This cigar is made by My Father for the legendary baseball player Luis Tiant. A year or so ago, maybe longer, I reviewed the first blend made for this man. At the time it was blended by someone else and the cigar, while good, was not great. In addition to be a famous and skilled athlete, Mr. Tiant obviously has some smarts as well, having My Father and the Pepin's make your cigars is indicative of great cigar intelligence. I mean, how could you go wrong with these guys making your stuff? I have been hearing about these for some time, but I had not seen them anywhere. Earlier this month some friends of mine went to the factory in Nicaragua, I had booked the trip as well, but due to work I had to back out. One of my good friends brought this back for me to sample, I was very pleased to see one.
The cigar presents well with a nice dark wrapper, this is a natural oscuro presentation which is refreshing most oscuros are so dark that they could not possibly be a natural shade and I always suspect some sort of treatment to the wrapper to achieve the color, this is not so here. The wrapper is oily and has very few veins, it also has the color of a nice, rich dark chocolate. The band work is elegant and not too flashy in providing an appealing commercial approach. The pre light aroma is of chocolate and pepper. The pre light draw shows some nice earthy flavors.
The cigar opens with a profile that I find to be somewhat pedestrian and lacking in depth and character. The core flavors are of earth and pepper, but they are not deep or compelling at this point. This is odd from a My Father creation and I am wondering what is going on here. At the back of the palate there is a light grassy note and bitter tone that has some burning foliage hints to it. The draw is nearly perfect, which is a shame because I feel like good construction is wasted by poor flavor. The burn is also very solid and I am not seeing any room for concern at this point.
The first half of the cigar show some welcome developments. The profile begins to transform into a more robust and complex array of flavors that are waking the palate up nicely. The core profile begins to show layers of dark chocolate and some sweet nutty flavors that are compelling and showing some nice depth. There are also some nice shots of black pepper coming through here and that makes me happy as it adds a layer of complexity to the experience. The draw is still right on the money, though it has loosened to a point that is bordering on being too loose. The burn is dead solid perfect well past the half way point.
The final half of the cigar really does not add much to the experience. The core profile levels off and does not present any new flavors to the mix. The core stays full of chocolate notes but the nutty flavors have gone away at this point subtracting from the depth of the profile. The pepper notes have likewise faded to a more wispy presentation that lacks oomph. The back of the palate is very earthy and has some light sweetness to it as well. The draw does get too loose in the final third and I slow it down to avoid heat, but then have to flirt with a re-light, which I manage to deftly avoid. The burn stays solid to the end.
The finish was peppery and a touch short for me taking on a bitter character as it lingered.
Appearance- 88 a nice looking smoke
Taste- 87 a nice profile, but way more was needed to make this a better experience
Construction- 89 a nice presentation here, but the draw got too loose late
Strength- 87 a very nice medium full
Overall- 87.75 a slightly above average experience
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