The cigar that Dave,(thechenman),sent for the blind review is a huge 7.25x54. It is very well constructed with a dark, oily, maduro wrapper that has quite a bit of tooth. It is firm with a good bit of weight to it and has the aroma of well aged tobacco.
Thanks, Stu (punk_lawyer)!! I really enjoyed the cigar the experience of writing my first official review. :thumbs:
Sorry guys...I know this has been a long time coming. Got swamped with the holdiays crashing on me, but that's no excuse. Sadly, I don't have any pictures to go with this review. It's unfortunate as it was a really beautiful looking cigar. Well...let's get started.
On inspecting the cigar it looks to be a toro. This parejo was about 6 inches in length and maybe a 50 or 52 ring gauge. The color is a deep dark chocolate for the most part with lighter shades of brown on certain parts of the wrapper making it look almost marbled. From the appearance, I would definitely say this cigar was a maduro. It is fairly firm to the touch with no soft spots found. The cap was a little sloppy, but who cares as I was just about th cut it off with my Palio cutter. At this point, i have no idea what cigar this is.
The smell of the cigar was tobacco and earth and the draw was quite nice. Not too tight nor too lose. It was definitely hefty in hand and the tobacco well packed. This was a very well constructed cigar. As I prepare to light this bad boy, the cigar leaves a little saltiness on my lips while I'm lighting it up with my Blazer PB207. It takes a little effort, but I finally get the cigar going. The initial puffs leave some pepperiness on my palate and I taste a lot of earth and some leather. I'm getting the feeling this will be a the very least a medium-full smoke.
In the first third I still don't have any idea what this cigar is. I know it isn't Cuban, and I think the wrapper is maduro, and I know the vitola is a toro...that's about it. I'm still tasting earth and leather predominately. The pepper has pulled back. I get an occassional hint of bitterness. Not sure if that is a dark chocolate type of bitterness or not as it is so slight. The cigar is medium bodied now and is putting out a nice amount of smoke. The ash is fairly solid, but showing hints that it won't hang on much past an inch and a half. The color of th eash is a mottled gray...dark in some areas, lighter in others.
Into the scond third I still can't put my finger on this cigar. I ruled out Cuban, but I don't know if it is a DC, NC, HC or possibliy something else. The flavor profile hasn't changed much and the cigar is still medium. I'm beginning to think that maybe this cigar won't be as strong as I had first anticpated. No worries there as I am enjoying it. There are some changes going on right now...a bit of nuttiness...maybe something like cashews, maybe not cashews, but definitely some nutty flavors there. Sorry...I still don't have a clue as to what cigar it is.
Okay going into the final third I'm still as clueless as to what cigar this is. It's turned out to be more medium than medium-full. If I had to guess I would say thei cigar would most likely be Dominican, but that is just a hunch. Given the color I speculated that it might be a Litto Gomez, but given how the cigar hasn't really ramped up, I rule that guess out. Cigars usually get a bit stronger in the final third and a bit hotter, but with this cigar I'm not getting either. The nuttiness has died down...one funny thing is that I haven't tasted any of the sweetness I normally associate with a maduro cigar...I'm beginnning to think that maybe this is a very dark sun grown. Who knows? The cigar finishes with some pepper notes and lots of leather.
Overall, I would say this is an enjoyable smoke. Fairly complex good flavors of earth, leather and nuts, but I have no idea what it is.
Drumroll please....may I have the envelope?
What? A Diamond Crown Maximus Toro No. 4? Wow!. Never would have guessed that, ever. I'd like to thank CulturedHick for this enjoyable experience. While I have smoked a few Diamond Crowns from a box I got as a gift from my brother, I've never had the pleausre of smoking a Diamond Crown Maximus...so thanks for the memories.
Sorry guys...I know this has been a long time coming. Got swamped with the holdiays crashing on me, but that's no excuse. Sadly, I don't have any pictures to go with this review. It's unfortunate as it was a really beautiful looking cigar. Well...let's get started.
On inspecting the cigar it looks to be a toro. This parejo was about 6 inches in length and maybe a 50 or 52 ring gauge. The color is a deep dark chocolate for the most part with lighter shades of brown on certain parts of the wrapper making it look almost marbled. From the appearance, I would definitely say this cigar was a maduro. It is fairly firm to the touch with no soft spots found. The cap was a little sloppy, but who cares as I was just about th cut it off with my Palio cutter. At this point, i have no idea what cigar this is.
The smell of the cigar was tobacco and earth and the draw was quite nice. Not too tight nor too lose. It was definitely hefty in hand and the tobacco well packed. This was a very well constructed cigar. As I prepare to light this bad boy, the cigar leaves a little saltiness on my lips while I'm lighting it up with my Blazer PB207. It takes a little effort, but I finally get the cigar going. The initial puffs leave some pepperiness on my palate and I taste a lot of earth and some leather. I'm getting the feeling this will be a the very least a medium-full smoke.
In the first third I still don't have any idea what this cigar is. I know it isn't Cuban, and I think the wrapper is maduro, and I know the vitola is a toro...that's about it. I'm still tasting earth and leather predominately. The pepper has pulled back. I get an occassional hint of bitterness. Not sure if that is a dark chocolate type of bitterness or not as it is so slight. The cigar is medium bodied now and is putting out a nice amount of smoke. The ash is fairly solid, but showing hints that it won't hang on much past an inch and a half. The color of th eash is a mottled gray...dark in some areas, lighter in others.
Into the scond third I still can't put my finger on this cigar. I ruled out Cuban, but I don't know if it is a DC, NC, HC or possibliy something else. The flavor profile hasn't changed much and the cigar is still medium. I'm beginning to think that maybe this cigar won't be as strong as I had first anticpated. No worries there as I am enjoying it. There are some changes going on right now...a bit of nuttiness...maybe something like cashews, maybe not cashews, but definitely some nutty flavors there. Sorry...I still don't have a clue as to what cigar it is.
Okay going into the final third I'm still as clueless as to what cigar this is. It's turned out to be more medium than medium-full. If I had to guess I would say thei cigar would most likely be Dominican, but that is just a hunch. Given the color I speculated that it might be a Litto Gomez, but given how the cigar hasn't really ramped up, I rule that guess out. Cigars usually get a bit stronger in the final third and a bit hotter, but with this cigar I'm not getting either. The nuttiness has died down...one funny thing is that I haven't tasted any of the sweetness I normally associate with a maduro cigar...I'm beginnning to think that maybe this is a very dark sun grown. Who knows? The cigar finishes with some pepper notes and lots of leather.
Overall, I would say this is an enjoyable smoke. Fairly complex good flavors of earth, leather and nuts, but I have no idea what it is.
Drumroll please....may I have the envelope?
What? A Diamond Crown Maximus Toro No. 4? Wow!. Never would have guessed that, ever. I'd like to thank CulturedHick for this enjoyable experience. While I have smoked a few Diamond Crowns from a box I got as a gift from my brother, I've never had the pleausre of smoking a Diamond Crown Maximus...so thanks for the memories.
I am glad you enjoyed it! I do like to smoking my favorites, but to me I get just as much satisfaction smoking a cigar I have never had before.
Yesterday was a perfect day to give this cigar a fair shot, 70 degrees and perfect conditions in the ole garage. My first thoughts when picking this cigar up was how oily the wrapper was and how firm it was to the touch and squeeze. Right off the bat I was thinking about the Liga Privada, it seemed to have around the same length... and the wrapper was the same darker hue. Upon lighting this cigar up I tasted pepper and a hint of sweetness right away. At this point I still wasn't sure what I had but was growing more suspicous as I smoked.
The 2nd half of the cigar I was starting to feel a bit queezy, I had a water and reached for some sugar. This was one strong cigar! Once I got over the quick "Nic head rush" I started to think more along the lines of a Litto Gomez or La Flor Double Ligero product. The Liga Privadas never hit me as hard as this thing was. The flavors were intense at this point with chewy leather and more pepper, It was also burning pretty slow. I did get a few burn issues but I think the cigar was a bit wet as my humidor has been reaching 70-72% humidity recently.
So all in all it was a great smoke that took me well over 2 hours to get through. My guess, well... I didn't really have one. I would just have to say a La Flor DL, but It was more balanced and deeper than that so... Litto Gomez Small Batch No. 3, WOW! Thanks thechenman!