Surely everyone has gotten their batches by now, so lets hear what everybody thinks!
#1 ROTT:
They saved money on the boxes for sure, an old Dutch Masters box is sturdier.
The cigar wrapper a bit rough, rustic would be a kind way to put it, but looks like rolled well. Feels a bit squishy but not overly so.
Pre-light: not a lot of flavor at all, very light tobacco. A slight hint of salt from the wrapper in your mouth.
Fired it up! Very loose draw, overly so. No resistance at all, feels like it is going to burn pretty fast.
The initial third is fairly mild, especially for an AJ cigar (maybe why his name is not on it.) The mild salt is there along with some mild/white pepper flavors.
Picking up a bit more spiciness in the second third, but still fairly mild with light tobacco flavor I was right, this is burning pretty quick.
About the halfway point start getting some nice umami/savory flavors.
Well, it stayed that way until the end. Burned well and pretty straight but did not last long at all.
#2 Several days rest in the humi.
Pretty much the same as #1 above but firmer, better draw and burned quite a bit longer. Did a squeeze test on the remainder, a few seemed overly squishy, but most did not, so its likely going to be hit or miss on the burn consistency.
Overall, although a lot milder than I usually smoke, I found it enjoyable - especially the second one that drew better and burned longer. With more humi time, they could get even better
This is going to be my morning/breakfast, coffee-on-the-porch cigar until they run out, mild enough for the morning but more interesting to me than most Connies out there. Ill just keep a second one handy if I get one of the loose-packed ones that burn through quickly.
In all then, $40 for 24 cigars is worth it if most of them are closer to #2 than #1, especially since I had another order going in anyway (nice score on some puro authenticos!) so the shipping was not as big of a deal with this bid.