DBall's Newb Blind Taste Test Thread #2

[DBall]

Riff Raff Cigar #1
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Okay, here we go. First off, I want to apologize for the picture quality! These were taken from my phone while driving home from work. It was an overcast day. On to the good stuff!

On my hour commute home, I had to play catchup to Nick's lead. First cigar is about a 5 X 42 from my calibrated eyeball. Nice wrapper. No visible veins but you can see a few under the wrapper. No biggie so far.

I cut the triple cap and tested the draw. Very firm draw. Too firm for my liking. The kind where your cheeks cave in. Pre-light draw gives me notes of hay. Okay, here we go:

The first puff is pepper. Not much smoke due to the firm draw. I am hoping that this will loosen up a bit as I smoke it. There is an underlying hint of cedar as well.

The first third gave me more pepper and cedar with earthy undertones. Not a bad smoke so far except for the draw. Nice even burn.



Second third: More cedar and hints of oak. Lots of sweet tobacco. Still too firm on the draw. Still not a lot of smoke. On the retrohale I noticed something odd. Flavors of toasted coconut. I know it sounds weird. But none the less it was there just for a split second.



Last Third: The wrapper split right around the band area. The cigar finally loosened up a bit. Which is a good thing because I was getting a little frustrated. Lots of sweet tobacco and cedar with a bit of spice.



Here is the split.



Over all impression: Not a bad smoke but it had some draw issues and it split pretty significantly. I kept it in my humi for a week at 61 to 62% RH. If the draw were better, I would buy this cigar. I would probably dry box it for a day or two if I had the chance to smoke one again. I give it an 8.0 due to the draw issues and the splits.

So there it is.

[DBall]

What they smoked:



2008 El Rey Del Mundo Lunch Club

Montano score: -1
Riff Raff score: 8

Damn... what a difference in opinion, eh? -1 to 8... wow... maybe Mr. Riff Raff here is a bit more forgiving!

I like these with age (about 7-10 years or so)... the new ones haven't really impressed me as I thought they would (or as much as other recent productions offerings from this marca... like the GdE, for instance), but enough that I probably wouldn't give it a negative score.

I hope the rest are better for ya... think of it this way, Nick, it can only get better... right?

[E.J.]

Classic start.... I actually laughed out loud.....

Good stuff.....

[MedicCook]

Nice start to the reviews.

[Riff Raff]

Originally Posted by DBall

What they smoked:



2008 El Rey Del Mundo Lunch Club

Montano score: -1
Riff Raff score: 8

Damn... what a difference in opinion, eh? -1 to 8... wow... maybe Mr. Riff Raff here is a bit more forgiving!

I do tend to be forgiving. But there were some good flavors in mine. Maybe they are just inconsistant? This is gonna be fun! Thanks again Dan for the opportunity!

[Montano]

Very very interesting

Maybe the next cigar will be better for you Nick

[Bax]

Great revews so far!

[Riff Raff]

#2 is in!

[Montano]

Originally Posted by Riff Raff

#2 is in!

Now I'm lagging

I'll do it this afternoon since the sun is shining today

[yourchoice]

Interesting first result.

Question for Nick and Bill, do either of you snork/retrohale/nasal exhale? I'm curious as I'm reading the comparative reviews. Thanks!

[weak_link]

Gogogogogogogo!!!!!!!!!!

[Montano]

Originally Posted by yourchoice

Interesting first result.

Question for Nick and Bill, do either of you snork/retrohale/nasal exhale? I'm curious as I'm reading the comparative reviews. Thanks!

I do a nasal exhale on occasion.

[JJG]

that's disappointing, it seems like both reviews were negatively influenced by the too tight draw. I had no draw issues when I smoked one of these last weekend. guess I should consider myself lucky!

[Smokin Gator]

Nice start guys. One of the great things about these reviews are the similarities and differences of opinion. We certainly saw those in the first review.

[DBall]

Montano cigar #2
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This is an interesting looking lancero. There are a few veins running through a rough looking wrapper. Pre-light draw was smooth.



The initial draw brought a nice amount of creamy smoke. The wrapper has an odd burn pattern to it, as if it lifts up from the filler. The creamy smoke continues to fill my palate.



I noticed something dripping off the cap, so I took a look and saw a lot of tar. I touched my finger to it and it left a nice mark. The creamy smoke was now giving off a nice almond flavor. I'm taking my time with this one, and so far so good.



The burn remained even throughout, and the nice amount of smoke continued, even with the tar buildup. I just wiped off the end every few draws.



The last 3rd of this one gave me a light butter flavor. It mixed nicely with the creamy almond I was getting before. This cigar smoked much better than the first.



All in all this wasn't a bad smoke. I would consider it a very mild cigar, with decent flavors. I give it a 6 out of 10.

[DBall]

Riff Raff Cigar #2
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Okay so when I saw this little number, I didn't know if it was a cigar or one of those crunchy bread sticks you get at some Italian food restaurants. This is one delicate cigar. I estimate the size with by calibrated eyeball to be about a 6.5 inch X 24 ? Hmm...

Nice construction. Maybe a bit veiny but no big deal. I clipped the cap with my Palio and tested the draw. Oh hell. Here we go again. A tight draw, but not as tight as last weeks. A little bit of hay could be tasted on the pre-light.



First Third: A nice dark gray ash. A bit earthy with a hint of spice. The ash holds for about an inch before falling. The ash was doing a weird elephant trunk deal where it would curl up.



Second Third: The retro-hale added a bit of a toasty element of the cigar. The earthiness held and some sweet tobacco flavors were coming through. The volume of smoke was lacking, but I counted that to the tight draw.



Last Third: It went out. I mean there was no hint of it dying. It just went out! Bam! After relight and purge the sweet tobacco flavor was more prominent and some spice started to kick in. The volume of smoke increased exponentially! Hurray! The draw loosened up! Now we are getting somewhere!



Overall impression: Not a bad smoke. It had some draw issues until the last third. It had a pretty even burn and a nice clean finish.

Would I buy this again? Probably not. A big fat ole Ralph Cramden looking guy like myself smoking a bread stick just doesn't look right!

I give this one an 8.5

If I were to guess, I would say a habano.

[DBall]

What they smoked:



2002 La Gloria Cubana MdO #3

Montano score: 6
Riff Raff score: 8.5

Damn Nick, you're insatiable...

Honestly, I love these things. Most of them have a pretty good draw...

[Riff Raff]

Originally Posted by yourchoice

Interesting first result.

Question for Nick and Bill, do either of you snork/retrohale/nasal exhale? I'm curious as I'm reading the comparative reviews. Thanks!

I do. I do it with every cigar I smoke. Some are more painful than others, but I do indeed. There are lots of flavors missed if you don't. The Admiral schooled me into "snorking"!

[DBall]

So what do you guys think now that you know? Have you ever smoked an LGC before? Is this the oldest habano you've had? Discussions, people... sheesh