off. Barry mentioned in his note these are unsung heroes of the Ashton line, and I gotta say he's dead on with that. Fantastic cigar!

 

[mjolnir01]

Greg, great job! I hope the allergies subside here soon and the family gets to feeling better... I know that Carolina pollen can be a pain!

I've always believed the Heritage Puro Sol doesn't get the credit it deserves. My tastes aren't the most discerning, but I swear I get cinnamon graham crackers on the finish with these guys. That being said, I had one the other night that was a bit off so I was terrified I passed you a bad stick. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a favorite of mine.