Cigar #2
This beast looks maduro and is 50rg x 6 7/8” (read: nowhere near anything I smoke size-wise).
1st/3rd:
Prelight draw shows perfect construction, great draw and no flavors to really write home about. Lighting it up… smoke really isn’t too strong, which is good. That said, I just found out that it’s not a good idea to push all the smoke out my nose.
Out the nose, however, when I look past the fire ants in my nostrils, I do get a very woody flavor that’s agreeable. No real bitterness or anything as of yet… the smoke is a good flavor. I just sneezed thanks to my fire ant friends.
There’s something fruity in the aftertaste of this cigar which is very pleasant… like some sweet stewed fruit. This is a decent cigar so far… the size is a bit much, but I think the reason I resist cigars of this size is because I like change. I’ve had some cigars that chance frequently throughout the smoking of it. This experience primarily occurred with CCs… NC’s could have decent flavors, but didn’t really change drastically enough to keep me interested. Perhaps it’s ADD…
As another note, I’m pairing this with coffee… now I’m going to grab some Pellegrino as well.
2nd/3rd:
That tasty fruitiness is so far in the background it might as well not even be there... the predominant flavor now is back to the woodiness, but there is also a sweetness. I’m really enjoying this cigar and, oddly, I believe this would be a good cigar with some age on it. The reason I find that odd is that I haven’t really seen many NCs that benefit from age. I know that’s an unscientific and likely unfair blanket statement, but I’ve had 02 Anejos and just didn’t dig them (and this was when I was smoking NCs predominantly).
After the half, I’m getting a little… something. How’s that for specific, eh? This cigar has some of that muddled-ness I noticed in the last cigar, either that or my palate is just weak. That’s just as likely. Still, though, I’m enjoying it.
I have gotten no bitterness from this cigar, in fact, there’s been a sweet undertone (at times an overtone) throughout the entirety of this stick.
3rd/3rd:
Not really pulling many particular flavors at this point, but still enjoying it. I’m really curious to find out what this is. There a little glue-type taste in the distant background… not enough to make this a bad cigar by any stretch. Strength is definitely picking up at this point, which is typical.
I have picked up the habit lately of finding stems in cigars and tearing them out, often to the detriment of the cigar, but it’s a habit I can’t seem to break. I’ve been holding off on this cigar, but I couldn’t hold off anymore:
Now, it’s simply become a cigar. I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly up to this point… now though, it’s getting a bit rough. At this point, I’m calling the game. The strength at this point is much more than I enjoy.
I’d rate this cigar an 89 and am curious as to what it is.