DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test #5

[DBall]

ApexAZ Cigar #1
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4/2/2012

Today I will be reviewing the first cigar from dball's 10 cigar blind test taste sampler. I am pairing it with an Americano coffee with cream made from my stove-top moka pot.



Pre-light
The blind taste test cigar #1 appears to be about 5 x 42 in size. Some google search results suggest that this would be a petit corona. The wrapper is a light natural color that is soft and velvety to the touch. Some minimal veins give it some some added texture. Interestingly, there appears to be tiny glittery copper specks all throughout the wrapper that glint in the sunlight (Insert team Edward joke here lol). It's almost as if there are mineral deposits within the leaf. I don't know that I've ever seen this in a cigar before. The construction appears to be very good and has a nicely rounded and symmetrical double cap. There is a spot about 1/3 from the head where the wrapper is slightly torn and exposing the binder. It's fairly small and I hope that it doesn't cause any issues. The cigar feels slightly spongy and there aren't any noticeable soft spots.

I wet the head and snipped the cap with my Xikar xi2. Pre-light, the flavor and aroma are a very light and sweet tobacco flavor. On the prelight draw I taste mainly sweet tobacco with some very slight hints of some flavor I can't quite place. I want to say it's similar to cinnamon, but it isn't tingly on the tongue like you would expect cinnamon to be. The draw is a little tight, but seems to be okay to smoke.



1st Third
After lighting the cigar, one of the first things I noticed is the smoothness right from the start. Most of the cigars I'm used to smoking have that in-your-face punch for the first several draws after lighting before they start to settle. That wasn't the case for this cigar as it was pretty smooth right off the bat. The draw is perfect and the body is mild to medium and very smooth. The strength seems to be pretty mild as well. Flavors I'm getting are sweet tobacco mixed with some mild charred wood-like flavors. The cinnamon-like flavor that I got from the pre-light draw is not detectable. It's a very windy day here in Phoenix, but the burn is staying pretty sharp. The ash is a salt and pepper color and seems to want to give way on it's own after only 1/3 or an inch or so. I also noticed that the aroma coming off the cigar is very pleasing.



2nd Third
About 15 minutes in I start to get into the 2nd third. The cigar is now more of a medium body, light strength and really starting to get tasty. The draw and burn both continues to be perfect with the ash dropping on it's own after about 1/3 of an inch. The wood flavors have disappeared and I get mostly a creamy sweet flavor. A muted caramel or toffee flavor is the only way I can describe it.



Final Third
I'm now about 32 minutes into the cigar and on the final 3rd. The cigar remains medium in body with the strength picking up, which is now medium as well. I'm starting to get a mix of pepper and cinnamon flavor that leaves a slight lingering tingling sensation at the back of my tongue after I exhale. The caramel/toffee flavor that I was getting before is now closer to what I would describe as being more like butter and anise. It almost tastes like a smokey, buttery pizzelle that is ever-so-slightly spiced with cinnamon. Despite the intense wind, the burn continues to be razor sharp and the ash drops after about 1/3 of an inch. With as predictable as the ash has been, you'd think I would have known better not to let it drop on my laptop, as you'll see in the photo.



Conclusion
This was a great little cigar. When I first smelled the tobacco and found very little aroma to it compared to the Nicaraguan leaf I'm so used to, I was a little skeptical as to whether or not I would enjoy it. As it turns out, the cigar happened to have loads of flavor that evolved into a somewhat complex experience over the course of the smoke. The cigar was much sweeter than I had anticipated and I ended up nubbing it down to about 1/2" before needing to call it quits. Overall it was very enjoyable and I look forward to BTT #2. Thanks, DBall!

Score: 8/10

Total smoke time: About 48 minutes