TacoSauce NC Diary

[TacoSauce]

Black Works Studio Limited Edition S&R Corona Larga (+): An interesting looking stick with a barber-pole wrapper and a tightly coiled pigtail on the cap. The pre-light aroma is mostly rich wood. The cold draw has the slightly off-putting, solventy note of a room full of old paint cans. After lighting, the cigar opens at a full body and the first half has intense notes of wood, pepper, and bitterness. The bitterness is intense, but fades very quickly making it tolerable. Interestingly, this cigar has full intensity, but the flavors delivered are very different than most other full-bodied cigars. There is no earth, or char flavors to be found here. Occasionally, I get a note of old paint -- which is intense and not enjoyable. The second half adds a dark nutty flavor on top of the existing flavors. An interesting and novel stick which aficionados of full-bodied stick would probably enjoy. However, this profile isn't for me.

[TomsRibs210]

On 7/8/2024 at 2:14 PM, TacoSauce said:

EGM Robustos (-): A nice looking stick I picked up as a single from an EGM order. Minimal pre-light aroma. The cold draw reminds me of the smell of a freshly opened box of cheap, consumer-grade fireworks. Strange, but nice. After lighting, the cigar opens with a strong woody flavor. By the 1/4 inch point a strong bitterness starts that ramps up quickly. By the 1/2 inch point the profile was entirely that of intensely bitter construction lumber. Awful. I couldn't get any farther and tossed the stick at the 3/4 inch point. If someone wanted to make a joke stick that epitomized the worst aspects of a Dominican puro, this would be what they would create. Worst cigar so far of 2024. 100% garbage.

Had been curious because of the non-stop promotion on EGM social media. Thanks for the review!

[TomsRibs210]

On 9/20/2024 at 11:28 AM, TacoSauce said:

Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Sonata Maestro Torpedo (+++): A recommendation from the Lizards' podcast. I have previously tried the Expressivo from Aging Room, and found it to be very flavorful, but a touch to intense. The Sonata is a well packed stick with a dark brown, handsome wrapper. Pre-light aroma reminds me of a leather chair and the cold draw has a slight chemical or plastic note that is a bit off-putting. After lighting the cigar opens just above medium-full body and the initial flavors are wood and milk chocolate. The first third is more intense than I like with a retrohale that can only be tolerated in tiny puffs. Thankfully, starting the second third the cigar settles down somewhere between medium and medium-full. The retrohale smooths out and the flavor shifts to milk chocolate and cappuccino with a bit of wood in the background. These flavors meld together to give a fantastic experience. The construction is excellent and the cigar burns at a slow pace. It gets too hot at the final inch and so I end it there. Recommended.

For this cigar alone, I was glad I started the Lounge Lizards podcast. Even after the podcast I was bearish on trying it. How wrong I was. Great review of great cigar. 

[TomsRibs210]

On 10/16/2023 at 5:09 PM, TacoSauce said:

Dunbarton Muestra de Saka Exclusivo (+): I purchased 5 singles from Dunbarton -- one from each of their main lines. The first 4 were all awful. Construction was so bad that they were either completely unsmokable despite a thorough treatment with the PerfectDraw, or they were barely smokable, but disgusting, bitter, and harsh due to poor draw. I would recommend Swisher Sweets over any of these cigars, they were that bad. Not hyperbole to say that two of these were the worst cigars I have *ever* tried to smoke. In each case, I tossed the Dunbarton stick and smoked a Drew Estates stick ordered from the same vendor, at the same time, and stored under identical conditions (65% Boveda in a wooden humidor): each of the Drew Estates smoked flawlessly.

The final stick from this set was the Exclusivo. When I took this one out of the humidor, I noticed that the upper half of the wrapper had developed multiple 2- to 3-inch long vertical splits. You could tell from gently squeezing the cigar that the upper half was overpacked and this was causing the wrapper to crack/split. I purchased some PerfectGlue and ended up painting the entire top half of the cigar to try to "fix" the issues. After drying, I cut the cap and Hallelujah, there was a decent draw! The first third was mild-medium and unoffensive. The remainder of the stick, however, developed a sweetness and mustiness that was very nice. Despite the happy ending, I will not be revisiting anything from this brand. While Steve Saka might have some skill in blending, it is clear he knows squat about construction. Hard to imagine a NC shop could have worse QC than Tabacuba, but Dunbarton manages to pull it off!

 

EDIT: I was asked about how long these sticks had acclimated after purchase, since they may have arrived over-humidified. For the 4 sticks that smoked terribly, they were stored using 65% Boveda in a wooden humidor for a minimum of 4 weeks before the first one was smoked. The last of those 4 duds was probably smoked after 8 weeks of acclimation. These were purchased with a huge order of singles that all arrived and were stored together. The Dunbartons were the only ones that had this issue.

I took a nine year break from smoking cigars before restarting in March 2024, and in that time Steve Saka became a niche superstar. I really want to like his products because I like his persona but beyond Sobremesa Brûlée Blue, it’s not my wheelhouse. I’ve tried all product lines in some vitola or another but it feels like those Magic Eye posters when everyone saw some hidden object but I didn’t. 

[TacoSauce]

Black Works Studio NBK Corona Larga (++): A 6x46 stick with a closed foot - love the size! The aroma off the wrapper was wood bark and a slight canned fruit note. The cold draw also gave the same canned fruit note. After lighting, the cigar opened just under medium-full and the flavor was varnish and earth. Initially the retrohale was too strong to enjoy, but it settled down and was manageable after one inch. At this point, some black coffee and a pronounced date-like flavor joined. The date flavor is the star here and was delicious. In the final third, the body jumped to just above medium-full. The date flavor disappeared and the dominant flavors were now varnish and petrachor. I didn't like this new profile so I tossed the stick at this point. For the duration with the date flavor, this was excellent and '+++' worthy, however the last third ruined the experience for me.

[TacoSauce]

Sanj Patel Industry Killer Deluxe Habano (++): Had the Cameroon previously, and now trying the Habano. Like the Cameroon stick I tried, this is a strangely spongey stick. It is likely under-packed and probably intentionally so. Pre-light aroma and cold draw are both baseball glove leather. After lighting, this stick opens at a mild-medium body and the flavor is mostly pencil shavings. As I get further into the first third, the pencil shavings disappear and the flavor shifts entirely to roasted nuts. It maintained this profile until the last inch, when a nice note of smoked meat joined. It stayed mild-medium until the end. The light packing made this cigar smoke a bit fast and slightly hot, but it didn't reach the point where it was considered a detriment. This was a very good, albeit one-dimensional experience. I liked the Cameroon version a little more than this one.

[TacoSauce]

PuroExpress Bespoke Bespoke 48 (+): A fat shorty coming in around 4.25 inches and 48 ring gauge. This was shared with me by FOHer @trader1974. It arrived with no band or identifying info, so I was smoking it blind. It has a pigtail and a closed foot. Absolutely no aroma from the wrapper pre-light and only a faint sourness on the cold draw. The wrapper feels a little crunchy even though it has been stored for months at 65%. All this taken together makes me think that this stick has quite a bit of age on it. After lighting the cigar opens just under medium-full. There are black pepper, charred wood, fudge, and dried stone-fruit flavors from the start. Pepper and wood is dominant with the fruit note showing up just on the edge. The fudge notes are gone after the first inch. This stick produces a crazy amount of smoke and the smoke has a thick and slightly gritty texture -- this is different and kind of fun. The body builds to just over medium-full by the end, but the flavor notes stay consistent. Overall, this was an interesting smoke, too much punch & pepper to make me want to go back for another.

[trader1974]

4 hours ago, TacoSauce said:

PuroExpress Bespoke Bespoke 48 (+): A fat shorty coming in around 4.25 inches and 48 ring gauge. This was shared with me by FOHer @trader1974. It arrived with no band or identifying info, so I was smoking it blind. It has a pigtail and a closed foot. Absolutely no aroma from the wrapper pre-light and only a faint sourness on the cold draw. The wrapper feels a little crunchy even though it has been stored for months at 65%. All this taken together makes me think that this stick has quite a bit of age on it. After lighting the cigar opens just under medium-full. There are black pepper, charred wood, fudge, and dried stone-fruit flavors from the start. Pepper and wood is dominant with the fruit note showing up just on the edge. The fudge notes are gone after the first inch. This stick produces a crazy about of smoke and the smoke has a thick and slightly gritty texture -- this is different and kind of fun. The body build to just over medium-full by the end, but the flavor notes stay consistent. Overall, this was an interesting smoke, too much punch & pepper to make me want to go back for another.

I was very interested in getting your take on these. I thought they were pretty good, especially for the price point. Much like yourself, I found these to be a little "different", but not quite sure why. I really like the size on these. Thanks for the review.