I decided to splurge on some pricier cigars and wine for my birthday. I grabbed a box of these on C-Bid.
Review: not worth $29/stick.
OK, OK, a real review. The cigar starts off, surprisingly, with a maduro type flavor profile. Cocoa/coconut.
About 1" in, a woodsy and vaguely vegetable type taste come in. It's a unique flavor for sure. Medium 'strength' through the nose. The vegetal flavor is on the finish.
About 2" in...a noticeable sweetness on the draw, but the woodsy and vegetal flavor are still dominant. The aroma coming from the foot as I type is really nice.
About halfway...the nose exhale has become more straight tobacco. Actually, the entire flavor profile has become more straight tobacco. The sweetness on the draw is still there.
A little past halfway...straight tobacco is still dominant, but the vegetal flavor on the finish has been replaced with a flavor of anise. A few minor burn corrections so far. VERY slow burn; I'm at about 45 min here.
Toward the end...the 'strength' has intensified a bit. Flavor profile is the same. The anise on the finish has intensified a bit. I let 'er die at just over 1" and about 80 min of smoke time. Impressive.
Final thoughts...this was a
good cigar. Not a great one. I realize that these days, $29 isn't even THAT much for a cigar anymore, but...I expected more. I just got these 3 days ago, so I'll try another one in a few months. Maybe I'm smoking one too soon after opening the box.
EDIT: I just looked these up on Cigar Aficionado, and they rated it 88. This is one of those rare occasions that I'd probably agree with that rating.