Here's my review of the blind stick that Christos sent in his contest winnings. The stick is a box-pressed torpedo with a dark brown wrapper. Slightly dry to the touch with a nice sheen to it. The pre-light aroma on this is heavy barnyard with more potency at the foot.
Unfortunately I had some issues with the wrapper on the cigar, a piece of the wrapper came off in the middle of the cigar and then when I cut it the cap began to unravel. The pre-light draw on this one was good, but I had to work to keep it together due to the wrapper problems.
1st Third: It was hard to get a proper draw on the cigar but I did manage to keep it going. With a little work the cigar burnt very well and the flavors were quite nice. I tasted coffee and leather on the 1st third and I also had a taste that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Through the first third the wrapper issues didn't cause much trouble, but it did take away from my focus on the cigar as I fought to keep it together.
2nd Third: Going into the 2nd third of the cigar I hit the hole in the wrapper. The ash flared out and was quite crumbly. I have to say that even with the issues the cigar pushed through the trouble spot and I only had to do some minor touch ups. Coffee and leather remained and so did the mystery flavor - possibly toasted nuts?
Final Third: This is where the troublesome cap started to give me issues and I had to hold the cigar together. I noticed cream in the last third and really enjoyed that mingling with the other flavors. I got this one close to the nub.
Conclusion: I enjoyed the flavors in this cigar quite a bit and imagine it has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was distracted from focusing on the cigar fully due to the issues I ran into. I'd definitely try this one again based on the flavors it produced.
Thanks again for the contest and the cigars!