El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection Botticelli – Blind Cigar Review

Cigar Info

In 2021, El Septimo released a new line of cigars taking their inspiration from Western civilization’s best painters and some of their most well-known pieces. The Sacred Arts Collection El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection is a collection of seven cigars that represents the biblical story of the seven days of creation with each dedicated to a famous painter and one of their famous works.

Each of the seven cigars in the series uses a different blend, size and price. All of the cigars, however, come in boxes of 20 that feature the art work that inspired it. Each cigar also uses a different color on the band. The company also released a sampler with two of each of the seven cigars for a total of 14 cigars with an $310. That sampler is also named after an artist, the Florentine painter Masaccio, and his painting of St. Andrew.

The El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection Botticelli is a 7 1/2 x 58 salomon-shaped cigar named for Sandro Botticelli and inspired by painting ‘The Announcement’. It represents the third day of creation when God created the earth, sea and plants. The cigar itself has an MSRP of $25 per cigar. All of the cigars in the line are rolled at the company’s factory in Costa Rica.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Figurado
Length: 7 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 58
Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua
Factory: El Septimo
Blender: Zaya S. Younan
Number of reviewers: 5 – John A. (Bostoneo) Mickey T. (irratebass) Jason H. (Jokey Smurf) Quinn (quinnpins269) Alan (Eulogy)
Price: $26.00
Age: 4 Months
Release Date: August 2021
Contributed by: El Septimo Cigars

Initial Impressions – El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection Botticelli

Appearance: 95

“This large cigar is presented in a soloman figurado format and is sporting a luxurious maduro wrapper leaf with barely visible seams and a perfect cap. This appears to be a superbly constructed cigar.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Aroma: 90

“Running my nose across the entirety of this mile-long cigar gives aromas of cream, pepper, leather-bound book, and slightly nutty scents. With the cold draw, a delightful mildly sweet leather profile tempts me to want to start smoking immediately.” –John A. (Bostoneo)

First Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Initial flavors are light and herbal with a gentle sweetness at the tip of my tongue. Through the nose the smoke has about the perfect amount of spice and leaves me thinking of cloves.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

“Very tight draw, the cold draw gives me salt, and some chocolate as well as some must notes.  Mostly chocolate notes with hints of floral here and there. The cigar is mild to medium at best in strength. The draw has opened a bit but still gives some resistance.”-Mickey T. (irratebass)

Second Third

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

“The flavors are very similar to the first third with charred cedar, tobacco, and red pepper with a touch of anise on the finish. The draw is still excellent but the burn is getting pretty wavy.” –Alan (Eulogy)

“The pepper faded away but the profile changed nicely. The fresh cedar aroma similar to walking into a B&M humidor was great. It was accompanied by some wonderful chocolate sweetness. The smoke continued to be quite thick and creamy. I felt this added to the second third experience. I did notice a few soft spots forming in the cigar and found myself having to touch up a small uneven burn, which lingered throughout the second third.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

Final Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“Into the final portion, the mineral notes have become much stronger and are pushing the sweetness away completely. The smoke is still very oily but now the finish is heavily woody and the retrohale is much hotter and not as pleasurable.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

“The notes haven’t changed much from the start. There are bold flavors of charred cedar, red pepper, and tobacco with a touch of anise. The strength has become very full at the end really amping up profile.” –Alan (Eulogy)

Overall Impressions – El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection Botticelli

Draw: 94

“I’m always worried about the draw with this shape. This was perfect right from the start and stayed that way.” –Alan (Eulogy)

Burn: 94

“I was amazed how well this cigar burned considering the shape of it. Rarely ever do I have a cigar like this one which will stay evenly lit with one attempt.” –John A. (Bostoneo)

Construction: 95

“This was a very handsome cigar to look at and performed quite admirably. Most notable was the ash which held on until tapped off in solid two-inch chunks.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 93

“Wow, this was humongous smoke, which took quite a while to consume. The first third went decently, with a fairly stable and consistent experience of charred wood notes and graphite flavors in a medium-bodied format. When it came to the rest of the cigar, it only became more and more bitter, sour, and salty at times making for an unenjoyable combination. Construction was spot on at least! Once past the initial nipple of tobacco, this salomon sized cigar required absolutely no adjustments in the burn department, an amazing feat. Given the price tag that typically comes with these specialty sized cigars, coupled with flavors it had, I would be very hesitant to smoke this cigar again.” –John A. (Bostoneo)

“Overall this was a good cigar, with plenty of different flavors ranging from chocolate floral, vegetal, cream, and some coffee notes. The cigar performed wonderfully except for the snug draw. The strength never got above a medium. The size was not of my preference and would like to try it in a smaller vitola at some time. If you’re looking for a nice mellow smoke for a couple of hours seek these out.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)

“I’ll be honest… I was a bit put off by the immense size of this cigar. I normally gravitate toward lancero, corona, and robusto sizes so this is definitely out of my comfort zone. Now that I’ve finished it I think I may have been missing out. The large size allowed me to enjoy the nuanced flavors longer and really helped to make me relax and realize how good life is. This is a cigar to spend quality time with and would be excellent paired with high-quality coffee. I would highly recommend this to a friend and would be proud to smoke another very soon!” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

“I really enjoyed the body and profile of this cigar. It did take a little over 1.5 hours for me to smoke, but at no point did I find myself board or losing interest. I don’t know if I will add it to my “regular rotation” just based on the vitola. But I would highly recommend giving it a go.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

“I was really impressed with how well this smoked and the burn. It was a very large cigar and the one dimensional profile was a bit of a slog the last forty minutes. If you’re a fan of this profile it would be a home run as the strength and depth of flavors were great. For me, it’s just too big of a cigar to want to smoke it often.” –Alan (Eulogy)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 111

To view the complete scores and notes, click here

El Septimo Sacred Arts Collection Botticelli – Blind Cigar Review