Mindriot's Prototype

[tsmckenney]

Mindriot’s Prototype Torpedo

Well, I pretty much f’d up the robusto size I was sent with this torpedo. I smoked it too early. It tasted wet and young. The torpedo now has had a few days to chill.

The wrapper is a beautiful milk chocolate brown. The filler is neatly bunched and the cigar pinch is perfect. The first third has a tangy tobacco flavor. There’s no noticeable bitterness. The finish is somewhat bland. I would describe the tangy quality as being similar to an over-ripened cherry.

Into the 2nd third, the tanginess has smoothened out and a creamy mild tobacco flavor presents itself.

The final third remained the same. The cigar was very smooth and creamy, but lacked any flavors that jumped out at you. The cigar was medium bodied, nothing harsh. If there had been a little something more going on it would have been down my alley in a big way. I really dig a good creamy cigar, so I definitely still enjoyed the torpedo down to the nub.

Kevin, thanks much!

 

[tkoepp]

..placeholder

 

[jfields]

Kevin sent me two samples to review as well.
Robusto 5x50
Gorda 6x60



ROBUSTO

This was the first sample that I sat down with. The first thing I noticed as the smell and construction. Other than the sheen on the wrapper, it reminded me of a Cuban CORO down to the smell of it. Somewhat minimal veining, nice bunching that was viewable at the foot, and complete with a nice triple cap.

After snipping the cap, what I consider a perfect draw was noticed. Toasting the foot gave off a very familiar smell that set off that Deja Vu sense in the back of my mind. The first 1/4 inch of the cigar was very similar to a Cuban cigar that I smoke frequently. I even wondered if Kevin was playing around with the reveiwers in some seceret review set-up of some sort.

After that, what I thought to be the cigar being too wet set in. The sample had many issues including, bitterness peeking in and out, tunneling, and having to re-light constantly. The bitterness would sometimes go away with multiple purgings, but the flavor I enjoyed would go away again after a few draws.
I contacted Kevin with my suspicion and he agreed that the water pillow may have been a contributing factor.

GORDA

This one I decided to take out of the humidor first thing in the morning and dry box all day. When I picked it up later in the evening, I noticed that the soft spongy give was now firm. Construction was the same as the robusto.....Very impressive for an economy cigar.
The dry boxing made all of the difference on this one. Burn was spot on, as was the flavor all the way down to the last inch of the cigar where it started to show it's youth. The ash was a bit loose/flaky with a grey/white mix.

This one was the exact same profile as the first (when it was good). Like I said, it reminded me of something that drove me crazy until I figured it out......... I love the VR Unicos, and this was a very similar profile with a little CORO thrown in. Some may disagree, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Not a largely complex smoke, although I think time will do wonders for them.

Kevin, I think you have done well with telling the blender what you want, and for around $4.00 a stick, I think you'll be like a crack dealer on a street corner once people try them.

 

[Ginseng]

Here are my reviews of the Toro 6 x 50 and Robusto 5 x 50.

Toro
The Toro was a nicely made stick. Well constructed and solid with a fairly neat cap. Bunching was well done and, coupled with the springiness in the barrel, suggesting an easy draw. Prelight cold aroma was nice and earthy with a meaty tobacco, barnyard character. I have to say that this cigar smelled the more like a Cuban cigar than the vast majority of NC issues I've come across. Very enticing. Here's the play by play as I smoked.

The cigar lit well and drew smoothly. Initial notes were black pepper and red pepper. In a word, nose-tickly. The trailing smoke aroma from the foot is fragrant and pleasing. The smoke was spicy on the tongue and of a light to medium body. The trailing smoke presented very pleasant floral and aromatic notes. There was a clear tangy flavor to the aftertaste...reminiscent of a good Monte No.4. The trailing smoke continues to be pleasant every now and then presenting a sweet cookie-like aroma. The drawn smoke is still medium-bodied at best and the pepper character is quite prominent. At this point, just before the first inch, I'd say the cigar does not strike a good balance between the prominent black pepper notes and the light-medium body. The cigar does not present smoke that is meaty or densely textural as the cold aroma might suggest.

The burn is good past the first inch. A pleasant grassiness/greeness begins to present itself. This continues to be overlaid on the pepper and light bodied tobacco. After the first ashing at the 1/3 mark, the grassiness recedes revealing a pleasant toastiness. The pepper is still rather in your face.

The cigar continues pretty much in this fashion until the last third whereupon I had to put it down to make some burgers for lunch. Returning to it about 7-10 minutes later, the relight was a disaster. The pleasant character had gone and the cigar was a nasty funk stick. This is pretty unusual as I am usually able to restart a cigar after such a short hiatus with no problem. Supervising your daughter and a bunch of neighbor girls playing here, there, and everywhere can occasionally take one off the smoking chair. Even multiple purgings were of no help. I'd have to say this is strange, in my experience. In fact, I had a 2" nub of a Black Pearl Rojo Toro in the ashtray from yesterday's lawn work and when I lit that back up, it came back to pretty darn close to where I left off. That is my favorite yardwork cigar for a number of reasons.

All in all, this was a pleasant cigar with a nice, light body and pleasing, sweet tobacco character. The prominent black pepper was too much though, IMO. If it were dialed back a bit or if the body were made fuller (but not necessarily stronger) with a bit more flavor and the balance would have been better. I consider this about a 4 on a scale of 1-10 in strength. Relight notwithstanding, although I would not smoke this on a regular basis, if I were to buy some for an occasional puffer, I'd gladly pay $3-5 for it.

Robusto
My experience with the Robusto was about the same as for the toro. The body was very slightly fuller and it was perhaps a bit sweeter with a hint of nice nuttiness but the prominent pepper was still there. Also light-medium light bodied with a nice cold aroma and a pleasant trailing smoke. Decent. Same, $3-5.

Wilkey

 

[souldog]

Cigar: Kevin's New CIgar
Wrapper: Unknown Wrapper, I'm not that l33t at ID'ing wrappers w/o some help...
Ring Gauge: 50
Length: 5
Origin: Kevin

Start Time: 1749 hrs

Initial Observations: The construction was interesting on this little guy. A few big veins, but the most notable was the fact that the cigar felt very 'squishy' to the touch. I let this guy sit in my humi for approximately a week, at 67% RH, so I believe it was loosely rolled. The foot appears to be fine, but again, the overall feel of this cigar is loosely rolled. The prelight draw is very loose, the wrapper tastes slightly spicy.

The First Third: I toasted the foot, and the draw was good. Initially, the smoke is quite spicey, but has a harsh bitter aftertaste. As soon as I lit up the cigar, approximately an 1/8 of an inch in, I had burn problems.

As I continued to smoke the cigar, the wrapper strted unfurling.

I continued smoking, and all of a sudden the cigar lost it's bitterness and began picking up a sweet and creamy flavor. The ash is very loose, and doesn't hold for very long.

The Second Third: The cigar maintained it's creamy profile, and the burn fixed itself.

The Final Third: I had to keep purging the cigar as it took on this harsh bitterness, very quickly. I finally had to put the cigar down because it took on a bitter sour taste. Also, the cigar became quite squishy at the end!

End Time: 1827 hrs


Thanks again Kevin for giving me the opportunity to sample these cigars! I think that after some time, this will become a very fine smoke! :thumbs: Best of luck!

 

[jfields]

Johnathan,
If Kevin gave you another sample, try dry boxing all day before smoking it. You seem to have had the same issues as I did with my first one. All of them rectified with letting the second one sit out, including the "squishy" one. :laugh: