I had planned on smoking this beauty last night in Harrisburg, but we were talking, eating and having such a good time, I figured it wouldn't be fair to review this baby and not be able to pay attention to it. So this afternoon, with the snow falling, and a good hockey game on the widescreen, I cut it with my new Palio cutter, and lit it with my new Blazer that I got from Mark over at Cigarmony.com (shameless plug
)
When I opened the bag Alan sent, I was bombarded with a wonderful smell, and I knew that this was going to be a special smoke. As I stated in an earlier post, this is the first cigar box purchase that I made based on smell!
Like Wilkey, mine was a little tight on the draw after the initial cut. But the draw opened up after the first inch. The construction was perfect, and had a nice firm feel the entire length of the cigar. It had a slight pepper/spice/light leather, but extremely pleasant taste on my palette, that mellowed out toward the half-way point. I found it to be, at first a more medium bodied cigar, with lots of bluish smoke. The wife found the smell to be pleasant too, which is a good thing. :whistling:
The burn stayed pretty even all the way down, with only one minor touch up required.
The first ash dropped off at about the 2" mark, it was tight with slight flaking. The taste was nice and smooth. I was relaxed (even though my Caps lost) and had a nice afternoon smoking and watching the snow come down.
Needless to say that I nubbed this puppy, I would have taken it down further, but it started getting hot, and I got lip tingle. This was an awesome smoke, and it ended up being more full bodied toward the end, without being harsh, which is a wonderful thing!! I'm glad I got a box, now I'll have to get some more soon. I can't wait to see what 6 to 12 months will do to these. I can see them getting better and maybe a little more complex with some age.
Alan, thank you so much for sending and introducing me to these, you are a stand up BOTL!! Two thumbs up to you!! :thumbs:
Anthony, you're up! :laugh: