Liga Privada No.9 Corona Doble (7x52)

In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that I reviewed this cigar before and found it to be cigarbage. Shortly after my first review someone gave me another one and I laid in the dark corner of my moochidor hoping that none of my good friends would mistake for something worth smoking. Recently, however, I have been hearing time and time again from Brothers of the Leaf that I respect that this cigar is a go to and a must smoke. I recalled that I had one laying around and I reached into my own moochidor, a no no by any standard, and grabbed this for another go round. The cigar is bold looking with a dark wrapper that has little veins. I quickly give it the once over and notice no areas of concern. The pre light aroma is of cedar and light spice. The pre light draw shows rich coffee notes.

The cigar opens with a powerful profile that has notes of coffee and earth. There is not not much in the way of complexity or balance, but there is some nice depth present here. At the back of the palate there are some touches of dark wood, but the overall impression is non-descript. The draw is a touch tight, but there are no reasons to be concerned as it produces ample smoke. The burn is even, and produces a nice white ash.

The first half of the cigar shows no real development. The core profile continues to show notes of coffee and earth, but the presentation has thinned out and the depth is fading. At the back of the palate there are still some fleeting notes of dark wood, but there really isn't that much there for me. The draw and burn stay acceptable to this point.

The final half of the cigar continues to show little development. The core profile shows some coffee and earth flavors, but again there is little complexity, depth or balance to this smoke. At the back of the palate there continues to be some hints of dark wood, but this shows little development as well. The draw and burn stay consistent throughout and actually are the highlight of this smoke which has been painfully average.

The finish is middling, but it does show some pepper and coffee notes.

Appearance- 88 a nice looking smoke
Taste- 85 a very average presentation
Construction- 91 a nice performance here
Strength- 86 a very average medium
Overall- 87.75 slightly above average due to construction

Liga Privada No.9

This is an offering from the boys at Drew Estate, this is an attempt at an actual cigar for them (note my derision, I do not approve of their usual infused, candy bar efforts). It presents well in a torpedo vitola with a dark, nearly black maduro wrapper. An inspection of the cigar reveals that it is soft and appears to be poorly made and maybe a bit too moist. The pre light aroma is floral. The pre light draw is tight and shows bitter, vegetal notes.

The cigar begins with a draw that is nearly too tight to continue smoking. The profile is dank and tastes of damp wood. The burn is acceptable. The first inch or so proceed in the above fashion.

At the half way point there has not been much change. There are muddled notes of coffee, earth and damp vegetation but none of them show through with any complexity, depth or notable character. The burn has stayed acceptable, but the draw is still tight.

The final half of the cigar recovers some, but damp vegetation is still detectable in the profile of earth and coffee. The draw was a struggle to the end, and the cigar continued to get softer and softer and I went on.

The finish was hot and bitter. There were notes of coffee and wet vegetation.

Appearance- 87 not a bad looking cigar, but the torpedo was a bit lopsided
Taste- 74 not a good profile and vegetal notes hurt the score
Construction- 71 a very poor example. Soft cigars that don't draw well are disappointing
Strength- 75 could not determine much in this category
Overall- 76.75 I would not buy this smoke