Bolivar Belicosos Finos OPG NOV 14 (49NRW)

[Shatner's Bassoon]

This has been about as reliable a box as I could possibly have hoped for, and today’s didn’t let me down. 
 

Straight from the off, the cigar gives me earth, dark chocolate, and liquorice. These flavours continue through the first third in perfect balance. There’s the slightest hint of bell pepper on the finish, and a touch of sweetness through the retrohale, but this is a cigar that sticks to those first core flavours, and does it very well.

In the second third the core flavours remain the same, the bell pepper disappears from the finish, and the cigar gets slightly creamier in both texture and flavour. In the final third the earth flavour is predominant, but never in a way that pushes out the other flavours.

All in all - and as expected - a very satisfying smoke. The draw is perfect, although the burn is slightly less so. I find with these that they can be quite rapid burners, so even as a slow smoker I’m finished in an hour. I’ll give it a 91.