Sat down for a winter smoke outdoors this afternoon on this really nice sunny February day. It may well have been 50. Certainly close. I hope the weather was as fine wherever you were.
Hoping I haven't picked up anything dropped from the backside of a pooch. I'm gonna smoke 'em if I got 'em....at least one of each anyhow. This time it's a Ramon Bueso from "The Genesis Project Sampler" 6 pack. The Genesis Habano Robusto. Roughly 2.75/stick FF auction inc ship/tax
TLDR 2/3 down the post for those who don't like to read about noobs trying to legitimize canine feces in the form of cigars.......
To convey a message I have to use words. I will try to use fewer than before..You know, brevity being the soul of wit and all. Samuel Clemens was a cigar smoker. He was witty. He'd punk my ass right back to where I came from. But he's not here.
I have opened a bottle of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA to go along with this smoke. It was just sitting there waiting. I wasn't looking for any kind of pairing.
Unwrapped and smelled the stick...earthy and a bit on the barnyard side. What would I know, it didn't seem promising
Punched
Cold draw very light sweetness with a little spice
The wrapper seemed to have a little tooth to it, but that's a new thing to me
Lit with a quick dash of pepper and plenty of smoke
Within a half dozen draws pepper takes a back seat and it settles into a fairly pronounced nutty sweet smoke and the sweetness lingers well after the puff is released. Retrohale is a bit peppery and dissipates almost immediately
Through the first third and at the half, the nutty sweetness (cashew) in the middle of my mouth is the primary flavor
The ash held to a bit better than 1-1/2"
All along I've been enjoying the Dogfish Head. An interesting combination. The ale cleanses the palate with its smooth and bitter hop profile, but the sweetness of the smoke quite easily holds its own. The cleanse did help keep the flavor of the smoke "fresh"
I sat facing the late afternoon sun into the last third. I took some successive light puffs prior to some fuller ones and noticed the cigar had an mild aroma like baking chocolate. Time was running out. Ten or so puffs into the last 1/3 I relinquished the burn dare I get too hot and ruin the whole smoke.
Nice wrapper. Binder had some minor bumps. Smoking slow and cool the predominant flavor was mild sweet cashew with white piper in the background. Required no maintenance or touch ups during the burn.
TLDR:
Earth and Barnyard pre light turned into a nutty sweet smoke for the duration
Decent build
OK....noob learned
1) there was an underlying real sweetness to this smoke. I am not thinking this would be classified as a really good smoke so I am encouraged to believe there is a genuine smoke attribute one would call "sweet". I once read someone describe a smoke like it was a liquid. Like they were drinking it. I assume that's at least a little over the top but interesting. If this one was a turd I look forward to the magic elixir.
B) Pre light wrapper taste and as smoking continued.....probably some oils transferred to my lips. It had a feel and a taste and I tried to look up what this might be called. I round-a-bout came to the conclusion that this transfer is the result of an attribute in the wrapper known as "toothy"....oil glands in the leaf. Does that sound right ?
So much for brevity