DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5

[smitty81]

Originally Posted by DBall

I think the cigars arrived to both parties at this point...


...and so it begins!

Indeed I did Dan. I just want to thank you again for giving me the opportunity to try this. This ought to be fun and interesting.

I will have lots of time on my hands saturday morning-noon. I will start my first one then and report in!

[DBall]

ApexAZ Cigar #9
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6/25/2012

Well it's been a pretty crazy few weeks and I haven't had a lot of time to do any blind taste test reviews. Today I'm going to tackle #9 to the best of my ability in greater than 100 degree heat. I also noticed that I really can't smell the cigar. Although my allergies seem fine today, I decided to take a zyrtec followed by a dose of flonase several hours prior to this review.



Pre-light
This cigar is about 5 1/4" long and has a ring guage around 38-40. The natural wrapper has a smooth feel to it with small veins throughout. The appearance is a little rough around the edges, particularly around the triple cap. The cigar feels heavy and very dense.

The pre-light draw seems tight, which I half expected given the solid feel of it, so I decided to leave it out for several hours before attempting to smoke it. I don't really taste anything noteworthy on the draw.



1st Third
Initial flavors from the first couple puffs are musty cardboard. The smoke is smooth, but not very flavorful. Within the first 10 minutes, the cigar went out and required a relight. The flavor is starting to develop into a semi-sweet wood/cedar flavor. It's freaking hot outside and I'm guzzling my perrier. I will have to switch to water soon. The flavors continue to sweeten and the burn/draw are both excellent.



2nd Third
20 minutes in and I'm into the 2nd third of the smoke. Flavors are developing nicely into a richer, sweeter and creamier medium bodied profile. I'm really starting to enjoy it. Hints of cedar are still present, but mostly now I just taste sweet cream. This thing is tasty and I'm hoping I don't melt in the heat before I can finish enjoying it. The draw and burn are both excellent and the ash has been dropping periodically after about an inch or so.



Final Third
I dip into the final third after about 45 minutes. The smoke is still medium bodied and medium strength. The same flavors are present, only stronger. I get some very slight hints of chocolate, but overall it's more of a sweet cream with some cedar. The draw and ash were perfect through the entire cigar.



Conclusion
All in all, this was a really good cigar! It was mild, but had great flavor. I give it an 8/10 Thanks, Dan!

Score: 8/10

Total smoke time: 65 minutes

[DBall]

smitty81 Cigar #9
**************

Ok, here's 9 finally. Sorry for the hold up.

Stick 9

I know you guys don't like my on the road reviews but in between sleep and work, it's all I have time for right now and I want to get this done so Dan doesn't get even more irritated with how long this is taking me.

Stick 9 appears to be 5-1/4" long with 2 large veins in the wrapper. I guesstimate this is about a 40 Ga. It has a tight construction with a good cap on it. Wrapper is lite in color.

I enjoyed this cigar with some Jamaican me Crazy coffee. On my first draw, I was getting sweet cream and grassy flavors with a nice spice in the background. The draw was pretty tight on this cigar. but after squeezing it a bit I got it to loosen up a good bit.

The flavor bounced around from grassy to sweet cream in the first third and then settled down to a nice caramel flavor with that spice still in the background.

I am having a really hard time picking out that spice I am tasting. Its almost like a molasses or burnt caramel or maybe even a nutmeg kind of flavor. The flavors of this cigar reminded me of warm Bread Pudding. It was pretty frickin good.

I was having a hard time keeping this one burning and I'm gonna chalk that up to the tight draw which in turn, I am going to assume it had short filler. That is just an assumption based on my past experiences with a few of Dans other cigars I have tried. I could be wrong though as I didn't dissect it at the end.


The caramel/bread pudding flavor remained clear up to the nub. This cigar had really good flavor but due to the burn issues and tight draw, that is going to drop the score a bit.

I give stick number nine an 8/10.

[Sonic04GT]

Just looked over the 4th one. Really neat idea!

[emopunker2004]

looking good guys

[Blak Smyth]

Well done fellas! I had that glitter effect happen with a Camacho Tripple Maddie too.

x3 about the driving while reviewing part. I find I get so much more out of a stick if not in conversation with a friend or doing something else that requires concentration. And it is very unsafe too. But great reviews fellas.

[chaase321]

Great job guys Keep it up, can't wait to read the next one!

[DBall]

Originally Posted by chaase321

Great job guys Keep it up, can't wait to read the next one!

You and I both... after I send these cigars out, I promptly forget what I sent until they review it and I have to upload the picture....

[big pete]

Good reviews gentlemen!

I would have guessed it was something in the PL line since they described a caramel/toffee taste. Need to get me some of these

[akumushi]

Lol, I knew it was a Por Larranaga because of the stripper glitter
Great little tripa corta.

[Gooner]

Nice reviews! Looking forward to the next reviews.

[DBall]

ApexAZ Cigar #2
**************

4/10/2012

I'm finally back from my wedding in Vegas (woohoo!) and looking forward to reviewing cigar #2 from DBall's blind taste test. I decided to pair it with an ice cold glass of Barq's rootbeer.



Pre-light
Cigar #2 appears to be something between a lonsdale and a churchill. It's 7.5" long and if I had to guess I'd say the ring gauge is somewhere between 42 and 46. Similar to the previously reviewed Por Larranaga, the wrapper is light and natural and soft and velvety to the touch. The construction appears to be very good with no soft spots and has a nice triple cap with a pig tail. The smell of the tobacco is sweet with some cedar.

I wet the head, snipped the cap and tested the pre-light draw, which feels a little tight and has no discernible flavors aside from tobacco that stand out to me. Hopefully there won't be any draw issues.



1st Third
I lit the cigar and the draw seems to be fine. The initial flavors I can taste is a mildly bitter cedar and grass taste. It reminds me a little bit of a really mild wheat grass shot. About 1/2" in the flavors settle into a mild bodied charred cedar/wood flavor. The burn is very clean and the ash dropped after about 1/2". As far as strength goes, it seems to be pretty mild to me. The root beer is actually overwhelming my pallet, so I finished it and switched to water in hopes of possibly picking out more flavors from this cigar. I had one draw where I thought I tasted some fruit, like maybe plumb, but that was it.




2nd Third
I'm about 40 minutes in and the cigar hasn't really changed much. As I progress through, I continue to get a mild-bodied charred wood flavor. Occasionally I get a very subtle dehydrated fruit flavor and some slight cream. The strength remains mild and the burn continues to be very straight, while the ash drops between 1/2 and 1". The draw is perfect.



Final Third
I finally reached the final 3rd after about 1 hour and 15 minutes into the cigar. I've been smoking slower than usual, but I haven't had to relight or touch up at all and the pace feels right. The cigar is starting to pick up in body and flavor slightly. I continue to taste the cedar flavor, but now the cream is starting to stand out a bit more. As I get deeper into the final third, I start to taste some raisin and some flavor I'm not entirely sure how to describe. The first thing that came to mind was toasted nuts? Not really sure. The cedar is still there, but now starting to lose some of it's dominance to other flavors. I'm continuing to get some fruit flavors that now resemble cherry, which is a new flavor for me. The draw and burn have continued to be absolutely perfect. With about 1" left it began to get hot and bitter, so I decided to call it quits after just under 2 hours.



Conclusion
Overall I felt this cigar was pretty unremarkable. I don't know if it's the cigar itself or my untrained pallet, but I just didn't get much flavor from it until the last 3rd. It wasn't bad, just not very tasty or interesting until much later in the cigar. I probably wouldn't purchase these, but I would be interested in trying a shorter version if it existed. I'm looking forward to reviewing #3 over the weekend. Thanks, DBall!

Score: 5/10

Total smoke time: 1 hour 55 minutes

[DBall]

smitty81 Cigar #2
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Ok, on to stick two. It's about 8-9 inches long (didn't measure it). maby a lancero? Construction seems good with some small veins in the wrapper. Wrapper color is lite. Guessing long filler from what was in the cap. Stick smells of cow manure. Draw before light up I am getting a lite hay flavor.

First 1/3rd



I'm getting a sweet cedar. Draw is a little on the tight side but not bad. It's burning pretty sharp and I'm getting some marshmallow flavor in there too. I am having problems getting smoke to draw even though the draw seems good.

2/3rd



I am finding that I have to take deeper draws with this stick to keep it burning well. I am assuming its because of it's length? I have never smoked a cigar in this length.



Taste is a deeper cedar taste with hints of caramel? I am also getting hints of cardboard flavor.

Last third



I am finding myself drawing harder and harder on this to keep it lit. The hard draw is killing the flavor for me. I purged it and re-lit. I got back the sweet marshmallow and cedar taste. Then it starts getting a little harsh again after a while due to the deep draws. The draw on this cigar is strange to me. It dosn't seem tight but yet I have to draw hard to keep it going. Maby this is just one of those sticks you have to babysit?

Never got to much smoke out of this stick and the aroma of the smoke was just kind of a tobacco smell.

This wasn't really my cup of tea due to the flavor, draw and length. Just not my kind of cigar I guess.
I give it a 6/10

[DBall]

What they smoked:



2001 Vegueros Especiale #1

ApexAZ score: 5

smitty81 score: 6

You guys are getting more flavors out of these than I did when I smoked one about a week ago. I'm trying to smoke the same ones you smoke to see where I'm at on them, too. I woulda given it the same rating, if not maybe a bit lower. When I first pulled these out of the cooler, they were OK, now they are a little flat.

Some people have actually referred to these as a "poor man's Cohiba Lancero"... not sure where they are getting that from (and this from a guy who doesn't really like Cohiba...). Not the best example of an 11 year old cuban cigar...

[CRIMPS]

Great reviews to start this off. Looking forward to #2.

[Bill86]

Great reviews. Right when I saw the word "caramel" I knew it had to be a PL.

[mase]

Really enjoyed the reviews, guys. Looking forward to the next one.

[CigarGuy88]

lol i know what those were D*mnit dan you beat me to it

[DBall]

Originally Posted by CigarGuy88

lol i know what those were D*mnit dan you beat me to it

Read the first post, punk... Don't tell if you think you know what they are!



...you were there when I first pulled them out of the cooler... we smoked one on the balcony (and it was pretty damned good, even!). Maybe I should put them back and forget about em for another 11 years, eh?

[CigarGuy88]

Originally Posted by DBall

Read the first post, punk... Don't tell if you think you know what they are!



...you were there when I first pulled them out of the cooler... we smoked one on the balcony (and it was pretty damned good, even!). Maybe I should put them back and forget about em for another 11 years, eh?

I wasnt gonna tell.. just teasing a bit lol. Maybe they like a higher humidity or something?