Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Where's #9 :dr

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

I just finisher up #10 today. I'll get it to you tonight or tomorrow Dan!

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Bump!

:tt

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

It's all in Dballs hands now. I got all mine finished up a few days ago.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Yup... I will probably get 9 up tonight and stagger 10 a bit as these are the last two... :)

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Bump:sl

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

I'm dying to know what these are!

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Me too...!

I am putting a calendar reminder on my phone to do at least one of them tonight...

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

ApexAZ Cigar #9
*************


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.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7...0b9c40d731.jpg

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.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5035/7...aa2f8a771f.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7...55377e724b.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8025/7...0c58bf8883.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7...e2373a142c.jpg

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...89463933_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...97938228_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...15177750_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...43091086_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...99483211_n.jpg

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.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

What they smoked:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...yx/BTT5-09.jpg

2002 Fonseca Cosaco

ApexAZ score: 8

smitty81 score: 8

9 done and none to go... I got 10 in, but I'm gonna stagger it a bit... :)

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Thanks for the reviews. I recently picked up some of these and found them enjoyable.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

These were sure good Dan. Probably ranks #2 out of the 10 you sent.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

We are quivering with anticipation Dan

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Bump to the finish;s

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Geez... you are relentless. :su

I was in Toronto this weekend and at work now... I'll post the final one up tomorrow evening... :tu

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

I say make take another week, keep the suspense alive!
Just before you post, go to commercial!

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Just PM me the answer first! :r

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

:sl

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7...2fc5aa7f57.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7...ce72580ec1.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8286/7...5af5c6bb10.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7...3a23725794.jpg

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.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7...7d250a7052.jpg

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.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...60380719_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...29671632_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...79324316_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...60802557_n.jpg

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.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...82432469_n.jpg

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!

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

What they smoked:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...yx/BTT5-10.jpg

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. :tu

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

This was great! Thanks to all 3 of you.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

...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...

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

It's been a great read!!!

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Dan, I appreciate you putting this together. This is universally enjoyed by newbs (Like myself :r) 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?

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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.

:2

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

Same is true with the CC peso cigars such as the Reloba. Second half? Kindling.

Dan, really cool of you to do this for folks. I figured in the beginning that you were sending some Guants and Gerkhas. :D

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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.

Re: DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5
 

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