OK, so here's my take on the "mystery stick." It was a snowy night, so I took the leisure of testing my palate as the snow came down.
PrelightAs I mentioned earlier, it was about 7x48 or 49, well rolled, pretty firm all around, a little bit of "give," but with no soft spots. I'd call the wrapper a "colorado" shade, between a copper & a chocolate color. It sported a closed foot (my first hint as to its identity), and smelled of hay, cocoa powder and another spice I couldn't identify. The cold draw (and it drew easier than I thought a closed-foot might) was plain and pure tobacco - imagine, a cigar actually tasting like tobacco, and not kumquat, cassis or
eau de vie!
BurnAfter a straight cut, I lit it and was greeted by a burst of leather (second clue), with secondary notes of chocolate (not cocoa), cinnamon and I think white pepper. It burned true, the ash was not particularly firm, but it did not need any touch ups, and I didn't mind losing the ash every half inch or so. At about 1/3 in, the leatheriness diminished and the chocolate came on stronger, with a kind of sweet fruitiness - plum? raisin? black cherry? - hard to nail down. Still burned true, and cool as well. As it moved to the final 1/3, I was tasting some of the tobacco from the cold draw, the leather got stronger, and there was a flavor of toast - the burn also became a little uneven, maybe the tars building up contributed to that & to the toasty flavor.
FlavorI'd call this a medium - to medium/full stick, with a little sweetness, and incredibly tasty. Took just under 2 hours from light to ash. I paired it first with water, 2nd a couple micro pale ales, and near the end, a bit of single malt.
ConclusionI'm going to guess this was a Viaje Friends & Family, mostly because of both the foot & the leather - I just had a Holiday Blend last week and while there are differences between the two, there are also enough similarities to make me go in that direction. And if so, extra thanks to Kombat, because I know these sticks are somewhat HTF.
This was fun, thanks David for including me, and many thanks to all of you ahead of me who put some great sticks into my goodie bag, and the trade bags as well.
