Shamrocker
Sheik Yerbouti
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 1,591
Please bear with me, this is my first cigar review.
Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduars, Nicaragua, Dominican
Strength: Medium to full bodied
I decided after almost 3 hours of dethatching my lawn after the spring melt I needed some good relaxation time, something to take my mind off my sore back. What better way than to sit on my patio in the sun and enjoy the beautiful 12 degree weather.** (see footnote) I reached into my humidor and pulled out a cigar I bought from my first bundle I bought right before I decided to go back to college. A wonderful little bargain smoke with a nice maduro wrapper. The wrapper had a few slightly prominent veins in it, but no other visible imperfections.
I clipped the end with my Xikar. The cut wasn't the cleanest I'd done, but I was admittedly a little sloppy. At least the wrapper didn't split or unravel. Pre-light draw was perfect for me, ever so slight resistance. Toasted the foot and took my first few puffs. The flavour seemed flat, like it was just smoke from burning tobacco.. no depth. I was thinking I'd toss it and grab something else if the flavour didn't develop, luckily it only took a minute or two to show a little depth. I couldn't quite put specific words to what I tasted, but I'd describe it as earthy and woody.
After the first 2cm** or so I picked up on some pepper. Not strong, but there. The ash was a very light grey. The burn needed a little touch up 2 times, it slowed down a bit when it hit one of the larger veins. The flavour stayed consistent at least until the halfway point. The smoke was nice and cool and the ash didn't drop for almost 5cm. Smoke was creamy and it was easy to tell there was a large volume even in the breeze we had.
The smoke began to warm up a little after the halfway point and I noticed a little bitterness, almost like a strong roasted coffee. Once the burn approached the band the bitterness was almost taking over. Around that point I heard a little popping sound, discovered the wrapper started to split just beyond where I held the cigar in my mouth. After every couple puffs the split got a little bigger. I decided at that point between the split and the bitter flavour taking over this cigar had run its course. Start to finish, around 45 minutes for this smoke. I enjoyed this cigar, and am not at all bothered by the burn touch ups I needed to do since this is a factory second.
I paired this cigar with my favourite port, Graham's LBV. I found the port went well with this cigar if I sipped before I puffed. The other way around the flavours of the port were lost in the aftertaste of the smoke. Perhaps a fuller bodied spirit would have paired better, Talisker single malt Scotch comes to mind as it's quite earthy and peat-smokey.
Keith
** I'm Canadian, the measurement is metric... deal with it
Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduars, Nicaragua, Dominican
Strength: Medium to full bodied
I decided after almost 3 hours of dethatching my lawn after the spring melt I needed some good relaxation time, something to take my mind off my sore back. What better way than to sit on my patio in the sun and enjoy the beautiful 12 degree weather.** (see footnote) I reached into my humidor and pulled out a cigar I bought from my first bundle I bought right before I decided to go back to college. A wonderful little bargain smoke with a nice maduro wrapper. The wrapper had a few slightly prominent veins in it, but no other visible imperfections.
I clipped the end with my Xikar. The cut wasn't the cleanest I'd done, but I was admittedly a little sloppy. At least the wrapper didn't split or unravel. Pre-light draw was perfect for me, ever so slight resistance. Toasted the foot and took my first few puffs. The flavour seemed flat, like it was just smoke from burning tobacco.. no depth. I was thinking I'd toss it and grab something else if the flavour didn't develop, luckily it only took a minute or two to show a little depth. I couldn't quite put specific words to what I tasted, but I'd describe it as earthy and woody.
After the first 2cm** or so I picked up on some pepper. Not strong, but there. The ash was a very light grey. The burn needed a little touch up 2 times, it slowed down a bit when it hit one of the larger veins. The flavour stayed consistent at least until the halfway point. The smoke was nice and cool and the ash didn't drop for almost 5cm. Smoke was creamy and it was easy to tell there was a large volume even in the breeze we had.
The smoke began to warm up a little after the halfway point and I noticed a little bitterness, almost like a strong roasted coffee. Once the burn approached the band the bitterness was almost taking over. Around that point I heard a little popping sound, discovered the wrapper started to split just beyond where I held the cigar in my mouth. After every couple puffs the split got a little bigger. I decided at that point between the split and the bitter flavour taking over this cigar had run its course. Start to finish, around 45 minutes for this smoke. I enjoyed this cigar, and am not at all bothered by the burn touch ups I needed to do since this is a factory second.
I paired this cigar with my favourite port, Graham's LBV. I found the port went well with this cigar if I sipped before I puffed. The other way around the flavours of the port were lost in the aftertaste of the smoke. Perhaps a fuller bodied spirit would have paired better, Talisker single malt Scotch comes to mind as it's quite earthy and peat-smokey.
Keith
** I'm Canadian, the measurement is metric... deal with it
