lou2row B.T.T.; cigar #1

And the next three:


Hoyodude
Cigar: Cigar #1…The Stewie “F-U”
Vitola / Wrapper / : This is a toro and the wrapper appears to be
either maduro or oscuro. This category originally included Binder but
I have no idea how to determine that.

Drink / Food: Boddington’s Pub Ale
Outside Factors: Hmmm…not sure what this means other than what other
things could have influenced my experience? If so I can only say I
just returned from boating and swimming in a nearby lake, have eaten
pretty well today and am in a fairly agreeable state of mind. So
there’s that.

Construction: I am SO trying not to jump to conclusions with this
cigar. The construction of my sample is excellent in that, while a few
small veins are visible, the cigar feels very well packed throughout –
not a soft or hard spot – and looks beautiful. The dark brown wrapper
is velvety smooth to the touch but clearly comparatively thick and
durable. The only detraction I noticed was a curious one – near the
foot there was a patch on the wrapper. It was very skillfully done as
it was cut into the shape of an isosceles triangle and it fit
perfectly amongst the small leaf veins. Nicely camouflaged. But it was
a patch on an otherwise perfect looking cigar. By now I have smoked
past it so there was no consequence to it’s burn that I could tell.

Prelight : Once cut with my trusty Palio I find a perfect draw. There
is a sweetness that I can taste right away.
First Third: First draw is a pepper bomb. POW. I took another couple
peppery puffs and set it down for a few minutes. I might not get too
many who agree with me on this one but I’ve found if I let a cigar go
out, after lighting it and smoking just the tip down, when I relight
it the flavors open up incredibly. It’s very possible this is just me.
Anyhow, when I relit it the pepper had taken a middle seat and rich
espresso with burnt dark brown sugar sweetness and cream are now
driving this bus. It’s also clear to me that this is no light weight
smoke. I feel it in the back of my throat and in my belly. I’m a happy
guy.

Draw: As stated above, the draw on this cigar has been faultless. A
good draw is so important to the enjoyment factor and this one has it
down
.
Burn: Ash has been a little flaky and soft but the burn has been
burning pretty straight. The room aroma is very nice, kind of campfire
with toasting marshmallows. Sort of. In a burning-cigar-smoke kind of
way.

Second Third: I’m getting a new flavor added now, it’s has a woody
dryness but it’s too sweet to be wood….also some floral notes. That’s
it! Woody sweet flowery….hmmm…sounds weird. But that’s with the
sugary/creamy/peppery still kicking. And the strength is building.
There is some real complexity here to my palate.

Final third: Time to carefully separate the Stewie band from the
cigar. Yeah, I’ll be saving these babies. The strength is noticeably
ratcheting up now but the flavor profile remains smooth and decadent.
This is definitely a decadent cigar, whatever it is. It’s wanting to
go out now at about the 1.5” mark but I’m keeping it alive until it
gets bitter. And now, at the inch mark, I’m going to kiss it goodbye.
Finally a little bitter and hot so time to let it die
.
Strength: For me this is a full strength cigar. Not a “knock you down”
strength but definitely full.

Flavor: Very full

Overall Impression: I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. I’m going to go
out on a limb and guess the wrapper is Pennsylvania Broadleaf, a
recent love of mine, so I’m not surprised. I’m eager to learn what
cigar this was but I think I might have this one pegged so I’m not
going to be coy about rating it. I really loved every bit of it.

Construction: 9
Prelight: 5
First Third: 15
Draw: 10
Burn: 8
Ash / Smoke: 9
Second Third: 10
Final Third: 9
Overall impression: 20
Total Score: 95

Jimbud
Cigar: lou2row’s Cigar No. 1 in 4th (or 5th) Blind Taste Test.
Vitola/Wrapper/Binder: 5.5 by 50 (possibly 52); Beautiful maduro wrapper (perhaps ligero).
Drink/Food: Ice water; before dinner.
Outside Factors: About 86 degrees; patio.
Price: Unknown.
Cut: Using a cheap cutter that has a feature that is breaking me of the habit of clipping too much.

Construction: No remarkable veins or soft spots. I am sure this is a well-constructed cigar even before torching. Triple capped.

Prelight: This is a gorgeous cigar. The maduro wrapper is flawless and has a dark reddish hue. Not quite as dark as an LP9; very similar to the wrapper on the original Padilla Obsidian. When I first saw it, I thought it might be an Obsidian or possible a Donkey Dropping, but it is neither. The foot of the cigar reveals a combination of very dark tobacco and very light—there is some ligero in here. This will be an interesting smoke. Smells of peppery spice, but not overpowering. Well-balanced in the hand for sure. Forgot the prelight draw – Dammit!

First Third: Black pepper and licorice. Very nice burn so far – lit right up. The ash is predominantly white (with some striations of black). Rich, burnt espresso notes with black pepper. Complex. Getting some smokey bbq sauce flavor and charcoal out of this baby. As the first third ends, I begin to pick up very subtle carmel or butterscotch, particularly in the retrohale. Perfect draw so far. Wife just had me open a bottle of wine to have with the lasagna dinner that awaits, but I digress.

Second Third: The cigar has calmed down just a bit. No touch ups so far. Perhaps some distant notes of orange or black cherry, but this smoke is – as the CI catalogue often says – “not for the faint of heart” (at least IMVHO). Not a razor sharp burn, but no problems – it seem to be self-correcting. It holds its ash well. Still getting some smokey BBQ sauce/A1 sauce. Once again, the carmel or toffee reappears, but in the background and is not sweet by any means, as pepper and charcoal continues to predominate. I would bet these get even better with age….. Interestingly, I suspect if I was smelling the cigar and not smoking it, I would not think it to be as full bodied as it is.

Final Third: It may be my tastebuds have had a workout, but a bit more salty carmel flavor. For a 5.5 inch cigar, this is a slow smoke you should take your time with. Dark, unsweetened chocolate notes, but still getting BBQ, charcoal, and black espresso.

Overall: A strong, very well-constructed cigar. Not a significant change in flavors over the course of this smoke. I am betting the price point is north of $8 a stick. I would recommend this cigar to any LFD/LG lovers (perhaps this is what it is) or really anyone who likes a spicy, full-bodied stick. My rating on this is an 82; although I’m betting those who love full-bodied sticks would rate it higher. Thanks Lou!

Hscmit
Construction:very thick wrapper with several veins, some big some small, slight transport damage

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/101_1155.jpg

Prelight:easy draw and some sweet notes

First Third:very mild first few draws, hard to pick out a dominate flavor. About a quarter inch in start getting some cocoa and burnt coffee. There is also an underlying sweetness and some strength begins to develop be the end of this third

Draw: good

Burn

Ash/Smoke: ash is strong, there is slightly less smoke than you would expect from this size cigar

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/101_1156.jpg

Second Third:ash fell right at the 1/2 way point on the cigar, purge gave a large flame burst flavors of toasted almond and coffee

Final third: more of the same flavor wise, nuts, coffee and still a undertone of sweetness

Strength: med/ full

Flavor: med

Overall: pretty good, little outside my normal profile but tasty

Scoring

Construction: 9/10
Prelight: 4/5
First Third: 12/15
Draw: 10/10
Burn: 9/10
Ash / Smoke: 7/10
Second Third: 8/10
Final Third: 8/10
Overall impression: 17/20
Total Score: 84/100