I have decided to change my rating scale - a 100 point scale seems more appealing to me on further consideration. I also decided to put my scores first and detail later for those of you that don't want to read my long winded ramblings. I am still trying to figure out what all to rate - I would appreciate any suggestions you have. So here goes for this cigar.
Appearance - 87
Construction - 40
Burn - 75
Flavor - 92
Value - 60
Overall - 65
Today I went digging through the coolerdor to see what I was going to try out. I had listed a bunch of my cheap cigars in an earlier post promising reviews; whowever I have 2 of these 6 X 58 beasts from a sampler that have been tempting me for some time now. The boy was napping when I got home, my wife reported they had been at the neighborhood pool this morning and he had practically passed out when they got home. This is a telltale sign of a long nap - today seemed a good day to try one out.
The cigar was very firm with a mostly smooth wrapper. The only 2 predominate veins ran lengthwise opposite each other for the whole 6 inches, like spines. The cigar had a very distinct and pleasant aroma upon removing it from the cello; more than I can recall from any other. It made my mouth water. This gorilla barely fit into my Xicar cutter. The snip yeilded nothing but wrapper, with no unraveling. That is always satisfying to me as I hate having to spit out tobacco bits. My score for the construction would have been a LOT lower if the wrapper had not been applied so perfectly. Tasting the unlight cigar made my mouth water even more, there were many flavors present although I couldn't isolate any one. While waiting to light it I pulled up a description and noticed that stuffed into the Cameroon binder are "vintage Dominican-grown Olor and strong Cubano Ligero long filler blend combined with unique Corojo and Brazilian Mata Fina leaves". Such a variety of leaves promised a complex flavor.
The boy was still sound asleep when I walked out into the back and fired it up. The cigar burnt even for the most part throughout, and quickly self corrected the few times it wasn't. The flavor was wonderfully rich, somewhat complex, and medium bodied however the draw SUCKED. I bet girls at the massage parlors here in Dallas would have a hard time getting a mouthful of smoke out of it. Having to draw hard on a huge ring cigar has left my jaw sore. I suspect many people would have chucked it sooner. That was a real shame because throughout the cigar I was left wanting more of what was right there. The finish was short and pleasant, and the lingering aftertaste is soo good I am still enjoying it while typing this. The burn was nice and cool; you would get yourself dizzy trying to smoke this thing fast. I noticed predominate bittersweet chocolate and cumin flavor. More subtle was a mild leathery flavor at the start, and a faint almond flavor at the end. I really hope that perhaps the draw of this cigar was not typical, as I know I will enjoy the second one a LOT if the draw was better. I plan on trying another size in this line to see if any of them draw better. The ash went a good 2 1/2 inches before falling the first time, and I put it out with an inch left before it dropped again. It took me about an hour to finish it.
One thing that really struck me while smoking the cigar, is how well it would go with a bowl of Cincinnati-style (Skyline) chili. I am REALLY craving some right now.
I will try to post an update when I smoke the second one and/or other sizes.
Appearance - 87
Construction - 40
Burn - 75
Flavor - 92
Value - 60
Overall - 65
Today I went digging through the coolerdor to see what I was going to try out. I had listed a bunch of my cheap cigars in an earlier post promising reviews; whowever I have 2 of these 6 X 58 beasts from a sampler that have been tempting me for some time now. The boy was napping when I got home, my wife reported they had been at the neighborhood pool this morning and he had practically passed out when they got home. This is a telltale sign of a long nap - today seemed a good day to try one out.
The cigar was very firm with a mostly smooth wrapper. The only 2 predominate veins ran lengthwise opposite each other for the whole 6 inches, like spines. The cigar had a very distinct and pleasant aroma upon removing it from the cello; more than I can recall from any other. It made my mouth water. This gorilla barely fit into my Xicar cutter. The snip yeilded nothing but wrapper, with no unraveling. That is always satisfying to me as I hate having to spit out tobacco bits. My score for the construction would have been a LOT lower if the wrapper had not been applied so perfectly. Tasting the unlight cigar made my mouth water even more, there were many flavors present although I couldn't isolate any one. While waiting to light it I pulled up a description and noticed that stuffed into the Cameroon binder are "vintage Dominican-grown Olor and strong Cubano Ligero long filler blend combined with unique Corojo and Brazilian Mata Fina leaves". Such a variety of leaves promised a complex flavor.
The boy was still sound asleep when I walked out into the back and fired it up. The cigar burnt even for the most part throughout, and quickly self corrected the few times it wasn't. The flavor was wonderfully rich, somewhat complex, and medium bodied however the draw SUCKED. I bet girls at the massage parlors here in Dallas would have a hard time getting a mouthful of smoke out of it. Having to draw hard on a huge ring cigar has left my jaw sore. I suspect many people would have chucked it sooner. That was a real shame because throughout the cigar I was left wanting more of what was right there. The finish was short and pleasant, and the lingering aftertaste is soo good I am still enjoying it while typing this. The burn was nice and cool; you would get yourself dizzy trying to smoke this thing fast. I noticed predominate bittersweet chocolate and cumin flavor. More subtle was a mild leathery flavor at the start, and a faint almond flavor at the end. I really hope that perhaps the draw of this cigar was not typical, as I know I will enjoy the second one a LOT if the draw was better. I plan on trying another size in this line to see if any of them draw better. The ash went a good 2 1/2 inches before falling the first time, and I put it out with an inch left before it dropped again. It took me about an hour to finish it.
One thing that really struck me while smoking the cigar, is how well it would go with a bowl of Cincinnati-style (Skyline) chili. I am REALLY craving some right now.
I will try to post an update when I smoke the second one and/or other sizes.
