DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #3

[DBall]

Originally Posted by Mindflux

Nice work Dan,
Glad to see that you are still buying/sharing in droves.

Wow... where the hell have you been?! I'm glad to see ya!

I did this thing twice before, too... here are links to the other 2 threads:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21549

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27728

So far I've given out 60 cigars on this set of threads alone... hahaha. It's worth it though, these guys (past and present) put out some great reviews!

Nothing beats sharing, man.

Originally Posted by DBall

Wow... where the hell have you been?! I'm glad to see ya!!

Nothing beats sharing, man.

Bought a house, got married had a kid all in a 10 month time frame. That's where I've been.



Man when I sent you those BGM's I didn't think I threw you down the slope or anything.

Wow. Awesome reviews guys. I love the great pictures, the details of both review. Very well written like in a mag. And thanks for the smokng tips dball.

[jimmyk26]

#2 is in!

[Brutus2600]

I'll be getting this in tomorrow morning I had originally planned for this morning but I didn't have time to sit down and review the cigar right, but I will tomorrow morning.


Definitely looking forward to it!

[Brutus2600]

#2 = finished and sent!

[macsauce13]

I guessed it ,I guessed it!

After following both of the previous threads and now this one as well this is the first cigar that I guessed correctly!

I feel like i have accomplished something! hahah

[Brutus2600]

Review #3 is away!

[jimmyk26]

Me too, sent it in this morning.

[DBall]

jimmyk26 Cigar #3
***************

Initial impressions - This long thin cigar, roughly 7' x 36-38 ring gauge (a long panatela maybe), is wrapped with a light brown leaf that has a few veins and it smooth to the touch. It also has a bit of a shrink wrap appearance and shows some of the topography of the filler and binder. I don't notice any soft spots and the cigar appears to be well constructed. The wrapper smells of hay and the foot has only a slight, sweet tobacco scent. The pre-light draw is good and it leaves a light, but lingering, spice on the palate.


Initial puffs - I am getting toasted wood and spice at the beginning here. The cigar is drawing well and producing good amounts of smoke.

1/3 - The spice and wood make up the initial flavor profile of this start of this stick. It is burning well and producing plenty of smoke. About halfway into the first third, the cigar has picked up a bit of mustiness and hints of walnut. This cigar also has a dry finish. The burn line wandered a bit at the start, but has since corrected itself nicely.


2/3 - Here the spice has mellowed out and the dominate flavors are now the nut and a creamy almost milk like flavor. These creamy flavors make me want to call this cigar smooth. The cigar continues to perform very well producing plenty of smoke and burning well. Also in this third, the cigar has picked up a slight grassy taste to it, which is not unpleasant. The cigar seems to be mild-medium in strength.


3/3 - In the final section here the flavors seems to have backed off, I am left with a bit of dry nuts and that grassy flavor I mentioned above but not much else. The cigar, however, continues to burn and draw very well. Nearing the end, the cigar has really pulled back on flavors. I am having a hard time picking out much at all here, though it is still producing plenty of smoke and so I puff on.


Final thoughts - This mild cigar started out well and the first two thirds were quite enjoyable, however the flavor faded considerably at the end. One thing that was interesting about the flavors to me was how similar the second third was to my experiences with the EP Carrillo Edicion Inaugrual, a very creamy flavor profile. Despite the diminishing flavors, the cigar smoked beautifully producing plenty of mouth filling smoke and it kept an even burn line all the way to the end. It will be interesting to find out if the disappearing flavors are to due to aging, either too little or too much, or just part part of that cigar.


Rating: 7.0 - The despite the flavors fading at the end, it stared off tasty and the cigar smoked very well. A good introduction for me to the narrow ring gauge cigars.

[DBall]

Brutus2600 Cigar #3
*****************

As soon as I received these cigars a few weeks ago, my eyes fixed on cigar #3. I've not had much experience with longer, smaller RG cigars and I was excited to try this one. Upon initial inspection the cigar has some significant veins, but still has a nice wrapper. Good construction and isn't too firm, but there aren't any soft spots. Looks to be about 6.5 x 34 (a panatela? Correct me if I'm wrong).



Initial light 11: 25 - Initial smell and predraw both carry a strong barnyard and hay aroma. Toasted the foot and lit the cigar, my first impression is that it's a fairly mild cigar. It produces a nice amount of smoke. The ash isn't very tight, and fell off right after the picture.



First third 11:35 - The flavors are developing from muted to a little more prominent and I'm starting to be able to pick them out. I taste hints of coffee and nuts, with just a few chocolate notes strewn in. I'm having trouble keeping it lit too. It's almost gone out a few times earlier, and just went out on me. I just smoked my first lancero cigar last week, and had similar problems with that. I'm not sure if that's just because of the small ring gauge? As stated, I don't have much experience with these size cigars.



Second Third 11:51 - Thought I was getting into a good rhythm and wasn't having issues with the light, but it just went out on me again. I'm afraid this is having adverse effects on the flavors developing. Still getting nutty notes though, with some leathery aroma mixed in as well. A retrohale of just 10% of the smoke from a draw left me coughing, so I didn't get much from that. The ash is a consistent grayish black, and has only holds on for about 3/4" before falling off. As stated before, this is a very mild cigar, but very enjoyable. It's been a great morning cigar paired with my coffee.



Final Third 12:08 - I've managed to keep the last half of the cigar lit without going out, and the final third has finally gotten a little stronger, but I suspect this is just the nicotine buildup. It's still mild though, and not bitter at all, which is nice. I haven't had the "a-ha" moment with this cigar where a single prominent flavor has stuck out to me, just a consistent nuttiness throughout.



Finish time 12: 24 - After what initially seemed to be me going through the cigar pretty quickly (trying to keep it lit) this cigar lasted right about an hour. An overall mild cigar, it's given me a pretty good kick from the nicotine even after just having eaten. Great cigar though, enjoyable to the last bit, and despite the burn issues which dropped it's score, I would definitely smoke another.

Appearance and construction: 1.25 out of 1.5
Smoke and ash: 1.25 out of 1.5
Burn: 2 out of 3
Overall flavor: 3.5 out of 4

Total: 8 out of 10

[DBall]

What they smoked:



2007 Hoyo du Gourmet

jimmyk26 score: 7.0
Brutus2600 score: 8.0

I'm surprised the scores were this low for this cigar... maybe I'm bias because I absolutely LOVE panatella/ninfa sized cigars.

By the way, you were both pretty much in agreement with the flavors again... this just rocks.

[Brutus2600]

Once again, I'm almost surprised by the results. Every cigar so far I've felt I've just...missed something, if only by a little bit. I think this one I felt that way the most. However it seems we were both pretty close in our review.

Just have to say again I'm having alot of fun and thanks for this

[longknocker]

Great Reviews, Guys! Keep Them Coming!

Keep in mind that small rg cigars are meant to be smoked very slow. Like sipping through a straw. Might have affected the results of this tasting.

[jimmyk26]

This cigar smoked beautifully for me. I was just surprised at how the flavors disappeared at the end of the cigar. 2007, I guess this has enough age on them for age not to be a problem. Dan, what do you like so much about these?

Also, good job Brian. It's pretty cool that we are pretty close with our reviews.

[DBall]

Originally Posted by Brutus2600

Once again, I'm almost surprised by the results. Every cigar so far I've felt I've just...missed something, if only by a little bit. I think this one I felt that way the most. However it seems we were both pretty close in our review.

Just have to say again I'm having alot of fun and thanks for this

I don't think you're missing anything... you guys are doing a great job!

Originally Posted by ChicagoWhiteSox

Keep in mind that small rg cigars are meant to be smoked very slow. Like sipping through a straw. Might have affected the results of this tasting.

Great point.

Originally Posted by jimmyk26

This cigar smoked beautifully for me. I was just surprised at how the flavors disappeared at the end of the cigar. 2007, I guess this has enough age on them for age not to be a problem. Dan, what do you like so much about these?

Also, good job Brian. It's pretty cool that we are pretty close with our reviews.

I like the size... I personally believe the wrapper imparts more flavor than anything else, so a greater wrapper to filler/binder ratio seems to make a better experience for me.

[Brutus2600]

Yeah, while I don't have much experience with these size cigars, I've read that they burn hotter, but are more flavorful than a larger RG cigar. So...I tried to smoke it slow, however I had the burn issues and trouble keeping it lit. I've been keeping them at 65% RH, but maybe that was too wet?

Anyway, I really did enjoy the cigar, I think the burn issues I had really were what dinged the score so bad.

So far I've always enjoyed reading Jimmy's reviews and seeing the results! Can't believe we're only 3 cigars in

[yourchoice]

Both reviewers are doing a great job! And another shout out to Dan!

[bsmokin]

I am just discovering this thread now! Wow! This is awesome. Great reviewers doing a great job. Great cigars being reviewed. Awesome, large pictures of everything. I love it. Thanks so much for this guys!!!