Hemingway Signature

[cuppajack]

During the late 90s boom times the Hemingway Signature was a favorite of mine, when I could find them. I recently picked one up and marveled at only paying MSRP for a stick that used to be so rare and expensive, and after a long day on Wednesday I sat down to enjoy it.

Upon removing it from the humidor I noticed two troublesome features. The first was a light-spot that turned out to be a hole in the first layer of wrapper, allowing the leaf from below to peek through. I hadn’t even seen this before, but it didn’t worry me as much as the big crack in the wrapper at about the ½ point. I was worried I’d have a messy unraveling if I tried to smoke it, but what else can you do right?

I set out on the balcony and torched the closed foot (that actually looked a tad askew. It seems like this stick had seen some rough handling!) and immediately notices the firmer-than-usual draw, and somewhat anemic smoke productions. I patiently smoked through the opening “cone” waiting for the stick to blossom like I remember the Hemingways doing in the past. Unfortunately I just kept on waiting. I had to smoke the cigar much slower than my average pace to avoid an uncharacteristic harshness, however smoking the stick slowly and gently only produced the faintest wisps of smoke. It was like someone had turned the flavor-knob on the cigar all the way down, and if I double-pulled or otherwise tried to bump up the volume all I got was distortion.

Amazingly the crack in the wrapper didn’t get any worse, though I could see the binder trying to bulge through the split in the wrapper. I would have put the stick down, but I really wanted to see what would happen when I smoked through that imperfection. So I smoked the stick as fast as I could manage until the burn line hit the trouble-spot. Once through that the draw improved greatly, though the flavors only improved marginally.

This is my third Hemingway in a row that I found to be disappointing. Previously I had smoked 2 short stories that both suffered from stiff draws, low smoke volume, and an “off” flavor. None, or at least very little, of that sweet woody and nutty flavors that I remembered.

Maybe I’ve lost my taste for Cameroon wrappers, and the maduros would be a bigger hit.
Maybe that WOG did permanent damage to my pallet.

 

[xprinter]

Nice review, I like the fact that you added pictures.

I'm have the same feelings about the Hemingway's they are ok. I'm just started exploring the cameroon wrappers and havn't found a great one yet, I'll just keep looking.

 

[atuck]

I have run into similar problems with the Hemingway line, both Natural and Maduro. But it is not very common. And I love the Hemingway line so much that I am willing to deal with it. One of my favorites! :thumbs:

 

[OahuGrown]

the past 3 short stories i had were plugged, i havent bought any in about 2months

 

[Cigar Penguin]

They are ok cigars.I too found quite a bit with tight draws, I do indeed like the maduro only though.Something about the natural I just dont care for,tastes like a common cigar.

Thanks for the review.

 

[Ginseng]

Nice review, cuppa.

I have not been too impressed with the Short Stories as of late either. Tight draws being the main problem. Haven't had too much contact with the others in the Hemingway line although I did pick up a Don Carlos to try again.

Wilkey

 

[vortex]

It sounds like it's possible you smoked a cigars that had been dried out to the point it lost it's flavor. At least the symptoms match to my experience. I have had bad Hemingways but generally think they are still good cigars.

 

[Mr_Wolf]

This is my third Hemingway in a row that I found to be disappointing. Previously I had smoked 2 short stories that both suffered from stiff draws, low smoke volume, and an “off” flavor. None, or at least very little, of that sweet woody and nutty flavors that I remembered.

I had the Signature Maduro this week, with the exact same problems, minus the cracked wrapper. However, all of the Short Stories and Best Sellers have been spectacular. And I love the Classic!! :love:

 

[OutlawD]

I smoke lots of Hemingways and do find that sometimes they have a thight draw,
sometimes this can be cleared up with a simple second cut, other times I find that gently biting on the end will create an opening to allow the smoke to flow a little easier.
As for the flavor it could be that you have gotten some cigars that were not properly humidified.

It could be that you just plain dont care for the Hemingway line anymore
More for me

 

[TheNakedGun]

I tried my first Hemingway on friday Sept 1, 2006 and I was impressed with it I did notice however a little hard drawing at first but that was more my fault because I used a punch instead of a cutter but other than that I rated it a 9 out of 10