Week five group review 7/13/15 -- Cladwell Eastern Standard
avengethis
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This weeks review
Team O'Donnell FTW!
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
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Comments
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
My pallet was a bit shot from an earlier smoke and some beer that it was tough to pick up the flavors but I definitely enjoyed this much better than the first go around. It had a super clean burn with no touch ups needed and was a very pleasant smoke. Lots of smoke from it, my only gripe was the retro was a little harsh to stand. This was not a deal breaker as I just wont retro it anymore. Thanks @SecretSquirrel for this stick from the gang war!
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
Paired with Glenmorangie. This cigar is a really neat combination of black pepper, citrus, cream, and a deep earthy tobacco flavor. The citrus really comes out in the smaller sizes, I've had the Cream Crush Churchill and it is noticeably lighter on the citrus and pepper.
This is one of my favorite cigars; it has the light spice and cream of a good connecticut, but adds a lot more complexity. I really like the citrus twist it seems to have.
Maybe I'll smoke another and take a pic of it.
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
I'm playing catch up and, not in order. This review was from last night. (Tuesday evening / Wednesday AM)
8/5/15
This specimen, Euro Express is a 5 1/2 X 44 carona. On the pre-light draw I get plenty of light flavors. I'd almost call it a minty sensation with some citrus flavor. After lighting up I don't get the expected citrus but it does return again on the finish before I am done with the first inch. This cigar is begging to be paired with some cool water. As Brad mentioned in his post the retro can be harsh. However, It may be that I am to blame. I am not accustomed to choosing 44 ring gauge cigars. I'll throttle back on the draw and see if that helps. I'm more used to a puff puff draw teqnique which may be too much for this smaller RG. Water does pair nicely. The citrus is dissipating. Now I'm getting more light earthy flavors. I throttled back a tad too much. It went out on me at about and inch and a quarter but the flavors were more enjoyable up until that point
This is my first Caldwell of any type. Thank you Jeff. @ExpendableYouth He gets credit for sending me this particular stick.
As I get near the end of the first third I would say this isn't like any other connie I've had. There's some real interesting flavors to chew on. I'm literally chewing on the finish this stick is giving me. I'd guess there's some light pepper flavors involved here. I believe that's where the harsh retro comes from but, now that I'm deliberately going a little lighter on the draw I am enjoying a slight retro occasionally on some of the draws I'm taking.
I'm down towards the end of the second third and I've allowed it to extinguish itself a couple more times. This last time I managed to schorch it on the re-light. Bitter taste in my mouth now. I'm gonna blame all this on my lack of experence with smaller ring guages. After a few more draws it does sttle back dwn to a more pleasurable finish but it still has some scorched flavor in there as well. Based on this one experience I may not have sought out this blend again, however I have a couple of larger vitolas of the Eastern Standard thanks to Rodger @Firstwarrior and I will re-visit this blend at a later date to see how they do compared to this one.