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What is the pleasure in pointing and staring at others for doing what they want to do with their life? not sure I quite understand.

That's fine. I'm the troller of trolls

update on YH-456 in #36 above, wish I had found these at the beginning of summer!

Also some new ones on the way, reports soon!

Have not had this but wondering if it is related to the QB-5552 (reviewed above) they look similar on the mothership.

The description is slightly different at CI, but similar, and they sure LOOK similar from the photos with one a little longer.

mmmmm. good Blendlab bidding this week. Getting a whole batch mailed today that, WITH shipping, comes out to $2.15/stick. Got a nice mix of some of my rebuys that I have liked above plus some new things to try and review. Hopefully this will hold me for a while until (hope-a-hope-a-hope) some auction prices on other cigars go down after the summer...

This new batch includes the mysterious MY-6552 which i have NEVER seen on the mothership listings, even as "out of stock."

So I've now had 3 XD-752s and had 3 different smoking experiences. The common theme was that all 3 were dominated by a "smoked meat" flavor. The first I had was quite good, but I didn't make it to the final third.

The second was a decent beach smoke, but not as good as the first.

The last one was last night after dinner. Admittedly, my taste buds were less tham ideal after a few vodkas and a couple of glasses of wine, but the meat taste was ridiculouslyy strong.

I have 2 more, but will probably wait a few months for trying it again. Maybe the smoked meat flavor goes better with salt water?

I will say that the construction on all has been excellent and they all stand up to relights well.

Now, that tale having been told, will try another one. If it doesn't burn, so what? The whole point of the Blendlab thing is the fun of not knowing. You get to post your opinions about it and maybe influence the manufacturer (in this case, maybe just not to roll a lancero so tight). I'm not going to cry about a cigar that cost me $1.60 shipped. It was fun to try and see.

And to the guy bashing everyone on this thread - my money, my rathole...

Have you tried the RQ-444 yet? Baby figurado - not bad.

QC-652 6X52 "Toro"

As a mild cigar (NOT "mild-medium" as advertised IMO), this one is outside of my usual preferences, but it was very enjoyable. Pre-light very pronounced barnyard aroma. Well constructed, heavy feeling.

Throughout had a a great draw and burn. Long firm light grey ash that never was in danger of falling off on its own.

For the 1/2 the taste was very consistent and very much like the blurb on the mothership with the exception of the "pepper" reference. Never any pepper in this one. Very creamy, a bit toasty and nutty.

At the halfway point it started reminding my of a heavily creamed cafe-au-lait - the kind where there is a lot more cream than coffee. Very pleasant. Near the end of the smoke, it suddenly developed a salty/savory taste and it did become a big stronger. This new taste was actually a very good flavor on its own. but just somehow didn't "seem right" given its early flavor profile - incongruous would be the word.

In all, one of the best "mild" smokes I have had in a long time, however, these are listed at $7.50 apiece at the Mothership and I wouldn't pay that much for them. For what I got them on Cbid, however, I could see stocking up on these for a morning smoke with my coffee or for guests who prefer a mild cigar.

Just lit up a WH-660. Will report back on any tunneling or burn issues. So far, so good.

ZH-6552 6.5 x 52

Interesting Cigar from the start. Not only is it a torpedo, it is a box-pressed torpedo, something which I don't see too often. Indeed, its the first box pressed blendlab I have had.

Right of the bat, wondering about the construction. There was a bit of unraveling at the head/tip but it was right at the end so was about to be cut off anyway. More concerning was the fact that there was a "band-aid" made out of tobacco pasted on the stick halfway between the band and the foot. I did peel up the edge of this patch just enough to see that there was a pretty big gap in the wrapper that the patch was covering up.

Had this been a full-price name brand kind of purchase, I probably would have sent it back, but I am reviewing them how they are and, heck, it was only $2 anyway.

Flavor was much milder than I was expecting, but it was very nice. Roasted nuts, wood, earthy, all that was there (no "coffee" as the blurbs suggest). About hallway in it developed a very very mild salty taste that made it, what I always call, "savory." After that just a mild bit of spice - maybe white pepper - but not a lot. Lots of creamy smoke. In all nice flavor with obvious quality control issues on the construction.

I was wondering what would happen when the burn got to the tobacco "patch" but it burned right past it with no issues. It did start to get uneven in the last third but no problem after one touch up.

I have a couple more I will try after letting them rest for a while.

Update on ZH-6552

Have had three of these now and all three have had serious construction issues. The last one was only "box pressed" on one side making it flat on the one side and round everywhere else.

All three tasted very nice. Defiantly good tobacco in these but different construction issues each time.

This makes me suspect that this blenlab is not an experimental cigar but a REAL second from some manufacturer. I have always thought that the majority of the "seconds" you see for sale are like the clothes made on-purpose for the outlet mall. Not true mistakes but made cheaper from the start.

With this stick I think it really is a reject from some established brand. I notice Olivia has a cigar this same size and shape so I wonder if it might be from them.

Looks like Im hitting up the mothership's retail this weekend... sounds like my kind of short smoke.

Good morning!
The RQ-444's are like the RY-444's you posted; just with a criollo wrapper. Very cedary, nutty, and naturally sweet, with hints of spices (such as anise or nutmeg). Great with morning coffee. Like you said - a pocket rocket. Perfect size when you don't want a bigger cigar also. Awesome small cigar.

What about the ASS-4U? I've been told it tastes just like chicken.

Why? Did you want "ASS-4U" on your license plate?


Thank yew, thank yew. I'll be here all week.

UPDATE on JX-8552 above in post 38

As for the troll, don't be too hard on him. Imagine how miserable and worthless your life must be to be like him.

More info on those 444's. They last a lot longer than you would guess from the size. I am getting 45 min easy before I even get into "need to be careful" territory.

ZV-654

This is a blendlab you could use to try an fool your neighborhood cigar snob - at least for a while. Beutiful dark wrapper. firmly packed. Incredible prelight flavor. Cedar, earth. Mild spice. Hint of salt. Slight sweetness at times on the finish. "Hearty" is a good buzzword here. Huge amounts of lovely smoke

On the mothership somebody compared this to a Padron and, flavor-wise, that is not far off.

However the true expert would note the uneven burn and need for a couple of touch-ups and a relight and the fact it burned much faster than a real premium. It did last a good while but went through the first 2/3s a lot quicker than you would get with one of the big money sticks.

However for the price on C-bid, this one is a keeper. Much better than the JB reviewed above

Updated the OP with a summery of all of my likes and dislikes.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE on ZH-6552 (see posts 73 & 75 above) This one is moving up in my categories!

Well, I finally had one of these without any majorly strange construction issues, although the wrapper did still look a bit funny and uneven. Nothing major and not that noticeable, but still seemed "off" somehow.

Great flavorful tobacco again. Really tastes expensive which is again making me wonder if these are not simply "true" seconds from some high-end brand associated with CI and its owners.

This one is a gamble I guess because of the construction, but going to move it into the "buy if price is right" which, with the other bargain sticks available, would be no more than $2 per.

Smoking a PJ-5556 this thing really puts out some smoke the drawl is insane almost to free with no restriction

Yeah just like me it dam sure has a drawl lmao

Lesson Learned!!!

Recently scored a batch of the KK-5252's which was one of the first Blendlab's I had out of my sampler pack and reviewed. Indeed this was one of the sticks that caused me to want to review the Blendlabs in the first place

Fired one up the other day and it was nice, I certainly enjoyed it, but it was not the "WOW, this is a really good smoke I think others should know about," that I thought I remembered.

THEN I went back and checked my notes and my review. The the KK I had had before was smoked while paired with a nice red wine, even mentioned it in the review above.

So, next day had another KK with a nice but inexpensive Cab and, bingo, there it was, just like I remembered! The flavor of the wine and this smoke just went back and forth and enhanced each other with BOTH the wine and the cigar being better than they were alone.

So a good lesson for me. Make sure I always record what I have had along with the cigar when taking notes and be sure to try the same sticks with different food and drink and even surrounding circumstances when possible before reaching final conclusions. Also, when reading reviews and recommendations, remember why YMMV.

The remaining KK 5252s in my humi are now reserved for wine evenings (or wine afternoons, or wine mornings). That's fine for me as we are big wine drinkers. If any of you buy any of these, be sure to try one with and then without your favorite grape product and see if you agree!