DBall's Newb (and not-so-newb) Blind Taste Test #6

[DBall]

AdamJoshua Cigar #4
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170 x 46

A very rustic wrapper, a little damage about half way up the stick, painted it up with a little pectin so hopefully it won't be an issue. The stick is firmly packed and the shoulder is a bit dry as you can see when I gave it a straight cut, a bit of the wrapper around the shoulder flaked away but nothing major.

First third: very mild start with lite smoke, starting this with a cup of coffee seems to have been a mistake to start. What I am getting to start is a sweetness, such lite smoke makes this a stick you have to concentrate on, don't get me wrong it's really good but for review purposes it's taking a little bit extra. Light gray ash that breaks away fairly easy, no a smoke to be enjoying while doing 90 down the 15 with the top down. For my life depended on it I'd say ...well I'd say anything but since my life doesn't depend on it I'd say I'm picking up a bit of honey, marzipan and sweet cream, not that big mouth full of creamy white....phrasing, boom nailed it, but just a hint.

Around the end of the first third their is some wood starting to ent it's way in, no spice of any kind that I can tell, a lot of tea, sweetness and a bit of wood, those are the stairs of the show.

Second Third: this cigar is right there on the razor's edge, I keep hoping it's going to pick up in strength, the favors are good just a bit muted for my goat palette, I'm hoping once it gets past the little repair the smoke will pick up, I can tell there is air drawing in there and even a little would be too much for how delicate this stick is.

End of the second third and a bit of spice is rearing it's head, the tiniest bit of white pepper really only noticeable on the snork and as a bit of a lingering note on the back of the tongue.

Final Third: smoke production is picking up and so is the spice, a bit of nose tickle on the retro-hale, of course when you have a um proud Jewish nose like I or Tucan Sam have that's not saying much, it would probably kill one of you lesser nosed people.

Half way through the final third and the pepper is really picking up.

Toasted wood toasted wood!!!! I finally picked something out that I don't have to hunt for and that would be, Bueller, Bueller?

Um, toasted wood. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who knows someone that smoked one of these and he said toasted wood at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty strong.

Thank you, Simone.

No problem what-so-ever.


This cigar really picked up at the end, I’m assuming that most of that had to do with smoking past the problem area, really needed a cigar bandaid, I think i need to go create, patent and sell those, lots of toasted wood, and light spice, the final third of this cigar really shined, if the entire cigar was like this it would have been much more enjoyable with the coffee and in general, as it was I ended up switching over to water about half way through just so the coffee didn’t overpower the stick.

I’m going to split the rating the two thirds was just very mild and lite smoke and I’d have to give it a 5 out of 10, while enjoyable I really had to work at it and none of us enjoy a cigar you have to work.

The final third I’d go with 8.5 out of 10, really strong notes, enjoyable and while strong it wasn’t overpowering, I will not there was a lot of nicotine to this stick, at least the end, time to dig out a couple chick-o-stick minis!




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[DBall]

Ripplingh2o Cigar #4
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Initial Observations - A 6 1/2" x 43RG, Maduro wrapper (IDK, maybe) cigar of the Lonsdale category. Seems tightly packed, with a very slight toothy texture to the wrapper. Looks like a very small, single cap. I will straight cut the head and assume most of the cap will be gone. Hope it won't cause any unraveling issues. As for precut aroma...forget it, my smeller fails (again). I read somewhere your sense of smell & taste wane in your "senior years". But alas, the Mrs. even remarked, "I smell nothing, nothing at all". Pairing with my morning coffee. Toasting now begins at 8:00 a.m.

First 1/3 - Minimal smoke output compared to the previous 3 cigars. Maybe the cigar's length has something to do with how much draw is required for a mouthful of smoke. Even though the draw isn't tight it seems I have to pull a long time to develop a full puff. Burn and ash however are excellent. I printed a Cigar Flavor Wheel to aid me in ID'ing notes and nuances. But for now, it won't provide any help. I'm afraid if I don't continue to sip this cigar that it may go out. Just a very light, wide open draw producing minimal smoke, which is confusing considering it's so densely packed. But the burn continues to be flawless.

Second 1/3 - As feared, the wrapper just below where the cap was, is showing signs of wanting to unravel. Smoke output continues to be light and lackluster. Just not much to expand upon. This is the lightest, weakest cigar I have ever smoked, void of flavor or strength.

Final 1/3 - Hoping for a positive transition of some sorts, but not overly optimistic. Smoke output has improved as I ventured into this final third. I can now take a steady draw and receive a mouthful of smoke. Other than that, nothing else to report. Halfway into this final third the wrapper seriously began to unravel to the point where I just took it off. I was surprised how tissue thin this single layer wrapper was. I continued to smoke the stick down to the nub without further issue. At least it never got hot or ammonia tasting.

Overall thoughts - This cigar basically had no cap because after a very minimal straight cut, it was gone. I found it blasé and lacked anything I look for in a premium cigar. Draw and smoke output were both whisper light for 3/4 of the cigar. Flavor, body, & strength were, to a relative degree, nonexistent. Unfortunately, I found nothing noteworthy about this cigar with the exception of a perfect burn and ash. All in all I can't say it was a bad cigar, it just didn't have any exceptional qualities.

Smoke time: 1 hour. Overall rating: 3 for a razor sharp burn and 2 for a solid ash. So that equals 5.0. On to cigar #5 (knowing it'll be significantly better).

[DBall]

What they smoked:
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1996 Arturo Fuente Seleccion Privada #1 (NC)

AdamJosua Rating: 6.2/10

Ripplingh20 Rating: 5/10

Dammit Adam, you made me do math... 5/10, 5/10, 8.5/10 = 6.2/10

This cigar here is the reason that I changed from having the cigars in 5 finger bags to single bags. The scent of these cigars are very pronounced (at least when I packed them up).

I am really shocked at the difference in flavors, however, I find that many of the vintage NCs I've had share the whole lack-of-flavor thing that Robb pointed out.

I threw one of these blind into a couple different PPP's and got mixed reviews there, as well.

At least you can say you've had a 20 year old NC now...

[DBall]

Onto the final cigar! Any thoughts about this now that you know what it is? Any commentary from the peanut gallery? I'm not used to so little banner on these threads!

[Ripplingh2o]

Originally Posted by DBall

Onto the final cigar! Any thoughts about this now that you know what it is? Any commentary from the peanut gallery? I'm not used to so little banner on these threads!

From my perspective, I was surprised it was a 20 year old AF. I was guessing it was something acquired from Dollar General just to keep us honest.