lou2row
08-21-2011, 04:55 PM
Emjaysmash
Cigar: No. 3
Vitola / Wrapper / Binder: N/A
Drink / Food: N/A (just ate lunch so smoking on a full stomach)
Outside Factors: Nice with intermittent breezes.
Construction: This cigar dons a thick oscuro wrapper with no noticeable veins. The wrapper is nice and oily and very toothy. This cigar is a sharp torpedo shape, very much similar to the shape of the 5 Vegas Classic torpedo. It is rolled well overall with no hard/soft spots and is very consistent.
Prelight : The flavors I get from the prelight are sweet tobacco and straw.
First Third: This third starts out med-full body with flavors of earth, coffee, nuts and an almost overwhelming bitterness. Towards the end of this third the bitterness lessens but is still noticeable.
Draw: Free with slight resistance.
Burn: Not good. Wavy at best (when there was no breeze at all) had to touch the cigar up over 3 times.
Ash/Smoke: Ash is somewhat flaky at the beginning, fragile all the way through. Smoke is nice and thick.
Second Third: The second third transitions from the first with flavors of coffee and predominantly earth. Bitterness is still present. Flavors of mocha or caramel are found in the finish. Halfway through the second third the bitterness has ramped up and there is a distinct sharp chalky bitterness in the back of the throat, similar to the taste you get went letting a tablet of aspirin sit in your mouth too long. The body fell into the medium body range.
Final third: At the beginning of the first third I decided to purge the cigar to see if it would help. Immediately after the purge the bitterness was gone and I was left with the flavors of coffee, slight earthiness and sweet tobacco. Hitting the halfway point of the final third, the bitterness was back. I decided it was prudent to end there.
Strength: Medium Flavor: medium
Overall Impression: Overall I thought this was a decent cigar. For those who enjoy bitter coffee this might be up their alley. If I hadn’t experienced the bitterness this would have been a nice medium body smoke with solid flavors. Not terribly complex but enjoyable nonetheless.
Construction: 10 10
Prelight: 4 5
First Third: 11 15
Draw: 10 10
Burn: 6 10
Ash / Smoke: 8 10
Second Third: 7 10
Final Third: 7 10
Overall impression: 15 20
Total Score: 78 100
hoyodude
Cigar: Cigar #3
Vitola / Wrapper / : The wrapper on this very sharp-nosed torpedo is
almost black and leather tough.
Drink / Food: Expecting a mildish cigar I've cracked a Pilsner
Urquell. As it turns out - good call.
Outside Factors: Typical evening - couch surfing in the relative
coolness of our living room escaping the blast furnace outdoors.
Construction: Feels and looks well made.
Prelight : I got nuthin.
First Third: Initially a mild tobacco flavor with a typical maduro
sweetness over it. Pretty non-descript but not offensive.
Draw: Kind of tight. Just past my threshold of where I like my draw
but not plugged.
.
Burn: It burned alright when it was lit but it kept wanting to go out.
Kind of a pain.
Second Third: Same.
Final third: Same.
.
Strength: Mild.
Flavor: Mild.
Overall Impression: An unimpressive smoke. Nothing I would buy but
certainly a cigar you could smoke while fishing (or whatever) if it
was handed to you.
Total Score: I'm going to skip to the chase here and just call it a
solid 55 out of 100. I didn't care much for it but it wasn't a
terrible cigar. Just a real yawner.
tj2001cobra
Cigar: Lou’s Taste Test – Cigar #3 – The “Shocker” (that is the picture on the band!)
Vitola / Wrapper / Binder: Torpedo – about 6” x 50; Dark Maduro Wrapper
Drink / Food: Bud light to drink
Outside Factors: About 90 degrees out. 44% humidity says the TV. 9:20 PM.
Construction: Cigar looks to be constructed well. Not Veiny. Smooth. The cigar is a little “bent” or “squeezed” around the 2” mark (from the head of the cigar). It looks to be a cigar that either came in a bundle or was wrapped with a ribbon in whatever packaging it came in. Don’t expect any problems. Cigar is solid and heavy in hand. It’s VERY firm with no soft spots.
Prelight : Maybe a chocolately fragrance? Not sure what the smell is. Smells pretty good though. Prelight draw is good. Not too loose or tight. Getting a pretty distinct cocoa flavor I think.
First Third: Cut with my Palio and lit with my Tat (Lotus) Triple Flame. Wow! Got a blast that tasted like salsa on the initial light! LOL Don’t remember tasting that before on a cigar. OK, Lou. I finally like one of the cigars!! Nice spice to this smoke . I’m still getting a chocolate/cocoa taste on the palette. Hmmm just got a floral taste at about ½” in. Hope that goes away. Had a few burn issues that were corrected with a touch up.
Draw: The draw is a bit tight, but not horrible. Still very smokable
Burn: Have had to do a several touch-ups to get it to burn straight. Nothing major, but definitely not a straight burn
Ash/Smoke: Produces enough smoke, but not a ton. Ash is medium gray in color. Ash seems to hold about 1.5” before dropping.
Second Third: More of the same. Floral went away. Having a few burn issues, but the taste is good. The spice backed off but still shows itself a bit with a retrohale.
Final third: And more of the same. The cigar hasn’t seemed to change a lot, but since I liked the first and second third, that isn’t a problem to me. The last third has gotten stronger.
Strength: med/full Flavor: good flavors but not overly complex to me
Overall Impression: I liked this smoke. I think my score came out just about right. I probably would have given it a score in the low to mid 80’s had the burn been better. No idea what it was but I would most likely buy this smoke if I needed more inventory.
Construction: 9 10
Prelight: 4 5
First Third: 14 15
Draw: 7 10
Burn: 5 10
Ash / Smoke: 7 10
Second Third: 9 10
Final Third: 9 10
Overall impression: 15 20
Total Score: 79 100
Cigar: No. 3
Vitola / Wrapper / Binder: N/A
Drink / Food: N/A (just ate lunch so smoking on a full stomach)
Outside Factors: Nice with intermittent breezes.
Construction: This cigar dons a thick oscuro wrapper with no noticeable veins. The wrapper is nice and oily and very toothy. This cigar is a sharp torpedo shape, very much similar to the shape of the 5 Vegas Classic torpedo. It is rolled well overall with no hard/soft spots and is very consistent.
Prelight : The flavors I get from the prelight are sweet tobacco and straw.
First Third: This third starts out med-full body with flavors of earth, coffee, nuts and an almost overwhelming bitterness. Towards the end of this third the bitterness lessens but is still noticeable.
Draw: Free with slight resistance.
Burn: Not good. Wavy at best (when there was no breeze at all) had to touch the cigar up over 3 times.
Ash/Smoke: Ash is somewhat flaky at the beginning, fragile all the way through. Smoke is nice and thick.
Second Third: The second third transitions from the first with flavors of coffee and predominantly earth. Bitterness is still present. Flavors of mocha or caramel are found in the finish. Halfway through the second third the bitterness has ramped up and there is a distinct sharp chalky bitterness in the back of the throat, similar to the taste you get went letting a tablet of aspirin sit in your mouth too long. The body fell into the medium body range.
Final third: At the beginning of the first third I decided to purge the cigar to see if it would help. Immediately after the purge the bitterness was gone and I was left with the flavors of coffee, slight earthiness and sweet tobacco. Hitting the halfway point of the final third, the bitterness was back. I decided it was prudent to end there.
Strength: Medium Flavor: medium
Overall Impression: Overall I thought this was a decent cigar. For those who enjoy bitter coffee this might be up their alley. If I hadn’t experienced the bitterness this would have been a nice medium body smoke with solid flavors. Not terribly complex but enjoyable nonetheless.
Construction: 10 10
Prelight: 4 5
First Third: 11 15
Draw: 10 10
Burn: 6 10
Ash / Smoke: 8 10
Second Third: 7 10
Final Third: 7 10
Overall impression: 15 20
Total Score: 78 100
hoyodude
Cigar: Cigar #3
Vitola / Wrapper / : The wrapper on this very sharp-nosed torpedo is
almost black and leather tough.
Drink / Food: Expecting a mildish cigar I've cracked a Pilsner
Urquell. As it turns out - good call.
Outside Factors: Typical evening - couch surfing in the relative
coolness of our living room escaping the blast furnace outdoors.
Construction: Feels and looks well made.
Prelight : I got nuthin.
First Third: Initially a mild tobacco flavor with a typical maduro
sweetness over it. Pretty non-descript but not offensive.
Draw: Kind of tight. Just past my threshold of where I like my draw
but not plugged.
.
Burn: It burned alright when it was lit but it kept wanting to go out.
Kind of a pain.
Second Third: Same.
Final third: Same.
.
Strength: Mild.
Flavor: Mild.
Overall Impression: An unimpressive smoke. Nothing I would buy but
certainly a cigar you could smoke while fishing (or whatever) if it
was handed to you.
Total Score: I'm going to skip to the chase here and just call it a
solid 55 out of 100. I didn't care much for it but it wasn't a
terrible cigar. Just a real yawner.
tj2001cobra
Cigar: Lou’s Taste Test – Cigar #3 – The “Shocker” (that is the picture on the band!)
Vitola / Wrapper / Binder: Torpedo – about 6” x 50; Dark Maduro Wrapper
Drink / Food: Bud light to drink
Outside Factors: About 90 degrees out. 44% humidity says the TV. 9:20 PM.
Construction: Cigar looks to be constructed well. Not Veiny. Smooth. The cigar is a little “bent” or “squeezed” around the 2” mark (from the head of the cigar). It looks to be a cigar that either came in a bundle or was wrapped with a ribbon in whatever packaging it came in. Don’t expect any problems. Cigar is solid and heavy in hand. It’s VERY firm with no soft spots.
Prelight : Maybe a chocolately fragrance? Not sure what the smell is. Smells pretty good though. Prelight draw is good. Not too loose or tight. Getting a pretty distinct cocoa flavor I think.
First Third: Cut with my Palio and lit with my Tat (Lotus) Triple Flame. Wow! Got a blast that tasted like salsa on the initial light! LOL Don’t remember tasting that before on a cigar. OK, Lou. I finally like one of the cigars!! Nice spice to this smoke . I’m still getting a chocolate/cocoa taste on the palette. Hmmm just got a floral taste at about ½” in. Hope that goes away. Had a few burn issues that were corrected with a touch up.
Draw: The draw is a bit tight, but not horrible. Still very smokable
Burn: Have had to do a several touch-ups to get it to burn straight. Nothing major, but definitely not a straight burn
Ash/Smoke: Produces enough smoke, but not a ton. Ash is medium gray in color. Ash seems to hold about 1.5” before dropping.
Second Third: More of the same. Floral went away. Having a few burn issues, but the taste is good. The spice backed off but still shows itself a bit with a retrohale.
Final third: And more of the same. The cigar hasn’t seemed to change a lot, but since I liked the first and second third, that isn’t a problem to me. The last third has gotten stronger.
Strength: med/full Flavor: good flavors but not overly complex to me
Overall Impression: I liked this smoke. I think my score came out just about right. I probably would have given it a score in the low to mid 80’s had the burn been better. No idea what it was but I would most likely buy this smoke if I needed more inventory.
Construction: 9 10
Prelight: 4 5
First Third: 14 15
Draw: 7 10
Burn: 5 10
Ash / Smoke: 7 10
Second Third: 9 10
Final Third: 9 10
Overall impression: 15 20
Total Score: 79 100