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So I had this cigar on Friday and 2 days later I'm getting around to writing up this review. I had plans to do this after the game yesterday but I got all grumpy because my team lost. Then I got into my scotch cabinet and well no review was happening. I'm an anal retentive jackass, one of my little quirks is resting cigars for 3-4 weeks before I give them a try. This is probably overkill but I want to make damn sure the cigar is acclimated to it's new conditions after shipping. And lord knows how slowly the post office works sometime. But since this is review week and I've only got 3 SCDH and PL cigars in my humidor here (TOS La Fuerzas in the OLH, dammit lol) I broke my rule and gave an el Principe a try after only 8 days rest. Some people may look at these small cigars and scoff at them, but they don't know what they are missing. Minutos are generally jam packed with flavors and are tasty little buggers to smoke. Pre-Light: Firmly packed but has a perfect draw. Flavors I'm getting are dark chocolate, espresso and molasses. Wrapper is leathery feeling. There's not a ton of oil content to it but there's enough to lead me to assume I'm going to get a lot of flavors out of it. I'd prefer a darker wrapper, but I'm hoping for good things here. First third: I'm frankly surprised by the flavors. I figured I'd get dark chocolate and some espresso based on the pre-light flavors. I'm getting mostly molasses and cake. I'm not disappointed but this cigar threw me a curve ball. Body is mild-medium, no strength or youthful harshness, but admittedly given that this is 2015 cigar, my worry is the finish of this cigar is going to fall off. I don't want it too though because the flavors are certainly interesting. The smoke output isn't really where I want it to be. The smoke is whispy and dry. The finish isn't terribly long lasting. Second third: The burn isn't good. I won't fault the cigar for this too much since I am rushing it. That said it's not terrible, just not where I want it to be. The molasses has died down a bit and isn't up in your business anymore. The cakey bits has increased a bit along with some cooking spices that are very faint. The smoke output thankfully has increased and that was sorely needed. The finish is more long lasting now too. The body has been flirting with medium levels but hasn't quite stuck with that level yet. Final Third: The burn has been complete crap. I know it's not the cigars fault because the big dumb monkey smoking it didn't let it acclimate. But it's annoying me. It's also getting colder outside and I'm not wearing enough clothes, which further proves that the big dumb monkey is very very dumb. Thankfully though this is a wee little cigar chock full of flavors. The molasses and cooking spices both really asserted their dominance here. Cake is still in the background. Smoke output has continually increased throughout this third too. And true to form I wasn't paying attention to where the label was and singed it. Attention to detail is not present here today apparantly. The flavors unfortunately went to a grubby earth quality shortly after I took the label off, luckily that was at the tail end of the cigar and I pitched it after only have 3 puffs of that as it got very warm. Final Thoughts: This is a cigar that will be firing on all cylinders in 6 months. I really won't have more than 1 chance to smoke one of these in the next 6 months anyways (Fargo winters) so when spring arrives these will be ready to go. I dug the flavors, I actually enjoyed the curveball it threw me at the start. Burn time ran about 40 minutes. 88/100 I'm being a bit harsh on the score because of the youthfulness at the end and the burn issues. The former was really disappointing, but not entirely unexpected, because the flavors were just on point. The burn issues I don't believe are related to construction, but rather a lack of acclimation. Remove both of these and I think the cigar is around a 90-91. I'm not sure what the upper point is for these, mostly because I don't think this is a box that is going to survive another 18 months.

When you have the time and the weather permits, such as a football game and a gorgeous October day (for Fargo...) I do believe that both of these criteria are met. So why not pull out the big guns and enjoy a game and a cigar. Pre-Light: This feels like a tree branch. I'd hurt someone if I chucked this at someone. Every cigar in this box has been like that and every single one has been a perfect draw. And this one is no different. I don't understand how these can feel so solid yet have an ideal draw. It has just enough resistance. I'm getting a hint of cooking spice, coffee and I swear orange peel is there, but their's just traces of that here. The wrapper is rough and oily. 1st Third: Yeah, orange peel is definitely there. It's adding a hint of tartness that is really playing well with the coffee and spice. There's no strength, which is nice because I don't want to get punched in the face by nicotine in the first 5 minutes of a 90+ minute cigar, and the body is mild-medium. Smoke output is very good. The smoke itself is rather airy and oily which leads to a long finish. And the Bison shut down a 4th and inches from the goal line on SDSU's first drive. Hell yeah! Second Third: At the start of the second third the flavors are still the same and frankly it hasn't evolved much. I don't mind that too much since the flavors work well with one another. The body has grown to medium bodied. Smoke output is pretty good and the burn hasn't needed any touchups. It's not laser perfect but damn close. Towards the end of the second third the flavors changed up a bit. The coffee died down a bit and the orange peel grew considerably. Cinnamon has also shown up, but it's rather faint. It reminds me of a coffee cake that a co-worker brought in to work last week. And we're leading 10-3 in the game. So far so good, ugly game if I do say so myself. Final Third: Had another minor transition. The cinnamon unfortunately left us. That was a bit disappointing because it just fit the flavors here. That said the coffee cake like flavors I'm getting I dig. The bodied hasn't changed a bit since the second third being solidly medium bodied. The smoke itself didn't warm up until around 1/2" left. I'm not a big fan of overly hot smoke so I pitched it. Where the hell has the offense gone? We had an amazing drive to start the second half, but then nothing. This isn't looking good. 17-10, but we're still leading. Final Thoughts: There wasn't a hint of youthfulness to this cigar, though with a 2012 cigar that's not overly surprising. This isn't a perfect cigar and not one of top double corona/churchills from Cuba. But I have enjoyed every single one of these that I've had. I find the RyJ Churchill and Lusitania to be much more complex and engaging smokes than the El Morro, but the flavors just work so well here. This is a cigar I reach when I want an easy going smoke and to relax for a couple hours. Overall smoke time was 1:45. They aren't cheap cigars but for that smoke time they do become a decent value though. 93/100 After this cigar I fired up a Vegeuros Entriempos because the game was still going on. Not in the same league as the El morro but enjoyable enough. Cigar got pitched onto my lawn and damn near flipped my table when the Bison gave up an obvious pass to the #1 receiver on fourth and 3 to win the bloody game. Sonofa, ah well, the boys have to play better to win...

I had this cigar on Friday almost immediately after I got home and could get my hands on a beer and a cigar. This is definitely a cheap and cheerful cigar. But if you don't like long skinnies this isn't a cigar for you. That reminds me, these are cheap enough where I can probably justify a box despite me being in a "stop spending money mode." Pre Light: I left my cutter in the basement of my house, so I tried a punch cut on this guy. And then made a mess out of the cap. I actually said "Well, that's going to bite me in the ass later" outloud and to myself. Draw is a bit on the light side but there's some resistance there. Flavors I'm getting are honey and lemon grass. First Third: Smoke output is fantastic. It's a very mild cigar with a light and oily smoke. The finish is very long lasting. I'm getting toasted tobacco, honey and lemon grass as the main flavors. I can't call this a complaint, but the ash doesn't hold on for long on these, especially with a bit of wind. I don't recall the last time I had one of these and I didn't ash myself. And sure enough the first ash lands on me. Second third: The body has increased a bit but it's still way closer to mild than medium. The toasted tobacco has been relegated to the back of the boss while the honey and lemon grass are fighting for recognition. There's a tiny bit of caramel in here trying to be found but unfortunately it doesn't stick around for long. And I ashed myself again. Final Third: The start of the final third there's definitely caramel sticking around but it's very faint. Body hasn't changed and remains a bit above mild. Smoke output has remained fantastic throughout the cigar and the flavors are quite enjoyable. But, remember when I said I'm going to regret butchering the cut. I got a tarball infestation. I expect that on Cuaba's because of the shapes. And the tar on those is actually somewhat pleasant, in fact the only cigar that I've had tar that isn't a disgusting or vile. The tar here was very disgusting and ruined the flavors. I had a bit of an 1" left with this cigar and just pitched it. I wasn't going to deal with tar any longer. Final Thoughts: This was a 89-91 cigar until the tar happened. And man did that ruin this cigar for me. This is a bit interesting because this is the first time I've had tar in a PLMC. Mental note, don't halfass the cut in the future. I think with some age the caramel will really grow in this cigar. I think the only way I'm going to come across that though is to buy 2 boxes and have one buried in the OLH. And then develop patience somehow. 85/100 But damn, that tar was both hideous and very surprising.