Unicorn Diaries

Unicorn

Hey guys! Going to try and keep track of my likes and dislikes here and maybe be a little entertaining as well, because as we all know, I am a complete noob and I'm not even going to pretend that I can comment on flavor profiles and history of cigars, etc.

Just so everyone knows what's up, I got into cigars very recently (June) on a business trip to California with a buddy of mine Noah. He handed me a Drew Estate Naturale and I thought it was great! So the next day he handed me another type, and another. I go out to Cali for work once a month, and each month since then I've tried about 3-5 cigars. I haven't been paying attention to all of them but I remember the Epernay Illusione and Oliva V so far were my favorites out there.

At the Occidental Cigar Bar in August, I bumped into Roman and Jiun, and those two convinced me that I could learn a lot from the forums, so here I am, trying to blend in Am I doing ok?

I am married to a firefighter and have three kids- a 3 year old boy, a 6 year old daughter, and a 20 year old stepson. I love making cookies. I will cookie bomb any of you guys. I also love to dance- latin street/party dancing like salsa, merengue, and bachata. I love scotch apparently, but rusty nails are my new favorite drink. I am a huge football fan, love love LOVE the Pats. I love good food and interesting conversation about just about anything. I can speak Spanish. Right now I work at a children's hospital doing research and physical therapy but soon I'll be out on my own running my own business.

Ok, this is turning into a match.com profile. Stay tuned for (uninformative) cigar reviews

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Rain

Hated it. ;)Need some reviews in this place!

Unicorn

smoke em if you got em:

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Dudes, I'm just getting STARTED. Let me smoke something already!

Ok, here's a review: Epernay Illusione. Long and brown. Tasted **** good.

90+_Irishman

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Dudes, I'm just getting STARTED. Let me smoke something already!

Ok, here's a review: Epernay Illusione. Long and brown. Tasted **** good.

Lmao well that's one way to review a cigar :P

Unicorn

I don't know any other way yet! I'll work on it. Meanwhile you are gonna get really ignorant reviews with pictures of me smoking them.

90+_Irishman

Unicorn:

I don't know any other way yet! I'll work on it. Meanwhile you are gonna get really ignorant reviews with pictures of me smoking them.

Lol no worries, to give you a better example here is a review that I did earlier this year, may help you figure out your own review style and what you would want to look at and focus on for your own reviews. Mine tend to be much longer and a lot more in depth than most but should help all the same.

90+ Irishman:

Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion De Aniversario 2007 Sun Grown

Size/Vitola: Toro 6.25" x 48
Time In Humidor: Roughly 6-7 months
Blender: Carlito Fuente
Vault Aging: 5 years prior to release
Wrapper: Chateau De La Fuente Sun Grown Rosado
Binder/Filler: Dominican - Modified blend of the normal Don Carlos



Main Review:

Light Time 5:25pm MST 2/28/2103
I cut the cap with my Room 101 Jya Xi cutter and the cold draw is brilliant, nearly no flavors are present save for a mild cedar and hint of vanilla. I lit it with my soft flame butane Zippo and it took perfectly. The initial draws hint at a moderate red chili spice with white pepper through the nose and a leather and raisin medley on the tongue with a large smoke production! The ash is a stark white with a great draw and dense cool smoke, so far already impressed and anxious for how this will progress through the stick. Half an inch in and the spice smooths out to only play a part in the background and it takes on a much sweeter profile with vanilla, raisin, cream and cashew..... Sublime. There is a minor fresh tobacco note that compliments the sweetness wonderfully but was unexpected, something I typically get in a candela style wrapper but I really enjoy the yin and yang aspect of it with this blend, somewhat sweet and crisp I guess. A deep red oak is the new opening at just an inch in with cinnamon and sugar being added in late on the finish, seems like every draw is a new profile.



Construction is outstanding with the ash being tight and dense still holding strong at 1", the profile has already made a major shift building in body. What started out as mild-medium is now a solid medium and a core of rich earth, dark red wood and oiled leather and highlight tones that are sweet and mouthwatering with raisin, cashew, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar, and heavy cream dominating the retrohale.... Couldn't have asked for a better profile or cigar to celebrate being a brand new Dad for the first time! The ash is still holding strong at an inch and a half and the raisin and chewy cashew have become the dominate flavors, just LOVE this cigar! Never had a blend that presented raisin as triangle or cleanly as the Don Carlos has, very intense and smooth! Nearly two inches in and it just gets richer and more complex, a undertone when it first hits the tip of your tongue is a smooth and sweet rum. The oak and raisin are intertwining together and is so rich and balanced, one of the most harmonious and balanced cigars I've had since the BBF. The body and strength grow with every pull and I'm about 50 min in and at 2.5" with the chewiness and richness of the sweet rum raisin and dark rich red oak and earth being the profile at this point. On the finish a hint of red chili pokes its head in and out but nothing that you can count on since it just comes and goes. Sweet cream and vanilla float in and out as well but I can't place my finger on when and where.... Damn this is a complex and harmonious cigar!



The ash falls for the first time just over 2.5" and stays tight, but no major shift yet which is fine with me because this is one of the best cigars I've ever had and loving this About 15 minutes after the ash drops and a strong sweet cream note comes in and is the main core with the other notes, the rum raisin specifically, being wonderfully balanced highlights that are just so smooth and chewy! As it progresses the creamy nature continues to build along with the sweetness... Heaven.



As the Don Carlos progresses over the final third the rum raisin stays present throughout but the creaminess fades slightly to be somewhere in the middle of my palate while the sweetness stays present. In the final inches the strength builds and a sweet chili becomes strong and quite noticeable on the retrohale and lasting throughout the finish with the dark earth and redwood building with the strength in perfect balance. All in all what a superb cigar that I will never forget and wish I could always have in my humidor. The ash always held strong to 2" and the construction was nothing shirt of perfect with bountiful cool and dense smoke throughout. Brilliant. Ended at 8pm MST.
Total Smoking Time: 2.5 hrs



Balance: 10/10 Bar none this was one of the top three Fuente's I have ever had the privilegeof smoking and it was superbly balanced and in harmony with the profile.

Development: 10/10 The Don Carlos started of mild and grew quickly and never stopped developing, it also had one of the most prominent and unique rum raisin flavors I've ever tasted in a cigar. Flawless for my palate.

Construction: 9/10 The draw was as dead nuts on as I could ask for based on my preference (slightly easy draw) and the burn through nearly all of it was razor sharp. Only twice did it need very minor touch ups but mainly only for my preference is all.

X-Factor: 10/10 I was expecting a good stick, it was a Don Carlos LE,and with the fact of what I was celebrating I was already in a great place when I smoked this. That being said, any and all expectations that I already had (significant) were shattered when I finished this. This really was the best non-CC cigar I have ever had and had I the ability would always be in my humidor bar none.

Pairing Recommendations: A great amber beer like 90 Shilling or Left Hand's Sawtooth would be superb, but on the more complex end a smooth and mellow brandy or cognac would be awesome as well such as Hennessey's single distillery Le Peu.

Overall Cigar Score: 9.75/10 really have a tough time anymore giving perfect scores but this one really did come as close as I can give it.

Final Notes:

* Besides the nature of the cigar, meaning the scarcity and what size/wrapper it was, I had no prior knowledge and read no reviews to smoking the Don Carlos.
* All information obtained on the specifics of this cigar were from the Halfwheel review on the exact cigar but was not read prior to myself reviewing the Don Carlos personally.
* The Halfwheel review can be found here: http://www.halfwheel.com/review-don-carlos-edicion-de-aniversario-2007-toro/
* I smoked this at Barlow's Premium Cigars and Pipes in Lafayette,CO and paired this with water for my drink of choice.

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Dudes, I'm just getting STARTED. Let me smoke something already!

Ok, here's a review: Epernay Illusione. Long and brown. Tasted **** good.

If you could read my mind right about now...smh!! #kryptonite

Unicorn

smoke em if you got em:

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Dudes, I'm just getting STARTED. Let me smoke something already!

Ok, here's a review: Epernay Illusione. Long and brown. Tasted **** good.

If you could read my mind right about now...smh!! #kryptonite

I never say anything without a reason

Rain

90+_Irishman

Seek professional help Rain.... This one was just wrong. Lol

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Yea were the heck are the reviews??

Dudes, I'm just getting STARTED. Let me smoke something already!

Ok, here's a review: Epernay Illusione. Long and brown. Tasted **** good.

If you could read my mind right about now...smh!! #kryptonite

I never say anything without a reason

#holla

Unicorn

Still walking fine...

Rain

That pizza looks freaking amazing, I'm for sure a pizza folder, so I appreciate a good crust.

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Unicorn:

Still walking fine...

Right division but the wrong hat!!

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

This thread is getting way off topic!! Reviews dang it!

Unicorn

Best pizza in MA. Roy, I will probably say way more off topic things in here than on topic. Forgive me?

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Unicorn:

Best pizza in MA. Roy, I will probably say way more off topic things in here than on topic. Forgive me?

only if you stop shorting my name lol

Unicorn

smoke em if you got em:

Unicorn:

Best pizza in MA. Roy, I will probably say way more off topic things in here than on topic. Forgive me?

only if you stop shorting my name lol

Deal. I'll call you whatever you want.

smoke_em_if_you_got_em

Unicorn:

smoke em if you got em:

Unicorn:

Best pizza in MA. Roy, I will probably say way more off topic things in here than on topic. Forgive me?

only if you stop shorting my name lol

Deal. I'll call you whatever you want.

haha..ok

Bigshizza

smoke em if you got em:

Unicorn:

Still walking fine...

Right division but the wrong hat!!

#beatmetoit. Jamie please introduce us to these fine young men please!!

Eulogy

I may have to try a rusty nail again, since you say its good. I've had two in my life and they were one of the most disgusting drinks I've ever had.

Rob1110

Sorry, for best pizza in MA, I'm gonna have to go with Santarpio's with Regina coming in a close second.

What are you going into business doing? Also, didn't know you were a fellow science nerd. I work at CST in Danvers. Spent 6 years on the bench and now work in sales.

ndhaon91

Looks like I created a monster. I give the a girl a few cigars and the next thing you know she's got a growing collection and her own damn review thread! Jamie, you were also a big fan of the Ramon Bueso Odyssey we smoked that one morning in SF.

90+_Irishman

ndhaon91:

Looks like I created a monster. I give the a girl a few cigars and the next thing you know she's got a growing collection and her own damn review thread! Jamie, you were also a big fan of the Ramon Bueso Odyssey we smoked that one morning in SF.

I'm convinced you have a girl in every state Noah

Unicorn

BIGSHIZZ: In the picture, that's my husband on the left and my son, who just turned 3, on the right.

Unicorn

Eulogy:

I may have to try a rusty nail again, since you say its good. I've had two in my life and they were one of the most disgusting drinks I've ever had.

Maybe you just had bad whiskey in yours? I am usually a mojito/cran and vodka kind of girl. I lean towards sweet stuff. But actually my new favorite is Lagavulin 16.

Unicorn

Rob1110:

Sorry, for best pizza in MA, I'm gonna have to go with Santarpio's with Regina coming in a close second.

What are you going into business doing? Also, didn't know you were a fellow science nerd. I work at CST in Danvers. Spent 6 years on the bench and now work in sales.

Gonna be my own PT (physical therapy) boss and work out of a gym or chiropractor's office. I am tired of research. Its very dry. I love working with people and helping them feel better.

Unicorn

ndhaon91:

Looks like I created a monster. I give the a girl a few cigars and the next thing you know she's got a growing collection and her own damn review thread! Jamie, you were also a big fan of the Ramon Bueso Odyssey we smoked that one morning in SF.

THANK YOU! I Loved that one! It was also long and brown and tasted awesome.

Eulogy

I stopped drinking most mixed drinks. I've had Lagavulin a few times and it's a great scotch; definitely a great combination with an Oliva V.

danielzreyes

Le gustaria mantequilla en su pan tostado?