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Blind Cigar Review Thread #2

Thanks for the review and the reminders.
 
Brickhouse said:
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.

View attachment 12822

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.

View attachment 12823

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.

View attachment 12825

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.

View attachment 12826

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.

View attachment 12827

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.

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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.

View attachment 12829

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!
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Nice review! Glad you had fun. Sorry you had to suffer through it. I would have chucked it before the first third was over.
 
Last edited:
Just started my Blind Review. (7:45pm)
Sitting on front porch, facing NW, temp is around 80. Humidity is eleventy thousand percent. Wind is almost nil. We had a huge storm move through a couple hours ago that dropped two inches of rain.
Paired with a Virgil's Root Beer in my insulated mug with 9 ice cubes.

View media item 11887
Measures a tick under 5" and I'm figuring about a 32 ring gauge (1/2" on my tape measure).

Pre light. No discernable flavors. Wrapper is light brown, maybe some red in it. Subtle veins. Nice straight sides, and no soft spots.

I have no idea what this is, it isn't flavored, so I'm hoping it's not a White Owl or Tatiana. :p

1/3:
Copious amounts of a dark white smoke. I'm picking up hints of chocolate. Maybe an unsweetened cocoa powder?

Ash held on for the full first third.

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2/3:
8:07
Ash fell.
Flavors are still chocolatey.
Smoke is still dark white and copious.
There's a faint flavor hitting the back of my tongue that could be a dark fruit?

Holy crap, this thing produces enough smoke to make Jonathan Drew jealous.

Still not sure what to make of this one. The ash is hanging on like it's a long filler. That's promising. It's not a spice rack, so that might rule out an NC. It is much milder than anything I've ever smoked.
View media item 11889Bri picked a cigar that was diametrically opposed, in every possible aspect, to the Feral Pig I sent her on the blind.

Almost finished with the 2/3, and I'm picking up a bit of cookie flavor.


3/3:
8:18
Moving into final third.
Still tasting the cookie. Maybe a touch sweeter as the cigar heats up. Still no hint of spice. Very mild.
Smoke is brighter white now. The amount still rivals a nuke plant cooling tower.
View media item 11890
I just dissected the cap I cut off.
Cap itself is much thicker than I'm used to seeing on NC cigars. Also, the way the leaves came apart reminds me of the CC caps I've dissected recently.

I'm leaning CC, out of sheer "placebo effect" here.

I don't even know what to guess. I'm completely stumped, and even if given a multiple choice, I'd pick wrong.

Reveal:
8:30
View media item 11891Cohoba Exquisitos!
View media item 11892I thought it tasted like a CC.

Awesome selection. I was totally stumped.
This little guy will not be the last one of these I ever smoke.

Thank you, Bri, for the hitchhikers and the chance to review this cigar.
:D:D:D:D
 
Nice choice, Bri, and excellent review. I usually shy away from sending unusual dimension cigars as it makes for too good a clue. :p
 
vortex said:
Nice choice, Bri, and excellent review. I usually shy away from sending unusual dimension cigars as it makes for too good a clue. :p
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I specifically didn't Google it to keep from ruining the surprise. :cool:
 
Very nice review!! I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to want to pick up some more. I know that unusual sizes can be clues, but I knew that you were newer to (well at least buying) CCs and figured you haven't had that one yet. I'm planning on doing my blind review tonight, but I'm still an hour away from home and I'm not even on the road yet lol.
 
Great review. I wonder if you would have gotten it had you used only 8 ice cubes. 9 seems excessive and may have limited your placebo palette powers.
 
Great review! Great cigar too! I was guessing CC as well, based on the look/color of the wrapper.
 
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