Marco-Polo
Go Irish Go!
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2008
- Messages
- 724
Cigar: J. L. Salazar Reserva Especial
Size: Robusto, 5.5x52
Executive Summary: Iffy construction spoils a very flavorful cigar. A pity because this cigar would be stiff competition for a cuban in many other ways. 7.5/10 with 9/10 flavor ... but still 7.5/10.
Background: J. L. Salazar is an old cuban marque, resurrected by Tabacalera Esteli (Don Kiki). I've read somewhere on the net that there's a family connection of some kind between Kiki Berger and the cuban producers of Salazar. Not unthinkable given how intermarried/inbred the cigar industry is. Anyhow. This is the sole remaining survivor from the first box of cigars that I bought ... EVER. A Cuban Crafters sampler pack. Bought in October of last year. Interesting side-note is that I ordered during their server outage last fall, so they lost my order and took a very long time to make it right ... anyhow ...
Pre-light: Wrapper's medium brown, very small veins. Slightly lumpy construction but feels solid to the couch. Angles on the box press have either come out with storage or were never very tight; you can tell that it's box-pressed but it's not one of the sharp-cornered presses that you occasionally run across. Decently attractive cigar, classy/conservative red-gold-and-white band. Cuts cleanly. Kept at 68/68 for months.
Construction/Burn: Ash is light grey, slighly crumbly (which may also be due to my crappy ashtray. Tunnelled after 1 inch in, so I recut and relit; the wrapper seems to have trouble staying lit, which I've read is not uncommon an uncommon problem for H2000 wrappers. Draw is considently solid throughout. Smoke is plentiful, dense, and very aromatic. After recutting the tunnelling problem reduced, but never quite went away. Frequent touch-ups with my lighter.
Flavor/Aroma: Peppery all the way through. Very flavorful, sweet tobacco, spices, earth, leather, cinnamon and coffee on the nose. The second half is vaguely floral, but not a light note - violets perhaps. Flavors evolve throughout the cigar. Extremely rich. Nicotine hits you HARD just before the band. This is not an afternoon and ice tea cigar; this is a steak and bordeaux dinner cigar.
Time elapsed: 1 hr.
Size: Robusto, 5.5x52
Executive Summary: Iffy construction spoils a very flavorful cigar. A pity because this cigar would be stiff competition for a cuban in many other ways. 7.5/10 with 9/10 flavor ... but still 7.5/10.
Background: J. L. Salazar is an old cuban marque, resurrected by Tabacalera Esteli (Don Kiki). I've read somewhere on the net that there's a family connection of some kind between Kiki Berger and the cuban producers of Salazar. Not unthinkable given how intermarried/inbred the cigar industry is. Anyhow. This is the sole remaining survivor from the first box of cigars that I bought ... EVER. A Cuban Crafters sampler pack. Bought in October of last year. Interesting side-note is that I ordered during their server outage last fall, so they lost my order and took a very long time to make it right ... anyhow ...
Pre-light: Wrapper's medium brown, very small veins. Slightly lumpy construction but feels solid to the couch. Angles on the box press have either come out with storage or were never very tight; you can tell that it's box-pressed but it's not one of the sharp-cornered presses that you occasionally run across. Decently attractive cigar, classy/conservative red-gold-and-white band. Cuts cleanly. Kept at 68/68 for months.
Construction/Burn: Ash is light grey, slighly crumbly (which may also be due to my crappy ashtray. Tunnelled after 1 inch in, so I recut and relit; the wrapper seems to have trouble staying lit, which I've read is not uncommon an uncommon problem for H2000 wrappers. Draw is considently solid throughout. Smoke is plentiful, dense, and very aromatic. After recutting the tunnelling problem reduced, but never quite went away. Frequent touch-ups with my lighter.
Flavor/Aroma: Peppery all the way through. Very flavorful, sweet tobacco, spices, earth, leather, cinnamon and coffee on the nose. The second half is vaguely floral, but not a light note - violets perhaps. Flavors evolve throughout the cigar. Extremely rich. Nicotine hits you HARD just before the band. This is not an afternoon and ice tea cigar; this is a steak and bordeaux dinner cigar.
Time elapsed: 1 hr.