DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5

[jonumberone]

Post up one review, a week later the other review, and wait one more week until the big reveal!

Just PM me the answer first!

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

Post up one review, a week later the other review, and wait one more week until the big reveal!

Just PM me the answer first!

[DBall]

ApexAZ Cigar #10
**************


7/4/2012

Well it's Independence Day and the weather here in Phoenix is unusually nice. It's overcast and has been raining off and on this morning, which has given us beautiful 80 degree weather. Given the holiday and the rare nice weather, it only made sense to wrap up Dan's blind taste test by smoking number 10. I don't really have anything to drink so H2O it is.



Pre-light
This cigar is about 5 1/2" long and has a ring guage around 38-40. It has a nice and smooth natural wrapper with very small veins and a triple cap. Although somewhat light, the construction appears and feels solid and I can't really feel any noticeable soft spots. There are a couple very minor tears in the wrapper, but I don't expect them to cause any issues.

The pre-light draw seems a little tight, but not unsmokable. Scents from the foot and wrapper are musty tobacco. Flavors from the draw bring out a light semi-sweet floral tobacco flavor.



1st Third
This cigar started out with some medium bodied flavor right off the bat. The smoke is very smooth and has an earthy cedar taste to it. A little deeper in I get a toasty nutty flavor. So far it has been mild in strength, medium in body and not quite as sweet as some of the others that came before it. The burn is excellent and the ash drops after about 2/3". The draw is slightly tighter than I prefer, but it's workable.



2nd Third
25 minutes into the cigar I reach the 2nd third. The flavor and strength of the cigar continue to be medium and mild, respectively. The cigar still has a musty, earthy type flavor, except instead of cedar, I'm now tasting more coffee and caramel. It is developing more of a sweetness, but not as sweet as some of the previous cigars in the BTT. The burn is still good, the ash drops consistent and the draw is still a little tight.



Final Third
50 minutes have passed and the cigar hasn't really changed drastically. It's still medium bodied and the flavors haven't really developed into anything different from the 2nd third. If anything, the cigar has become less sweet. I still get some musty, earthy flavor and more coffee with less caramel.



Conclusion
This cigar had more of an earthy profile (if that makes any sense). It wasn't very creamy or sweet. I liked it well enough and give it a 7/10. Thanks, Dan!

Score: 7/10

Total smoke time: 75 minutes

Dan -- I can't thank you enough for the opportunity to try some of these cigars. To sample all of these cigars, and then write about them has been a wonderful experience. Being able to comment on them without any preconceived notions was very cool and helped to bring some things into perspective for me. Specifically, I learned that people should "Smoke what they like, like what they smoke". Thank you so much for sharing some great cigars. It was a really great experience.

[DBall]

smitty81 Cigar #10
***************

I didn't get time to measure up stick #10 but if I were to guess, I'd say it was around 6" long and about a 42 Ga cigar.

There were no large veins in the wrapper and the cigar was rolled extremely tight. There is no sponginess in this cigar at all, in fact on one part of this cigar it's rock hard. This looks like a box pressed cigar.

I lit this baby up and took a draw, got nothing. It took my 2-3 hard draws to get anything out of this cigar. I could taste a mild caramel flavor (starting to see a pattern with these cigars).

I tried to work this cigar a bit to loosen it up but damn this thing was packed tight. I couldn't get it to loosen up so I just had to draw harder.

This was the absolute tightest cigar I have ever had without a doubt. I was wishing I had a draw tool right about now. Although I had to draw harder, the flavor did not get harsh. The flavor profile of this cigar remained the same through out. Just a nice caramel flavor.

After the cigar was about half done, the draw loosened up considerably. It still had a tight draw but it was better than what it was for sure. This cigar really reminds me of the first cigar we had in the BTT which was a Por Larranaga. The Por Larranga was hands down better though.

This cigar had good flavor but if it would have been a cigar I bought myself, I would have probably deemed it un-smokable. I really needed a draw tool to get this one smoking properly. Also, I had a TON of burn problems with this cigar. If I wasn't drawing on it about every minute or so, this thing would go out. This cigar was just a nightmare when it came to the draw and burn. I really had to babysit this one.

I gave it a 6/10.



Dan, I really appreciate the opportunity you gave me to do this. It has really opened my eyes when it comes to picking out flavors and just learning about cigars in general. This was an experience that I otherwise wouldn't of had a chance to try if it wasn't for your generosity. Also, as an added bonus, I got to try some CC's that I probably never would have had a chance to try. I really do appreciate this Dan.

Thank you!

[DBall]

What they smoked:



1998 Punch Corona

ApexAZ score: 7

smitty81 score: 6

That's a 14 year old CC right there...

Thanks for playing, guys! I'll post more about this probably tomorrow or so.

[363]

Dan thanks for putting this together! It has been awesome to read and follow! Look forward to meeting ya at Doms

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by 363

Dan thanks for putting this together! It has been awesome to read and follow! Look forward to meeting ya at Doms

Yes -- I agree. Very cool and very informative!

[44stampede]

This was great! Thanks to all 3 of you.

[Whipper Snapper]

Thanks guys. This was great.
The box press on those punch coronas is pretty wild.

[Bleez]

...and then there were none

Thanks Dan for putting this together. What a great way for those guys to sample some mighty fine sticks and for keeping many of us entertained. Nice presentation, etc. Also a great job by Smitty and Apex on the reviews...

[GTCanuk]

It's been a great read!!!

[mase]

It's been fun to follow these reviews. Thanks for doing this, Dan. Great stuff.

[Blak Smyth]

Dan, I appreciate you putting this together. This is universally enjoyed by newbs (Like myself ) as well as the seasoned vets here. These are the kind of threads that add value to the boards, not that I don't enjoy some good hopeless banter. Brilliant thread!!!!

Thanks for the reviewers as well, you guys did apply yourselves and you produced some great fair reviews! The question I have is what is your overall opinion on CCs now that you have tried several?

[smitty81]

Originally Posted by Blak Smyth

Dan, I appreciate you putting this together. This is universally enjoyed by newbs (Like myself ) as well as the seasoned vets here. These are the kind of threads that add value to the boards, not that I don't enjoy some good hopeless banter. Brilliant thread!!!!

Thanks for the reviewers as well, you guys did apply yourselves and you produced some great fair reviews! The question I have is what is your overall opinion on CCs now that you have tried several?

While I didn't know exactly what to expect, I was a bit let down. I think I let myself hype them up to much. All I have herd growing up is CC this and CC that, they are the holy grail of cigars..............and so on.

I do like them for what they are and Dan threw in a handful that I enjoyed and even 2 or 3 that I would smoke again if I ever had a chance.

Were the CC's my cup of tea? Not so much. They were good cigars but not really the flavor profile I am enjoying right now.

[smitty81]

I see a few pictures didn't work, want me to post them here?

[ApexAZ]

I like the cc cigars better. When comparing the best NC I've ever had to the best cc, the cc wins hands down.

[mk05]

Originally Posted by ApexAZ

I like the cc cigars better. When comparing the best NC I've ever had to the best cc, the cc wins hands down.

Try some really old AF SG Double Chateau, Graycliff Blue, or Davidoff Super Selection #11. May change your perspective on what a good NC can be.

[DBall]

Good to see ya here, Marc! This was #5 in the series... check out the previous 4... they were pretty fun as well!