Private Stock natural maduro (Davidoff 2nd)

[GrouchoM]

Name: Private Stock
Manufacturer: Davidoff/Avo
Filler: Dominican (mid)
Wrapper: Connecticut
Price: $2.99-3.49 (can't remember exact amount)

The initial smell was fainter and the bouquet was off for some reason to my nose. Later, I realized it was because this stick only had two flavor profiles, cocoa and coffee.
The draw was fine but initially pulled very little smoke into my mouth, but soon re-corrected (due to the foot taking longer to fully light the entire end. Best piece of advice I received about lighting a cigar was to make sure the foot was fully ashed by blowing on it before taking more draws. I'm a bit of a rusher, but I'm learning, no premature for me-ruins the smoking experience right out of the gate). What I noticed and why this review will be short (a first for me) there was a harshness that didn't disappear but changed into bitterness and remained through the remainder of the smoke.

The smoke itself fluctuated from dense steam mostly as I exhaled, but rarely to creamy billows of thick swirling cigar smoke bands (which I prefer). The stick burned a little unevenly, and the cherry appeared to smolder almost to the point of going out. I touched it up once to make sure. The ash was a little gnarly on visual inspection.

I had spoke to someone on the forum earlier who said he didn't care for Davidoffs due to them not packing a lot of punch. Which I agree. This may have been a hybrid 2nd, but it was a dog of a smoke and a bad experience trying to get value from a smoke someone else informs you “is the best tobacco in the discount section”. I think I will revisit this stick way down the road and take one members advice of giving it a lot of humi time (I smoked it a few hours right out of my former B&M crappy humidor).

The other most memorable part was the weird taste it left in my mouth, nay the sensation. I wound up with a severe case of dry mouth and was stuck with this bitterness aftertaste (which stayed with me 24 hours later).

Sadly, I don't think this was a case of bait and switch but an attempt at maximizing profits by trying to create a Frankenstein monster off of a sterling reputation and company. When I read the label on the bag I noticed it said “natural maduro”. I asked the B&M employee who agreed that was strange and google the answer. He said some companies will mix seeds to come out with a hybrid blend batch for sale to specific companies or markets. Apparently, this was such a hybrid. I mean noticeably it was smooth, but as my other member stated “where's the punch (pop) and flavor (it was extremely mild). All I know is that it left me with a horrid smoking experience. The kind I'm glad after numerous bad sticks in I can notice. I'd label it a dog rocket, but because of the pedigree I'll just say, maybe after some extreme humi time and a cool summer night there might be a connection, a spark, an attraction. Sadly, tonight Davidoff's 2nds were like 4ths, maybe even 5ths. Definitely a miss. Next!

[icehog3]

Sounds like a real crapper!

[T.G]

Haven't had one of these in at least a decade plus. I thought they were rough back then, and I see little has changed.

As a point of note though, these are not Davidoff 2nds. IIRC, they are mixed filler though, so there might be some trim from the Davidoff line in there. Again, MIGHT.

Maduro means "ripe". It's also a shade of dark brown on the color grading chart for cigar capa leaves. It has nothing to do with the seed of tobacco used, as any leaf can be made maduro. It happens with fermentation, typically longer times or higher internal pilon temps will cause it, but I've actually witnessed pilons being broken down and a worker sorting the lighter leaves into the "natural" pile and the darker ones into the "maduro" pile.

Hybrid, on the other hand, doesn't mean dick. At this point, all tobacco seeds, including Cuba's, are hybrids of some sort. It's simply a marketing term.

Glad to see that you can distinguish garbage early on, it took me a while.

[Wharf Rat]

Seconds or overruns aren't always bad, tho, they may be a bigger crapshoot. Some of the genre I've enjoyed over the years include Tampa Sweethearts from Tampa Sweethearts
(Fuente), Nicaraguan 90+ Rated Seconds from CI (Oliva), Old Fashioned from Mikes (Macanudo), Consuegra from JR (El Rey Del Mundo) and the My Father overruns from Atlantic