Vital Stats:
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Factory: Unknown
Blender: Unknown
Number of reviewers: 5 —– Ron (shuckins) Robert (NavyPiper) Will (Dubv23) Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn) Emmett (rhetorik)
Price: Unknown
Age: 6 Months Rest
Release Date: July 2013
Contributed by: Valentia Cigars
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 91
“A nice looking 5×50, Connecticut colored wrapper, uniform in color. Cigar is straight and smooth, and has a nice squared off cap.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Aroma: 90
“There is a surprisingly spicy scent to the wrapper, also some cedar. The foot gives off a pretty mild tobacco aroma.” –Emmett (rhetorik)
First Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The first third started with flavors of pepper and old wood. After about half of this third, another flavor, which was like a light coffee crept in, but faded fast. A very tight light gray ash lasted beyond this third.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
“The first third starts off very creamy, with some vanilla and dry wood flavors. There’s a surprising amount of spice for how light the wrapper is. The initial burn is having a hard time staying even. Moving along, the wood takes a backseat to a nutty flavor, which is a nice change.” –Emmett (rhetorik)
Second Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“Creamy cocoa, nutmeg with a light pepper kick, and a little fresh tasting cedar blend well together to please my palate about halfway through.” –Ron (shuckins)
“Profile becomes toasty as the cigar progresses. It has a slightly burnt quality that attributes to the toastiness and accompanies the spice and tobacco. Draw does not ease up which may be causing the “toastiness”.” –Will (Dubv23)
Final Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium
“The toastiness is still the dominate flavor and it evolves and becomes hotter and more noticeable. The sweet tobacco flavor was overpowered by the heat of the profile and it’s pretty simple and one dimensional at this point.” –Will (Dubv23)
“The hay and honey intermingled in the last third. There was a little bit of an increase in body, but not much.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 85
“Resistance noticeable from the get-go which caused low smoke output and some impacted flavor shifts.” –Will (Dubv23)
Burn: 88
“Burn was great in first third, went a little goofy in the second third, requiring a touch up, then it was fine the rest of the way.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Construction: 90
“The construction on this cigar was great, it looked great and performed well with no surprises during the smoking.” –Emmett (rhetorik)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Overall Experience: 88
“A pleasant morning or mid-day smoke that I would enjoy smoking again.” –Ron (shuckins)
“Overall, I consider it fair to pretty good. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the stogie, but was kind of disappointed with the final third, as it got so mild as to have almost no flavor. I like the ‘white’ pepper flavor, and wish more cigars had it.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
“With the construction and draw issues mixed with the less than stellar flavors, I wouldn’t say this is the most desirable cigar. It was mild and required a little work to maintain smoke output which resulted in a hot burn and flavor.” –Will (Dubv23)
“I probably wouldn’t smoke this cigar again, but doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t enjoy it. It was a bit too mild for my taste. I also had a bit of trouble with the draw. Would I give it another chance? .. Yes. I think that if I had a better draw it would have opened up more flavors for me.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)
“This cigar surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. It became more and more interesting as it progressed. If the price is right, I could see adding this to my regular rotation of mild/morning smokes.” –Emmett (rhetorik)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 73
Total Score: 88 (Good)
| Reviewer | Appea-rance | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron | 95 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 95 | 88 | 95 | 90 |
| Robert | 90 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 85 | 85 | 88 | 85 | 88 |
| Will | 90 | 88 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 83 | 88 | 85 | 83 |
| Cindy | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 83 | 93 | 90 | 85 |
| Emmett | 93 | 95 | 88 | 90 | 93 | 90 | 93 | 95 | 93 |
| Overall | 91 | 90 | 89 | 89 | 88 | 85 | 88 | 90 | 88 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.