Here’s the results for your Blind Sticks, Lee

1. Ashton Symmetry (premium; bought for 20 at a B&M shop, so idk how long it’s been aging)
2. La Aurora Preferidos Cameroon (mid; bought for 6.50 in Nov. 2023)
3. Fugazi COTY compare to EPC Encore Majestic (yard; bought for 3 bucks in Nov. 2023)

Well Colton, I know what they are. It's fun to read your impressions. I will wait for your open ID post to comment

Results from the envelope:

1) Montecristo white series (the “risto” evidence is damning. Although in my defense, I thought montecristos were considered mid-tier)
2) Padron Damaso
3) MF Connecticut

While I’m sad that I cannot justify buying the Padron Damaso (until I graduate and make the big bucks), I am happy to find that Marcus sent me an MF Connecticut so I can revisit that stick soon.

Thanks for the blind sticks, Tiver. It was a blast!

Soooo…Huzza nailed it 3/3? Right? Great job, Tiver. Nice tongue, bro! 😂

Good job, Huzza.

I batted .000 🤦


I would not have guessed that first cigar was a Symmetry. That's really interesting. I have some Symmetry romustos, and I'm gonna have to pay attention and see if they seem as linear to me when I know what they are.

It’s possible it just had 0 age on it. The box at the B&M was pretty full.

I did find it funny that you said in your review that you hoped the second stick was a 6 dollar smoke, and that’s about what they go for. Less when on sale (like a day ago).

That La Aurora didn't seem like a 54rg cigar to me.

Where were they on sale?

Could you tell which one was a rosado and which was a Cameroon? I doubt this is the case, but it’s within the realm of possibilities that I mislabeled which one was the La Aurora and which was the Ashton. Which would be unfortunate.

I’d also be happy to send you another La Aurora if you’d like to confirm (because now I’m paranoid I made a mistake when I wrote down which was which). I have a few and I have more coming in the mail.

There was a sale on the Tenski discord (romusto) and a sale at the supply place (toro).

Way to go Huzza!!

You win !!! Or something like that.

My commentary is that all of your descriptions are SPOT ON !!

MF pepper spice - even in the connie

Some complexity in the Padron, even though when they came out with the connie they weren't all that well received, your description fits most of the basics of those who really like them

The Monte is really a yard 'gar even though it does get similar dollars to the MF on a lot of sites. It's fairly plain and mild. Not offensive. Maybe a good early day/coffee smoke or one to pass out to the homies who wouldn't want anything more interesting.


A+++ man. Great reviews

La Aurora Preferidos get overlooked, but they're fantastic cigars. Especially considering the price.

That Black Honey was a real treat. Not sure about the scorpion.

Oddly enough, this is my first MF to hit me with spice like that. Didn’t feel the heat from the Judge, La Promesa, or La Opulencia. I liked it though! I don’t think I could’ve taken the heat for the entire stick though haha

Let's saddle up Earl the horse

Earl is 'bout 56 x 6.5 with a medium brown wrapper. There is a triple cap. The wrapper drapes over the foot and is not cut, giving it a slightly unfinished appearance

Overall construction is good with tight seems. A generally firm roll has some slight soft spots in a couple areas, mainly toward the foot.

Barnyard is the predominant smell from head to foot with a slight bbq sauce smell near the head

There is a 1" split at the foot

Straight cut reveals a cold draw of gentle earthy tobacco

Toast and light starts out with a dry, gritty and earthy flavor. Within the first couple minutes the smoke has a coating mouth feel with a pepper zing that's not overpowering.

Smoke production is slightly impeded at first due to the small split, but this is overcome as the cigar burns past it. As the smoke increases, so does a strong oak flavor.

As the cigar burns, the flavors of oak and tobacco are about what I get. The wrapper is not wanting to keep up with the cherry and I do several touch ups as I proceed. At the end of the first 3rd, things have improved and the burn straightens out.

Trying to figure out the cigar, I end up with a double puff for the the remainder. Smaller puff immediately followed by a full draw. This seems to be the way the cigar wants to smoke and when done so provides ample smoke. A little curious to me because the cigar isn't going out, but without the double puff the smoke production is kind of lacking. Fortunately, this method doesn't cause any heat issues.

Occasional retrohale throughout the burn delivered a mild/medium pepper blast that quickly dissipated

The strength is about medium plus. The flavor is full, but fairly basic. Water throughout the smoke session keeps things in check.


Compare -

I thought Earl the horse had a similar character to Big Grey the dog with a bit more refinement and overall better construction. Neither had significant flavor transitions on my nOOb palate.

Fred the bull had some of the flavor characteristics of the other two with added complexity, most notably a seared meat flavor, along with a noticeably sweeter tobacco component. The construction and burn were both spot on.

My conclusions:

Big Grey - yard
Earl - mid tier
Fred - primo

Big grey the English dog. Warped 1988 mid
Earl the horse Tatuaje pca limited 2023 (top )
Fred Romeo by AJ Nicaragua (daily )

To be fair the aj is a damn good cigar and can be had cheap. They punch well above the c-bud price once they’ve aged. Habano 2000 wrapper

Hope you enjoyed them

---

Tiver, your reviews were terrific. You and I got to try some new smokes and play a fun game. I’ve had the Romeo and I think it is fantastic.

Yeah, I knew already that I like them better than Ashton's, but I am surprised that the Ashton didn't impress any more than it did. Well made, but I didn't find it very interesting.

Everywhere I look for preferidos (the parejo versions of the tubed cigars) are over $10 per stick? Maybe I can catch a sale. I see that the hi land place has some of the corojo toros for about $26 + free shipping. I haven't had one of the corojos in forever, may give them a go. Now I have non-buyer's remorse for not taking advantage of tenski's sale on these.

And to your question Huzza, I don't think you mixed things up. The creaminess I was getting from cigar #2 was probably due to the cammie wrapper rather than criollo. Although, it seemed like a darker wrapper than stereotypical cammies.

Well from a identification perspective, I guess I won't be looking to be called up to the majors for a while yet.

Thanks Jake, I really appreciate the fine smokes you sent. I enjoyed playing along bigly.

I’ve got a couple different blends of Ashton, a couple different Preferidos as well as a couple other Aurora blends. A couple Auroras were gifted from you guys, Huzza for sure but can’t remember off the top of my head the other brothers. I’ve had all of these since March or February and I think they are now “safe to burn” though I will let them rest a bit longer. I’ve got about 7 or 8 cigars in my smoke box. Next refill from storage I will start smoking the gifts that Jake sent to me. I’ve had those since the first week of March and I know Jake had them for months / years. Free cigars are one thing but cigars shared with new friends is even better and a lot of fun. All of you have been very generous to me and to each other. ☀️😎

Ashton never wowed me cept the vsg and the ESG
ESG is too expensive though but fantastic

---

Tiver glad you enjoyed. I tried to trick you on the mid/daily. I haven’t smoked the tat yet but had a box so figured it would stand out

---