Ok, due to excitement and impatience, I've decided to go ahead and give the first one a shot, hopefully my taste buds are in decent shape. I haven't taken detailed notes or given my full attention to a smoke in a while so bear with me on this.
Cigar #1 appears to be a 5x50 robusto with a medium dark wrapper. Somewhere in the maduro neighborhood, perhaps. Wrapper in smooth, with a little bit of tooth - just enough to give it a slight visual texture. I think it's a double cap with a stray bit of leaf but it could be a triple. Some veins, but not many of prominence. It appears well wrapped with some slight seams. It feels heavy in the hand and pleasingly firm (no Hep C here). There's a little sweet spice coming from the wrapper. Mix leather in with that and you have the scent off the foot. I cut with a guillotine and the scent off the head showed some slight citrus as well. As of now, I'm feeling semi-confident in my olfactory function and hope it bodes well for my sense of taste.
The head appears quite packed and the cold draw reflects that, as it's a little tight. I taste nothing on the cold, which is pretty typical for me. Time to light up.
Not a pepper blast, per say, but definitely there. A little dry in the mouth with the. Hose citrus hints as well. That quickly fades and there's a definite sweetness but it's undefined at this early point. The smoke smells heavenly, however. It has started at a medium body with a long finish.
I feel as if I may have had this before. The pepper is becoming more prominent along with a sweet earthiness. And, to quote Wheel, oh my - the smoke.... While the pepper isn't dominating the flavor, it is building on my palate during the long finish. Cedar is starting to come to the forefront as well. The first retro absolutely reinforces the pepper. Fantastic!
The draw remains firm throughout the first third. I'm stuck in pepper/cedar land and I'm more than cool with that. Light gray ash as tight as I've ever seen. The burn is quite even. I've paired this with spring water, but it may deserve a little something stronger. The ash falls at the end of the first third.
The second third, flavor-wise, keeps on with the same theme, although the the pepper is becoming increasingly prominent. Through the nose is absolute pepper with a few floral hints afterwards. I would say the cedar is becoming more floral at this point and there is a definitely lemony flavor on the tip of the tongue. Every now and then there a brief bitter interlude like charred meat. It makes a nice counterpoint. I would say the body is medium full now. The sweetness has declined steadily and is now gone.
More bitterness crept in, so I slowed down to see if that would help. And indeed it did with the floral/cedar becoming more pronounced again. Pepper is still primary.
The last third continues with prominent pepper. Most of the transitions were earlier in the cigar - at least to the point. The ash falls again, so it's holding on a third of the way each time. The burn continues to be remarkably even and the draw has loosened up a bit, but is still on the firm side.
Definite full body at the end, and the nicotine has come in strong after being nowhere to be found for the first 2/3. The charred notes came back towards the end and the finish became shorter in the final third.
This was a really good experience. Based on the quality of the wrapper, the construction and the burn I believe this may be the top shelf offering. If not, I have a great deal to look forward to with the next two. Thanks FP!
SmokeMonkey wrote:
