This is a cigar that I have been aging for some time and I was looking for a time and place to again review this smoke. I came home weary from a long day of meetings and the pool, scotch and this cigar were calling my name. After calling up some Pandora on my netbook and settling in with some tunes I began the next in the line of cigar journeys that I frequently embark upon. The cigar has lost some of it's sheen that I recall from an earlier test, but it is still interesting with a nice medium brown maduro wrapper that shows some veining, but no issues. I inspect the smoke and fear that it may be rolled too loosely, but I am not overly concerned. The pre light aroma is of cinnamon and dark chocolate, there is a grassy undertone that is permeating the main body of the pre light nose. The pre light draw is also grassy, but is free and easy while imparting plenty of early elements.
The cigar begins with a profile that has some light dustings of spice and some interesting tones of light wood, unfortunately there are some vegetal notes in the smoke at this point that hurt the initial impression of the smoke. At the back of the palate there is a slight bitterness that is off putting, but there are some impressions of grass and light wood here as well. The draw is very free and imparts scads of smoke with each puff, if the profile were more involved this would be a cigar with which to luxuriate in voluminous clouds of smoke. The burn is sharp and produces a nice white ash.
After the initial impression, which was less than stellar, the first half of the cigar begins to surprise me nicely. There is the development of some notes of coffee and cedar in the core profile, while wisps of chocolate and cinnamon come into the picture as well. At the back of the palate there are still some hints of grass and vegetation, but they are being overshadowed by some nice impressions of spice and light wood. The complexity and balance of this cigar has improved dramatically with nearly a year of humidor aging. The draw and burn remain solid.
The final half of the cigar reverts back into some of the earlier impressions, and that is a disappointing turn of events. The core profile loses some of it's mojo and shows only flavors of light wood and some grassy tones in the background. At the back of the palate there are still some lingering flavors of light wood, but they are fleeting and the vegetal notes take over. The draw and burn stay solid throughout.
The finish is middling and dry showing some grassy character.
Appearance- 87 a nice looking smoke
Taste- 84 I wanted this to be higher because the middle portion of the cigar was excellent, but two thirds of it were sub par
Construction- 93 not a single issue here
Strength- 86 a very average medium
Overall- 87.75 saved almost wholly by construction, but I would still say this was above average
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