MrGlass Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 Got around to smoking this last night. After scrutinizing every inch of it and working through Trevor's website trying to point me in some direction, I'm ready to start but still clueless. The cigar had a colorado wrapper, slight box press and was a little veiny. After clipping the end, I move to the pre-light draw. I'm presented with white pepper on the lips, and absolutely no resistance in the draw itself. This thing was a wind tunnel if ever there was one. Toasting the foot, the cigar opens with a pepper intensity which lingers on the tongue and then fades into black tea. The only problem is the draw, which has gone crooked straight from the start. Ash is light and very flaky. As we move through the first third, someone has added a teaspoon of sugar to the tea. Taking the time to write some notes, and the cigar goes out. After relighting and correcting the burn, I'm left with a spicy powerhouse that leaves a lingering sweetness. The burn gets worse as we move into the second third. This thing is tunnelling like crazy, and I'm constantly trying to correct. The spice has left whilst the sweetness remained, and as we move further through the second third, I'm given hints of shortbread from time to time. Onto the final third, and the sweetness has departed. The smoke is now rich and creamy with the occasional suggestion of cedar. As it draws to a close, we have a brief revisit of the pepper and spice from early on before I leave it to sleep in the ashtray. The flavour profile was a pleasant change for me, but the smoking experience was horrible. I can't remember the last time I have relit a cigar that many times. If you stopped smoking it to write a note, it went out. If you kept smoking it, it tunnelled and went crooked. Not a clue what it is, but here's hoping. Nick.
toasterhead Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 I must have gotten a good one... Petit Corona 42 ring/5.1"/box press Rested 3 weeks at 60 deg. F/65% humidity and smoked after one day of dry boxing. Medium colorado wrapper, nondescript, sweet tobacco aroma. First third: nice draw, tea flavors, readily lit with sweet aroma, initial blast of cocoa and toasted flavors, very pleasant. Middle third: continued chocolate and milk coffee with occasional hints of hazelnut and wood. Grey/white ash and no combustion problems. Last third: slight bitterness/espresso notes, continued dark chocolate. I really liked this cigar. A brief puff-pass with another respected FOH member confirmed that I was not hallucinating. Good luck to all! Dave
CigarCanuck Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 I must have gotten a good one... Petit Corona 42 ring/5.1"/box press Rested 3 weeks at 60 deg. F/65% humidity and smoked after one day of dry boxing. Medium colorado wrapper, nondescript, sweet tobacco aroma. First third: nice draw, tea flavors, readily lit with sweet aroma, initial blast of cocoa and toasted flavors, very pleasant. Middle third: continued chocolate and milk coffee with occasional hints of hazelnut and wood. Grey/white ash and no combustion problems. Last third: slight bitterness/espresso notes, continued dark chocolate. I really liked this cigar. A brief puff-pass with another respected FOH member confirmed that I was not hallucinating. Good luck to all! Dave Interesting as I experienced the exact same. Fantastic cigar...
Anchan Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Aroma at cold sweet tobacco. Good draw. Opening: bitter woody taste,spicy. 1/3: creamy coffee,cocoa,nutty flavore,bitterness has gone.Medium body. 2/3: black roasted coffee,dark chocolate,ceder.Body above medium. 3/3: black coffee,tobacco, spicy wood,earthy bitterness.
Habanos2000 Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Nice construction, no soft spots but a very thin/brittle wrapper and evidence of a box press. Decided to dry box this overnight and that probably wasn’t a great idea considering the wrapper thickness. I accidently dropped the cigar before lighting from about two feet and the bottom third of the wrapper immediately snapped off. What a nightmare! I was contemplating cutting off the bottom third and starting from there, but decided to give it a shot minus the wrapper anyway to see what would happen. 1st third had a very loose draw, not sure if that was because of the missing wrapper or just the construction. The cigar was medium in strength and showed bits of cream and black pepper. So far the only negative was the draw. The ash dropped at 7 minutes. 2nd third; finally worked through the wrapperless beginning and began to notice some more cream in the flavor profile. The ash was black and at the 16 minute mark the second section of ash dropped off. My overall impression of the 2nd third was that this was a young cigar. Final third; Not much change in flavors from the start but it did hold a razor sharp burn. Pepper, cream and a bit of cedar now coming through. At the finish line I could bring out some bit of cocoa as well but overall a very straight forward cigar. Overall score, 88. While I have some experience with a few different brands of PC’s, I don’t believe this particular example to be one of them. I’m going to have to take a somewhat educated guess on what this one might be.
luhabanos Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Hello to all, I've tasted the first cigar together with my friend Anderson, who is also participating, and we got to the same impressions on the cigar but to different conclusions...holy ignorance...LOL Here's our review: The cigar had a velvety wrapper, it was firm and with a correct draw. A perfect burn and with a woody and caramel aroma. 1/3: a sweet taste with leather aroma and hints of black pepper. 2/3: still a sweet taste but a little bitterness with leather and earth aromas and hints of black pepper. 3/3: sweet taste and kind of creamy. In our opinion it was a medium to full bodied cigar, not so complex and with perfect draw and burn. Our pairings: Red Label, Orange juice and Coffe in the end. Cheers and good luck to all!
theholmesmob Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 well here goes, not much of a reviewer..... Appearance was fine and used a punch, draw a bit loose for my liking... 1/3: lots of toasted tobacco flavour (surprise!), was harsh and left a dusty taste.. 2/3: the cigar amped up a bit, still catching in the throat, no discernible flavour profile... 3/3: not my type of cigar...but then perhaps I was over analysing it..... It'll have to be a lucky guess.....
Edwhatever Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 My brief review as I didn't have much time to smoke. The past couple of weeks have been so hectic. The PC came in with a nice wrapper, a nice sheen on it which got me very excited. I put it in a separate humidor to let it sit for a few weeks before smoking along with the 2 other blind cigars. 1/3 Very nice flavours, if the whole cigar was like this I could just die without regrets. It was full of roasted nuts, sweet dark sugar, hint of pepper, and a hint of creaminess. medium body for me 2/3 Everything died down like it was diluted with a gallon of water. It was still nutty, but there was this blandness and slight ammonia sting while smoking it. There was this twang from it, but not metallic. EVerything was so muted and all I could focus on was the blandness like cardboard. 3/3 just nothing. until the end it was just spicy, harsh and bland. I was disappointed. It's probably a cigar I haven't smoked before but I might be just second guessing myself. Good luck everybody! It'll be interesting to see how diverse our guesses will be. Edward
HabanosHoser Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 FoH Blind Tasting 2012: Cigar 1 Date: March 25, 2012 Marca: Unknown Vitola de Galera: Merevas Introduction: This is a "Father and Son" review done over a Skype connection (Canada – France). Each of us is participating in the FoH Blind Tasting Challenge and thought it might be fun to share in the experience. The following is a collective review. Individual observations and experiences are denoted by an (F) for father and an (S) for son. Appearance & Construction: - Good wrapper, near flawless - Good construction - Cap cracked after cutting (S) Cold Taste & Draw: - Slight sweetness - Looser-side-of-perfect (S) - Tighter-side-of-perfect (F) Start Time: 11:42AM EST End Time: 12:33PM EST Opening & 1/3: - Opened up with a blast of full body and spice in the nose - Continued medium/full - Good sharp burn - Light cedar notes - Slight sweetness (S), slight coconut notes (F) - Light leather 2/3: - Medium body - Razor sharp burn (S), slight uneven burn (F) - Continued cedar notes - Increasing sweetness with a slight creaminess - Slight pepper in the nose (S) - Pleasant "mustiness" (don't know how else to describe it) - Black liquorice notes (F) 3/3 & Finish: - Medium-light body - Even burn - Slight pepper in the nose (S) - Continued pleasant "mustiness" - Creamy/sweet cedar and leather - Building sweetness - Finished in a hail of sweet toasty leather Final Impressions: Cracked cap & unraveling wrapper aside (S), this was a very enjoyable and satisfying Merevas. It offered moderate complexity with no significant harshness or in-your-face youth. Overall rating: 89/90 (F), 91 (S). Both parties agreed a box of these will likely be ordered.
kiwiman911 Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 first blind tasting cigar Rustic construction, split near the top, but does not affect the draw. pre light: sweet tobacco nice light, even burn and lots of nice smoke 1/3: Some bitterness, very little, but there none the less. Just can't put my finger on it, but a little young I think 2/3: some sweetness but come's in and out last third: getting hotter still nice burn ash would fall every inch I'm getting a funky taste(not unpleasent but not pleasent just weird) conclusion: Would not buy a box, but would like to smoke again in 1 year to see how it was. would give it an 87 this was my fisrt review ever and I found it very interesting to have to sit and smoke for a reason where you had to always think and be attentive to every taste and try to put it in words very fun
Jamo Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 First is always the hardest I hope! This beautiful piece of PC looked and worked like a charm, good draw and burned all the way to the end nicely. The taste was mixed and changed a couple of times during smoking. 1/3: very strong tobacco and some wood there with spiciness 2/3: dark cocoa with a hint of cream (?) 3/3: got strong again, gave some of that taste all the young ones usually give (iodine or something) Good puffs in a good company, what else can a man ask for? Lookin' forward to the next one!
IcedCanuck Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Construction: There was a hard spot underneath the band. The smell was not very strong; in fact there was not much of a smell to it at all. Light coloured wrapper. This cigar had a bit of a rough ride getting here. Paired with Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale Cold Draw: Leather Good pull 1/3 nutty, coffee and cream a bit of pepper pepper gone toasted tabbacco caramel ... lots of it now at end 2/3 burn slightly uneven but was probably caused by wind lots of caramel a little toasted tobbacco beer still cold, not overly affected by CC same as before 3/3 wood only a touch of caramel a little bit of pepper CRAZY wood and spice now Not enjoying it so much anymore ... blah Ash never held on well
Ghabanos Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Construction: There was a hard spot underneath the band. The smell was not very strong; in fact there was not much of a smell to it at all. Light coloured wrapper. This cigar had a bit of a rough ride getting here. Paired with Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale Cold Draw: Leather Good pull 1/3 nutty, coffee and cream a bit of pepper pepper gone toasted tabbacco caramel ... lots of it now at end 2/3 burn slightly uneven but was probably caused by wind lots of caramel a little toasted tobbacco beer still cold, not overly affected by CC same as before 3/3 wood only a touch of caramel a little bit of pepper CRAZY wood and spice now Not enjoying it so much anymore ... blah Ash never held on well Very similar experience
CanuckSARTech Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 2nd Annual Blind Cigar Tasting Competition, Cigar No. 1, "Petit Corona" format - final score, 85 So, here's my review of the first cigar in this year's blind cigar tasting competition.... Reviewed Cigar: Blind Cigar No. 1 Box Date: Unknown (current production) Factory/Manufacture Code: Unknown Packaging: Unknown Price: Never talk money.... Length: 5 1/8", or 129 mm Ring Gauge: 42 Format: Petit Corona Weight: Don't you know it isn't polite to ask a fella this?? Construction/Appearance & Pre-Light: Noticed that this cigar is actually only 40 ring gauge about (2 smaller than needed for a Petit Corona / "Mareva" vitola), and 127 mm long (2 mm short), but I decided that this not a major issue and was well within the norms – Cuba being Cuba. Rob has claimed these first cigars to be petit coronas (42 x 5 1/8" / 129 mm), and that's how it'll be set in my considerations. Also, I made note that these have been declared as Petit Coronas, but some online lists don't factor in the Mareva formats into listings of these cigars, even though they're the exact same size format and whatnot. And, there's nothing matching my exact measurements in current production sizing, so I'm attributing this to post-rolling "shrinkage". (It's an excuse I can use for other things maybe, hmmmm.) So anyways, I'm keeping my eyes on the potentials with that. These things have a definite slight box press, so that takes out a few candidates. Upon inspection and looking over this cigar today, I was quite pleased. After being in storage in my humidor cabinet for the last month and a bit since I got these cigars, I'm noticing some lovely elements to the construction/appearance aspects of this cigar. A nice dark reddish-Colorado toned hue to the wrapper. A decent amount of very fine and fair tooth, almost like 300-grit sandpaper. A beautiful wrapper overall, with no flaws or defects, no green spots or even sun spots. Construction is spot on, with an impeccably applied triple-cap, a lovely helix and form to the wrapper, and no soft or hard spots noticed with the filler. The foot appears to be a bit open in its packing, but it's not soft at all. Aromas are amazing with this thing. Gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread! Background hints of molasses and caramelized demerara sugar. Cloves and cinnamon in there also it seems. Wow – this thing shows lots of promise. At cold, it DEFINITELY wouldn't be what I was thinking, reading up on everyone else's tasting notes so far. I had my mind made up that people seemed to be describing two particular cigars, and at cold, this doesn't smell like either of them. Hmmmm....this may get interesting.... Cut well, no cracking. Perfect draw, maybe just a bit on the loose side. But still very workable. Based on everything just right now, and doing my research homework, I'd have to guess right now that these are.... Opening Impressions: After a lighting up and initial draws, noted that there was TONS of smoke. And man, this cigar, as soon as it was lit up and heat applied to the tobacco had an extremely easy draw – waaaaay too free-flowing. Amazing. This thing just turned into a complete windtunnel. Anise. Lots of dark tones there. Pleasantly confusing my palate actually. First Third: Very flaky ash, right from the get-go on the light up and first few puffs – white with charcoal grey spots, but very flaky and loose. I can't get the ash to hold for longer than about a 1/2 inch, if that. Flavours of anise / black licorice, interlaced with slight fruity tones and woody aspects. Dark, unsweetened cherries, with almost plum notes, and a cedar smokiness laced throughout. Not as strong of flavour notes as I was hoping for, but nice nonetheless. And all the pre-light aromas of gingerbread and cloves and cinnamon and whatnot – gone, nada, nothing remaining of those. Some creamy aspects to the smoke. Very copious amounts of smoke, but it wasn't overly dense – missing that velvet, "creamy" aspect to it. More like skim milk than table cream, regarding the mouthfeel to the smoke. Hints of grass and floral tones – rose petals, some moss. Relit in this third two different times, plus two touch-ups. Horrible burn, free flowing draw. This is the only third where I'm interested and have hopes for this cigar - it soon begins to drastically let me down. Second Third: Again, one relight and two touch-ups in this third. The negative aspects of the draw really came to bear here – started to get heavy doses of tang and youthfulness towards the backend of this third. Still some rose and dark stewed fruit aspects, but it felt like the density of the smoke was waning more and more. At one point in this third, I noticed that there were two distinct tunnels through the core of the cigar itself. Might have been the cause effecting the horribly free draw, and lack of burn control to the cigar.... Final Third: Anise, cedar, florals and herbs, plums. Some bitter chocolate tones even. Almost didn"t even smoke it into this third, but put up with it to get it to here. About midway through the final third, just put it down to sleep. Finishing Comments / Overall Impression: I gave this cigar a decent 85. The wrapper and construction at cold was beautiful, and on the nose it wasn't half bad. There was a lot of youth / harsh notes to it during the whole 2nd half of the cigar. As soon as it was lit up, I just couldn't get over the freeness that opened up to the draw. The aromas were there with so much potential at the start, and the flavours in the first third piqued my interest. But that's it. As soon as I was an inch and a bit in, it went into the gutter. There was a definite "one-dimensional" aspect to this cigar – it definitely seemed to not be made of overly rich tobacco. There was a lot of complexity initially at cold on the nose, but no complexity once the tobacco was turned into smoke. Even the flavours that I could pull out of it were fleeting and I really had to focus on them, aside from the anise, florals, and fruit in the first third. Bitterness and harshness throughout the last two thirds. If this cigar had a few years to rest, and maybe had just a gram or two of extra tobacco stuffed into it to firm/slow up the draw, this could maybe be something amazing, considering what I'm guessing it is. Even with what I perceive to be lower quality tobacco, and maybe not prime pickings, there's a definite richness that could be captured. It seemed to be a somewhat flat and one-dimensional cigar. But with a bit more care, it could be an entertaining two-dimensional treat. I'm guessing that this is a more inexpensive offering, one of the "cheap & cheerfuls" that are around in this format. I've sent Rob my guess of this (and actually my two runner-up guesses essentially). But, I'm 70% sure of my guess on it, and if right, it wouldn't surprise me of my tasting notes, nor of the attention that's maybe missing from this cigar. There's definitely things there in this cigar to grab your attention, and if it's my guess (or even my runner-up), then this cigar still is fairly better than some other examples I've had in years prior. They're coming back a bit, and there's improvement there, but things are only half-way there I'd say. With a bit more tobacco, and/or tighter rolling/packing, and another year of age, these could be amazing performers for the dirt-cheap value that I'm guessing these to be. If I'm wrong, then, well....I've completely crapped the bed on this. Final Score: 85 (potential to be an 88-89 with some more love, damn good for a cheapie) Total Smoking Time: 50 minutes Paired Beverage: Bottled spring water Date & Time Smoked: Saturday, March 31st, 2012, 3:07 pm to 3:57 pm Thanks for reading my review. Hope you enjoyed it. Cheers.
Guest rob Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 Although not a review of the purest form, this short summary are my thoughts on the first blind tasted cigar. A decently constructed cigar with a good cap. Nothing special to look, and the wrapper struck me as being slighjtly 'rustic'. At pre light: nothing special, though nothing bad either. First, second and final 1/3 : Rough and harsh all the way! this cigar was anything but smooth. It was ligero laden and needed some seco to smooth it out. There were no discernable flavours that piqued my interest. This cigar did absolutley nothing for me and would easily have qualified as a "garden smoke" - one that I'd have while working in the garden! Would I buy a box? Hell, I wouldn't even buy a single!
TankerT Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 Short review, as there is a gap between my smoking and this review. (And, my notes are light...) Slight box-press is notable. The pre-light draw is baby-bear. (As in just right…) The cigar starts out with a decent amount of smoke, and immediately noticeable flavor that I recognize, but can’t place. It’s a somewhat sweet/spicy combination with rich flavor. Definitely going to be a medium-full smoke. The burn is good and even for me. I made it through about ¾ of the cigar before I had to respond to an emergency call for work. But the flavor profile didn’t change much, just became more intense, and a bit harsh. There was lots of smoke, and can’t complain about the construction. But, the stick started off a bit stronger than I like, and got stronger/harsher from there.
CanuckSARTech Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 1. First cigar (petit corona) smoked by 31 March with you e-mailing me me your answer. On this dedicated thread you will provide a brief review but not disclose the cigar on the forum. You will send me your selection (include your handle). By 3rd of April. I will post up a spreadsheet of the results for CIgar 1 and we can move onto cigar 2 So? Is that everyone for the month then? I'm curious to find out the results....
El Presidente Posted April 3, 2012 Author Posted April 3, 2012 So? Is that everyone for the month then? I'm curious to find out the results.... Just 1-2 more. I am finishing up the spreadsheets now. Very...VERY interesting first round
Fuzz Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Just 1-2 more. I am finishing up the spreadsheets now. Very...VERY interesting first round Translation: We all failed!
Lotusguy Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Might as well give up on #1... When is cigar #2 due?
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