After a stressful weekend, I thought I would relax last night with my first AVO: a 787 gifted to me by
jjirons69/Jamie. I was very excited to try this—not only because it came as a gift from a great BOTL, but because of the hype around the brand and I knew these are higher priced cigars than I would typically purchase on my own. I want to especially thank Jamie for sending this--you’re first rate, brother!
On the other hand, I am very sorry to say that it was a very disappointing smoke that did not live up to my expectations. At all.
Vitola: 5 7/8 x 50 Perfecto
Wrapper/Binder/Filler: Ecuadorian Connecticut/DR/DR
Smoke Time: 1:00 (probably could have gone another 20-30 minutes but I let it die)
Beverage: Water, added a glass of Sauternes about midway
Appearance
Nicely capped perfecto, very smooth wrapper with just one vein or stem noticeable beneath the surface, stately band.
Construction
Excellent construction: perfect draw, ample smoke, the burn tended to be slightly angular but would self correct while resting.
Flavor
Based on previous reviews, I expected this cigar to be complex, toasty and full of rich coffee, cocoa, earth, and leather.
I got none of that. What I got was a quinine-like bitterness from the wrapper, with a peppery bite & a woody core. I can’t recall ever wishing for a sweetened tip, but I certainly felt that this cigar would have benefitted. I was all out of port, so we broke open a bottle of Sauternes to help take the bitter edge off. There was a little bit of cream on the finish, but mostly an apple-like fruity tartness that was very off-putting. The wine just accentuated this. I was confused. I was pissed. I wondered if it had to do with the fact that I punched it, so I clipped the cap midway and purged. All that did was bring even more smoke in on the draw--peppery and paperlike. About midway I could feel the strength building, which was even more surprising since I expected this to be in the mild/medium range.
I hate when pictures are blurry—it was dark out, so this is the best shot I got. At least the Bobkin, lighter & Palio are in focus!
I gave it the ol’ college try—really, I did—but I let it die about an inch after taking this picture.
Overall
I know my palette can’t be that far off the mark, so maybe I got a dud. This was definitely not a good cigar. Given the AVO name I would be inclined to give it another chance, but I won’t be buying one anytime soon.
If you’ve had better luck with these, I’d love to hear a positive review. Sorry about my experience, Jamie, but thank you for sending it, I deeply appreciate the thought!