(no subject)
Wrapper: Blackened Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian
Last night I sat out on my porch as the sun went down, enjoying the cool evening breeze and read my book "One Bullet Away". It was an amazing evening.
This cigar has been sitting in my humi since November, so it had plenty of time to settle, and I think settling did this thing justice! I'm not sure what the actual name of the shape is, but its about as long as a Robusto, possibly same ring gauge but it's got a Torpedo cap on it. Its like a short, fat Toro.
The aroma of this cigar was very stout. Heavy aroma, very pleasant and rich. The wrapper is a very dark brown, almost maduro color. It is called a Blackened Connecticut Broadleaf. I've never heard of this before. Connecticut Broadleaf is usually light brown and quite rough. This was rough, as it should have been, and it had a mixture of dark brown to almost black colors in it. It was quite interesting. I was a little disappointed in how the pictures turned out (next time I'll check them before I smoke the thing) because this really was a marvelous looking cigar.
The cut was fantastic! But thats probably because I finally broke down and bought a Xicar Xi cutter at the shop this weekend. MAN those blades are sharp. The cut was incredibly solid, perfect, and it held together through the whole smoke (no unraveling or even small loose pieces of leaves).
The prelit draw was very very smooth, with a tiny almost hidden touch of spice at the very tip of my tongue. It had almost a coco flavor in it, similar to a Rocky Patel smoke. Very enticing and I couldn't wait to light it up. It was not too tight, but not too loose of a draw either, perfect for my own tastes.
I lit it with my new Zippo Lighter. I've heard you're not supposed to light cigars with regular lighters or Zippo Lighters because the fuel in them does not burn clean like Butane or Match Sticks do. I asked the guys in the shop a few weeks ago and they said it was perfectly fine to light them with Zippo Fuel, just count to 5 after lighting the lighter before you put the flame to the cigar. That gives the lighter a chance to burn out any foul tastes. It worked. I waited like I should have and lit the cigar. I think I prefer to use the Zippo over the Colibri Torch Butane lighter. My Colibri flame is very strong, but it has a small diameter, so it can sometimes be a little difficult to get the cigar properly lit. I didnt have that problem with the Zippo. The flame was broad, but not overpowering and the cigar lit perfectly as it should. I may use my Zippo more often!
The ash was perfectly white and solid. Very even burning cigar. It started to get a little uneven at one point, I simply rotated the underburned side down and within seconds it had corrected itself, signs of a well constructed cigar. After that I didnt even have to think about the burn. It was even throughout the rest of the smoke.
Flavor: This cigar was a fairly Light-Medium bodied cigar. The smoke was white but the flavor was not overpowering. I wasnt drinking anything, not even water, and I never got that heavy smoke flavor in the back of my throat. It was quite pleasant. It had hints of coco, and was rich, but not heavy. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar and would definitely smoke it again. I smoked it down until it was too hot to hold onto anymore, that says a lot! Suprisingly the flavor didnt change much throughout the smoke. It got better about half way through, opening up to a much more aromatic smoke. I couldnt quite put my finger on what flavors were there, but I blame that on the fact that I was reading my book at the same time instead of maticulously studying the cigar at that point.
Summary:
Very good cigar, well constructed, even burning, mild-medium strength with a very pleasant flavor. I would smoke this again.
Ratings Out of 10:
Appearance: 8
Cut: 10
Draw: 8
Light: 9
Flavor: 7
Ash: 8
Final: 50