OK, I got my two boxes of these as promised by the scary site yesterday and, as is my obsession, I could not resist trying one ROTT. Nice looking boxes, indeed. getting a cigar this cheap WITH a real box was a treat in itself
The cigar looked well made, firm. No heavy veins on this one as I have seen some reviews mention. Pre-light the aroma is dark, woody, earthy.
Lit it up and WOW, hot, hot, hot. Spicy, hot-pepper, hot. The first thought was the old Punisher, but this is different. The Punisher's burn came totally from the (most likely treated) wrapper. You felt the burn on the lips and, perhaps, tip of the tongue. With this the heat and spice is coming from the smoke itself. The harder and deeper the puff, the more of the hot spice. Retrohale confirms its the smoke as the back of the throat and nose burns as well. Whatever is responsible for the pepper-bombing, it is the body of the cigar not just the wrapper. Later I experimented with another unlil Inferno and, unlike the Punisher, it did not burn your lip unlit. The pepper was so strong for this first bit, that no other flavors were very noticeable -- you knew there was tobacco under there, but you cant say much about it.
This lasted for about the first third of the cigar, after which the hot-pepper spice subsided. It was still there always a bit in the background but not nearly as much. What you had now was a fairly medium-ish typical Nicaraguan tobacco flavors, nice, perfectly fine and tasty, but nothing amazing. It probably would not seem this way if it started out like this, but after the pepper-bomb of the first third, it seemed a bit "dull."
In the final third it got much more interesting, different spices started coming through, a bit of salt, baking spice, cinnamon, a bit of the (but not nearly as strong) pepper a bit nutty at times and even a hint of sweetness. There was a savory flavor that I like a lot. The last third, in other words was very interesting and complex.
As for burn, about an inch in it started to burn unevenly. This was not due to my normal careless lighting or puffing, but to a rock-hard spot off to one side of the cigar that would char but not burn. No touching up or torching helped, so I had to knock off the hard spot then re-light the tobacco behind it. Burned fine after that but the hassle did reduce the enjoyment of the smoke.
So, in all, not perfect but WELL worth the $1.25 and a bit that these cost, including shipping. Will put the rest down for a nap and check back in on them later. I wonder if the pepper-bomb at the front will mellow out some and if the second third will be (or at least seem to be) more interesting
