I bought a few of these about 2 years ago, 3 of them to be exact. I gave out 2 and kept one for myself, of course. Being the "collector" of cigars that I am, I decided to put it to its intended purpose. And with the nice warm weather we are having right now for this time of year, I couldn't take looking at it in the humi anymore. Unfortunately, I forgot my nice cutter and torch lighter so I had to use the dull blade of a single blade cutter you'd get for about $1 at a local shpo and a couple matches that my dad brought with him. The wrapper split about an inch at the top upon cutting. Also, a small crack appeared in the wrapper about halfway up. I thought "this was going to end badly." For the price, I would have put the tobacco to use, even if I would have had to unravel it and put it between my cheek and gum. However, I was able to nub it with no problems whatsoever...I was happy. The cigar was mild. If you like bold, spicey, or complex, you may not be turned on by this cigar. But if the mild doesn't deter you, the price might ($25)...I can't say I'd pay that much for this cigar again, but I was on a mini-vacation with the wife, and what better time to blow a little money than on vacation. Even though it was mild, it was a good mild. I'll even go as far to say it was a great mild. It had a smooth, creaminess not found in other mild cigars. I can't even say that it was "complex," and it may have even been one-dimensional, but it was gooood. The ash held up well and was a nice shade of white/pale gray. I let it get about 2" before knocking it off, leaving the cigar looking like a sharpened #2 pencil. The wrapper was smooth with subtle veins from the leaf, and it even had a couple small "sun spots" on it. The wrapper actually had a sweet taste to it for about the first 1/3. It wasn't an artificial sweetness that you'd have in a flavored cigar, but there was definitely a subtle sweetness in the wrapper. I can't think of any other way to put it, than to say if Swisher Sweets ever made a super, high-end premium cigar, it would strive to duplicate the DCM Stanford's 90th. LOL I enjoyed this cigar.
