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first, best, biggest!

Thanks Puff, that's fine, thanks for the pick-up.

BK

Remember that you have to send one premium stick, fluffy. PM me if you're confused about what that means.

Stick?

Noooo, don't close the madness! We like the madness! More madness!!

We need moar players.

Somebody smack some vets around to jump in...I heard busa wants in...

Alright... I'm in... Fluffy send me an addy.

who wants to send me round 3 for review?

Number #1 from Bitter Klinger

Initial inspection: A thick robusto, 52 gauge I would guess with a milk chocolate colored wrapper featuring a few thin, lightly colored veins. Looks a little loosely filled but is solid to the touch. Appears decently constructed. Cold draw has a hint of hay

Flavor: opens really well with a sweet chocolate flavor, with maybe a hint of spice. The finish is a little grassy. As the smoke progresses a coffee flavor develops, turning the chocolate into more of a mocha flavor. The secondary flavor goes from grassy to some kind of cardboard flavor towards the middle. Fortunately, that flavor sweetens into something more pleasing. I wrote down 'dry cognac' in my notes, but I must have been pretty drunk by then. The mocha is joined by some fruity notes towards the final third, rounding out a pretty nice cigar

Strength: medium at best. This isn't what I would call a strong cigar, but it isn't mild either. Not much of a nicotine buzz.

Burn: is a little crooked, burning faster along one of the veins. Needed a touch up about half way in. The ash holds well

Draw: Perfect, which is really surprising with the size of the branch stuck in this thing

Evaluation: I liked this cigar a lot more than I thought I would on the initial inspection. The cigar it reminded me most of would be the Romacraft CroMagnon, though it lacked the strength and a little bit of the richness of the ones that I have had. That said, it was a fine cigar, and if you can get it for less than a CroMagnon, I'd say you got a pretty good deal.

#3 was the yard gar, Obsidian mini corona.

Didn't get to any of mine, too much on my honeydo list.

No, you removed the band dunbazz. The cardboard note was brief, towards the middle. It really wasn't a bad cigar. You can do far worse at that price point, and because of the flash in the pan licensing deal, chances are you'll get a chance to buy them on clearance real soon.

Klinger - 9114901159815154221481

Classic!

Yw

Just like the cardboard note in #1, the chemical flavor in #2 was a passing note, there and gone again, but so weird that I had to write it down.

Visual inspection of #3 didn't seem to indicate much of a problem with the wrapper, I might just smoke it as is. It does look a hell of a lot like a fausto though.

Thanks again, chazbo -- I had a blast with this.

Got Puffs sticks today. Puff's no noob, guys.

3 nice looking sticks for review, including one Presidente - sized beauty. Can't wait to get ta puffin on these.

The hitch hikers are 2 CC's - a Monte #2 AND a Monte No, 4 or 5, not sure which. Very nice, Puff!

Thanks a bunch, bro! Awesome!

BK

Frozenphoenix1's sfr landed today. I feel like a winner. Been waiting to see what the fuss was about with the seemingly go to for a lot of people psd4 and anejo (46?). Thanks bro. I think these are gonna be fun. Can't help but to start guessing right away. I'll hit em up this weekend as long as I start feeling better. First rain then some bug.

Number #3 from Bitter Klinger

Initial inspection: This cigar was about 5.5x54. I guess this would be a robusto extra. If had a reddish brown wrapper with a few water spots. There were some dark leaves in the filler, looked also oscuro. The foot was very lightly packed, which made me suspect that this was a recent Pepin rolled stick. For whatever reason, recent cigars I've had from there have been very loose in the foot. The cold draw is open and tastes a bit like raisins.

Flavor: This cigar opens with a charred oak flavor and a lot of white pepper. Pretty dry finish. The retrohale brings the pepper up a notch, more of a red pepper flake. As it goes a little more sweetness come in, with some dark roast coffee flavors. There isn't much subtlety in this cigar, fairly one dimensional, which tends to happen when you have blend this strong

Strength: As promised, this is a strong cigar. Just a tick below brutal. Not enough to make me queasy, but certainly stronger than 95% of what I smoke these days.

Burn: is wavey and needed a correction about the halfway point and another near the end.

Draw: Draw is good, but at times this cigars doesn't want to burn quite right. Just a little off here and there, nothing terminally bad.

Evaluation: I am 95% sure that this was one of those surrogates blends. I forget the name for this size. Something ridiculous like face kicker or knob polisher . I dunno, I haven't had one in 2 years. The flavors do remind me a little of some Viaje blends. Its a good cigar if you like strong ones. I've been gravitating away from the really strong stuff lately since they kinda kill my palate and the flavor don't entertain me as much.

OK, review stick #1 stick from Puffnstuff was a 6x52ish Toro. The wrapper was an attractively mottled maduro with a double cap, visible seams, no tooth and light oil sheen. It was densely packed and had a mild hay aroma. After a straight guillotine cut, the draw was excellent with just the slightest resistance.

The first draw after a short toasting, it immediately produced a large volume of creamy smoke. A bit of black pepper on the initial draws and the taste of smooth, aged tobacco with the maduro wrapper providing the most dominant taste. Finishes were medium in length, with no other tastes being picked up at this point. The first ash drop came early at just over ½ inch, it was grey in color, and light but not flaky.

The most interesting and nice thing I noticed was the footsmoke was nearly non-existant, yet even after resting it would produce so much smoke that before the end of a normal draw, the smoke was pouring off the foot. I wish every cigar had the same draw and smoke production qualities as this one, it was perfect. It had a medium at most flavor profile, and no nicotine strength. The retrohales were very smooth.

Entering the second third, it stayed consistent to the first, though the finishes shortened and the pepper was minimal. Dominant taste for me was still the maddie wrapper. I’m not a huge maddie fan, but this one was very good. The cigar burned evenly until the half-way point, and then got a little crooked, but needed no attention. Unfortunately, it began to tunnel a bit, so I doctored the edges, trying to keep it even, which worked OK for an inch or so, but then it went out. I had to re-light it a couple more times, and although the smoke production was OK, it wasn’t the same as before.

Finishing out at 1:45, this was an overall good stick. I know I haven’t smoked one before, I’d have remembered the taste, the great smoke prod. & draw. I would smoke another if I were in a Maduro mood. I had a hard time telling its origins, as it didn’t taste distinctively Nicaraguan or Dominican – What was it? Maybe a Gurkha? I've not tried a Gurkha Maddie before.

This is closed, but I got your addy and will send you some. I think that you are going to learn about an expanded palette through the secert bombing run, but I'll send you some unbanded ones to really sit down an analyze before you read other reviews on them. That is personally why I really like doing these.

#3 was the new one from Casa Magna, the dominican
Chazbo

From Frozenphoenix1 I present to you cigar #2 for review
6 x 52(?) torpedo. My nose isn't working very good but I smell something in the foot that makes me like it. The seams are good looking with a couple spots that I'm unsure of, but only time will tell if the create runs. The middle of the stick is packed tighter than the rest and in that thickness is also a thick vein. I'm going to assume problems in the middle of this stick between the vein, over stuffing, and loose seam. I keep an open mind as I head outside to toast it with the xikar, clip it with the xikar guillotine, and set it ablaze. 
First impressions, very light tastes for what I typically enjoy. The retro hale expanded it so that I could identify some tobacco and woodsy taste. I don't know the wood so well other than oak. It's not oak. It went bland and airy, burn got wonky, ash got flaky. Still in first third it straightens up and makes me think I started the wonky burn. Ash is holding strong but still a little flaky. The taste has turned over to a leather. I thought it was an accident but it went oily leather and that's a taste I like. Ash dropped on me at an inch. I want this to take off but it's not. It's not bad at all, it just keeps telling me it will be more. My daughter came up and showed me that she was chewing chocolate taffy. So guess what I tasted? Chocolate taffy. The second third is where that extra packing was. I think that had a secret recipe to it. It made the stick smooth, creamy on the retro, and not spicy at all. For a smoke in the sun this is turning out nice. For the size I think it was light. As an after thought then I think the extra packing in the middle would have been best packed that way all the way through. The ash is still flaky, the burn is not problematic but does tend to give along the veins and seams. I had my suspicions about this cigar earlier and I just keep thinking that I'm right. I'm entering the final third and there has been no complexity. The taste has been a consistent woodsy, light, tobacco taste with a here and there retro of creamy slick leather. Some of the wrapper is crackling but hasn't gone bad yet. Ok, an inch and a half left and it's going cranky. Bitter retro, exploding wrapper, I am all too convinced I have a Gurkha in hand. It blew up at 1 hr and 15 minutes with an inch and a half left. This was a mild to medium. Although I've never had it I'll guess a Gurkha Symphony. Judging it I'll go with the yard gar. Although Gurkha may sell it as the super duper premium. Now, as a noob I sure as hope this wasn't the cream of the crop or I may need to quit my 5 month cigar career

Never heard of them. Yeah, it wasn't a bad stick but had all the regular issues you're gonna get for some under $3

The acid lover federation?

Cigar #2 from Chazbo

This one is a 5x50 Robusto with a medium brown wrapper with a slight oilty sheen. Construction seems firm and there is only one larger vein on the wrapper. The outside smells of cedar and a bit of chocolate. I decided to punch this one as I do with most of my cigars this size. I ended up having a stem follow the punch out and just nipped that off with the pocket knife. The cold draw has a sweetness of the cocoa that I smelled before and an easy draw.

The first third started out with a wavy burn, but then tightened up fairly quickly. There is a bit of leather and cocoa taste to start this cigar. As I continued, there was a hint of spiciness left after the retrohale as well.

Into the second third, the cigar is burning well and putting off a good amount of smoke. The leather is still the predominant flavor and the sweetness has backed down a bit, leaving more of the spices on the finish. I wouldn't call it pepper anymore as it has more of a cinnamon red hot taste. I like how this cigar is changing as I move through it.

The final third is still burning really well and smoke output is still strong. The flavors are melding together very well and they have started to have a creamy finish to them left in my mouth with the pepper lingering at the end.

Overall, this cigar had some cubanesque flavors, but was missing the cedar notes for me. A good cigar overall, but just a couple of concerns: how much rest did it have? & the questionable vein on the wrapper?

Thanks for another good stick Chazbo!

Well... I just got my order of those today. Glad I enjoyed it.