2014 Blind Tasting Competition: Reviews : Cigar Number 1


Recommended Posts

Well some of you have commenced smoking your first Blind Tasting Cigar.

Please post your review on this thread without giving away what cigar you think it is

Good luck to all competitors spotlight.gif

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cigar No. 1

No. 1 is covered in a silky smooth, veiny, light brown wrapper. A squeeze indicates that it's well packed and solid. Touching the cigar to my nose gives a wonderful barnyard smell.

The pre-light flavor alone is that of spicy cinnamon.

Into the first inch, my palate is covered in spice and roasted nuts - a cashew note to be exact. There's a slight harshness on the finish.

No. 1 has a bit of a tight draw, the smoke output is low. It continues on into the second third... the spice has picked up (especially through the nose) and the harshness has receded. It's all roasted cashews, some cinnamon and spice.

At the halfway point the draw opens up, pouring smoke. The flavors of roasted cashew remain. The spice covers my palate like a syrup, tingling my entire mouth and lips. The ash is rock solid and dark gray; staying for two inches at a time. A well constructed cigar.

By the final third, the harshness is back, only accompanied by that wonderful spice. This is definitely a medium-strength cigar, never going into the full category for me. I throw it in the ashtray with half an inch left.

Overall this was a good cigar, not great. Cigar No. 1 needs some time to come together and alleviate the harsh note. I think I know what this is. The flavors of roasted cashew, cinnamon and spice reminds me a lot of a cigar that I love (when I'm able to get a good box). I'm going to go smoke one of those now to see if my hypothesis is correct!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

These are my cigars:

post-15810-0-65939300-1395511571_thumb.j

Robusto format, round shape, good construction, with thinnish wrapper and smooth, oily and small veins. Draw a bit tight to start.

post-15810-0-68439500-1395511573_thumb.j

Opening was not earthy, no grassyness. A bit of leather, a bit of cedar and cream, lots of cream. Almost a buttery type texture in the mouth. A little bit of stone fruit through the nose, and not too much of a finish.

post-15810-0-65298600-1395511576_thumb.j

Second third much the same as the first but the draw opened up and got a few good hits of nuts.

post-15810-0-58870300-1395511579_thumb.j

Last third turned a bit bitter/ashy. Finished lingered for much longer in the end with that roasted peanuts taste in the mouth.

post-15810-0-82477200-1395511641_thumb.j

Medium to full bodied throughout, very enjoyable cigar. paired with sprite and water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally has some free time, with good weather, to get out and smoke cigar #1. Pics will follow (having issues downloading them from my cellphone).

Cigar #1

Cigar #1 has a nice brown, slightly veiny, thinnish wrapper. Nice solid roll, no skimping on the tobacco. It has a nice earthy smell to it. Once clipped, it had a tight draw which did loosen up the further I got into the cigar.

First third: Peppery/spicy start mellowing as I neared the end of the first 1/3. Slight bluish/gray smoke and a good burn with white/gray ash.

20140321_133144_zps4c5a8237.jpg

Second third: Peppery/spicy gave way to earthy tobacco that strengthened near the end of the second third of the cigar. The draw loosened some as the bluish/gray smoke became more evident. The smoke had a sweet tobacco aroma to it. The good burn continued with white/gray ash.

20140321_134238_zps04c7c329.jpg

Last third: The earthy flavor transitioned into a leathery, grassy finish.

20140321_141307_zpse24577cb.jpg

I burned this one pretty deep. This wasn't a bad cigar, however, I think this cigar would be much better with some age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Smoked this cigar few days ago.

Quite easy and enjoyable cigar. not a stellar.

Construction: impeccable (as you can see in picture). Ash hold off beautifully; no touch-ups required.

Nice light colorado wrapper; nothing exceptional.

Aroma at cold: Barnyard; some sweetness to it.

Body: Medium. Even a touch below at times.

Flavor: The cigar started off with some spice, mainly white pepper, not harsh or aggressive; There was a buttery feel to it; Second third the spice disappeared and I got more of a earthy leathery tone to it; still a bit buttery; last third was more of the same, but also some fruit characteristic to it (but very low) and a little bit of coffee.

Overall: Quite enjoyable mid day cigar; relatively smooth; great construction.

Enjoy guys.

post-7204-0-94893200-1395754133_thumb.jp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blind Cigar Tasting No.1

This is my first blind tasting experience. I am excited to learn more about cigars and to test my uninfluenced palate.
I paired this cigar with some sunshine and fresh air.
Appearance: Slight box press, construction a bit spongy, some water spots on the wrapper. Some prominent veins on the wrapper and the triple cap looks a bit hastily applied. the construction though seeming a bit under filled is consistent throughout the length of the stick. can see the glue mark from one band but not two.
Cold Draw: Fruity with a lot of honey sweetness and a touch of wet grass.
Initial Draws: Honey dominant, floral, fruit, grass, - light/med body - The draw is perfect but I think I will need to smoke this slowly so as to prevent over heating towards the end.
1st Third: Cedar wood with lashings of honey dominating the profile, there is also a touch of tangerine citrus flavour with some mild pepper.
2nd: Creamy milk chocolate has shown itself with the citrus, pepper and cedar still holding true. The honey that was so dominant in the first third, has now ebbed away. Ash falls at the half way point and the flavours settle into woody milk chocolate cream.
3rd: The core flavours of sweet wood and cream continue to dominate, with chocolate relegated to the finish only. The peper spice picks up towards the end with a long sweet wood finish.
Overall this was an excellent smoking experience that transcended though a myriad of flavours, it was medium body with some nicotine strength present. In my 10 years of smoking Cuban cigars I don’t think I have tried this stick before. The flavour profile is very similar to another cigar I have smoked from the marca I have chosen for this stick, I have also experienced similar flavours in a swiss regional edition from a different marca I purchased from Sauters London recently. I am reasonably happy with my guess, but we will see..
post-16665-0-16834900-1395760428_thumb.p
post-16665-0-86807200-1395760457_thumb.p
P.S. When this cigar is revealed I would appreciate the box code. I was so impressed that I think a box purchase may be on the cards.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Construction okay, but so underfilled and spongy at the head that the wrapper split when I clipped the cap. Draw is surprisingly good.

First third: very mild and smooth but no discernible flavours. Pretty bland.

Second third: some sweetness developing but still pretty bland. Straight tobacco.

Last third: more of the same.

Got no idea what this is. Thing has no character at all.

post-5617-0-50362100-1395829040_thumb.jp

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Construction okay, but so underfilled and spongy at the head that the wrapper split when I clipped the cap. Draw is surprisingly good.

First third: very mild and smooth but no discernible flavours. Pretty bland.

Second third: some sweetness developing but still pretty bland. Straight tobacco.

Last third: more of the same.

Got no idea what this is. Thing has no character at all.

One day I will work out how to get the pictures orientated the right way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If this is a Robusto from a top brand I'm avoiding young cigars from now on. Bland, bland, bland.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FOH 2014 Blind tasting Cigar #1

 

 

 

 

1PM last Saturday. On the deck with decent weather, a light breeze, and a bottle of water.

 

 

 

 

 

Cabinet or A/T Robustos with Colorado wrapper, smooth, oily and lightly veined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well constructed though there was a firm spot 5/8 down from the foot.

 

 

 

 

 

Clipped and sniffed. Tea and tobacco on the nose, quite faint bouquet. Cold draw showed light citrus and hay.

 

 

 

 

 

Took well to a long match showing a light side of medium bodied on the start. Draw was tight and smoke production limited.

 

 

 

 

 

Fairly rich to begin with a touch of strength which quickly faded.

 

 

 

 

 

Light toast, citrus and balsa wood notes. Easy on the retrohale, burn off just a touch. Almost indiscernible aroma.

 

 

 

 

 

Picked up some faint hazelnut and pale treacle, ash was a light gray and fairly firm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 1:20 I kneaded the knot a bit which did help with the draw. Medium length marzipan finish.

 

 

 

 

 

I find it a somewhat dry smoke, not creamy or oily - tannins showing. A little light spice on the retrohale now.

 

 

 

 

 

First ash around 1:30, a little flaky - smoke production begins to pick up and a definite touch of sweetness, still with fleeting orange peel notes and slight cream coming in. A bit like a watered down Creamsicle.

 

 

 

 

 

Second third at half an hour in presented light leather notes, no earth, no pepper. Still that astringency though the oils are rising through the wrapper, nice sheen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needed a relight half way in, still tannic with tea, tobacco and a semi-sweet milky sensation - condensed milk?

 

 

 

 

 

Final third back to light woodiness, tea, citrus pretty much gone. It is starting to fade out with a semi-sour metallic note, still drying, bit of red pepper through the nose.

 

 

 

 

 

Smoke production really picked up near the end with a little more woodiness though bitterness began to creep in at the last inch.

 

 

 

 

 

Extinguished around 2:50, 1 hour 40 minutes total smoking time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This particular cigar did not quite hit my wheelhouse as the flavors were quite muted, though it was not bad as a first smoke of the day. Only a couple of possibilities come to mind, hope the one I pick is the right one.

 

 

 

 

 

If it's the ringer I think it could be I will not be pleased as I don't think he'd toss that one in.....wouldn't put it past Rob though. We shall see.

 

Edited by Nick_Tech
(Image Link Removed)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This cigar was part of a 5 cigar sampler pack that I ordered from an online Cuban cigar supplier. They run a contest each year where you buy a sampler of cigars, smoke them blind, and then have to make a guess as to what they are. If you get all 5 correct you get a significant gift certificate through them. Unfortunately I don’t have as much experience smoking Cuban cigars as most of the other members, but it sounded like a fun contest so I signed up.

BlindTastingCubanCigar1Thumbnail.jpg?wid Nose:

Lots of cedar, with some hints of pepper. I think the nose is already giving me clues as to what this cigar is.

Construction:

All of the 5 cigars in the taster pack are robusto vitola, measuring 4.9” by 50 ring gauge. They’ve clearly been carefully selected to either be as similar or possible, or for the slightly longer ones to throw you off the hunt (I’m guessing one offs that are longer than they should be). An industrious person might use the CubanCigarWebsite to narrow down the possible production choices to 10 (4 of which I have in my current inventory).

However after lining up the Bolivar Royal Corona, Ramons Allones Specially Selected, Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, and Partagas Series D No. 4 (why oh why did I smoke my only Cohiba Robusto?) I’m no closer to solving the identity crisis that before.

BlindTastingCubanCigar1Full.jpg?width=29

Flavor: First Third

Sweet and creamy to start off. The cedar that I was picking up so strongly on the nose is extremely light here. There is a white pepper present but it is delayed on the tasting.

A few minutes in and my brain is screaming at me which cigar this is. I’m going to be laughably embarrassed I’m sure when I find out I’m wrong.

The pepper starts to fall off not too far into the first third. There’s a very subtle mixture of hay and grass that starts to break through at the end of the draw.

Middle Third

Some leather notes going into the second third. It’s subtle and it plays nicely against the creaminess that is still present.

At about the middle of ‘Cigar #1’ I start to taste some light mineral flavors. As the cigar continues to develop there’s some nutty flavors that start to develop complexity. It stands out against most of the other flavors as they are all quite subtle.

Last Third

Still quite nutty with the creamy notes not far behind going into the final third. The pepper that fell off in the first third comes back, again as a delayed flavor on the draw.

Burn/Draw:

I’ve been doing more v-cuts, especially with Cuban cigars. The v-cut was too tight so I did an x-cut and it opened up, although still a bit on the tight side. Burn was decent, total smoking time was 1 hour and 35 minutes.

Value:

This is absolutely a case where value is going to be subjective. The 5 cigar selection tasting pack was $85, which works out to $17 a stick. This can either be a good value or a bad value depending on what exactly was included. The real win for me here is the chance to participate in a fun experiment, not to mention the chance to win a $500 US Cuban cigar shopping spree.

Final Word:

This was overall an enjoyable cigar. The flavors were quite light, but overall they were balanced. Generally I prefer the flavors to be more pronounced and complex, however I’m reasonably confident that I’ve already smoked quite a few of these. Only time will tell whether I’m a winner or just a wiener.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got it smoked today! The weather gods were very kind and gave me an hour and a half of sunshine!

I thought I would be awkward and do something different and pick out flavours from the above reviews that I didn't get, just to see how different we taste things.

I tasted:

-No leather at all, not once

-Zero spice, not once!

-Zero pepper

-Zero grass

Hmm interesting! I did enjoy the cigar a lot though, tons of smoke and while young it showed a hell of a lot of promise, only starting to show it's youth in the final third.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Burned cigar one last night with some Lag 16. Construction was excellent. Burned great, great ash, no issues. Nice wrapper that looked like the other photos (sorry, I am lazy). The robusto is young, with some youth taking the forefront, but a purge here and there helped. Core flavors were cream, fruit, nut and earth. I would like to smoke another with about another year on it, in hopes that the flavors would further develop. Rating: 89 due to youth with potential for 92-93 with age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cigar #1: Tasting Notes

March 29, 2014

San Francisco, California

Cigar #1 was distinctly brown. Cylindrical in shape and smelled of rolled up tobacco. Sadly, it would not light itself and I had to do that with a match. It produced smoke and was warmer when lit . . . smelling of tobacco and tasting of same . . .

At first I thought the cigar was Cuban, but then I looked at the band which clearly identified it as cheap-ass Australian, and from the Western part too . . .

I did enjoy the smoke so much that I called the distributor and asked for a box, but was told by the order department that, "If [they] have to make one more cheesy, fake F*ing number band on the inkjet printer [they] are going to LOSE it!"

Apparently this was a one-off deal. If I had known that I would have smoked it slower . . .

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Smoked this cigar last week. This was a beautiful looking cigar, perfectly smooth wrapper. Filled nicely .But when I smoked it , it was very one dimensional to me.

It took about a hr to smoke, paired with water.

I got a light cream and a peanut/ cashew flavour and that's about it. Intensity got stronger as I got closer to the end.

Nothing really jumps out at me. Nothing that I can grasp on. Guess I should have got 2 samplers so I could try it again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cigar Number 1 tasting

Date: March 30, 2014

Location: Toronto, Canada

post-15124-0-33772700-1396229757_thumb.j

Dry Draw – Nice draw, hints of honeys.

First Third – Getting an earthy/mineral taste to it with some notes of leather, getting very little sweetness to it.

Second Third – That honey taste I got in the dry draw is more noticeable and I’m also noticing some hints of almonds on the back. For a brief moment I thought I tasted cherries as well.

Final Third – Ending the second and going into the third im getting the taste of dark currants and cherries. As I continued into the third I started to get the same earthy leather notes from the beginning.

Overall – consistent cigar, the draw was perfect throughout, it was a medium body cigar and very well balanced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cutting this one very close.

I didn't really feel like a cigar today as I attended a scotch and cigar show last night and I am feeling rough as hell today, and more than just a little katzenjammered.

My nose isn't working at all, so at cold all I got was tobacco/raisin

First third was grassy, leather, and nuts at a medium strength.

post-13208-13962392042395.jpg

(Bonus points for telling me what I'm missing in this pic)

At the half, strength has increased and an earthy taste joins the rest. Some power on the retrohale and that is the only place I am getting any pepper, but it's packing a whallop of a nicotine kick. post-13208-13962393739453.jpg

I believe I have these in my rotation and will choose my hungover guess accordingly.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Community Software by Invision Power Services, Inc.