3rd Quarter:
At this point of the cigar, the creaminess and pepper starts to subside and the sweetness flavor starts to take hold. There is still a hint of peppery spice, but the sweetness is the most apparent flavor, which I can only say tastes like cherries. This was a great flavor point of this cigar. It reminded me a lot of the best points of another cigar, the RP Vintage 1990.
4th Quarter:
The sweetness starts to slowly go away as it gets to this point and the spice starts to gain momentum. I also tasted a slight woody taste...I want to actually say it was cedar! However, as I got closer and closer to the nub, the spice got greater and greater. It was very peppery and it reached a point where this was pretty much the only flavor this cigar gave. This was by far the strongest point of the cigar. Where the rest of the cigar was more medium to medium/full...this part was definitely full.
Conclusion:
This is a cigar I have been meaning to try for a while now based on the reviews. I must say I am impressed, but also maybe a bit dissapointed. I'm not saying this was a bad smoke by any means. Quite the contrary, this was a very good smoke. However, I think I was expecting a little bit more. All the flavors were great, but I don't think any one particular section of this cigar was great. It was a very good consistent cigar from beginning to end which makes me say this will be a great everyday smoke. However, no one section of this cigar blew me away and made me think I was smoking an outstanding cigar. Perhaps it was the band that makes me say this, but I'll say my expectations weren't met by the experience. Saying that though, this is a good smoke, that brings changes in flavor, from sweetness to spice, that I will try again.
Grade:
Appearence: 9.2
Draw/Burn: 7.5
Taste: 8.5
Value: 8.5
Final Score: 8.6