Back in 2015, Kyle Gellis added a line extension to the La Colmena like: Black Honey. This variation uses the Ecuadorian habanooscuro wrapper from the EL OSO in place of the regular Ecuadorian Desflorado. The first run was limited to 600 total cigars. Today we are reviewing the Warped | La Colmena Black Honey.
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.
Two years later he announced that it would return for a larger run. This time, it was sold to 67 retailers, much more than the previous 13 retail stores. The Black honey is made in a 5 x 48 belicoso and priced at $16.50 per cigar, or $165 per bundle of 10. The first batch sold for 15.50 a stick.
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“Initial impressions are super positive. Nice draw, good smoke output with bright peppery notes, especially on the retrohale. Nice compact ash, good burn line with lots of oil evident as this cigar heats up. Ten minutes in the pepper has softened with woody notes of cedary oak developing. Initially felt like it was going to be a pretty potent smoke, but its eased into very medium in terms of strength.” –John I. (John I.)
“Notes of aged tobacco and some undefined spices (cumin and coriander perhaps?) with a draw that’s a bit hotter than ideal. ” –Stefan (Stefan)
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“Wood is continuing to dominate in the middle portion of this cigar. There is a bit of an herbaceous feel on the finish, something along the lines of basil or rosemary. Definitely operating in the all medium, all the time range. It’s also burning a bit slower and cooler. Construction continues to be really nice. ” –John I. (John I.)
“Those baking spice flavors from before are more prominent now. There are some leather notes and something like roasted nuts also. The retrohale has just a little spice and sweetness. ” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Flavor: 87
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium
“The strength is picking up slightly toward the end with the core woodsy flavors deepening and becoming richer. Wrapper is unraveling a bit at the cut line, not terribly detrimental, and certainly not unusual in a tapered head. ” –John I. (John I.)
“The final third was mostly understated in terms of flavors. A smooth smoke for a cigar bordering on full strength.” –Stefan (Stefan)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 89
“The draw was a little tight, but that is not uncommon in a belicoso. The smoke output was still ok, so it didn’t really hurt anything. ” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Burn: 93
“Slow and steady, with short ashed.” –Stefan (Stefan)
Construction: 93
“Very well crafted. Operation was effortless, and there wasn’t a stray ash to be found anywhere. ” –John I. (John I.)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 90
“Very solid cigar across the board. It won’t change your life or make you feel as if you’d been touched by the hand of God, but it is a well constructed and tasty smoke. It doesn’t require much effort to tease out and identify exotic flavors, or significant transitions, but what is there is very up front, and enjoyable. ” –John I. (John I.)
“A 90+ stogie in my book, filled with nicely aged tobacco, at the full strength end of the spectrum, and smooth. Would smoke again.” –Stefan (Stefan)
“Sadly, this just wasn’t a pleasurable smoking experience at all. Between the construction problems and the distinct lack of flavor, it honestly wasn’t worth the time it took to smoke. Hopefully I just got a bum stick and the other reviewers had a better smoke. ” –Dave W. (mdwest)
“There were so many things to like about this cigar, but I was a little disappointed by the flavors in the final two thirds. They were not bad flavors, just not enough. The profile became so subtle, it was almost exclusively tobacco notes at the end, with no interesting notes to speak of. As beautiful as it was, I wanted more flavor. I will try this one again in the hope that I get more the second time around. ” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Blind Cigar Review: Warped | La Colmena Black Honey
Summary
"Very solid cigar across the board. It won't change your life or make you feel as if you'd been touched by the hand of God, but it is a well constructed and tasty smoke. It doesn't require much effort to tease out and identify exotic flavors, or significant transitions, but what is there is very up front, and enjoyable. " -John I. (John I.)
