Bolivar Royal Coronas 2017 (NRW)

[NSXCIGAR]

A few cigars could qualify for nemesis status for me (RASS, RyJ SC/PC/WC/Caz, CoRo, Trini Coloniales, Mag 46) but I tend not to have any of those for obvious reasons. I did have a gifted BRC buried in the humi so I'm going with my former favorite cigar. 

Gorgeous thin and oily wrapper. Pure Colorado. Very attractive cigar. This won't matter though. Draw is perfect and no aroma to speak of. 

First third/half is as expected. Not muted but just weak in richness. It's Boli leather and cream but it fades on the retrohale. Seems like a raw materials issue. Again, it's not flavorless but watered down. The opposite would be the Libertadores which isn't strong either but has substance and richness. This is not that by any means. Burn and construction are excellent. 

Down through the final third and the cream has picked up a bit making it a bit more pleasant to keep smoking. The leather is still there but even weaker. Just not an inspiring cigar but good enough to keep me from pitching it. 

As far as I could get which was farther than I expected actually. One of the better BRCs I've had since 2000 but it only gets an 86-87 from me. Just not a great cigar at all. The blend needs work, the quality of leaf needs work. I guess it's going to be the mild Bolivar forever now but why not make it a short version of the Libertadores? Something with some character...

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, crking3 said:

Seems like your bias against this cigar no matter the quality of burn or construction?

I don't know about that. A cigar should be constructed well. I don't award points for good construction--I only deduct points for bad construction. 

I've given cigars with far worse construction higher scores. The unfortunate part is with no construction deductions this cigar couldn't muster over 87 for me.