Southern Draw Peccadilloes #7 Mettle – Blind Cigar Review

Cigar Info

At the beginning of this year, Southern Draw revealed a new cigar line that would take its lead from input from their 10,000 most loyal consumers, retail partners, and media members. The Southern Draw Peccadilloes line uses crowed sourced feedback to decide on the company’s next regular production cigar for 2023. The motto behind this project is, “we hear you; we trust you and we are open to your opinions.” Each participant receives a pack of 4 cigars, or Peccadilloes. These unreleased blends are to be smoked and rated via the Southern Draw QR code portal. Previously we reviewed the Peccadilloes No. 8 Laurel. Today we will be looking at the Peccadilloes #7 Mettle.

Here is an excerpt their QR survey:

PECCADILLOES – “Small Sins” – Over the last 10 – 20 years, for one reason or another, many of our favorite thin or “small” ring gauge cigars, specifically 38 – 46/100ths of an inch in diameter, have vanished from the market. Sure, we enjoy the larger cigars; however, we take a step back in time, honoring tradition and applaud the highly skilled hands that deliver our most consistent smoking experiences, refined skills required to produce some classic small sizes. This opportunity is for those that don’t always demand larger and more powerful, we are returning a focus to the quality of the smoking experience over cost or image. Southern Draw Cigars has kept a secret for years. That secret being the existence of a variety of blends, each has been skillfully rolled in small ring gauges, their purest form. Withholding the existence of these for so long as we grew our brand, we have adopted a project name using the Spanish term Peccadilloes, which translates in English to “Small Sins”.

No blend information about the cigars were given with the packs that were sent out. 10,000 4-packs of the Peccadilloes were packaged and sent to gather feedback. All 4 of the cigars in the pack are rolled in the same 6 x 42 corona vitola. The are all produced at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez de Nicaragua, SA, in Estelí, Nicaragua. The company says the packs are sold at cost, or about $20.00, meaning each cigar is about $5.00. The final blend will be more expensive.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Corona
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 42
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Undisclosed
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Factory: AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
Blender: Robert Holt
Number of reviewers: 4 – Lauren S. (Lauren S.) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Doug S. (Unpossible_1) Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Price: $5.00
Age: 5 Months
Release Date: January 2022
Contributed by: Southern Draw

Initial Impressions – Southern Draw Peccadilloes #7 Mettle

Appearance: 89

“This is one dark cigar. Reminds me of the Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolates. It also has that rough feeling to it as well.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)

Aroma: 91

“There was a good variety of aromas from this cigar including milk chocolate, damp barnyard, and sweet earth.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

First Third

Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“This blend opens with the heavy milk chocolate notes I smelled translating into the flavor. A cedar note is hanging in the background that melds into a floral note as I progress through the first third.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

“Upon lighting, and after three puffs, I have an urge for a cappuccino made with whole milk. The flavors are thick and rich espresso and cream. Sadly, the retrohale is fiery and out of balance with heavy black pepper notes and a slightly astringent note. The smoke is chewy, in the mouth, and takes forever to expel. The smoke coats the palate making for a long finish.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

Second Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“The second third opens with a profile shift. The espresso note is pushed aside and is replaced by cocoa nibs. The astringent note is still in the background note that lingers for a long time. The creamy note has moved to the retrohale. A mixture of hazelnut and cayenne pepper. This wakes up the senses for sure.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

“The second third brought on a lot of the same flavors, though still different in taste. I picked out espresso beans and dark chocolate. There was just a bit of wood in the retrohale. On occasion, I thought I noticed something like lemon zest but it was quite fleeting.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Final Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“The honey sweetness remains in the final third with an almost perfumey floral mild aftertaste. The occasional cedar note also appears along with that light pepper, especially in the retrohale, if I had not seen the wrapper these flavors would make me think more of a Connecticut.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

“Things really came to a great finale in the end. I picked up flavors of chocolate-covered coffee beans, baker’s cocoa, and even a bit of rocky road ice cream.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Overall Impressions – Southern Draw Peccadilloes #7 Mettle

Draw: 96

“The draw was wonderful on this stick, easy and great smoke production.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

Burn: 93

“The burn has been excellent. For the most part, it has been straight. The burn line is thin and tight to the wrapper. No touch-ups needed.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

Construction: 90

“With the exception of the open draw, this cigar was well made and held together nicely the entire time. I did not have any soft spots and the burn was also decent enough.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)

Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 88

“I’m not positive how I feel about this blend overall. It was not at all what I was expecting visually.
A very sweet blend, starting with chocolate and then moving into more honey and floral notes. A bit of pepper added some more interest along with a bit of cedar. I would smoke this again but it was a very unique flavor journey.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

“The only thing missing for this cigar is balance. The initial flavor is rich and flavorful but the finish throws the overall smoking experience off the rails. Maybe some time will do this blend some good. At the moment it is hard to recommend this to someone cause of that bitter finish. I love the size and hoped for a little more. Oh well…” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

“The aroma of dark chocolate and barnyard let me know from the get-go that this cigar wasn’t going to play around. That first blast of red pepper just confirmed it. While not overly complex, this cigar was still enjoyable enough as the notes were quite prominent throughout the entire duration. I would also point out that I did not have issues with it staying lit, which can be a problem for me when smoking smaller ring gauges. You really have to be attentive to them. This was not the case here, which made me happy. I’d definitely revisit this again some time, given the chance.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)

“This cigar was proof positive that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The theme when it came to flavor was coffee and chocolate and each was presented in a variety of different forms. I am looking forward to enjoying this one again.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 72

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

Southern Draw Peccadilloes #7 Mettle – Blind Cigar Review