Hammer & Sickle Moscow City Toro

[jsnake]

Size: 6X54
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $10

The Hammer & Sickle Moscow City is a limited production cigar with only 1000 - 10 count boxes made. Moscow City comes in a black crystal box with the logo etched on it and looks very elegant. I have a few unbanded sampled in the humidor but this one was given to me in a trade.

Construction: The first thing that grabbed my attention was the bright, shinny, red and silver band featuring Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The wrapper is rustic with a very rough look and feel to it. A few very small veins stand out and it is also somewhat toothy. The dark wrapper has a nice bit of oil and sheen to it. When squeezing the cigar I get a nice slight give and bounce back. The cigar feels like it is packed evenly and has no soft spots that I can detect. I pick up the aroma of earth and manure off the wrapper while the foot gives off an earth and sweet tea aroma.

First 3rd: Moscow City lights up easily and immediately hits me with pepper that lingers on the palate. The pepper is strong but does not drown out the other flavors. The first flavors I experience are coffee with a quick introduction of wood that mingles in well. a short way in I get hit with a pepper kick and as soon as it peaks it just drops off and leaves a very smooth creaminess. The ash is one of the darkest I have ever seen. I do not subscribe to ash color as a factor of a good cigar and actually read an excellent article somewhere about how and why cigar ash is various colors. That ash holds well and makes my 1 1/2 inch mark in the wind.

Second 3rd: So far I am really enjoying the flavors of this cigar and am really happy with it. The creaminess continues with a nice earth and wood flavor. I start to think of a nice campfire as I enjoy the aroma of the smoke. Towards the end of this third I start to pick up some hints of chocolate. The draw has been perfect to this point and this cigar produces ample amounts of smoke.

Final 3rd: Creamy coffee, earth, chocolate and wood finished out the cigar with a slight return of some pepper. The flavors were pretty consistent from start to finish but there were definite noticeable changes that kept my interest. The cigar burned well from start to finish. I did not experience any issues at all and really enjoyed smoking this cigar.

Final Thoughts: I really enjoy smoking boutique and limited run cigars. It is really nice when you smoke one that has a flavor profile that you really enjoy. This cigar featured my favorite flavors. This cigar was smoked while I was grilling on my deck and before I had dinner. I found it to be in the medium range. It has a price tag of $10 which for a limited run seems to me to be right in line with what is happening in the market place at this time. If you enjoy the same flavor profiles that I do I would strongly recommend that you find some of these before they are gone. I personally would buy a box and am thinking of looking for a box to buy in April.

The best cigar is a cigar shared with friends.

More pictures at http://cigarcatadore.blogspot.com