Bolivar Belicosos Finos Review. ABR 14: Easter Weekend Review Comp


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Hi all! This is my first post since my introduction, and also my first review on this forum. I hope you ladies and gents like it! Here's an album of the images, because when I try to put them directly in the body of the post they are HUGE. I have linked to the individual images within the review.

Bolivar Belicosos Finos (??? ABR 14, I got it in a box split, so I don't know the factory code)

The Drink Pairing: Doña Paula Los Cardos Malbec (Argentina 2013)

The Musical Accompaniment: Funk / Soul / Disco Spotify Playlist (on shuffle, can’t go wrong!)

First Third:

The BBF starts out with wood, cream and a wonky burn line. Absolutely delicious smoke, but not as rich as the recent BPCs I’ve had. The cream is especially strong on the retrohale, and the retrohale is very smooth and easy. As the smoke progresses, the flavors remain largely the same, but two things happen: the sweetness builds a bit and the richness builds a lot.

Second Third:

After some precision lighter work and patience, the burn line is pretty straight. The richness and sweetness seem to have built to the beginning of the second third, and what I am experiencing right now is marvelous! Sweet, rich, woody cream! This is my first BBF, but I can assure you, it will not be my last! Toward the end of the third, the wood fades and the sweetness builds again. The third concludes with rich, sweet cream and just a hint of wood.


Final Third:

Bad News: On my way into the final third, the burn line has gotten much worse again. Good News: The cigar still tastes like heaven. The sweetness seems to be fading a bit, and the woody notes are coming back. The cream is continuing as the solid foundation of the flavor profile for now. The flavors are starting to get a little harsh and acrid toward the end, probably because I’m enjoying the cigar too much and smoking too fast. The profile has shifted to basically what I was tasting at the beginning: much less sweetness and more wood than the second third. These delicious flavors continue until the finger-and-lip-burning nub. I’m still pretty new to Cuban cigars, but I can see these and/or the BPCs becoming staples for me.

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Thanks for the review. We've all experienced what you've gone through with this cigar. It probably was over/under-humidified somewhere in the first third or had construction issues to begin with, hence the coning. You re-light to repair the burn, only to get some instances of viscous smoke with each draw, and other instances of little smoke or you get to the second third and the flavour/s start to kick in, so you draw on the cigar more often, hence the coning. The main thing I enjoyed reading about your review was how multi-dimensional the cigar flavours were through each third. Happy smoking, especially as the next Cuban you try will no doubt be very different to this one!

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Great review and fantastic pics the BBF is one of my favourite CC's

Cheers

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@JohnS Thanks for the response. I do think the cigar may have been a bit over himidified, so I'll try to dry box longer next time.

@Dispence You should see the Midi-chlorians eminating from this thing!

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Good review. I've got a box napping, can't wait to give one a wake up call with my torch.

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Very nice review! Johns I've never heard the term "coning" what occurs during this term?

It can happen easily to all of us. It tends to happen if you are enjoying the cigar and puffing too quickly, hence the outer wrapper burns more quickly than the filler in the middle. You cigar will look like these below:

post-23478-0-08248800-1428352921_thumb.j post-23478-0-89960600-1428352931_thumb.j

When you've been smoking too fast, and then you let the flavours settle in your palate, after the cigar cools it may look like this:

post-23478-0-08297300-1428353690_thumb.j

Sometimes coning occurs because the cigar is not evenly humidified to begin with or it has construction issues, so you'll find that you draw on it and get thick volumes of smoke in places, whereas drawing on it again may produce little smoke. When it's tight like this you draw harder and more often, thus coning may occur.

Ultimately, we try to maintain an even burn to keep the cigar cool and enjoy it at its mildest. It's important to maintain the ash for this reason, as we all know, so that the cigar can be cooler, and hence is more flavoursome and enjoyable. When it is hot it can be bitter.

post-23478-0-99431000-1428353804_thumb.j post-23478-0-31283600-1428353916_thumb.j

You can get an uneven burn of up to 3/8 of an inch (about 9.5 mm) on one side and it should burn okay, it's not always possible to get a straight line burn like below, but this is what we aim for!

post-23478-0-58710200-1428354024_thumb.j

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