Cigar Info
Ventura Cigar launched a new 5 cigar lineup at this years IPCPR, Archetype. Each cigar features stunning visual imagery of the “hero’s journey” mythology on the boxes and bands. Series ‘A’ consists of three (3) blends; two (2) blends made in the Dominican Republic at Occidental Cigars and one (1) blend from Honduras made at the Laepe factory. Series ‘B’ consists of two blends, both made at Drew Estate. Today we will be reviewing the cigar Ventura | Archetype Strange Passage.
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.
Strange Passage is a Honduran box-pressed cigar, is available in Short Robusto 4.25×50 ($8.99), Robusto 5.5×54 ($10.49), Toro 6×60 ($12.49).
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5.5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Honduran Corojo
Filler: Dominican Republic
Factory: Agroindustria LAEPE S.A.
Blender: Undisclosed
Number of reviewers: 5 – Kent (Throck) Mickey T. (irratebass) John I. (John I.) Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd) Adam B. (Bushboy)
Price: $10.00
Age: 2 Months
Release Date: August 2016
Contributed by: Ventura Cigars
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 91
“This was a great looking triple capped, box pressed cigar. The wrapper had such fine veining that these were nearly imperceptible. There were no ruffled edges or unnecessary folds.” –Kent (Throck)
Aroma: 89
“Earthy woody aroma with a touch of leather. Hardly any spice on the cold draw and almost a pine wood flavor peaking through.” –Adam B. (Bushboy)
First Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“Cream is the dominate flavor here with a touch of some white pepper. Getting coffee with some toffee notes as well. There are peanuts on the retrohale.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“Upon lighting there is a distinct oakiness as well as an herbaceous component. Fairly mild, and with a soft, buttery, creaminess. Smoke production is fairly light, thin, and wispy. Toward the end of the third there is faint leathery flavor developing. Burn is very good, ash holds nicely” –John I. (John I.)
Second Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“Dried spice flavors are still dominate. A mild clove is the initial detection, followed by a sweeter cherry wood finish. Very nice to this point. Ash is still rather loose despite the burn staying almost perfect. This cigar is producing lots of smoke output with very little effort on the draw.” –Adam B. (Bushboy)
“The middle third continues with rich smoke output and very good flavors. The roasted nut flavor is still there, but has been distilled into a more distinctive note of roasted peanuts. Almost like a peanut butter richness. Some pepper and cinnamon are also good additions. The burn has been almost perfect to this point.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Final Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Finally the nicotine that had been lacking came to full force. The flavors continued to persist with no change. I keep hoping for a change from the tobacco and leather notes, but this did not happen.” –Kent (Throck)
“Picked up a little strength in the final third as expected. The dominate dried spice flavors gave way to a more earthy wood flavor. Oak with a bread like finish developed and was very enjoyable. This cigar stayed cool all the way to the nub and never had any need for touch ups.” –Adam B. (Bushboy)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 94
“Full open draw all the way through with plenty of smoke output, and it never got hot for me.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Burn: 92
“Consistent even burn with a few points of unevenness. Self corrected each time with no real issue.” –John I. (John I.)
Construction: 93
“The construction held up wonderfully, but the cap end started to become over-soft and compressed very easily by the time the final third hit.” –Kent (Throck)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 91
“The cigar started off nicely, but unfortunately this did not change at all during my smoke. The one time that the profile decided to switch, it turned slightly chemical-like and was off-putting. I will likely not be smoking this again.” –Kent (Throck)
“This was a very nice medium strength smoke with lots of cream, peanut and just a touch of spice. It never once ramped up on the the strength and I could see this being an everyday or even a morning smoke to some.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“For a mild to medium bodied cigar, I enjoyed this a lot. The overall flavor profile is outside of my usual preferences, but sometimes that can be a good thing.” –John I. (John I.)
“This is a cigar that I would gladly smoke again. While the flavors may not have gone through a roller coaster of transitions, they were consistent and well balanced. The retrohale was not bitter or harsh, and really complimented the flavors on the palate. It burned well and produced great smoke. I look forward to finding out about this cigar.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
“I enjoyed the plethora of flavors from the spice cabinet on the first two thirds. Kept me guessing at what spice I was tasting the whole time. In the final third the spices subsided pleasantly into a woody bread-like flavor that was welcomed at that point. Not a spice overload, and a smooth warm finish.” –Adam B. (Bushboy)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 73
|
Reviewer
|
Appearance
|
Aroma
|
1/3
|
2/3
|
3/3
|
Draw
|
Burn
|
Constr.
|
Overall
Experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 95 | 95 | 92 | 88 | 92 | 90 | 95 | 92 | 90 |
| Mickey T. | 90 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 93 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| John I. | 90 | 90 | 88 | 90 | 88 | 95 | 90 | 92 | 92 |
| Matthew T. | 92 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 88 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 |
| Adam B. | 90 | 92 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 93 | 90 | 88 | 90 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.