Drew Estate ACID, Natural and Lars. Does the madness every end? 
I really wanted to try some of these types of cigars because everyone goes crazy about them and I wanted to see what the hype (or hate) was all about. With the generosity of Hbooker (thanks Mike!), I was able to try a Lars Joker and an ACID pimp stick.
The Lars was built very well. The scent is very strong, almost like incense. If I didn't French inhale, the smoking flavor is actually pretty good. If I did French inhale, then I could smell/taste the perfume qualities mingle with the tobacco flavor. I like to slightly French inhale on almost every puff, so I did get the perfume flavor/taste almost every time. This cigar had great smoking characteristics. great draw and lots of smoke. It burned straight and the ash was not flakey at all. I just couldn't get completely past the perfume.
The ACID pimp stick smelled almost verbatim to the Lars. I pretty much figured it was going to taste the same, but there were some differences. The tobacco didn't have as much flavor as the Lars. With this I can only assume that Lars uses better tobacco. When smoked, the perfume taste/smell wasn't as pronounced with the ACID as it was with the Lars. The construction of the ACID was also pretty good. The draw was a little tight, but the smoke was good. The really neat torpedo shape felt really good in the hands. This cigar was also silky to the touch. A little difficult to get lit due to the torp shape, but once it gets going it was fine.
I can see how some folks may not be able to get past the initial scent of these cigars. Both of these cigars smelled very similar, but the Lars was just a touch stronger. Same with the predraw; both tasted perfumy with the strength leaning towards the Lars. When smoked it was a toss up. The Lars had the better tobacco taste, but it was slightly over shadowed by the perfume. The ACID has less tobacco flavor, but there wasn't as much perfume to mask it. So pretty much 6 of one, half dozen of the other. I give the construction nod to the Lars. The Lars just looked really good. The smoking character also goes to the Lars. This thing was just almost flawless. I'm not sure if I would ever buy either of these, they had just a touch too much perfume for me. I suppose it would depend on the mood I'm in
I purchased a Drew Estate Natural sampler pack, so I will have a few more reviews in the future But as of now, the size I smoked was called Clean Robusto. This cigar smelled great. Just a hint of a flavor-like smell. Not anything perfumy, like the two above, and NOT a regular flavor smell like a normal flavored cigar. It was very difficult to explain. The construction was also very good, deep rich color and a slightly silky feel. The predraw had a very faint vanilla and slight coconut flavor. Upon light up I could smell the flavors in the tobacco. Mind you this did not taste like a flavored cigar; but rather like smoking a normal cigar, yet someone next to you is smoking a flavored cigar and you are getting a faint smell of their smoke on your pallet. You could only taste the flavors if you allowed yourself to smell them. With no French inhale, the tobacco tasted pretty darn good. During French inhale, you could smell/taste the faint flavors inside; chocolate, vanilla and coconut (but all were very faint). The draw was great and it had gobs of smoke. Very well made IMHO. These I would probably buy again. I wouldn't smoke them everyday, but they taste like a very good "treat" cigar to me just to break away from the norm every now and then. Hopefully this was a good read for some folks.
Vic
I really wanted to try some of these types of cigars because everyone goes crazy about them and I wanted to see what the hype (or hate) was all about. With the generosity of Hbooker (thanks Mike!), I was able to try a Lars Joker and an ACID pimp stick.The Lars was built very well. The scent is very strong, almost like incense. If I didn't French inhale, the smoking flavor is actually pretty good. If I did French inhale, then I could smell/taste the perfume qualities mingle with the tobacco flavor. I like to slightly French inhale on almost every puff, so I did get the perfume flavor/taste almost every time. This cigar had great smoking characteristics. great draw and lots of smoke. It burned straight and the ash was not flakey at all. I just couldn't get completely past the perfume.
The ACID pimp stick smelled almost verbatim to the Lars. I pretty much figured it was going to taste the same, but there were some differences. The tobacco didn't have as much flavor as the Lars. With this I can only assume that Lars uses better tobacco. When smoked, the perfume taste/smell wasn't as pronounced with the ACID as it was with the Lars. The construction of the ACID was also pretty good. The draw was a little tight, but the smoke was good. The really neat torpedo shape felt really good in the hands. This cigar was also silky to the touch. A little difficult to get lit due to the torp shape, but once it gets going it was fine.
I can see how some folks may not be able to get past the initial scent of these cigars. Both of these cigars smelled very similar, but the Lars was just a touch stronger. Same with the predraw; both tasted perfumy with the strength leaning towards the Lars. When smoked it was a toss up. The Lars had the better tobacco taste, but it was slightly over shadowed by the perfume. The ACID has less tobacco flavor, but there wasn't as much perfume to mask it. So pretty much 6 of one, half dozen of the other. I give the construction nod to the Lars. The Lars just looked really good. The smoking character also goes to the Lars. This thing was just almost flawless. I'm not sure if I would ever buy either of these, they had just a touch too much perfume for me. I suppose it would depend on the mood I'm in
I purchased a Drew Estate Natural sampler pack, so I will have a few more reviews in the future
But as of now, the size I smoked was called Clean Robusto. This cigar smelled great. Just a hint of a flavor-like smell. Not anything perfumy, like the two above, and NOT a regular flavor smell like a normal flavored cigar. It was very difficult to explain. The construction was also very good, deep rich color and a slightly silky feel. The predraw had a very faint vanilla and slight coconut flavor. Upon light up I could smell the flavors in the tobacco. Mind you this did not taste like a flavored cigar; but rather like smoking a normal cigar, yet someone next to you is smoking a flavored cigar and you are getting a faint smell of their smoke on your pallet. You could only taste the flavors if you allowed yourself to smell them. With no French inhale, the tobacco tasted pretty darn good. During French inhale, you could smell/taste the faint flavors inside; chocolate, vanilla and coconut (but all were very faint). The draw was great and it had gobs of smoke. Very well made IMHO. These I would probably buy again. I wouldn't smoke them everyday, but they taste like a very good "treat" cigar to me just to break away from the norm every now and then. Hopefully this was a good read for some folks.Vic
