Diesel Unholy Cocktail

[OHRD]

Size: 5×56, Torpedo

Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf

Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli)

Strength: Medium to Full

Price: Box of 30, $99.95

Grade: 9.3

The Diesel Unholy Cocktail is the latest creation from young masterblender Abdel “AJ” Fernandez. AJ already has an incredible, and growing, list of cigars to his credit, including the Man O’ War, A. Fernandez, Rocky Patel’s Fusion, Signature and ITC 10th Anniversary, the Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet and Artisan, and the Padilla Habano among others. After years of training from Don Alejandro Robaina in Cuba, he moved to Nicaragua and quickly began making a name for himself. AJ is currently harvesting 40,000 pounds of Nicaraguan Habano-seed leaves that he’ll use for his many blends. AJ has seen a lot of growth in his days since leaving Cuba and he now oversees 100 rollers and over 1,000 employees.

The Diesel has received some great praise since its release in 2009 and we’ve been looking forward to reviewing this one. Currently it is available in only one size and is sold in boxes of 30. So, on to the toast!

Pre-light, 1.8:
The Unholy Cocktail was a mean looking smoke. It had a dark brown, toothy wrapper with a few veins here and there and was very rustic to the eye and touch. The band was on the foot and was very simple but fit the smoke well. The cigar was heavy, firm, and seemed to be well constructed from head to foot. The pre-light aroma was wet and earthy, similar to compost. There was a hint of sweet spice on the foot. The cold draw on the torpedo produced a burst of spice on the back of the throat.

Burn, 1.7:
The Diesel lit and toasted well and had an excellent draw, a little tight, but nothing out of line. The burn line was really nice and the pepper ash layered nicely. The ash held extremely well, way past one inch, before I let it go; the knock revealed a nice glowing cone in the filler. The stick produced a ton of smoke and this continued throughout with a very nice temperature. The burn was even for the most part – it got a little off here and there but always corrected itself. The draw opened up into the second third and finished out very nicely.

Flavor, 2.8:
The first third of this cigar created by A.J. Fernandez was earthy, but clean, with a nice finish. I picked up notes of berry, some sweet spice, and a really nice texture as well. In the second third the spice seemed to pick up on the finish, but the earthiness was still there as a base and was very pleasing to the palate. The last part of this smoke produced some woody or nutty notes, very smooth, with spice still very present, especially on the finish.

Overall, 3.0:
At $3.33 a stick, the Diesel gets a perfect score in the overall section. The construction and burn were good and the flavor was excellent. I will be honest, I approached this cigar with a good bit of skepticism because of the price point and the buzz surrounding it, but it earned every bit of the praise. I plan on sticking this smoke in my regular rotation; the flavor profile was really intriguing and again, with that price point, what’s not to love?