DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test Thread

[DBall]

An emergency arose that made it impossible to be near my house, let alone a computer. Things are mostly back to normal now, but life is life and sh1t happens.

Anyway... here goes:

What they smoked:



Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Perla

Slavac score: 9.0
Flat4boxer score: 8.9


That's the thing with NC's... few draw problems. These are very small smokes that I'll have to revisit at some point. It's been a long, long while since I smoked an NC (not because I'm a snob, I just know what I like and my collection is of mostly habanos ). Apparently, tho these two, they are pretty damned good. I'll have to smoke one while reading their reviews to see if I can pick up on any of the same things. It's nice to see a consistent rating between both Brad and Kelly, though.

Joeseph (Coastietech) will have a 5er of these on his doorstep as soon as the postal service delivers them. I'm glad a Jets fan guessed correctly...





Keep em coming, guys!

Originally Posted by DBall

Joeseph (Coastietech) will have a 5er of these on his doorstep as soon as the postal service delivers them. I'm glad a Jets fan guessed correctly...

Received the prize that Dan (Dball) sent for my lucky guess. Thank you so much!!!



BTW J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!!!

[Eleven]

Tat P2

This kicks ass... Whoo hoo!!! Thank you!

sweet Joe

[Flat4boxer]

Sorry everyone, no review for me this week as I have come down with something awful.

[DBall]

Originally Posted by Flat4boxer

Sorry everyone, no review for me this week as I have come down with something awful.

Get better soon, man!!!

[DBall]

Slavac has review #3 done, Kelly said he'll be out for a bit...

[Flat4boxer]

Originally Posted by DBall

Slavac has review #3 done, Kelly said he'll be out for a bit...

My head is out of the barrel. Review #3 is in your inbox

[ir13]

Now we just have to on Balls

[Flat4boxer]

Originally Posted by ir13

Now we just have to on Balls

He's an alright guy, just slow is all

[DBall]

Slavac Cigar #3
*************

Cigar: Mystery Cigar 3
Setting: Back deck on a 70 deg night with AdamC.
Drink: Left Handed Brewery Milk Stout

Initial Impressions: This is one of the longer of the 10 cigars I was sent, however it is VERY veiny cigar, probably one of the most vein riddled I've ever seen.



Cut and pre-light draw: Hard draw but not as bad as #1.
The first 2 inches of the cigar appear supple to the touch, the rest of the cigar has periodic knots throughout, usually under the knots.

Lit easily using my tri-torch.

Draw after lighting: Difficult, but not hard. Guillotine cut. Flavors of wood and tobacco with a vaguely sweet finish that I can't pigeonhole into a particular flavor.

First Third: Tastes a bit off. Unpleasant but not horrid. Draw is tight with very little smoke. Ash is strange, very strange. Looks a bit like a series of hourglasses stuck atop each other at different angles. Developed a burn spot 1" down from the cherry which burned through. At this point I don't hate this stick, but I don't like it.
Lost ash at 1". Burn is uneven.
Flavors of wood, tar and oddly enough, faintly of freshly baked bread.


^Burn spot during First Third.


Second Third: Draw easing, smoke increasing. Flavor is more harsh, with maybe a hint of pepper? Some tar flavor building. Lost its ash again with 1" of buildup. Burn remains uneven.
Flavors remain the same though I lost the fresh baked bread component.
Toward the end of 2/3 I noticed some more harshness at the back of the palate. Cigar has begun falling apart: trying to lose the main leaf wrapper.



^Funky ash and falling apart.

Third Third: Ash lasts only half an inch at a time. More palate burn returning.
Flavors remain the same and unremarkable. Wrapper continues to disintegrate.


^Damage evident here. 3/3.

Final Impressions: This cigar lasted about 50 minutes and wasn't enjoyable for more than 2 of those.
Would I buy again: Certainly not.
Would I smoke again: I'd give this one another try to see if I got a dud, but odds are I'd pass.
Overall Rating With 10 the highest possible and 0 the baseline: 3.5/10

Final Thoughts: Look elsewhere.

[DBall]

Flat4boxer Cigar #3
****************

Okay folks sorry for the delay. My head cold is finally cleared up and I was able to enjoy some cigar time for the first time in a week this morning.

Unknown cigar #3 is a light brown, firmly wrapped stick that is roughly 6 1/2 - 7" long. Small veins cover this non-oily wrapper. Overall appearance is A+.



Pre-light

After cutting off the end, the draw seems as if it's going to be a struggle to smoke. Not unlike Brads first cigar.

Light

Draw is very tight and a low volume of smoke. I want to say it tastes of cedar but my newb palet knows no better so that's what I'm sticking with. The smoke is not overpowering, almost mild is the best discription.



First 3rd:

Draw continues to be tight. I get the home made draw tool out and start poking away hoping to free up more smoke. Little is accomplished so I just continue puffing away. It forms a tight gray ash that struggles to hang on. (slight breeze out today) A mouth full of smoke is hard to come by. Shame, because what I do get is very tasty. Burn is very even, no touch ups required.



Second 3rd:

The tight draw continues until finally it was as if I'd burned through the "plug". Smoke comes more freely and I really get the full taste of this stick. The dedar notes mentioned above continue and slightly mix with a woodsy flavor. A touch of leather is introduced here and there. The cigar is very enjoyable at this point.



Third 3rd:

The very smooth cedar flavor continues and the woodsy complexity seem to blend nicely as we near the finnish. This is yet another stick that I nub to the end.



Overall I have to give this cigar a 8.7/10

It would have scored a bit higher had I not run into the initial draw problem.

I would recommend this stick and will look to pick up a few to throw in the humi for later enjoyment.

BTT 6 sent in. Sincere apologies for the egregious delay

[DBall]

Slavic Cigar #6
************

Cigar: Mystery Cigar 6
Setting: Back deck on a 60 deg night. Soon turned to a 45deg night with rain.
Drink: Nada

Initial Impressions: Cigar is constructed very well. So dark it looks almost dyed. Medium veins, tight wrap.


^Evil bunny.

Cut and pre-light draw: Cut easily with my Xixar multi-tool. Draw is medium/easy with a flavor that reminds me of chewing tobacco. Noted a triple cap after cut.

Lit easily using my tri-torch.

Draw after lighting: Remains smoothe at medium/easy. Fantastic.

First Third: Clouds of smoke come from this cigar.
Peppery start, and seems to be a very strong cigar flavor wise.
Burn was uneven for 1/3.
I managed to purge this one a bit hard and ended up shooting hot ash right down my jacket :/
Pepper mellowed a bit but was still heavy at the back of my throat/tip of my tongue.
This reminds me strongly of a MOW.


^Dusty ash.

Second Third: Frequent purging kept this cigar tasting clean.
Pepper was still strong but no tar notes.
Cigar continued to emit tonnes and tonnes of smoke.
Ash was brown and looks dusty, this is a first for me.
Construction remained flawless.
Pepper flavor mellowed slightly. The actual flavor was hard for me to place, but suffice it to say, "pleasant."
At the end of 2/3 it dropped 10deg and started raining. Moved to covered front porch like a cat on fire.



^Good ash even after relocating to front porch.

Third Third: Very very strong nic. buzz off of this one. I mean slap you in the face buzz.
Flavor mellowed out significantly.
Ash would last for about 1.5" and would always fall off during purging. I'd since learned to dodge properly.



Final Impressions: This was a good cigar, though I didn't think it was anything fancy. Construction held throughout. The pepper was a bit overwhelming, but not so much that I wouldn't want to try another.
Would I buy again: If the price point was right, yes.
Would I smoke again: Absolutely.
Overall Rating With 10 the highest possible and 0 the baseline: 8.8

Final Thoughts: I'm interested to see what this cigar was. It reminded me of a MOW in looks and flavor, smoked like an Opus but didn't pick up the pepper flavor at the end like either cigar did.

#7's in

[RightAJ]

Originally Posted by Slavac

#7's in

Yay!!!

aj

BTT 8's in. This one's interesting as hell.

[DBall]

Kelly is slippin'... Brad finished 7 and 8 already.

[DBall]

What they smoked:



1999 Saint Luis Rey Serie A

Slavac score: 8.0
Flat4boxer score: 9.6

Kelly... thanks for the kind words, but I'm certain my wife would have an issue with throngs of rabid females beating down my anything.

These were, at a time, almost too easy to find... now, though, not so much.

Also... these, like every other set of sticks in this, came from the same box and were side by side... interesting to see the disparity in ratings... what was the temp like for you, Kelly? Freezing while smoking always makes my cigars less enjoyable.