Old Henry Maduro

[shilala]

I just picked up a handful of these in a box split about a month ago. I took them out of their cellos and placed them in my big humi to air out.
I smoked one at work a couple days ago and it will definately be a staple from here on out.
It's not an extremely powerful smoke, but it has a nice solid body.
It's mildly sweet, mildly "salty", reasonably full, and deliciously spicy.
The spice is faint at first, fills out after a couple inches, and really takes the stage at the end of the smoke.
During the last quarter of the cigar, the spice tingle danced on my lips and made the cigar that much more interesting. It wasn't at all the acrid spice tingle that comes from spiced jellybeans or most dpg blends like the cuban classics.
It's a natural spice tingle that you would get from indian turnips or radishes or other things from land or garden. Not the chemical-like spice flavor that's so prevelant in "spicy" cigars of late.
It reminded me of the spice in a Don Carlos, but a lot fuller.

The reason why this will be in my regular stable is that it's unique.
It honestly has it's own flavor, even if it's reminiscent of so many other cigars. It has many of the things that I like in a cigar, including looks, label, craftsmanship, color, and a certain "cool factor".
It has all the standard quality factors nailed down, too. The burn was perfect. The draw was perfect. The construction was stellar.
I could go on forever about the positives.
What's probably the most amazing thing is that I can not find one single negative thing to say about this cigar. The price is even fair.
I pride myself on being brutally picky. How this thing slid through my gauntlet of criticism unscathed is beyond me.
It's just plain good. Not great, not earth-shattering, just plain good.
Holt's and Don Pepin should take pride in a job well done.