*Note: This is not a blind review, this is just to give a quick take on a cigar that was provided to us by the distributor.
Earlier this year, Royal Agio Cigars, the parent company that owns the Panter and Mehari’s brands, entered into an agreement with Drew Estate who will be handling the distribution of these brands in the United States.
Panter Blue
Initial Impressions
A very small machine made cigarillo that measures 3×21. There is no cap to cut as it is open on both ends. There is no real consistency in the wrapper color and there are some veins. The seams are easily visible but very smooth. The aroma from both the wrapper and filler is a light barnyard.
The Smoke
The pre-light draw consists of sweet tobacco. After lighting up, a slight sweetness is present along with a bit of spice. Woodiness is the primary flavor on the retrohale. The slight sweetness continues while the retrohale adds some spice to the woodiness that was present before.
Overall Impressions
The draw was very good and I had no issues. The burn was great, stayed very straight the entire way which shouldn’t have been too hard due to the short length and small ring gauge. The ash actually held on quite well and I tapped off in about ¾ inch increments just to prevent any unwanted drops. The cigarillo is fairly spongy. As the cigar smoked along, the sponginess increased and some of the filler started to come out of the head.
I don’t smoke many machine made cigarillos unless someone gifts me one. With that said, I could see a typical cigar smoker going to this during a short smoke break, lunch break or if you are in an area with inclement weather and want something quick. The flavors are ok, you’re not going to get many transitions based on the size, but there is some strength to it if you’re looking for a bit of a nicotine kick. I wouldn’t see myself going back to these as I prefer a longer experience and more time to focus on the cigar.
The cigarillo lasted 15 minutes for me.
I would give the Panter Blue a personal score of 77.
Mehari’s Java
Initial Impressions
A small machine made cigarillo that measure 3 7/8x 23. No cap to cut as it is open on both ends. The wrapper is very consistent in color and looks very rugged with some small veins and some wrinkles. Seams are visible but smooth. The aroma from the cigarillo is a light tobacco absent any sweetness.
The Smoke
The pre-light draw consists of a mild tobacco sweetness. After lighting, the flavors are pretty mild with some light woodiness and a bit of coffee. The flavor continues pretty much unchanged through the remainder of the smoke, maybe a slight increase in the coffee flavor towards the latter portion.
Overall Impressions
The draw was very good, no complaints. The burn was good and stayed sharp the entire way. It did go out on me once right at the midway point. There is a fair amount of sponginess the entire length. As the cigarillo smoked along, the sponginess increased.
Again, not being a typical machine made cigarillo smoker, this didn’t do much to change my opinion. The flavors were ok, albeit mild, but nothing attractive. If you want a quick smoke or nicotine fix, this might be up your alley, but I wouldn’t go into it expecting to be wowed or come away feeling like you need to light up another one immediately.
The cigarillo lasted 22 minutes for me.
I would give the Mehari’s Java a personal score of 75.