Trinidad Esmerelda BMS DIC 19 (FFC)

[Guest Nekhyludov]

Mother's Day started off for me by getting up early to make waffles for my wife and daughter - nothing too fancy or fabulous, but waffles are my wife's favorite. 

And this afternoon, I was able to find some time to scratch my curiosity with an obviously too-young Esmerelda, while my wife enjoyed some very much deserved down time.

It's a wonderful looking cigar - the wrapper is a rich chocolate colorado color, with only fine veins and a smooth texture. There's no sheen to speak of. A straight cut just below the pigtail cap is followed by easily igniting the foot. The draw is open, and a dead-even burn leaves behind a flaky white ash.

The Esmeralda opens mild and slightly sweet, with some of the flavors I associate with Trinidad. It has a pleasant waxy, burned sugar cookie kind of character. There's just a hint of baking spice on the retrohale that increases through the first third.

The second third sees the baking spice become the dominant flavor and sit atop the cookie dough base. Just a bit of sharp cedar comes in and out. As it progresses through the middle section, it settles into a burned cookie profile, and the sweet notes take on a fructose character.

The burn line has begun to waver a bit, but hasn't needed a touch up yet.

The final third continues in much the same vein initially, but quickly begins to pick up increasing char. That's to be expected of a six-month-old cigar. That last part of the profile just isn't likely to be available at this early stage. But based on the initial suggestion, I suspect it'll turn into a linear progression of the second third.

At the end of the Esmeralda, I can't find any fault with either the vitola, the blend, or the construction - aside from youth. But I can't help but think that for similar money I'd rather have a La Trova.

Score: 92

[mbflash80]

I am digging the esmeralda as well...but those waffles look like the star of the show...good job bro!

[nKostyan]

Yes! The same impression of Esmeralda! Sugar caramel cookies or sugar waffle. Great review, thank you!

[SigmundChurchill]

Nice review.

I have accumulated boxes of Esmeraldas from 4 different sources, varying box codes and dates, some boxes dark, some light, I even tried one with a green shaded wrapper that @ElJavi76 gave me, from a vendor that apparently doesn’t like him very much.  They all tasted great.  Even the green one, which was indiscernible in flavor from the most beautiful, deep brown wrapper ones that I have tried. 

I have had 1 or maybe 2 individual cigars that have not been quite as good as the rest, but even those 1 or 2 were tasted better than most other cigars.

 

BTW, I disagree about the La Trova, which is also a wonderful cigar.  But tastes differ, and that is a good thing.  Otherwise we would all be competing for the same cigar.  Just curious, of the two, which one tastes more “Trinidad” to you?

[Guest Nekhyludov]

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

Just curious, of the two, which one tastes more “Trinidad” to you?

The Esmeralda, I think, is the more straightforward Trinidad DNA. I love the La Trova, but they seem like the outlier to me.

[ElJavi76]

@SigmundChurchill I've got the last of the green ones burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak. Those were ugly as sin but they did taste good, and the swap we did (green for golden brown, cause that vendor likes you more than he likes me ????) didn't prove the flavors were any different with the diff shades of wrapper. That could also disprove the idea that wrappers contribute... Lemme not go down that rabbit hole. LoL

I'm with Elliot... I really enjoy Trovas but there's a richness to these Esmeraldas that's a notch above those. I've had 11 of those so far and 1 was a dud. Horrible burn, but it was muggy outside and that could've contributed. 

Great review. Great pix. Great waffles!

[SigmundChurchill]

7 hours ago, Destro said:

The Esmeralda, I think, is the more straightforward Trinidad DNA. I love the La Trova, but they seem like the outlier to me.

Agreed.  I think that goes for most of the limited/special release cigars.  Other than the R/GR’s, the blend usually doesn’t taste like the marca they are supposed to represent.  Some taste like a hybrid, like the La Trova, while others taste nothing like their marca.  

I do like La Trovas a lot though.  I just like Esmeraldas more.

[StogieSteve23]

Those waffles look top notch.  ?

[SigmundChurchill]

7 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

@SigmundChurchill I've got the last of the green ones burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak. Those were ugly as sin but they did taste good, and the swap we did (green for golden brown, cause that vendor likes you more than he likes me ????) didn't prove the flavors were any different with the diff shades of wrapper. That could also disprove the idea that wrappers contribute... Lemme not go down that rabbit hole. LoL

I'm with Elliot... I really enjoy Trovas but there's a richness to these Esmeraldas that's a notch above those. I've had 11 of those so far and 1 was a dud. Horrible burn, but it was muggy outside and that could've contributed. 

Great review. Great pix. Great waffles!

Wait a minute there, Bud.  You cant go down a rabbit hole and then say, lets not go down that rabbit hole.  ?

My belief is that you cant say that wrappers do, or don’t, contribute the majority of the flavor of the cigar.  I know a lot of people make that argument one way or the other.  But they are both wrong.  And they are both right.

How much it contributes, depends on two things.  1.  The particular cigar blend.  2.  The particular wrapper.

Some blends are milder than others, and some wrappers are milder than others.  If you take a milder blend, like a Hoyo DC, and throw an oscuro wrapper on it, I bet you anything, it is not going to taste anything like a Hoyo DC anymore.  Whereas if you take 2 Hoyo DC’s of 2 different shades in the same spectrum, they will taste similar.  The Oscuro wrapper is going to overpower the rest of the blend, while the similar, but a little darker wrapper, will not.  Not long ago, I had a Hoyo Epi 2 from 2000.  Unlike today, they had really dark, almost black wrappers.  It didn't taste anything like my Hoyo Epi 2’s from today.  Or at least, this box did.  You could say that they changed the blend, and maybe they did, but most of what I tasted was similar to what I taste in many dark wrappered cigars.

Just like the dark EL wrappers make many of the EL cigars taste similar to one another, even though they are different marcas.  That is the perfect example of the wrapper, dominating the blend.  The EL wrapper leaf, from the corona of the plant, is left on the plant for an extended period of time, per Hiroshi Robaina.  And that imparts a different, and in my opinion, overwhelming flavor on the cigar.  

But in contrast, in many regular production cigars, like the Esmeraldas, the wrappers are the same leaf, harvested at the same time, fermented for the same period of time, only with shades that vary a few shades in color.  That is why my beautiful, brown Esmeraldas don't taste much different than your ugly green ones.?