I just ordered some house blends, in order to "refine" my smoking experiance. I don't want my normal notes to be so detailed that smoking is a chore, but I'm going to keep detailed notes on the CCom blends in order to figure out what I like. I won't be reviewing them ON guard duty, per se, but if I smoke the same day I had duty....it counts.
Jim (jadelt) gave this to me in early March, and asked me to review it for him. Having smoked it, I feel like he did me a favor! I think I need to give some info to explain my review style, though.I'm not very good at picking out individual flavors. which is a blessing and a curse. I can't always taste leather, but I can always "imagine" a place that a flavor reminds me of. An example is a barn. I've never been in a barn, but sometimes a flavor tastes to me like what I "think" hay would taste like, and so I get an image of a barn. This, barnyard flavor. Odd, perhaps, but I enjoy it. Second off, I have dentures. Hold your "sorry", because it's actually not a bad problem to have once you're used to it. This impacts my cigar experiance becaise I get almost no mouth flavor, but it really lets me focus on retro. Now, on to my review..I'm going to be honest, I was not sure of that "thing" sticking out of the middle was a gimmick or not, all I can say is it did not hamper my smoking experiance...did make it kind of hard to light though! When I wet the head to cut, I tasted syrup. I'm serious, the head wanted to stick to my lips and gave me a thick syrup taste. After I cut and lit, my journey began.I'm smacked in the face by the single strongest blast of pepper I have ever tasted. And I loved it. I only got it upon my first draw, oddly enough...maybe I burned the foot? The first third was this mix of chocolate leather. It reminded me of Starbucks. I've only been in one a few times, but it smells like coffee and chocolate there, and that's what I was getting from this cigar.Second third became this sort of refined, smooth chocolate. I've never tasted it before, but it was good. Enough flavor to keep me happy, but not too strong.The last third would taste a little sour on my tounge, but would then become very smooth. The retro flavor was very much a dark coffee flavor...heavy and light at the same time.All in all, I loved this cigar because it did not deal in absolutes. It often did multiple things at once, sometimes things that I could not explain, IE heavy and light? Thank you very much Jim!
Glad you liked it....... and I am glad to read the review..... like you , I know what I like but to describe it is difficult for me. This one came real close to being picked on one of me "Pick My Stick" posts but never quite made it. So, you got it !! ha !
Appearance - **
The band was bent in the back and is very simple. Lots of veins and blemishes too.
Construction - *****
Felt fine and had no wrapper issues.
Burn - ****
Had two minor issues that corrected themselves.
Smoke - ****
Great smoke both idle and on the retro.
Draw - *****
Draw was just right.
Mouth - **
For most of the cigar it tasted fine, but got a little bitter towards the end.
Retro - ***
Good flavors, mostly wood, nuts, leather and pepper.
Total - 25/35
MISC Notes - Prelight taste was of a sweet leather, and prelight smell was of coffee. The 1/3 gave me a "light" wood taste along with roasted nuts and leather. The 2/3 became mostly pepper, which would change from strong to light and was
very enjoyable. I would also still get some of the flavors from the 1/3. The 3/3 taste was of what I would like to say was some kind of cream with no pepper. I'm not going to lie, the cigar looked rough to start with but that did not
lead to any blow ups or wonky burns. I had this rest in my humi for a week, but something tells me it needed a little more time to settle. I read a review, and my flavors seemed to be spot on, but I'm told that what I tasted is also
typical of Nica blends.
Appearance - ***
Wrapper had one vein that was very visible. The band is simple, but somehow it looks nice with the dark wrapper. A lighter wrapper and I would have given it two stars. Now that I think about it, the wrapper was a little dark for a
Connecticut.
Construction - *****
Felt fine, no soft or hard spots. I did not hear a "crinkle" when I rolled the cigar next to my ear, but I'm still not convinced that means anything.
Burn - ****
Burned fine, never noticed any issues. I'm aware that I'll only give five stars if a wrapper burns perfect the entire length of the cigar...fat chance? Maybe.
Smoke - ****
Smoke was good when idle and for the retro...only a Liga will get five stars.
Draw - *****
Draw was just right for this cigar.
Mouth - ****
Left lasting woodsy notes in my mouth, and is pretty enjoyable.
Retro - ***
Flavors were wood, pepper and nuts the entire cigar...enjoyable but not amazing. The pepper was very obvious on the 1/3 and then died down.
Total - 28/35
MISC Notes - Prelight taste was of wood and the prelight smell was faint earth. My nose might be a little clogged, because it was hard to detect any smell. After I cut there were little pieces of tobacco that would get in my mouth every
now and again. 1/3 flavors were pepper, wood and nuts. The pepper was pretty strong but died down. 2/3 flavor was a ton of different wood and nuts, reminded me of a Redwood tree for some reason. 3/3 was interesting because it was very
hard to pick up flavors, it was just smooth on the retro. This was an enjoyable smoke because it left a lot of wood flavors in my mouth, and never tasted bad...which is a little rare for me.
Nice reviews Rain! I've always thought that the Purple label is a great little knockaround connie for the price. Definitely very mild though. I don't think I've ever had the Blue label, if so I don't remember.
You know the house blends are mixed filler - doesn't bother me at all since they're so affordable, but it might have been the source of the little bits of tobacco that got in your mouth.
Hey Rain.
I like the purple too. Blue sucks. Sun grown is also a good choice.
Please tell the folks my drunk's review means I'm enjoying the pairing a little too much. Not a drunk. LOL
Hey Rain.
I like the purple too. Blue sucks. Sun grown is also a good choice.
Please tell the folks my drunk's review means I'm enjoying the pairing a little too much. Not a drunk. LOL
Good reviews, but to each his own. I prefer the blue. American label was better than the purple, I thought. The discontinued corojo was better than the Sun Grown, too. Still haven't pulled out the cameroon, brazil, or Cuban. Too many other smokes have been gifted to me to return to these.
Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
Appearance - *
Wrapper had multiple veins and was coming apart in a few spots. On this cigar, the plain band just made it look cheap...which it sort of is.
Construction - *****
No plugs and did not come apart, despite the wrapper looking like it would in some places.
Burn - ***
Burn was average, no perfect. Ash was very flaky compared to the other CCom blends.
Smoke - **
Smoke was nonexistent when I was not drawing, but was average on the retro.
Draw - ***
Draw was ok, but I had a little resistance.
Mouth - ****
Despite the terrible retro flavor, the mouth flavor was not offensive at all. Not good, but not bad.
Retro - **
The first few draws were of a nice spice, I also tasted roasted nuts and a light woodsy flavor.
Total - 21/35
MISC Notes - Let me say this, I could not continue to smoke this cigar. The flavor was not horrid, it was just...not good. It got to the point where smoking it was a chore so I called it. Now, I don't want to make a habit of this,
because for all I know the cigar opened up and tasted amazing. I think maybe it was a mix of it being hot outside and not liking the cigar, but like I said...don't want to make a habit of it. After the initial spice, wood and nuts this
just tasted like...nothing. It was just smoke. Maybe I should have started with CCom blends, but none have wowed me yet. The blue was decent, though.
Hey Rain.
I like the purple too. Blue sucks. Sun grown is also a good choice.
Please tell the folks my drunk's review means I'm enjoying the pairing a little too much. Not a drunk. LOL
Good reviews, but to each his own. I prefer the blue. American label was better than the purple, I thought. The discontinued corojo was better than the Sun Grown, too. Still haven't pulled out the cameroon, brazil, or Cuban. Too many other smokes have been gifted to me to return to these.
Thats whats great about so many cigars and so many pipe blends. Everyone has their own tastes. Unfortunately not all are blessed with mine. LOL. I will eventually get to the rest of the house blends but my mind is now on building my own humidor. By the way I just finished my bottle of Torres Spanish Brandy. Looks like a trip to the Liguor store tomorrow.
Hey Rain.
I like the purple too. Blue sucks. Sun grown is also a good choice.
Please tell the folks my drunk's review means I'm enjoying the pairing a little too much. Not a drunk. LOL
Good reviews, but to each his own. I prefer the blue. American label was better than the purple, I thought. The discontinued corojo was better than the Sun Grown, too. Still haven't pulled out the cameroon, brazil, or Cuban. Too many other smokes have been gifted to me to return to these.
Thats whats great about so many cigars and so many pipe blends. Everyone has their own tastes. Unfortunately not all are blessed with mine. LOL. I will eventually get to the rest of the house blends but my mind is now on building my own humidor. By the way I just finished my bottle of Torres Spanish Brandy. Looks like a trip to the Liguor store tomorrow.
Agreed. I've discovered better cigars for not much more and since I'm not really an every day smoker I don't need to count a dollar or two. When I first started I thought it mattered, but I'm slowing down now as life catches up.
Maybe I need to relax and drink some of that Brandy, too.
Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
Nice reviews...... The house sampler was the first sticks I ever ordered to try the variety. Long ago my fav was the Green label. Today my taste is all over the place. I will be curious to see what you think of the greenie.
More guard duty this coming week. Off the top of my head, I have an Undercrown and OSOK I've been meaning to smoke.Should probably have a Virtue, since it's the only stick I like
Had a JDN Celebracion consul while guarding my chair from the approaching sunlight. Started off with a tight draw and kind of meh flavors, but from the halfway point to the nub it really got good. I think I've had roughly this same experience with all the Celebracions that I have had. Also, I love small (insert joke here) cigars, but this one felt too small. I never got the accusing ash telling me that I was smoking it too fast, but I just felt like I was. This falls in to the typical category for me...not amazing, not horrible...it just was.
Could not resist trying this straight from Bob's pass. Prelight smell was some kind of strong spice that I've never smelled before. Construction, burn and draw were all top notch. The first half was dry wood, spice and something pleasant that I can't put my finger on. I had to take a sip of water between each draw, it was that dry. Second half was stronger versions of the already mentioned flavors. In the end I thought it was for sure worth a 5er, but I'd probably not buy a box. It lives up to the hype, it really was a unique smoke. Good unique, not bad unique like DE KFC.
Comments
Glad you liked it....... and I am glad to read the review..... like you , I know what I like but to describe it is difficult for me. This one came real close to being picked on one of me "Pick My Stick" posts but never quite made it. So, you got it !! ha !
You know the house blends are mixed filler - doesn't bother me at all since they're so affordable, but it might have been the source of the little bits of tobacco that got in your mouth.
I like the purple too. Blue sucks. Sun grown is also a good choice.
Please tell the folks my drunk's review means I'm enjoying the pairing a little too much. Not a drunk. LOL
Good reviews, but to each his own. I prefer the blue. American label was better than the purple, I thought. The discontinued corojo was better than the Sun Grown, too. Still haven't pulled out the cameroon, brazil, or Cuban. Too many other smokes have been gifted to me to return to these.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
Thats whats great about so many cigars and so many pipe blends. Everyone has their own tastes. Unfortunately not all are blessed with mine. LOL. I will eventually get to the rest of the house blends but my mind is now on building my own humidor. By the way I just finished my bottle of Torres Spanish Brandy. Looks like a trip to the Liguor store tomorrow.
Maybe I need to relax and drink some of that Brandy, too.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.