OK... I smoked my first one Saturday night. Well, technicall Sunday morning, 1 am.
Conditions
37 degrees with a little rain. Tried waiting it out, but it wouldn't let up.
Beverage
None, unfortunately, since I was working
Pre-Light
Wrapper was a very dark brown, like real dark chocolate. Like a couple other reviews, a lot of tooth on it. There was a giant vein that ran straight down the center of the smoke. The cap was split, but that may have been a result of the package pressing.
Cut and Light
Nice smooth cut across the top, but the cutting ended up cracking the top of the cigar a little. Again, this may have been a result of the package pressing. Not too bad a crack, I just had to be careful how I held the cgar in my mouth to keep it together for a good draw. It lit with ease, despite the rain, which was great.
The Smoke
The first inch was incredibly uneventful. Nothing. Nada. Good draw, good burn, but nothing flavor wise. Just as I beginning to think this was going to be it, I started getting a hint of cocoa. As the cigar kept burning, the cocoa flavor was getting stronger. Around the 1/3 mark, I started to taste some spiciness. THis was also the point where the cocoa falvor peaked.
The spiciness took the same route as the cocoa. Started off slight at first, and gradually built. Once I reached the halfway point, the cocoa flavor was pretty much gone, and the spicy flavor was getting close to it's peak. It was also at this point that I lost the ash for the first time. So, on that note, the construction was great. THe solid, white ash held strong up unitl then, and then fell to the ground in one solid piece. For the remainder of the smoke, the ash would not fall again.
The spicy taste got me through to a little past the 2/3 mark, at which point it disappeared. I took a couple more draws, looking to see if there was anything left. And there wasn't. Back to the same taste as the first inch. I took one last draw before getting ready to throw it away, and I got a slight nutty flavor. I decided to keep it a little longer to see if this would go anywhere, but it only lasted another 2 draws.
Overall
The cigar burned for about 45 - 50 minutes, which is what I look for when I grab my late night job smoke. The construction and draw were very good, the flavor not bad. I was pleased that it picked up from that first inch, or else I probably wouldn't have made it to the half way point. For $2 a stick, I guess it's not an awful deal. As for how it compares to other bundle cigars, I don't know, because I haven't really had any other ones. Some of the other reviews have said you can get better smoke for less price, and it's probably true.
As far as the comparison to RP Vintage, he's not close. Personally, I'm not a fan of RP, but it is a different class here. But, i think this cigar was more about blasting RP than actually putting something out there that would compete with it.
On the CA scale, not taking into account the cracked cap, I'd probably give it about an 80.
I still have one more in the humidor, and I'll probably wait a couple more weeks before trying it and coming back to compare the two.
Again, thanks a lot, SJM, for the chance to review this.
