It is not a secret that I have not ever been a fan of Camacho, and in turn Room 101, blends. I have always found them to be heavy on pomp and circumstance and light in the area of cigar enjoyment delivery. This is problematic for me as I like to enjoy myself when smoking a cigar, if a producer can't meet some minimum standard of enjoyment, like me not wanting to yak all over myself, then I move on to things that don't make me want to throw up in my mouth. It seems like simple logic to me, if you don't enjoy certain brands and blends then you should not smoke them.
Along comes the Daruma, and along comes a vexing problem, should I smoke this thing or not? I have made a commitment to you, my friends and readers, to smoke everything that is new on the market so I make the decision that I will in fact smoke this cigar and put the hairy eyeball on it. This should leave everyone shaking in their boots, particularly those that are fans of Room 101.
The cigar presents well, the band is intricate in design but a simple and elegant color scheme make it interesting to look at and I like that. The cigar itself is majestic looking and the wrapper is wrapped nicely around the vitola like a tasty cloak of dark chocolate. There are very few veins here and the visual impression is quite favorable overall. An inspection does not reveal any issues in the cigar that I can discern and I feel like it will perform well. The pre light aroma has some spice and essences of dried fruit, kind of a mixture of apricot and black cherry. The pre light draw has some tannins, but has some light pepper and light wood flavors along with some sweet dried fruit character.
The cigar opens with a profile that I would classify as heavily aromatic, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it lends to some areas that can become to sweet or too overpowering like an old woman's perfume. Aside from the powerful, and sweet, floral notes there are some hints of spice and wood here, but they are being obscured by the powerful aromatics that the cigar is presenting here. The back of the palate has some pepper flavors (by the way I don't think I have ever mentioned this before, when I reference the back of the palate I am including the experience through the nose as well), but there is an odd aftertaste here as well and I can't help but wonder if the aromatic front of the experience is causing this. The draw is a little too tight for me and there is some labor involved in gathering a satisfying mouth feel, but it is not terrible and I will be able to smoke through it. The burn is nice and slow and a nice crisp ash is forming nicely.
The first half of the cigar settles down some, but there really is no complexity or depth in the experience at this point. The core flavors are still slightly floral and aromatic, but it has become a more subdued factor. There are some wood notes here with some musings of spice, but they are really not carrying any water for the profile at this point in the smoke. It really is all disjointed and erratic at this point. The back of the palate continues to have a sharp aftertaste, but I am still not able to put my finger on it at this point. There are some pepper notes here, but again they really do nothing to prop up the experience. The draw is still too tight for me, but I am working through it without causing heat so that is a plus. The burn is still exceptional.
The final half of the cigar is where the rubber starts to meet the road. The profile becomes a more robust presentation of combined flavors that could have really been something if they had been around throughout the cigar. There are some nice notes of dried fruit and some very nice cinnamon like spice notes serve as a nice complement, it kind of reminds me of a winter cider in the last third. This complexity and balance are very nice, but serve as too little too late for me. The back of the palate presents some nice pepper flavor with a counter balance of aromatic wood, but again this too long to become cohesive to balance out the poor first half of the cigar. The draw stays too tight until the end, but I do manage to avoid undue heat. The burn was solid to the end.
The finish leaves lingering floral notes that turn sharp and stale as the moments pass.
Appearance- 90 a nice looking smoke with simple presentation
Taste- 83 a really poor front half was made somewhat better in the last half
Construction- 82 a tight draw lowers the score in my book
Strength- 86 a nice medium/full, but it could have been slightly fuller for me
Overall- 84.25 slightly below average
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