I know nothing about this cigar and the website of the manufacturer is no wealth of information either. I believe that I have smoked some other blends from this same maker before and I don't recall smoking anything that worth writing home about, of course as you know, that never stops me from writing a blog entry. I really just bought this cigar on a total whim, a lark if you will, when I walked into a Tampa B&M. I am always looking for things that I have never heard of, or seen, and this cigar fit the bill so I laid down my shekels and bought this bad boy.
The cigar presents well, it is big and solid looking with a nice dark and rich textured wrapper. The band work has some garish colors in it and visually is not very appealing, but unless I'm drunk or tired I seldom smoke the band. The construction seems a touch tight to me and I'm concerned about the combustion based on this evidence. The pre light aroma was a strange floral essence, but there were some fuel like aromas here as well, almost like kerosene and I wonder if the wrapper was treated with something. The pre light draw shows some pepper flavors, but leaves an oily texture on the tongue.
The cigar opens with a profile that I would classify as middling. The core flavors are pepper, anise and some damp earth notes which detract from the other two flavors that would be nice if standing together. This effort does not show any complexity or depth and the flavors just lay there doing nothing, like a lazy dog or boring girlfriend. At the back of the palate there are some wood flavors but they are overwhelmed with a fuel taste that smacks of kerosene. The draw is tight, but even with effort I am not producing much smoke and that usually means there is a void somewhere in the bunch, this is not a good sign. The burn is a touch off and if there is a void somewhere I expect this will become a looming issue as the cigar moves on.
The first half of the cigar actually shows some profile improvements. The core flavors show some nice coffee, earth and pepper flavors. There are still some nice tones of anise in the mix here as well, but the flavors never combine harmoniously and all attempt to stand on their own. This is no opus or concerto, it is individual violinists reading different sheets of music and it leaves the palate wanting more. The back of the palate still has some remnants of the fuel flavors from earlier in the smoke, but nice wood flavors are the core here. The draw has opened up into a loose and crazy drawing experience, and I am now sure that I am going through a void. If I needed anymore evidence the burn has gone completely off and touch ups are required often in the middle third. The void is gigantic, about the circumference of my pinky finger, and I am not sure how I missed it when inspecting the bunch. Heat is pouring into my mouth with each draw and a I am relighting and purging like a champion in this segment of the smoke, whilst trying to keep the cigar cool.
The final half of the cigar is better than I expected after the issue with the void. With about a third left the void corrects out and I am able to get some performance in the draw and burn area as they both start to perform acceptably. The profile is not interesting or complex, but the flavors are there and identifiable. There are some notes of pepper, coffee and earth, but as before they are not melding well together. The back of the palate continues to show wood flavors, but some bitterness is showing through in the last moments.
The finish was short and full of charred wood flavors.
Appearance- 87 a nice looking cigar
Taste- 83 not very good, but not terrible
Construction- 74 not a great performance, the huge void really takes away from the experience
Strength- 85 a very middling medium/low end of full
Overall- 81, just not a good cigar at all
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