2019 FOH BLIND TASTING CIGAR NUMBER 4

[First Lady]

2019 FOH BLIND TASTING CIGAR NUMBER 4 - your pick is due on the 29th November  lisa.goreta@clubczar.com

 

When you are ready....you can review it here on this thread.  Please do not state what you think it is 

I will post the cigar up two days after the 29th November  :-) 

Talk to you all soon 

 

Lisa

[FUHNAHTIK]

I guess I'll post my review here instead of just on my other cigar site;

Wrapper is thick for a CC, glue spot visible, kind of curved overall shape and uneven

Aroma is slight baking spices

Pre-light draw is graham cracker, honey

First :: Initially bland (past its prime) flavor, but then some spice comes in. Licorice / anise kind of zing in here too. Ash is darker grey in color, kind of loosely packed but actually hangs on well.

Second :: wrapper is thick enough it’s burning seperately over the binder, the ash indicates I’m not smoking it too quickly (even, no protruding inner ash). Retrohale has some sweet and sour notes. There is just a touch of the Cuban twang, and baking spice notes I typically enjoy.

Third :: Started this third with a correction on the wrapper, smoking nicely now. Mostly sour now, without the sweet - sounds weird but I am really enjoying this cigar. Anything unique is going to make an impression on my palate and this one will stay on my mind for a while once it’s revealed. The zing from earlier is present on the lips, cigar is burning well at this point. Salt and pepper notes to close this one out; spicy and savory.

[MigsG]

Happening right now. My tasting notes to follow.

 

Just added my tasting notes:

First draws were cream. Milky cocoa cream. But subdued, not like the cream you would get from a younger cigar. 

This milky cocoa cream was uninterrupted for the duration of the first third. Very surprising that this is all I got. My taste buds are fine. Must be the cigar. Tastes aged, where specific flavors have melded, and creaminess develops. Why not, I asked myself? To throw us all off in this tasting. It's definitely throwing me off. 

Some light spices show up and stay through the second. Still creamy, but that milky cocoa flavor just disappears. 

The third is cream. Flavorless cream, if that makes any sense. This cigar is past it's prime, maybe too aged. I've tasted a similar neutral cream flavor in some really aged cigars, and in others that had inherent creaminess along with other flavors, yet dried out and just lost flavor, leaving the cream. With maybe half of the last third to go, it loses the cream and all that's left is wood.

This cigar is but a shell of its former self. And with whatever flavors it had blended into this cream, it could be almost any of the usual suspects.

 

[nKostyan]

  On 10/29/2019 at 8:56 PM, MigsG said:

 I agree! When will you smoke your #4?

Will try this weekend to be able to think and smoke out a few pyramid contenders

[GavLew79]

Fireproof wrapper on this one. Draw was a little tight and needed constant attention from the lighter. When I could get a decent draw to ignite the wrapper I had lots of sweet cream. Not a lot else but pleasant. 

[MigsG]

  On 11/2/2019 at 6:51 PM, GavLew79 said:

Fireproof wrapper on this one. Draw was a little tight and needed constant attention from the lighter. When I could get a decent draw to ignite the wrapper I had lots of sweet cream. Not a lot else but pleasant. 

Expand  

Sounds like yours had some similarities with that sweet cream coming through. 

[ianperrymccarthy]

When you go to smoke cigar #4 and... major facepalm

[RDB]

So, just to confirm: we’re looking at a classic Pyramid size, right? 52 x 6 1/8”. Same as #1.

[MigsG]

  On 11/7/2019 at 8:47 PM, RDB said:

So, just to confirm: we’re looking at a classic Pyramid size, right? 52 x 6 1/8”. Same as #1.

Expand  

That's right, at least mine measured that way.

[MigsG]

@RDB, are you ready to enjoy yours? Looking forward to your notes.

[RDB]

@MigsG that is nice to hear! I am thinking of #4 on Sunday night. It’s getting colder here in the UK...

[nKostyan]

This is the only one of all cigar, which willingly absorbed the humidity of my humidor and then covered with a white coating of mold. Then I moved it to lock-lock and it dried again and began to crunch.
1/3: first salt, tannins, wood. The wrapper is bitter on the lips. It tastes stupid. Slow puff gives a pleasant taste: cream and confectionery spices. Cigar while a low-medium strength. The body is above average due to tannins. The wrapper during puff sparkles with micro-explosions-apparently the leaf wrapper has taken a large amount of minerals from the soil.
2/3: the ashes fall off and don't see the right cone from the fireproof ligero leaves. Again I light a cigar and again got a powerful portion of salt. Slow Smoking gives good taste. The Strenght increases, the taste becomes more assertive. The aftertaste is ash. Started problems with the burn, constantly I align the burn. The taste does not change, just increases the body.
Finally the cigar leveled off in strength/body balance. Here I caught DNA. But after number 4, I'm not sure about anything. Wow, deep puff unexpectedly gives me the taste of roasted sunflower seeds.
3/3: the flavor is dominated by roasted seeds. I feel the relaxing effects of nicotine even though I smoke slowly.

[MigsG]

A very enjoyable review to read. Thanks @nKostyan. My cigar had a crunchy type of wrapper as well. 

[RDB]

My #4 was very well behaved. Nice easy draw, a good burn. Great looking stick: full colorado and good sheen (the flash makes it look paler). Consistent flavours through the first third: milky cocoa, a touch of tea leaf tannin. Mild body and strength. As the cigar progresses into the second half the sweetness decreases, the dark earth bite grows. I thought #1 might be older, but not this: the transition says a young cigar. I like it very much.

[Gamehawker]

Were #2 & #3 revealed yet?

Never mind, I found the thread.

Edited November 12, 2019 by Gamehawker

[Islandboy]

  On 11/9/2019 at 7:42 PM, nKostyan said:

The wrapper is bitter on the lips. It tastes stupid. 

Expand  

I had a similar thought when I first put it to my lips. Luckily it smoked better than indicated by the bitter wrapper. 

While I wouldn’t call mine fireproof, it was certainly slow to respond...high moisture content I think. Taste was good but not excellent, some cocoa at first, but mostly wood and some spices. 

[Diabolicalpherpher]

It was tasty for me, similar flavor to many on the cocoa front. Didn’t notice the bitterness on the wrapper but mine was thick and dry. 

 Narrowed down to two in my mind but I’ll submit none of them as my guess because I’ll have a better chance getting it right. 

[busdriver]

What happened to 1-3 cigars?????  I must have been in some kind of work induced time warp!  Maybe smoking them after the reveal will give me a clue what they are.

[BeerPimp]

  On 11/12/2019 at 11:40 PM, busdriver said:

What happened to 1-3 cigars?????  I must have been in some kind of work induced time warp!  Maybe smoking them after the reveal will give me a clue what they are.

Expand  

They moved the main threads for the blind cigar tasting to the Blind Tasting Cigar Competition sub forum.

https://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/forum/106-foh-blind-tasting-competition/

 

[mwaller]

I smoked #4 last night.  Flavor-wise, there was nothing particularly distinctive about it.  The wrapper was a bit thick and quite oily; this seems to have given the smoke a very oily mouthfeel.  Unfortunately, there's little flavor to go with that oil, so it just tastes... Oily.  There are hints of wood here and there, but they are overwhelmed by the tangy bite of under-aged tobacco.  A dud in my book.

[lovethehaze]

Woody. Sour twang and peppery. Draw wasn’t great. And pitched Into the last 3rd became very tannic. 
anybody's guess 

cheers 

[MountainMilG]

I dunno. Probably over thinking it.  I know what it’s not though. 
 

 

[SenorPerfecto]

This is my favorite so far. Delicious. I have an immediate inclination as to what it is.

[NSXCIGAR]

This was a very good cigar. Very flavorful throughout and good construction. Started quite a bit under medium and finished a true medium. Smoke output was a bit low in the first third but increased quite a bit on the back half.

I'm about 90% sure on it. I think the DNA was there in just about every puff. If it's what I think it is it's not a marca I smoke much of but it was an excellent example of it. 93 points.

[Skypilot]

Should all No. 2’s be the same shape? Mine had a much longer and narrower head than any No. 2’s (monte, dip, party and the upman previously in this contest) I have in my humidor. Does shape get sorted like color for uniformity when a cigar goes into a Box?