Liga Privada T-52

Cigar: Liga Privada T-52
Vitola / Wrapper / Binder: Toro
Drink / Food: Great Lakes Brewery Edmund Fitzgerald

Outside Factors: Out in shop; cold crappy evening
Construction: Very nice roll, smoothly done with a great finished cap. Nice bunching at foot. Very firm throughout without any soft spots. A couple of stems under cap cause for hard cut.
Prelight : Very light scent to wrapper, reminiscent of something from the spice cabinet. End smells of richly scented tobacco. Prelight draw is good with a fresh, minty flavor.
First Third: Cigar lights easily with dense clouds of volumous smoke. Flavors kick off with dry cedar and spice; raisins and oak on the finish. Some warming pepper on the throat, not overpowering.
Draw: almost perfect
Burn: not razor sharp, but no corrections necessary. Never needed relit.
Ash/Smoke: Ash splits from the beginning, but is a pretty gray color and solid and dense. Smoke is full and flavorful
Second Third: Not normally a cedar fan, but here it is working well with the other flavors in concert. Rich earthiness comes in. Wrapper splits from cut to band. Could be humidity issue in humidor. Still draws well. Cigar continues to smoke cool and slow.
Final third: I now have to hold the cigar to keep from losing wrapper above band. The body of the cigar has built to full now, and flavors are dense and creamy. No bite near end and stays to cool burning throughout.
Strength: med/full Flavor: med/full

Overall Impression: Even though no real “wow” factor jumped out at me, this cigar has all the makings of a top ten candidate. Complexity, flavor, construction, draw, burn, added up to an extremely enjoyable cigar. I had not smoked one of these since reviewing a prototype; and if I remember correctly, this had many of the same qualities. Definitely worth a try if you haven’t yet. I can recommend this stick to anyone who enjoys fuller cigars.
Construction: 9 10
Prelight: 5 5
First Third: 14 15
Draw: 10 10
Burn: 9 10
Ash / Smoke: 9 10
Second Third: 8 10
Final Third: 8 10
Overall impression: 18 20
Total Score: 90 100