Opus X Petite Lancero from 2006

Apoco · 05-12-2011, 07:59 AM

First review. Woohoo!

I was wanting something special last night, so I pulled out the result of one of my latest trades...a beautiful Opus X PL from 2006!

Accompanying it is Peter Schiff's "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse" that he wrote in 2007. You'll see it in all of the pictures as white balance for my camera!

Paired this cigar with a Diet IBC Root Beer for the first third, and then Caffeine Free Diet Coke for the remainder.

Pre-light:

Prelight draws revealed prunes and damp hay. The draw felt nearly perfect to me - enough resistance to let you know it was there but not enough to make you work for some smoke. (It was kept at about 62% and 70deg for 2 weeks prior to smoking)

1st third:

Wow, this thing is DELICIOUS. I'm getting a really harsh retrohale that I am hoping will mellow out as it goes along. There are hints of a very rich, dark chocolate that are really accentuated by the root beer. The majority of the flavor that I am getting is damp hay - but not in a bad way. Maybe the correct way to describe it is "earthy"?

2nd third:

The chocolate flavors fade away, which makes me really sad. Having such a rich and creamy smoke was a dream come true! But retrohaling has become easier. This could be that it is cooling off due to me intentionally slowing down to make the retrohale easier and more enjoyable.

At this point, the earthy flavors become more balanced with a prune-esque flavor. There is something in the background that I cannot ever quite put my finger on. I'm wanting to describe it as acidic...almost like tasting a dish that has had a small amount of lemon added. You know it is there, but you don't really taste the lemon itself. Hopefully I've managed to confuse you all as much as I confused myself trying to figure out what the flavor was.

Final Third:

Getting a really nasty tar flavor at this point. I purged the smoke hoping to get back to the earthy flavor being the dominant tone, but to no avail. This is the first Opus X that had such a radical flavor shift. I'm going to call this final third "gross" and put it down. Did not nub this stick, it had probably another 15 minutes worth of smoke in it.

Total smoke time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Overall rating: 88/100

Even with the final bit being unsmokeable to me, this was a thoroughly enjoyable smoke. Many rich, subtle flavors that would poke their head out for a few puffs at a time and then go back into hiding. I'm glad to have one more of these laying around, so hopefully I can follow this up in a week or two with a review where the last bit is fantastic rather than tar-y. Even a normally good, consistent marca of cigar can have a bad egg in the bunch

Posted via Mobile Device

05-12-2011, 07:59 AM	#1
Apoco Nerd with social skills Join Date: May 2010 First Name: Alex Location: Chattanooga, TN Posts: 1,286 Trading: (37)	Opus X Petite Lancero from 2006 First review. Woohoo! I was wanting something special last night, so I pulled out the result of one of my latest trades...a beautiful Opus X PL from 2006! Accompanying it is Peter Schiff's "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse" that he wrote in 2007. You'll see it in all of the pictures as white balance for my camera! Paired this cigar with a Diet IBC Root Beer for the first third, and then Caffeine Free Diet Coke for the remainder. Pre-light: Prelight draws revealed prunes and damp hay. The draw felt nearly perfect to me - enough resistance to let you know it was there but not enough to make you work for some smoke. (It was kept at about 62% and 70deg for 2 weeks prior to smoking) 1st third: Wow, this thing is DELICIOUS. I'm getting a really harsh retrohale that I am hoping will mellow out as it goes along. There are hints of a very rich, dark chocolate that are really accentuated by the root beer. The majority of the flavor that I am getting is damp hay - but not in a bad way. Maybe the correct way to describe it is "earthy"? 2nd third: The chocolate flavors fade away, which makes me really sad. Having such a rich and creamy smoke was a dream come true! But retrohaling has become easier. This could be that it is cooling off due to me intentionally slowing down to make the retrohale easier and more enjoyable. At this point, the earthy flavors become more balanced with a prune-esque flavor. There is something in the background that I cannot ever quite put my finger on. I'm wanting to describe it as acidic...almost like tasting a dish that has had a small amount of lemon added. You know it is there, but you don't really taste the lemon itself. Hopefully I've managed to confuse you all as much as I confused myself trying to figure out what the flavor was. Final Third: Getting a really nasty tar flavor at this point. I purged the smoke hoping to get back to the earthy flavor being the dominant tone, but to no avail. This is the first Opus X that had such a radical flavor shift. I'm going to call this final third "gross" and put it down. Did not nub this stick, it had probably another 15 minutes worth of smoke in it. Total smoke time: 1 hour 15 minutes Overall rating: 88/100 Even with the final bit being unsmokeable to me, this was a thoroughly enjoyable smoke. Many rich, subtle flavors that would poke their head out for a few puffs at a time and then go back into hiding. I'm glad to have one more of these laying around, so hopefully I can follow this up in a week or two with a review where the last bit is fantastic rather than tar-y. Even a normally good, consistent marca of cigar can have a bad egg in the bunch Posted via Mobile Device