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Blind Cigar Review Thread #2
- Thread starter denverdog
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Scap
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bluue13
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Nice review and good guesswhat kind of doggy is that?
Thanks! She's a mix of about 20,000 different things, but mainly Shih-Tzu, Dachshund, and Poodle.
Succubus
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Oh ok, I can see that. I have a wiener with long hair and can see some similarities
Scap
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Oh ok, I can see that. I have a wiener with long hair and can see some similarities
Wait, what?!?
Succubus
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Wait, what?!?
MichaelD
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Last night was the perfect evening to tackle Greg's mystery cigar. It was warm outside, perfect cigar weather, but more importantly no one needed anything of me so I could really focus on this one.
The cigar Greg sent looked to be around 5" in length and a maybe 52-54. The wrapper had a very rustic feel to it. There were a couple of large veins and small part of the wrapper appeared to have come unglued. Perhaps it came undone when the band was removed. The color had this deep dark molten reddish brown hue. It's not as uniform or dark as I would expect to see from a maduro, so I don't think the wrapper was typical maduro. Pretty sure it's what is normally termed Colorado. The cigar itself was well packed with no soft spots.
I couldn't pick up much from smelling the foot except a mild tobacco scent. The head appeared to be double capped so I'm ruling out anything CC. Given that the wrapper was coming a bit loose at the head, I opt to do a v-cut. The tobacco just crumbles out of the cutter. How old is this cigar? My guess is that it's not very young and has been laying around the humidor for a few years. The draw appears to be near perfect, nice and firm. Again not much of any real flavors coming from the draw. The one thing I notice is a lack of is any spice or pepper like I would get from many of the Nicaraguan cigars I usually smoke. Maybe a slight tingle of white pepper on the tip of the tongue.
1/3 - She lights up easily enough and I get a good deal of white smoke. The body of this cigar is on the medium side. I taste very light white pepper, some light cedar and something I can only describe as grass or vegetable like at the tale end. It's sharper, but the flavors don't linger very long. Every so often I seem to get a puff that tastes a bit more like steak grissel. But maybe that's just in my head since I just so focused on bidding on various boxes of RoMa Craft earlier in the evening. Anyway, it's there, but not often.
2/3 - Not much has changed flavor wise. It's still light cedar, grass and that vegetable flavor. The burn line is perfect and the ash sort of white with streaks of gray. It holds for a bit over an inch. And is bound to happen, it falls off all over my lap just as I'm returning the cigar to the ashtray.
3/3 - The cedar picks up a bit. Not much else to report other than that it burnt well right through the spot with the unglued wrapper. Eventually it goes out with about 1.5 inches to go. Too close to the nub for a relight as it was getting a bit harsh from me trying to puff it back to life. Overall a nice cigar, but not one with a lot of transitions. I'd offer this to someone who likes medium bodied stuff without a lot of spice.
So what is it? I haven't a clue. I think it's Dominican in origin because of the flavors and color of the ash and I'm pretty sure I haven't had it before. So having put down something, my guess is Illusione simply because I've only had one or two and I think they are Dominican Republic based. (edit: turns out I was completely wrong about this after reading up on the brand.)
The big reveal shows that I was on the right track. A LFD Colorado Oscuro #4.
So I got the wrapper right, that is was an older cigar (2011?) and the country of origin but I completely muffed my final guess. Frankly I'm kicking myself for not thinking about LFD as a possibility. In hindsight I should have guess that instead of Illusione especially since the construction looks like almost every other LFD I've smoked. Anyway, this was once again a blast to do. Thanks again for the cigars!
The cigar Greg sent looked to be around 5" in length and a maybe 52-54. The wrapper had a very rustic feel to it. There were a couple of large veins and small part of the wrapper appeared to have come unglued. Perhaps it came undone when the band was removed. The color had this deep dark molten reddish brown hue. It's not as uniform or dark as I would expect to see from a maduro, so I don't think the wrapper was typical maduro. Pretty sure it's what is normally termed Colorado. The cigar itself was well packed with no soft spots.
I couldn't pick up much from smelling the foot except a mild tobacco scent. The head appeared to be double capped so I'm ruling out anything CC. Given that the wrapper was coming a bit loose at the head, I opt to do a v-cut. The tobacco just crumbles out of the cutter. How old is this cigar? My guess is that it's not very young and has been laying around the humidor for a few years. The draw appears to be near perfect, nice and firm. Again not much of any real flavors coming from the draw. The one thing I notice is a lack of is any spice or pepper like I would get from many of the Nicaraguan cigars I usually smoke. Maybe a slight tingle of white pepper on the tip of the tongue.
1/3 - She lights up easily enough and I get a good deal of white smoke. The body of this cigar is on the medium side. I taste very light white pepper, some light cedar and something I can only describe as grass or vegetable like at the tale end. It's sharper, but the flavors don't linger very long. Every so often I seem to get a puff that tastes a bit more like steak grissel. But maybe that's just in my head since I just so focused on bidding on various boxes of RoMa Craft earlier in the evening. Anyway, it's there, but not often.
2/3 - Not much has changed flavor wise. It's still light cedar, grass and that vegetable flavor. The burn line is perfect and the ash sort of white with streaks of gray. It holds for a bit over an inch. And is bound to happen, it falls off all over my lap just as I'm returning the cigar to the ashtray.
3/3 - The cedar picks up a bit. Not much else to report other than that it burnt well right through the spot with the unglued wrapper. Eventually it goes out with about 1.5 inches to go. Too close to the nub for a relight as it was getting a bit harsh from me trying to puff it back to life. Overall a nice cigar, but not one with a lot of transitions. I'd offer this to someone who likes medium bodied stuff without a lot of spice.
So what is it? I haven't a clue. I think it's Dominican in origin because of the flavors and color of the ash and I'm pretty sure I haven't had it before. So having put down something, my guess is Illusione simply because I've only had one or two and I think they are Dominican Republic based. (edit: turns out I was completely wrong about this after reading up on the brand.)
The big reveal shows that I was on the right track. A LFD Colorado Oscuro #4.
So I got the wrapper right, that is was an older cigar (2011?) and the country of origin but I completely muffed my final guess. Frankly I'm kicking myself for not thinking about LFD as a possibility. In hindsight I should have guess that instead of Illusione especially since the construction looks like almost every other LFD I've smoked. Anyway, this was once again a blast to do. Thanks again for the cigars!
Last edited:
MNBrian
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Wrapper- immediately reminds me of a liga privada undercrown.
Hay and almonds at foot.
Cold draw is more almonds. I'm guessing a San Andreas wrapper? Maybe a Connecticut broadleaf? A little curling at the foot might indicate a bit of age.
As suspected, this cigar has some kick. Glad I ate my burger first!
Cocoa notes. Definitely not Cuban. I'm thinking Dominican. Body is medium to medium full. Flavor is straight medium.
For a dark wrapper and bold taste, very creamy. No pepper on the retrohale at all. Just butter and oak.
Ash is a beautiful light gray and falls at an inch
Entering the second third and I'm wondering if it isn't more of a Camacho.
I love the burn on this wrapper. So even with clean lines.
First new notes I'm getting now are berries. I'm back to thinking Liga Privada Undercrown. If it's not that, I probably have no clue what it is.
I didn't measure the stick beforehand but I'm guessing a toro size, around 6" by 50 gauge.
Entering the final third and if anything this smoke has mellowed. Just kidding, I spoke too soon. It's picking up now. Bits of pepper, very slight. It's a buttery cream bomb, very smooth, and very pleasing despite a slightly one dimensional flavor.
I give it a 10 for burn for sure. The burn line wandered once or twice before completely self correcting.
A little more apple crisp and honey now in this final third, but none of the subtle nuances come out very strong. Still a very fantastic smoke, just consistent flavor with very subtle nuances.
Final guess, I'm sticking with Liga Undercrown.
Dang it! It was a Camacho all along!!!
Thank you Michael for his wonderful smoke! Party on! Wyatt is up next!
MichaelD
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It amazes me just how undetectable the bourbon flavors are in the toro. I tried this vitola a day or so after shipping it to you to see just how easy I may of made this teview. Turns out, not easy at all. While I would recommend this cigar in a robusto, I wouldn't recommend it in a toro. That's not saying it's not a good cigar. It's just anything really special in this size.
MNBrian
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Couldn't agree more!
It was clearly a high quality cigar and had a pleasing flavor, but it was a bit on the "meh" side. Pretty straightforward and one-dimensional. Not something I'd buy a box of by any means, but something I would be happy to smoke on any given day. Still, it was enlightening to try this cigar against the Robusto Barrel Aged vitola. I mean, they couldn't be more different. Just helps me to understand how important that can be!
Brickhouse
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Ok fellas, had a nice evening so I decided to give my Blind Cigar Review a go. I want to thank Brian for the great selection of sticks and the blind cigar to review. This was a lot of fun, and really made me pay more attention to the cigar.
I decided to smoke the entire cigar, make my notes, then write up the review afterwards. In order to try and keep the integrity intact, I made my guess via a picture with a handwritten note picture taken with the "No Peeky" envelope in the background.
Initial impressions, prelight were that this was a good looking cigar. Very dark, oscuro looking. It looked formidable. Based on the size and color, and nice construction, I was making an early guess of a Liga Privada.
Cigar had a rather loose draw to begin, but lit up just fine. Producing lots of smoke. Early on I find that it is rather one dimensional, which leads me away from the Liga Privada, it just didn't have that signature taste to it. Minor notes of bitter chocolate maybe, but hell, I don't know. It was ok at this point, but not fantastic.
Not long after beginning it developed a burn issue as it had a rather large void in the middle. This caused it to burn a little hot and didn't help the taste, which honestly I wasn't fond of at the moment anyway.
About halfway through I really start to change my thoughts on what this thing is....boy is it strong...really strong.....too strong. So now I've got, one dimensional, burn issues, overly and unnecessarily powerful, and just not great taste. I'm sure this is not one of the brands I'm accustomed to. I'm thinking something I would probably see in a Cigars International magazine. Which tells me I'm probably not going to get too close.
Ok, this is getting to be too much strength, at this point I'm not sure I should finish it. But I decide to just slow down a tad. The void has passed, and that has helped, but the flavor just isn't there. It's just "a cigar". I remember thinking at this point.....jeez, I hope this isn't something I actually normally enjoy, because I'm going to destroy this thing on the review....haha!!! But it's fun anyway. No changes in taste. Burn is fine, and it is producing a lot of smoke.
Ok, I'm done...thankfully. I shouldn't have smoked this much, it was too strong. I'm going to need some sugar. The more I thought about how much I don't enjoy this cigar it reminded me of a cigar many years ago I disliked on a whole new level....an Onyx. I thought, this could be a bellicose from there as well. I haven't had an Onyx since then and I was almost sure this had to be in the same class.
I surely don't have a good guess on this. But I figure it's gotta be a cheaper non-cuban brand from the likes of Altadis or General Cigar. Since Onyx is an Altadis, I'll go with that, and say Onyx.
Nope, I was wrong! Imagine that, haha! But it is in fact an Altadis! I'll take that as a conciliation prize. I have never had one of these and most likely never will.
In summary, even though I did not enjoy the cigar, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and gamesmanship. Many thanks to Brian for the cigar I've never had. It was a ton of fun to do. Please don't take offense to my review if you enjoy these!!! It just wasn't for me bro. But it was great fun!
I decided to smoke the entire cigar, make my notes, then write up the review afterwards. In order to try and keep the integrity intact, I made my guess via a picture with a handwritten note picture taken with the "No Peeky" envelope in the background.
Initial impressions, prelight were that this was a good looking cigar. Very dark, oscuro looking. It looked formidable. Based on the size and color, and nice construction, I was making an early guess of a Liga Privada.
Cigar had a rather loose draw to begin, but lit up just fine. Producing lots of smoke. Early on I find that it is rather one dimensional, which leads me away from the Liga Privada, it just didn't have that signature taste to it. Minor notes of bitter chocolate maybe, but hell, I don't know. It was ok at this point, but not fantastic.
Not long after beginning it developed a burn issue as it had a rather large void in the middle. This caused it to burn a little hot and didn't help the taste, which honestly I wasn't fond of at the moment anyway.
About halfway through I really start to change my thoughts on what this thing is....boy is it strong...really strong.....too strong. So now I've got, one dimensional, burn issues, overly and unnecessarily powerful, and just not great taste. I'm sure this is not one of the brands I'm accustomed to. I'm thinking something I would probably see in a Cigars International magazine. Which tells me I'm probably not going to get too close.
Ok, this is getting to be too much strength, at this point I'm not sure I should finish it. But I decide to just slow down a tad. The void has passed, and that has helped, but the flavor just isn't there. It's just "a cigar". I remember thinking at this point.....jeez, I hope this isn't something I actually normally enjoy, because I'm going to destroy this thing on the review....haha!!! But it's fun anyway. No changes in taste. Burn is fine, and it is producing a lot of smoke.
Ok, I'm done...thankfully. I shouldn't have smoked this much, it was too strong. I'm going to need some sugar. The more I thought about how much I don't enjoy this cigar it reminded me of a cigar many years ago I disliked on a whole new level....an Onyx. I thought, this could be a bellicose from there as well. I haven't had an Onyx since then and I was almost sure this had to be in the same class.
I surely don't have a good guess on this. But I figure it's gotta be a cheaper non-cuban brand from the likes of Altadis or General Cigar. Since Onyx is an Altadis, I'll go with that, and say Onyx.
Nope, I was wrong! Imagine that, haha! But it is in fact an Altadis! I'll take that as a conciliation prize. I have never had one of these and most likely never will.
In summary, even though I did not enjoy the cigar, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and gamesmanship. Many thanks to Brian for the cigar I've never had. It was a ton of fun to do. Please don't take offense to my review if you enjoy these!!! It just wasn't for me bro. But it was great fun!
MNBrian
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Haha! Man I didn't think it was THAT bad! But I was convinced I was missing something. Also felt it was pretty bland and nowhere near the advertised "similar to an Arturo Fuente Anejo". I gave it a 5/10. But I was worried that was based solely on my hatred of Altadis RyJ. Turns out, it was just not nearly as advertised!
Thank you for trying it! shoulda made the Mag 56 the blind stick. live and learn I guess!
Thank you for trying it!
shoulda made the Mag 56 the blind stick. live and learn I guess!
Brickhouse
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Sucks that you didn't get to enjoy it. Must really suck having to smoke it to the end because of the review. I have to hand it to you though for keeping with it! Good job
I didn't mind at all Bri, it was fun. Plus educational. Plus, Brian included some stellar stuff to cover down on it!
Sometimes you gotta smoke a turd to remind you where you started and where you are now.
Succubus
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Oh, I wasn't doubting that
I thought that the blind review was fun too. I want to do it again soon when I have more time. I saw the selection that Brian had put and it was pretty awesome!
Napa_Smokes
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Sounds like a turd might have been a step up from that one.