Blind Cigar Tasting Competition Thread: Cigar Number 2

[CanuckSARTech]

Damn. I think you're all going down....

[CanuckSARTech]

Blind Cigar Tasting Competition, Cigar No. 2, "Robusto" format - final score, 87

So, here's my review of the second cigar in this blind cigar tasting competition....

Reviewed Cigar: Blind Cigar No. 2

Box Date: Unknown (current production)

Factory/Manufacture Code: Unknown

Packaging: Unknown

Price: Never talk money...

Length: 4 7/8", or 124 mm

Ring Gauge: 50

Format: Robusto

Weight: Don't you know it isn't polite to ask a fella this??

Construction/Appearance & Pre-Light: Noticed that this cigar was bang on at 124 mm for a "robusto" vitola, and the ring gauge was also right on at 50 mm (knocks off a few "robusto wannabes"). The wrapper was a beautiful reddish Colorado tone, with no blemishes or green spots or major defects at all (one slight water spot). There was a fair amount of light tooth to this wrapper, with a nice textured feel to the touch (not too "sandpapery"). The head had a fairly hard to see triple cap (colour variation to the piece of tobacco used for the cap made it look like it was only a single-cap). The head of this had a fairly noticeable squared top to it, and the foot was decently-enough packed (appeared to be more open towards the middle, and more dense tobacco compaction around the outside perimeter). Heft and feel of the cigar were overall good and firm, with one slight soft spot about 2/3 of the way up the cigar from the foot. After clipping, pre-light draw seemed to be way too free and easy. On the mouth at cold, very distinct flavours of gingerbread and rose hips.

Opening Impressions: After a lighting up and initial draws, starting to notice that the draw actually seemed to close up a bit, just a nice amount of resistance there. A great draw actually. Got some heavy tones of woody tobacco.

First Third: One relight to be had during this third. Distinct hits of a few items, flavour-wise....but started to get some very tingy and metallic hits of harsh youth to this cigar. Coming forward in this third, and with the flavours I was getting, started to get a notable thought of what this cigar was. Quite sure already. A medium-light cigar, with definite youth issues, but a distinct profile it seemed.

Second Third: The flavours were building here, but then I started to get some relight problems again (two more relights in this third), so I got some occasional carbon-flavoured issues. The body was definitely creeping up into a solid medium here.

Final Third: Yup, I think I know what this is. Again, continuance of the second third here. Flavour profile there for sure (missing one element though that I enjoy with this cigar), but it could be the obvious youth/harshness on this stick.

Finishing Comments / Overall Impression: Pretty good, overall. Seems very freshly made, and does seem true to form for the vitola. This seems like it would mellow out well and be a lovely stick in easily a year's time, tops. An 87 now, would be a likely 90-91 candidate in a year or two. But, the best part of this cigar??? Standing outside, walking around with my little guy (Mason, 2 years and 9 months old), as he finally learned to ride his tricycle and USE THE PEDALS!!! Damn kid - for whatever reason, he's insisted on using his feet, and just pushing himself along while sitting on the trike, and shuffling along "Flintstones"-style. But, one of the neighbourhood kids was out riding his bike, and he helped me coax Mason into giving things a try with the pedals. So, I had an hour and a bit, puffing away on this cigar, and watching him revel in this feat. Something nice to absorb in, before I have to step away from the family for a bit. A cool experience to enjoy.

Anywho, full review and call of the cigar PM'd to Rob. Yup, you're all going down fellas!

Final Score: 87

Total Smoking Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Paired Beverage: Initially, a glass of amarone wine, but then, just a spring water afterwards.

Date & Time Smoked: Wednesday, April 13th, 2011, 5:20 pm to 6:35 pm

Thanks for reading my review. Hope you enjoyed it.

Cheers.

[soltino]

Mystery Cigar no.2

I'm not a fan of Robustos - in fact I only have one box in my humidor - so I'm not expecting to guess this at all!

First third: Opening is pretty harsh, and a bit muddled. Not getting much of any one particular flavour at all. Quite dark fruit, possibly some gingerbread, but generally just a bit acrid to be honest.

Second Third: Settles a little, getting black coffee, still pretty sharp and dank almost, fruit still prominent

Final Third: A bit heavier but nothing new coming through.

Overall an unimpressive cigar. Has this changed my mind about Robustos as a vitola? Nope. This size is just not for me! As for a guess as to what this is, well, hard to tell. It does seem very young, as others have said as well, and very muddled. I couldn't discern any noticeable characteristics of any marques, so this is going to have to be a complete guess!!

[bigfunkyg]

Mystery Robusto - Blind Review 2

Yep, it's a Robusto. Can't over analyze that one too much. Decent looking cigar, a bit lumpy and uneven but a good looking wrapper and a faint aroma at cold.

Pre-light, nice clean cut and wonderful draw.

First impressions after lighting. This cigar got up from across the room, walke over to me, smacked me in the face and said (in a tough guy voice), "you think your gonna smoke me, you *****?" Holy crap, is this thing strong! Strongs peppery spicyness and ammonia. I don't think I can take a whole Robusto of this. Hopefully this brute calms down and we figure out a way to get along.

End of First Third - He's still a bit grumpy but he's calming down now. The ammonia is all gone and the pepper is fading but incomming is a much more pleasant sweeter spice. Burn is perfect with a very nice tight white ash.

End of Second Third - now we are talking to each other. He's not such a bad guy afterall. Not much depth but the sweet spice is coming through is spades now, and is very enjoyable. Burn and draw are absolutely perfect. I put him down for about 5 minutes at one point but just needed a quick touch up to get him going again.

End of Last Third - I think I know who you are now. It's been a nice hour and twenty minutes. I'm glad me and the brute ended up gettin along. He turned out not to be such a bad guy, however I don't think I'm gonna get his email address from him and hang out again. Maybe he will grow up a bit more in a few years and I will cross paths with him then.

Final Score 89. PM Sent with guess.

G

[LateApex]

Quick review, as I smoked this last weekend deep into a bottle of Priorat and in mixed company. No notes, but here's my impression:

Pre-Light Appearance: Lots of green splotches, fine light colorado wrapper. Decent construction, but nothing outstanding

Pre-Light Aroma: Notes on honey resonate with me, along with mild toasted (or slightly aged) tobacco

Draw: On the firm side. Just slightly more resistance than I would consider perfect, but not bad. It yielded a good amount of smoke

First 1/3: More mild than I typically like. No significant characteristics leap out from memory - no real spice or soap. Maybe a bit of grass and some creaminess

Second 1/3: Much the same as the first

Final 1/3: Strength picked up. Became more acrid and some bitterness. It went out at the start of the final 1/3, I re-lit once, then when it died the second time I put it down

Overall: I liked it better than the Siglo but this cigar is not what I thought it would be! I still think Rob will throw us a ringer, so I am going to PM him an off the wall guess. It does seem young, and not the flavor profile I tend to like. Can't wait to see what it is.

[Peter11216]

Thanks for the review. I read it with interest. It sounds like you'll always remember this cigar! A rather random thought: Using a helmet is a good idea, though it makes me wonder. I'm sure my father didn't put a helmet on me when I was learning. Is it a change that we are more cautious with our kids "these days," or were some people always cautious?

Blind Cigar Tasting Competition, Cigar No. 2, "Robusto" format - final score, 87

So, here's my review of the second cigar in this blind cigar tasting competition....

Reviewed Cigar: Blind Cigar No. 2

Box Date: Unknown (current production)

Factory/Manufacture Code: Unknown

Packaging: Unknown

Price: Never talk money...

Length: 4 7/8", or 124 mm

Ring Gauge: 50

Format: Robusto

Weight: Don't you know it isn't polite to ask a fella this??

Construction/Appearance & Pre-Light: Noticed that this cigar was bang on at 124 mm for a "robusto" vitola, and the ring gauge was also right on at 50 mm (knocks off a few "robusto wannabes"). The wrapper was a beautiful reddish Colorado tone, with no blemishes or green spots or major defects at all (one slight water spot). There was a fair amount of light tooth to this wrapper, with a nice textured feel to the touch (not too "sandpapery"). The head had a fairly hard to see triple cap (colour variation to the piece of tobacco used for the cap made it look like it was only a single-cap). The head of this had a fairly noticeable squared top to it, and the foot was decently-enough packed (appeared to be more open towards the middle, and more dense tobacco compaction around the outside perimeter). Heft and feel of the cigar were overall good and firm, with one slight soft spot about 2/3 of the way up the cigar from the foot. After clipping, pre-light draw seemed to be way too free and easy. On the mouth at cold, very distinct flavours of gingerbread and rose hips.

Opening Impressions: After a lighting up and initial draws, starting to notice that the draw actually seemed to close up a bit, just a nice amount of resistance there. A great draw actually. Got some heavy tones of woody tobacco.

First Third: One relight to be had during this third. Distinct hits of a few items, flavour-wise....but started to get some very tingy and metallic hits of harsh youth to this cigar. Coming forward in this third, and with the flavours I was getting, started to get a notable thought of what this cigar was. Quite sure already. A medium-light cigar, with definite youth issues, but a distinct profile it seemed.

Second Third: The flavours were building here, but then I started to get some relight problems again (two more relights in this third), so I got some occasional carbon-flavoured issues. The body was definitely creeping up into a solid medium here.

Final Third: Yup, I think I know what this is. Again, continuance of the second third here. Flavour profile there for sure (missing one element though that I enjoy with this cigar), but it could be the obvious youth/harshness on this stick.

Finishing Comments / Overall Impression: Pretty good, overall. Seems very freshly made, and does seem true to form for the vitola. This seems like it would mellow out well and be a lovely stick in easily a year's time, tops. An 87 now, would be a likely 90-91 candidate in a year or two. But, the best part of this cigar??? Standing outside, walking around with my little guy (Mason, 2 years and 9 months old), as he finally learned to ride his tricycle and USE THE PEDALS!!! Damn kid - for whatever reason, he's insisted on using his feet, and just pushing himself along while sitting on the trike, and shuffling along "Flintstones"-style. But, one of the neighbourhood kids was out riding his bike, and he helped me coax Mason into giving things a try with the pedals. So, I had an hour and a bit, puffing away on this cigar, and watching him revel in this feat. Something nice to absorb in, before I have to step away from the family for a bit. A cool experience to enjoy.

Anywho, full review and call of the cigar PM'd to Rob. Yup, you're all going down fellas!

Final Score: 87

Total Smoking Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Paired Beverage: Initially, a glass of amarone wine, but then, just a spring water afterwards.

Date & Time Smoked: Wednesday, April 13th, 2011, 5:20 pm to 6:35 pm

Thanks for reading my review. Hope you enjoyed it.

Cheers.

[Sutton]

Well it started to get warm here in the Canadian Praries, it was +12*C during the day. i went out at 11:00 pm with a coca cola and a cigar & enjoyed the hot tub.

I had the cigar cut for a half hour suckling on it trying to get a taste from it, had it up to the nose a lot too, taking it all in.(as bad as that sounds).

The Cigar was pretty much the same all the way threw for flavours, I had cocoa , cinnamon, a little bit of pepper & hints of a stone fruit. The intensity got stronger the farther down I smoked. I pretty much nub all my cigars, I enjoyed this guy, it definatly seemed young. But i had to part ways when i got to the final inch the cigar was very bitter.

I would smoke again.

[cgarner]

Mystery Cigar #2

Wrapper - light brown, greenish hue

Draw - loose

Initial impression - acidic, ammonia, very harsh (reminds me of a very bad $20 plus NC)

1st third - crappy flavor that I can only describe as burnt tar

2nd third - crap

final third - most likely crap, but I can't say for sure because I trashed this stick after the 2nd third.

Final thought - spot on burn, draw was effortless and so wasa the burn (this thing would have smoked its self, copious amounts of smoke.

I did not score this cigar because I wouldn't give it to my worst enemy. That would be too cruel.

I have not idea what this cigar is.

Blind guess PMed.

[El Presidente]

I have been away and have a bit of correspondence to catch up on.

I will reply to all those who have made selections since Tuesday over the weekend.

Well done to all

[olotti]

Reading through all these reviews it's amazing that we all actually have the same cigar. Some cigars sound like just crap, others are getting honey and sweetness, some are fairly light in body or med, while the one I had and was most def full, but I got zero honey, some have spice some don't. I would think that It's hard to make an educated guess especially if you get one of the cigars that is so bad ya pitch it half way through. How can this be? I'm baffled. Heck atleast 25 of these are from the same box and the experiences differ wildly, also taking into account that obviously people's palates are way diff. What one person calls honey I may call something else. I guess the point in my rant is how amazed I am at the vastly diff reviews that can take place from essentially the exact same cigar. Interesting stuff.

[dicko]

Reading through all these reviews it's amazing that we all actually have the same cigar. Some cigars sound like just crap, others are getting honey and sweetness, some are fairly light in body or med, while the one I had and was most def full, but I got zero honey, some have spice some don't. I would think that It's hard to make an educated guess especially if you get one of the cigars that is so bad ya pitch it half way through. How can this be? I'm baffled. Heck atleast 25 of these are from the same box and the experiences differ wildly, also taking into account that obviously people's palates are way diff. What one person calls honey I may call something else. I guess the point in my rant is how amazed I am at the vastly diff reviews that can take place from essentially the exact same cigar. Interesting stuff.

I dunno. Could have been as simple as a roller getting a bad batch of tobacco and rolling half a dozen horrible, horrible cigars unknowingly. I think cgarner, myself and a few others got some dodgy sticks. Cuban quality control!

[greenpimp]

Mystery robusto:

Medium Colorado with a tightish draw. First puffs show light earth and lots of cocoa. Slightly sweet, mild to medium body... Bit of youthful woodiness and some cherryinitially. Cigar turns slightly stronger. Darker chocolate with more earth on the finish. Good burn though wispy draw requires a slow double clutch to receive adequate smoke.

In the second third, Graham cracker element shows up. Cigar is flitting around different profiles, hard to nail down at this point. The persistent cocoa semi sweetness points towards some and away from others...

Blasts of cocoa dominate as the final third opens medium bodied with overall excellent smoking characteristics now including better smoke production. Falls apart with a couple inches left. Overall very pleasant and in the final review recognizable, which likely means I am wrong of course.

I would score this cigar a solid 87-88. Flavorful, interesting. Well suited for an spring afternoon sitting in the sun.

PM sent to Rob.

-Matt

[ckearns]

Apologies for the quick review. Trying to get it in before the deadline and still keep other plans. Appearance was a light Colorado wrapper. Again, mine had construction issues (dent on the head, foot was cut at an angle and some of the filler tobacco was protruding). The cigar was pretty nondescript during the first third. Things picked up after that point and I started to get some of the nuances others have described (cream, chocolate sweetness, tiny bit of honey, etc). I really tried to look for some of the rarer profiles Ken sometimes talks about like old lady's handbag and gentlemen's undercarriage , but no dice. Mine stayed at full medium the whole time and I'm positive I've never had this particular cigar before. Guess sent to Rob.

[Azksig]

Mystery Blind Taste Cigar #2

4/13, 3:30 PM, 85 degrees Fahrenheit/29 degrees Celsius

Phoenix, Arizona

Paired with a Iced Tea

Vitola- rubusto.

Wrapper had a big split down the middle. Had some issues due to transport and by the time I smoked it it looked ugly. Lots of tears.

Aroma at cold - Sweet tobacco with a hint of spice.

Draw - Good. I was worried because of the condition if the wrapper

1/3 - Toasted tobacco is predominant flavor. Had some floral elements to it. Had some creaminess as well. The burn was great considering the condition of the wrapper.

2/3 - The burn is still good. Some bitterness has come through but then has some woody character. Some floral notes which could be some of the soap that people talked about but wasn't unpleasant. It's right at medium. Getting some leather notes.

Final 3rd - Toasted tobacco is still there along with some grassy notes followed by some earthiness.

I would rate this an 86/87. Mainly due to the appearance of the cigar. The construction issues didn't seemed to affect the flavor which I was really surprised about. I took a picture but didn't have enough time to upload it. it looked like it had been in my wifes purse for a weekend.

pm sent to Rob

[dizedean]

Mystery Cigar #2

I measured it to be 50 X 124 clearly a Robusto no surprise there.

I thought the construction to be fine, well filled attractive wrapper.

Aroma at cold: baled hay-sweet oats

I clipped the cigar and it took to the lighter beautifully.

It burned well with no problems the whole way through.

There was plenty of smoke although the draw was a little too easy for my taste.

Right off the bat this baby tinged the nose with pepper.

Initial taste was a mix of spices, not showing much of the hay I found at cold.

It gave me savory, aromatic citrus perfume notes.

As it proceeded I started to get some of that sweet hay.

I'm thinking I know what this is but there continues to be heavy pepper which has me questioning myself.

I also am getting a lot of real nicotine tobacco rush (which for a cone head like me is alright).

The barnyard, baled hay taste continued to the end, all along bringing the ever present spice.

Based on the previous reviews I think I enjoyed this more than most.

I would give this a solid 86-88

But I don't have a damn clue what I just smoked.

Good Luck .

DSS

[bigmanfromou]

Blind Cigar #2:

I've been sick all week and thought I might have been well enough to give this a shot. I was dead wrong.

Pre-light:

I taste nothing

1st third:

Tasted like acrid flatulence with a little bit of spice. Unfortunately, I still have no sense of taste.

I had to call it quits after that, was making my head spin.

Hopefully I'll have all of my senses by the end of the month. LOL

[Habanos2000]

Mystery cigar #2

Robusto

smoked on 4/9/11

I have to say that robusto's are one of my favorite vitola's, so I was more than looking forward to lighting this one up.

Initial observations, in contrast to the Cohiba PC I had which had an extremely round head, this robusto's head was very flat. Almost like it was pressed down. The wrapper was light colorado in shade with very light veins running throughout. There was a small tear in the wrapper about 2/3rd's up from the foot. The fill at the foot had me a bit concerned that it was underfilled and my fears would soon be realized. The aroma at cold was a sweet tobacco bouquet and upon cutting the head, the draw was worse than a wind tunnel, very, very open.

1st third: The open draw required very light drags in an attempt to keep the cigar from getting too hot and bitter. I already had the feeling that the draw was going to be a problem in enjoying any subtilties this robusto might have. I wasn't picking up much flavor other than straight ahead tobacco. The body was right about medium but, again, the smoke was on the harsh side. I had a few instances of the burn going a little squirrly and needed to touch it up with my blazer, but kept plugging away (no pun intended). The first ash dropped 21 minutes in.

2nd third: Still a loose draw but the slow drags allowed me to pick up some hints of sweet peppers and a little black pepper on top of the tobacco base. Burn still not even and still needed to do some touch up work. 2nd ash dropped 37 minutes in.

Final stretch: The last third of the cigar felt very soft now, almost squishy. Getting close to the end, I could really fell the cigar start to heat up. Not noticing any evolution in taste, the loose fill was the death knell right from the start. Only picking up some pepper flavor at the very end, not much else. 45 minutes and it was all over.

I was quite disappointed in this cigar, the quality of the roll has so much to do with the enjoyment, or lack thereof.

Ultimately I will have to rate this particular stick an 84. Bummer.

PM sent

[semery74]

Delicious Red Grapefruit all the way through the cigar. One the best moments of my life. Thank you.

[SeanL]

Inconsistent flavour and construction. I will take a gamble at guessing the cigar, but didnt' really get enough to make a good guess. Who knows what this cigar will be like in the future, but I don't think it was ready yet.

[messa]

Decent construction. Had to touch up burn twice.

Pre-light aroma of cedar

All in all a pretty crap cigar. Wood flavors dominated and were almost acrid. Barely got half way through and tossed it.

I have know idea what this cigar was.

[jmasterj]

Everyone should have their guesses in by now. But here is a quick side-by-side that I was able to capture since I have a few robustos lying around.

I got Thai-tea and cream...that is, teak/woody/creaminess with a hints(sometimes large hints) of perfume floral. Medium body. Good cigar all the way around as long as I didn't draw excessively.

A good selection of side-by-side comparisons

Visual comparison taking in aspects for size shape and cut, I was able to get it down to these. I hope I was right.

Good luck!

[Professor Twain]

Nice smooth, creamy cigar, predominant taste is clean fresh light tobacco, with hints of toasted hazelnuts. Not particularly complicated and didn't develop, but a very enjoyable cigar. To my mind very representative of one of my favorite cigars. Eager to see it unmasked.

[Cohiba007]

Mild-Medium. Floral and citrus. I am fairly certain I know what this cigar is. But I was fairly certain about cigar one too.

[adic88]

I didn't actually get to smoke this cigar... have been done with a terrible throat flu the whole week...

So i just blind guessed based on appearance... gg.

[Van55]

I didn't actually get to smoke this cigar... have been done with a terrible throat flu the whole week...

So i just blind guessed based on appearance... gg.

I am sorry to hear that you have been ailing, Aizuddin. I hope you will favor us with a video review of this Robusto when you feel up to it.