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Last post 5 years ago by Phil222. 4 replies replies.
Review of Phil222’s unbanded cigar #3
NWStogie Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 07-25-2016
Posts: 736
A while back, on the heels of the 2018 Spring Mystery cigar reviews, Phil Pm’d me and suggested we do a trade that includes some unbanded cigars in the $3 to $8 range. I got his end and he should be getting my end shortly. This is my review of his #3 cigar.

Pre light exam - 6x50 Toro, delicate wrapper with a number of cracks in the bottom 2 inches. I’m thinking this may be a Cameroon wrapper. Light chocolate brown color. Mildly toothy. Moderate veins. Partially closed foot. Took care of them with PerfecRepair cigar glue. Good stuff. Aroma – almost yeasty, sweet leather. I choose a V-cut. The cold draw is buttery – this is going to be good.

1/3 – initial draw reminds me of the Cub Scout coffee can bread we used to make 40 years ago - yeasty, slightly sweet. Mild pepper overtones. Aroma is delicious-smelling. Coffee. Coffee-cake. I’m really enjoying this and I just barely started! Pepper ramps up after the first quarter inch. Smoky, mocha tasting. Ash is flakey grey and black. Burn line is sharp. Cigar is behaving and smoking nicely. At an inch in, I can feel a little nicotine kick. This may be interesting. Retrohale gives me a smoky, charred meat taste. Yum! Ash politely separates itself at ¾ of an inch into my ashtray when I set it down.

2/3 – transition towards savory, buttery, peppery. Butter drops off the radar. First need for a touch up after a less than perfect relight when I inadvertently let it go out during a phone call. Transition to a more woody-smoked oaky flavor.

3/3 – I’m a celiac, so I don’t do wheat, rye or barley. I’ve been one for almost a decade, now. But the flavor transition has changed significantly. It reminds me of rye toast with only a small spat of butter. Still savory, but with that rye twang. Lovely. Peppery retrohale. An inch later, the rye has morphed into something almost astringent. The cigar has grown quite strong. My head is spinning. Time to let the last inch go…

Great cigar. I’m dumfounded as to what it is. Phil: Time to clue me in! I’d buy more of these in a heartbeat.


Phil222 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 10-01-2017
Posts: 1,911
Enclave by AJ Fernandez Toro

One of the best reviews I have ever read. I haven't smoked very many of AJ's blends, but that one is probably my favorite so far. That cigar was the last one from a fiver that I purchased from here a while back for $15. Wish I could get more at that price...
NWStogie Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 07-25-2016
Posts: 736
Enclave, huh? Interesting. I’ve only had one before. It came out of a fresh box from our local B&M. Smoked it before I got home. Definitely did not enjoy it like I did this one. This was 2 summers ago, when my palate/preferences were a bit different. I wonder how much of that experience was related to little humidor time or my still developing Noob palate? The band may not have played much of a role. I didn’t know much about cigars back then. I didn’t have a frame of reference in which to build pre-existing expectations.

Thx for the kind words about the review. I don’t think I should quit my day job quite yet. I had the CA flavor wheel out as I smoked. I think it helped me to label a couple of things I was tasting. Looking forward to the next cigar!
Phil222 Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 10-01-2017
Posts: 1,911
It could be a combination of a lot of different things. That one had been in my humi for a couple of months. I can have a completely different experience with a cigar simply by eating a meal prior to smoking it, so I'm probably the wrong guy to ask. Ha !! I do know that I enjoyed that fiver and if I ever get more, I hope they're similar.
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