Cigar #10 review
ELittle said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 8/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 8/10 - Last 1/3rd: 7/10 - Overall:
7.6/10
Price: $7.00
Review: First third: This cigar has a beautiful maduro wrapper, which looks a lot like Connecticut broadleaf maduro. The draw is excellent and the cigars wrapper has a slightly sweet taste to it before lighting. The prelight draw flavor of this cigar I had pegged for an OpusX or Diamond Crown Maximus at first, but I believe it to be an Anejo 46 with a little age on it. After lighting there is plenty of smoke, a nice amount of spice and full in strength. A slightly nutty flavor started to appear near the end of this third.
Second third: The cigar is getting more balanced now. It still has a good amount of spice to it and is nice and strong, but these features seem to blend together and compliment each other more nicely in the second third.
Final third: About the same as the second third. There is still a lot of strength to this cigar, and a nice rich flavor.
This was a great cigar. I thought it was an opus maduro at first, then a Diamond Crown Maximus, but I think this is an Anejo 46. I would definitely stock up on these.
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insight said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 8.5/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 8.5/10 - Last 1/3rd: 8.5/10 - Overall:
8.5/10
Price: $8.00
Review: 1/3: Lots of pepper at the start of the cigar but it gets a bit sweet an inch in. Exhaling smoke through the nose isn't harsh at all.
2/3: I get a taste of what I would describe as Opusish tobacco but the smoke remains more subdued and sweet than I would expect from an Opus. The wrapper seems too light for an Anejo but I am getting a lot of flavors I would associate with an older Anejo 46. There is a deep somewhat fruity flavor, like a mild plum, that I find common to Anejos that I pick up on the finish of this cigar although it is much more subdued than I would expect from recent crop.
3/3: There is a bit of leather as the cigar finishes out and more of the same flavors. The profile doesn't shift much and honestly for the latter half of the cigar I spent more time just enjoying the smoke than making tasting notes. One of the advantages this review series has is I have been able to really just think about how much I am enjoying the cigar rather than which hint of cinnamon vanilla jasmine whatever was coming through at a given time.
Price: Originally $7-8
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Kingantz said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 6/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 6/10 - Last 1/3rd: 6/10 - Overall:
6/10
Price: $7.00
Review: It’s been beautiful pretty much all week with the temperature getting up into the high sixties, low seventies. Of course the weekend gets here, and it’s cold and raining first thing Saturday morning. Ah well, at least it IS the weekend! I’m smoking Andrew’s No. 10 stick this morning. It has a dark maduro shade wrapper where the edge of the wrapper leaf is darker than the middle, making the cigar have a faint resemblance to a barber pole. There’s noticeable oil in the wrapper as well and the cigar is coarse with a good weight in the hand, a slight give when squeezed. I punch the rounded cap and find the draw good with tastes of cinnamon and raisin. Maybe this is a breakfast smoke!
Beginning 1/3
I torch the foot and get the burn going good, then take a slow, long draw. A perfect amount of white pepper spice on the back of the throat with tastes of sweet cocoa, earth, and worn leather coming through in the medium to full bodied smoke. My second draw I take a bit too much smoke and get an immediate head rush, swooning just a bit. This cigar has some power to it! I like it! The smoke is smooth and cool and has a nice finish; can definitely taste the sweet maduro wrapper.
Middle 1/3
The burn is sharp with a strong, medium gray ash forming. I find the draw perfect with the medium to full-bodied smoke flowing freely and very smooth. A nice spice is still hitting the back of the throat and sweet maduro flavor coming through with cocoa and dark earth. There’s a semi-lasting finish on the palate. I’m finding strength in the smoke that continues to make my head swim a bit, but in a good way.
Final 1/3
I’m still finding the smoke to have a very strong body with sweet cocoa flavor and dark earth undertones. The burn has continued to be sharp with a medium gray ash, and the draw perfect. The finish has remained semi-lasting with good flavor.
Summary: This was a very strong cigar in both body and flavor with a sweet, sugary taste from the maduro wrapper on the top with cocoa and dark earth undertones. There was a perfect spice in the medium to full bodied smoke, and a decent finish on the palate. The burn was sharp throughout with a strong gray ash.
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bfisher88 said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 8/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 9/10 - Last 1/3rd: 7/10 - Overall:
8/10
Price: $11.00
Review: I was excited to smoke this one and had been waiting for it. The corona gorda is my favorite vitola and yet again I enjoyed this one as well. Very dark wrapper which is throwing me off on what this one is. This one was right up my alley, I'm thinking a Nicaraguan like a Tatuaje or something along those lines. Great burn and flavors all of the way through especially in the middle it had a great sweet spot that was very enjoyable. Reminded me of a Tat Black but the wrapper is too dark for one. Great cigar I really enjoyed it.
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enerjay said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 9/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 10/10 - Last 1/3rd: 9/10 - Overall:
9.6/10
Price: $9.00
Review: Cigar number TEN, had a very nice pre-draw. First third of the cigar burned very nice. Tight ash smooth taste.
Coffee, Leather and hints of Vanilla, very nice. The second third burned every bit as good with the flavors just improving.
Last third was smooth never burned hot and the cigar never need a touch up. Strong coffee, Vanilla and leather.
EXCELLENT CIGAR.
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Napa_Smokes said:
Rating: n/a - has bowed out of the blind taste test
Price: n/a - has bowed out of the blind taste test
Review: n/a - has bowed out of the blind taste test
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jfields said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 9/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 9/10 - Last 1/3rd: 9/10 - Overall:
9/10
Price: $10.00
Review: 1st third: A very nice smelling cigar with a rough looking wrapper and construction. There is a huge patch on the wrapper. One of the largest I have ever seen on a cigar. The draw is perfect with a smooth, rich flavorful taste profile. Leather, anise, and cocoa butter just ooze from this cigar. At a few points I get a bit of a metallic after taste from this, but it's not enough to be offensive. (9)
2nd third: Intensity Picks up. I can taste what I think is either red wine, or cognac along with a very creamy, cedary finish. A rich chocolate sweetness comes in at the end of this third. This cigar has a perfect performance with a nice effrotless burn. Stays lit no matter how long I wait between draws.(9)
3rd third: I hate to see this cigar winding down. The chocolate sweetness intensifies. It almost taste like chocolate covered cherries. Creamy buttered toast when blowing through the nose. I smoked this one down to the nub and took my time doing so. I started it at 8:15 pm, and did not finish until after 10:30 pm. (9)
Summary: WHAT A TREAT!!!!! I think it either a very well aged, or most likely an OR Anejo 46.
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grateful1 said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 5/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 7/10 - Last 1/3rd: 6/10 - Overall:
6/10
Price: $8.00
Review: Not a bad smoke to start. Nice draw not to bitting. A little after taste but turns more sharply at the start of the 2nd third. A noticable change....hmmmm. A couple of pulls later and it's back to what it was....evne a little less sharp. Almost no bitting aftertaste(prolly residual from the first thrid). Ash has been light white and flaky. Draw has been good and an even burn. Last third flattens out a little but the undertones remain. Nice smoke. 2006 Anejo?
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BlindedByScience said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 6/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 6/10 - Last 1/3rd: 5/10 - Overall:
5.6/10
Price: $8.00
Review: A nice looking cigar, with what could be a bit of bloom on the wrapper. Cut clean, drew nicely. Little wrapper or pre-light flavors to note.
Once lit, this was a very mild cigar, with flavors definitely on the sweet side of the flavor wheel. I noted some hints of chocolate, some cinnamon, some coffee, maybe some cloves far in the background. Maybe some “maduro-ish” notes from time to time? It was very consistent from start to end, though it did get a little on the bitter side in the back 1/3. Enjoyable enough, but nothing tremendously special jumped out at me. Smoke it, sure, buy more….most likely not.
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Seanholio said:
Rating: First 1/3rd: 10/10 - Middle 1/3rd: 8/10 - Last 1/3rd: 6/10 - Overall:
8/10
Price: ?? didn't guess
Review: On the prelight, I noticed a loose draw from the dark-as-night cigar. I also noticed a crack in the wrapper, but it didn't affect the smoke. The first third was very tasty. So much so that I did not want to think about it too much; I just enjoyed it. A thick creamy smoke was wonderful to taste, and a terror on the nose. My mucous membranes are still inflamed from the one attempt to blow a little smoke out my nose.
The second third couldn't keep up with the first. It was good, but didn't reach the perfection of the first. I noted a strong coffee taste, with a hint of leather in the background.
The final third started getting very rough until I purged, when it came back enough to smoke within 1.5" of the nub, at which point it got too hot and the flavor disappeared.
I cannot guess at the price of this cigar, although I believe it has some serious age on it.
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Lowest rating: BlindedByScience 5.6/10
Highest rating: enerjay 9.6/10
Average rating: 7.6/10
8 - excellent cigar, I would stock up on these cigars to ensure I have a constant supply
7 - good cigar, I'd buy more of these cigars and smoke them regularly
Lowest price: ELittle & Kingantz $7.00
Highest price: bfisher88 $11.00
Average price: $8.50
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Cigar #10 is actually a...
AF Añejo No.46 (2008) - price*:
$10.25 (NYS prices)
Commentary: Sigh. My evil plan was completely thwarted by the testers on this cigar. I was hoping that some people who professed to love Añejos would hate this cigar. Not only did no one really hate this cigar, but it is by far the highest rated cigar in the taste test thus far... and many people knew what it was. :/
This confirms my (rather obvious) belief that people are pretty good at picking out the taste of something that they've had before... and the more times they've had it, the better they are at identifying it. I know this seems obvious, but the point I'm trying to drive home is that people really have no idea what "Nicaraguan" tobacco or "Cuban" tobacco or whatever tastes like. But they can pretty well identify a taste they've had before.
Despite what some people thought, though, this is actually a fresh cigar, right off of the shelf at a local B&M in Rochester, NY from the xMas 2008 shipment of Añejos.
I'm glad we found a cigar that people mostly liked (and Enerjay gave a perfect 10/10 for one part of the cigar to!). Not everyone liked it, though... so did they all smoke the same cigar? Yes they did.
I will get you next time, you sneaksy tester bastids. The final cigar, cigar #11, is coming up next! Nice job everyone!
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* Denotes the price I paid for this cigar, not necessarily the MSRP