tone-ny
I smoke therefore I am!
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2004
- Messages
- 13,290
Had the opportunity to have some down time yesterday due to some dental work. To drown my pain I decided to have a few fingers of HC7 and thought I would pick something out I haven't had in a while to go with it. I chose a Taboada, Super Rodolfo, a beautiful piramide. This cigar was from the July 2006 vintage from his visit to the LCDH in Tia Juana.
No pictures were taken of my tasting as I find it distracts me too much from the task at hand. I truly enjoy my smoking, my wife thinks I'm in a trance or stupor when she comes out to check up on me. Didn't have that problem as I was on my own. The weather was just stunning yesterday afternoon, slight breeze and the tail end of the sun to warm me. The HC7 didn't hurt either. I did listen to my collection of songs from Los Van Van, NG la banda and Isaac Delgado to set the mood.
On to the cigar, the construction as all the cigars I have had from Taboada was a thing of beauty. I am reminded of the quality of his rolling as comparable to how a current Davidoff looks. That is where the similarity ends as his is quite different in that he makes the cap an art form unto itself. This cigar had an end bordering on a cross between a shag and an unfinished end. The wrapper was a mix the cap end was a lustrous dark chocolate and the rest was a slightly lighter shade. I heard that when he was at the end of his visit he was running out of leaf. In the bundle that I bought I had some cigars with the darker wrapper further on to the cigar.
I cut the cigar on a bias, taking off as little cap as possible as I wanted to be able to smoke as much as possible. The pre-light draw was very light as I have talked about previously in different posts. I think this had to do with the lack of material he had bought with him on this trip and the fact that these cigars were made late in his trip. The light was an easy affair as the unfinished end burns so nicely and starts the cigar of perfectly.
I had smoked a few of this batch of cigars in different vitolas and had been slightly disappointed. Especially since I hadn't smoked them as soon as I had gotten them. So Basically I had smoked a few last summer and fall and found them to be lacking, not in strength or flavor, but one dimensional and flat. This one was different and shows how an additional year can help marry the different tobaccos into a pleasing cigar.
The initial draw was of a white pepper taste, not a bit harsh but a tang. The nose while slightly strong was extremely pleasant. This peppery taste was present throughout the cigar. I picked up tones of both toasted almond and a soft vanilla under tone. The cigar started to remind me of an older vintaged Upmann in other words an aged example as opposed to only a two year old cigar. If you've ever smoked an Upmann with 8-10 years on them they have a sweetness that borders on a dessert effect, that is they way they seem to me.
The cigars burn was even throughout even though I was smoking it outside and I did not have to relight at all. The cigar remained very consistent throughout, not one dimensional but true to its initial taste profile. Did I say I enjoyed the HC7. The cigar had a medium/strong strength to it and will probably mature into an very flavorful medium bodied cigar with a few more years.
Well I hope you enjoyed this review as the combination of the HC7 and Taboada helped ease the pain. I will make the comment that has been made before. These cigars while extremely over priced are enjoyable and worth the sampling. Would I go buy a bundle at those prices, short answer no. I'll let the others sleep and re-visit next year. one other comment the 2005 cigars and the few 2004 samples I have smoked were superior to the 2006 ones. As in all things YMMV.
No pictures were taken of my tasting as I find it distracts me too much from the task at hand. I truly enjoy my smoking, my wife thinks I'm in a trance or stupor when she comes out to check up on me. Didn't have that problem as I was on my own. The weather was just stunning yesterday afternoon, slight breeze and the tail end of the sun to warm me. The HC7 didn't hurt either. I did listen to my collection of songs from Los Van Van, NG la banda and Isaac Delgado to set the mood.
On to the cigar, the construction as all the cigars I have had from Taboada was a thing of beauty. I am reminded of the quality of his rolling as comparable to how a current Davidoff looks. That is where the similarity ends as his is quite different in that he makes the cap an art form unto itself. This cigar had an end bordering on a cross between a shag and an unfinished end. The wrapper was a mix the cap end was a lustrous dark chocolate and the rest was a slightly lighter shade. I heard that when he was at the end of his visit he was running out of leaf. In the bundle that I bought I had some cigars with the darker wrapper further on to the cigar.
I cut the cigar on a bias, taking off as little cap as possible as I wanted to be able to smoke as much as possible. The pre-light draw was very light as I have talked about previously in different posts. I think this had to do with the lack of material he had bought with him on this trip and the fact that these cigars were made late in his trip. The light was an easy affair as the unfinished end burns so nicely and starts the cigar of perfectly.
I had smoked a few of this batch of cigars in different vitolas and had been slightly disappointed. Especially since I hadn't smoked them as soon as I had gotten them. So Basically I had smoked a few last summer and fall and found them to be lacking, not in strength or flavor, but one dimensional and flat. This one was different and shows how an additional year can help marry the different tobaccos into a pleasing cigar.
The initial draw was of a white pepper taste, not a bit harsh but a tang. The nose while slightly strong was extremely pleasant. This peppery taste was present throughout the cigar. I picked up tones of both toasted almond and a soft vanilla under tone. The cigar started to remind me of an older vintaged Upmann in other words an aged example as opposed to only a two year old cigar. If you've ever smoked an Upmann with 8-10 years on them they have a sweetness that borders on a dessert effect, that is they way they seem to me.
The cigars burn was even throughout even though I was smoking it outside and I did not have to relight at all. The cigar remained very consistent throughout, not one dimensional but true to its initial taste profile. Did I say I enjoyed the HC7. The cigar had a medium/strong strength to it and will probably mature into an very flavorful medium bodied cigar with a few more years.
Well I hope you enjoyed this review as the combination of the HC7 and Taboada helped ease the pain. I will make the comment that has been made before. These cigars while extremely over priced are enjoyable and worth the sampling. Would I go buy a bundle at those prices, short answer no. I'll let the others sleep and re-visit next year. one other comment the 2005 cigars and the few 2004 samples I have smoked were superior to the 2006 ones. As in all things YMMV.
