A Tale of Two QdO 54

[Digi]

I don't do or post reviews all that often but these two cigars were sent as part of a trade and the sender asked for my thoughts!

Gotta say, one of the beautiful things about buying and selling selling on Bond Roberts has been the personal connections.  It's turned out to be a great network of folks to trade cigars with.  So much good stock out there that collectors aren't likely to sell but are game for some good trades.  Just lovely.

Anyways...

The cigars at hand are both Quai d’Orsay 54, REG JUN 18 and MSU OCT 19 respectively.  Off the bat I noticed the OCT 19 stick has a much darker wrapper, it's also heavier in the hand, and gives off strong smells of tangy barnyard. Both appear to have good construction with the 19 having more filler, they're rolled in opposite directions

I lit the 18 first; was surprised to see 3 pretty large stems off the top that aren't present in the foot. Draw is perfect though, at cold it is all hay and a wee bit of maybe cinnamon(?). Lit easily and is burring well out of the gate; lots of coffee with cream and some light spice on the retrohale. Folks often talk about sweet notes in these, I haven't had a 54 before but I'm not detecting that. To me, the original Imperales and Coronas didn't give off a particularly sweet note either - it's one of the things I really like about them.

It's smoking beautifully - mostly even burn, nice and cool, slow.  Holding it's ash very well, still going at the half way point and I haven't been especially careful in picking it up and putting it back down.  The notes of coffee with cream and light spice are still there.  They've expanded on the palate, much richer and are the core structure of the smoke.  Picking up just a hint of sweetness at this point - honey isn't a bad descriptor.  It's a light, rounded sweet note. Reminds me of the flavor that "pollen" adds to dishes and drinks.  

As I move over the half-way mark, the body and profile quickly move up between puffs.  Mouth filling richness now with creamy coffee transitioning to less cream, wood notes, and a bready sweetness.  The light spice is still there but well integrated into the profile on the palate and in the retro.  Medium bodied at this point but very rich on the palate. To me, this cigar takes pages from the Monte 4, PSdC 3, and Espy.   Can't say it reminds me much of the 2014 QdO's I have hanging around.  

Closin'er down; more light black coffee now than coffee with cream.  Solid medium body that is smooth and still smoking cool.  Very long finish on the palate, the coffee sticks around and begs you to keep tasting it.  Most of the profile falls away toward the end of the cigar and leaves you with medium black coffee, some spice, and a nice toasty tobacco.  Clean.  Unexpectedly, I'm getting a bit of a nicotine hit on this cigar.  The 54 went out on it's own with a bit less than an inch left and that's where I retired it.

This is the first "new" QdO I've smoked.  Not sure if there's a pulse on when these hit their stride but I'd be a happy camper with a box or three of these guys in the humidor.  

Moving on to the 2019 stick:

It's overfilled and the draw is extremely tight, not plugged though.  The cigar is fairly spongy until you get to the top portion of the band, the overfilled spot is all at the top and is even all the way around.  At cold, it is similar to the 18 with the addition of some sweetness.  Not a lot there due to the tight draw.

Lighting took a bit of time but is burning even.  The draw firmed up quickly after lighting and I had gently use the PerfecDraw - all good now.  Significantly less coffee off the top compared to the 18, more spice though still light, and a nice, sweet tang..  The profile is quite rich already, coating my palate with a long finish of sweet tobacco and wood.

This cigar is moving quite a bit faster than the 18 and has a slightly wonky burn, though no touch ups needed.  The profile is still smooth and flavorful, detecting much more of that Monte 4 cream in this cigar.  At nearly the half way point it is still lacking the 18's coffee.  What's interesting is the Monte tangy cream is stepping up but nothing is really filling the hole where the coffee was.  The finish is shorter with a not unpleasant chalky quality.  The draw has firmed up again and another gentle poke with the PerfecDraw sets it straight.  The ash is slightly flaky and falling off in quarter inch chunks.

Similar to the 18, just past half way the body steps up to a full medium.  The light black coffee note finally appears!  The burn on one side of the cigar is way off and needs a touch up.  Flavors remain largely the same as before but not as well integrated as the 18, the cigar is losing some of it's smoothness at this point and I'm detecting some lingering burnt notes on the palate.  

Down to the last inch and a half or so and the cigar goes out twice with relights.  Restarting, the draw firms up again and I hit it with the PerfecDraw.  It pulls out a fairly long leaf of tobacco that's folded in half across some of the filler - ah ha!  The draw is great the but cigar hasn't really recovered, lots of bitter notes intermingled with the rest of it.

Closing:

What an interesting comparo.  If you pulled the bands off and told me they were two entirely different cigars of the same vitola, I'd have believed you.  The 19 was a total drama queen and didn't seem to have the structure, elegance, and complexity of the 18. Fun stuff!  Also a big thanks to @QDOguy for the sticks 🍻

The 18:

The 19:

Requisite stinky selfie while I sit on work meetings:

[tuff]

Nice review and detailed analysis of same cigar from different years. I have always heard these need some time, but I don't think time would have helped an unequal quality of roll.

 

John 

[coug28]

Nice write-up 👍. Lighter wrapper for the QDO win…

No surprise there. Along with some other brands (Cohiba, Trinidad etc) this blend seems better suited to a lighter wrapper IMO. 

[Doublesh0t]

Really solid review. 

[bishop532]

Good review, thanks. I’ve been wondering about these and the 50s a lot lately; QdO is one brand I’ve never had the chance to try so far (though I think the Corona would suit my tastes more if they ever come back).