SCDLH El Morro - HQ AME DIC12 -- PL+SC Review Comp 2016

[skalls]

When you have the time and the weather permits, such as a football game and a gorgeous October day (for Fargo...) I do believe that both of these criteria are met.  So why not pull out the big guns and enjoy a game and a cigar.

Pre-Light:

This feels like a tree branch.  I'd hurt someone if I chucked this at someone.  Every cigar in this box has been like that and every single one has been a perfect draw.  And this one is no different.  I don't understand how these can feel so solid yet have an ideal draw.  It has just enough resistance.  I'm getting a hint of cooking spice, coffee and I swear orange peel is there, but their's just traces of that here.  The wrapper is rough and oily.

1st Third:

Yeah, orange peel is definitely there.  It's adding a hint of tartness that is really playing well with the coffee and spice.  There's no strength, which is nice because I don't want to get punched in the face by nicotine in the first 5 minutes of a 90+ minute cigar, and the body is mild-medium.  Smoke output is very good.  The smoke itself is rather airy and oily which leads to a long finish.

And the Bison shut down a 4th and inches from the goal line on SDSU's first drive.  Hell yeah!

Second Third:

At the start of the second third the flavors are still the same and frankly it hasn't evolved much.  I don't mind that too much since the flavors work well with one another.  The body has grown to medium bodied.  Smoke output is pretty good and the burn hasn't needed any touchups.  It's not laser perfect but damn close.  Towards the end of the second third the flavors changed up a bit.  The coffee died down a bit and the orange peel grew considerably.  Cinnamon has also shown up, but it's rather faint.  It reminds me of a coffee cake that a co-worker brought in to work last week.

And we're leading 10-3 in the game.  So far so good, ugly game if I do say so myself.

Final Third:

Had another minor transition.  The cinnamon unfortunately left us.  That was a bit disappointing because it just fit the flavors here.  That said the coffee cake like flavors I'm getting I dig.  The bodied hasn't changed a bit since the second third being solidly medium bodied.  The smoke itself didn't warm up until around 1/2" left.  I'm not a big fan of overly hot smoke so I pitched it.  

Where the hell has the offense gone?  We had an amazing drive to start the second half, but then nothing.  This isn't looking good.

17-10, but we're still leading.

Final Thoughts:

There wasn't a hint of youthfulness to this cigar, though with a 2012 cigar that's not overly surprising.  This isn't a perfect cigar and not one of top double corona/churchills from Cuba.  But I have enjoyed every single one of these that I've had.  I find the RyJ Churchill and Lusitania to be much more complex and engaging smokes than the El Morro, but the flavors just work so well here.  This is a cigar I reach when I want an easy going smoke and to relax for a couple hours.

Overall smoke time was 1:45.  They aren't cheap cigars but for that smoke time they do become a decent value though.

93/100

 

After this cigar I fired up a Vegeuros Entriempos because the game was still going on.  Not in the same league as the El morro but enjoyable enough.  Cigar got pitched onto my lawn and damn near flipped my table when the Bison gave up an obvious pass to the #1 receiver on fourth and 3 to win the bloody game.  Sonofa, ah well, the boys have to play better to win...  

[TheMonk]

Another great review... you're on fire!