Popular Post FlyingGlass Posted May 1, 2021 Popular Post Posted May 1, 2021 After seeing another recent post on the Saint Luis Rey Double Corona discussing how 2007-2009 boxes were doing, some good news at the office, the Vitola Veterans Review and our first day of 80 degrees F/ 26 degrees C temps of the year, I thought this would be the perfect time to check in on these. I was fortunate to pick up an SOA OCT 2007 cab of 50 some 11-12 years ago from our hosts. I’ve moved through these slowly, not because they they were unpleasant, but as some of the video and written reviews have shown, they often took some real time to develop, otherwise they could be just mediocre cigars. With the added factor of a two hour smoke for me, I rarely reached for one the first 5-7 years. But from this most recent experience I can see that in a few years, I’ll lament an empty cab of discontinued cigars. Prelight, the aroma is pleasant but only a light, faint earthy sweetness. Upon lighting the cigar, this changed immediately. I’ve seen the aroma described elsewhere as macadamia nut...which I got too, but there seemed to be an oily, mushroom like aspect as well. The aroma on this cigar was wonderful throughout the smoke with a floral aspect added in the final third. I really enjoy the aromas of food, beverage, and cigars...perhaps even more so after losing and then regaining this particular sensory ability. The beginnings of this SLRDC were muted flavors of leather and a bit of that bakers yeast, and what reminded me of how light bread dough tastes in early stages of proofing. Not unpleasant but underwhelming. I’m not sure I’d be able to stick with it if things didn’t change. Then...midway through that 1st third, things did change. I actually stopped, stared at the cigar and thought, “what just happened?” I couldn’t describe which stone fruit I was picking up, but nonetheless this was pure, intense, stone-fruit and cream. Lasted one or two draws and in a profound way, then back to more muted. A few more draws, and that luscious creamy stone fruit was back. By the time I hit the 2nd third it was stone fruit and cream all the way. Historically, peaches do well in our climate here and at least the varieties we eat off the tree and preserve are less tart than I would describe in this flavor, so I lean more to describing this as an apricot flavor but settle on noting that it’s a very enjoyable stone fruit-like flavor blended with delicious cream. After about 20 minutes, glancing at my peach trees, I wondered “how is that being packed into a cigar?”Seriously, how does this show up in a cigar? The other aspect of the smoke that was interesting to me is the location on the palate for where the flavors were concentrated. Tip of the tongue moving toward the middle of the palate, intense, creamy sweetness with a slightly tart aspect. Barely even a presence at the back of the palate or throat. Definitely nothing harsh. Final third I lost the ash for the just the third time and it was a bit hot. Let it cool a bit before continuing. This is where a very nice floral aroma came into the mix as well. The flavors weren’t quite as intense, but still much better than the 1st third. Continued with the enjoyable flavors at a dialed down intensity. Medium to a bit over medium in strength. Snuck up on me just slightly after really focusing and enjoying the flavors and aroma. Quality construction, nothing under or overwhelming about the wrapper. No oily sheen but on this cab, that’s been typical. I should mention I’ve had other SLRDC which were fine, but also about the same number where the draw was too tight. This cigar fell into the latter category. I wasn't interested in a fight, so I applied the PerfecDraw. Even then things were a bit tougher than I’d like for the first third but were great from the second third on. Pretty even burn, a few touch ups. Just one relight near the end that was probably me waiting too long after the final ash fell for it to cool before I continued. The first third was an 86-87 cigar for me. I don’t smoke enough that I’d want to sit down for two hours if that was the extent of the experience. The 2nd third was a 92-93 cigar for me, and perhaps a +1 for the fairly unique aspect of the focused intensity of this particular stone fruit and cream. Final third was somewhere around the 90 mark. Overall it would be a 91-92, but a purely comprehensive scoring seems to fail to account for part of what is really special about this cigar. I need a weighted ranking system for the SLRDC. I’m reaching for this again not just because I still have a partial cab, or because it was an an overall extraordinary smoke, but because it was excellent at delivering that stone fruit and cream in focused droves for 75-90 minutes. Not a multidimensional experience for me, but when it was on, it was really, really enjoyable and worked so well. I look forward to another down the road. 13
Ginseng Posted May 1, 2021 Posted May 1, 2021 Brilliant review, thank you! Your experience roughly mirrors my own, also a 50-SLB from our host, AEP MAR07. 1 1
griller Posted May 1, 2021 Posted May 1, 2021 Really enjoyed your review! Thanks for sharing. I last smoked a SLRDC about 15-16 years ago. Mine wasn't nearly as aged, and while tasty was not complex. Wish I was sitting on a few now. 1
Erm310mce Posted May 1, 2021 Posted May 1, 2021 Great review.... sadly mine are all gone and I appreciate the trip down memory lane. 1
JohnS Posted May 1, 2021 Posted May 1, 2021 Yes, thank you for a wonderful review! Stonefruit and cream? Indeed...this is how you want these to smoke! 😉 1
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