Early days...but some MOFOH Spada Gorda Thoughts?

[El Presidente]

Some of you ......ok most...will smoke a cigar ROTT 

Give Hamlet and I your thoughts as to the Spada Gorda. The good, bad and the ugly. 

We are a little more fortunate in that we are smoking March production. Your production is mostly May. Believe it or not that 8 weeks down  makes a huge difference. 

MOFOH is a collaboration with our FOH tasting crew who have done a brilliant job. 

Go,  pull one out and smoke it. Mind you it is young but this is not your first rodeo. Let us know your thoughts on this thread 

[JohnS]

Indeed...the good, the bad and the ugly people! 

[Meklown]

Big fan of the other nudies releases but the SG was pretty tasteless 5 days after arrival. One or two whiffs of coffee in the first third, a very tiny speck of possible honey in the second. 

Of course I will reserve my judgement and give it a fair shot at the 30/90 day mark - the n6 was great rott but went through a rollercoaster for at least 2-3 weeks before settling into its consistency. 

[PauvreLelian]

Very curious to hear with 30-60 days down how do these compare to the Nudies offerings in terms of flavor profile!

[Glass Half Full]

My first was this past Saturday, and (in all honesty) it was not up to the standards set by 2023 Nudies so far.  (I think we've been spoiled really.  I never would have thought to smoke such a freshly rolled cigar, that is outside of a custom from the old days

The 2nd/3rd of my first Spada Gorda thankfully showed some glimmers of fine potential, so I'm hopeful time will make all the difference.  

Fully appreciating the range of wonderful flavors from all of the Nudies, and I love how the 2019s and 2021s developed with time.  With the significant added complexity of the 2023s I am all the more excited for the future! 

[El Presidente]

 

[Chas.Alpha]

How come every Sunday’s review Zoom starts with Hamlet saying “f*** y** Charles!”

Not something I should take personally, I’m sure?🤣

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Chas.Alpha said:

How come every Sunday’s review Zoom starts with Hamlet saying “f*** y** Charles!”

Not something I should take personally, I’m sure?🤣

Hammy is many things......but he is an excellent judge of character 

[SCgarman]

They are my BDay gift, but I snuck one out of the bundle to try ROTT. I was a bit disappointed, the blend seemed to very closely emulate the Canonazo, with the saltiness kicking in after the first half inch. Perhaps they will differentiate themselves with some time down. Now I read Rob say these have a different leaf? or more than the Canonazo. I will revisit them later in the month. But as of now initial impressions are same tasting blend as Canonazo in a 46 ring size. 

[El Presidente]

7 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

They are my BDay gift, but I snuck one out of the bundle to try ROTT. I was a bit disappointed, the blend seemed to very closely emulate the Canonazo, with the saltiness kicking in after the first half inch. Perhaps they will differentiate themselves with some time down. Now I read Rob say these have a different leaf? or more than the Canonazo. I will revisit them later in the month. But as of now initial impressions are same tasting blend as Canonazo in a 46 ring size. 

You will see them kick up a gear in the next 20 days  That has been our experience. 

Same DNA, different blend. 

We had the same experience with the Lancero when first shipped. They are settling down beautifully now. The PC was good to go from the outset but has appeared to find some better table manners.. The Canonazo needed 90 days but is now hitting a sweet spot. Long may that spot continue to develop. If you haven't tried one for a while, revisit to see the progression. 

The Carlota was kick arse from the start but seems to be evolving/improving weekly. 

This is like having a swarm of kids.........they are all different and developing at different paces.  

[Tunkat92]

I enjoyed the one ROTT, I got a touch of Trini style sweetness. I was trying to nail down a profile but I couldn’t. I think that sweetness will show more after they rest. This is behind the Lancero for me, which has been my favorite so far.

[SCgarman]

8 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

You will see them kick up a gear in the next 20 days  That has been our experience. 

Same DNA, different blend. 

We had the same experience with the Lancero when first shipped. They are settling down beautifully now. The PC was good to go from the outset but has appeared to find some better table manners.. The Canonazo needed 90 days but is now hitting a sweet spot. Long may that spot continue to develop. If you haven't tried one for a while, revisit to see the progression. 

The Carlota was kick arse from the start but seems to be evolving/improving weekly. 

This is like having a swarm of kids.........they are all different and developing at different paces.  

I'm burning those Canonazo like a rabid forest fire. They are fantastic sticks!

[hawkeye5050]

I had one over the weekend and thought it was great. Hope to run through everything this weekend to see what I want to buy more off. I'd be shocked if it was not on the list.

[Lt4-396]

Very interesting that it seems this release wasn't as well received as previous ones.

For me, simply put, amazing. Cookie dough with a slight bit of cocoa and coffee. I have bundles of each release and the Carlotta is by far my favorite with the SG nibbing at its heels. I expect it to overtake the Carlotta in several weeks/months. Both, on my palate have zero pepper or bite which is a #1 priority for me. All of the blends have been fantastic from day 1 onwards, but again for me the Carlotta and Spada Gorda are at the top.

I am really looking forward to the evolution, disappointing that winter is rolling in though so not as much sampling will occur over the upcoming months.

 

[El Presidente]

24 minutes ago, Lt4-396 said:

Very interesting that it seems this release wasn't as well received as previous ones.

For me, simply put, amazing. Cookie dough with a slight bit of cocoa and coffee. I have bundles of each release and the Carlotta is by far my favorite with the SG nibbing at its heels. I expect it to overtake the Carlotta in several weeks/months. Both, on my palate have zero pepper or bite which is a #1 priority for me. All of the blends have been fantastic from day 1 onwards, but again for me the Carlotta and Spada Gorda are at the top.

I am really looking forward to the evolution, disappointing that winter is rolling in though so not as much sampling will occur over the upcoming months.

Oooh. Those opening weeks can be hit and miss. 

Hamlet and I are a little more fortunate as we have older examples of each line. We are slightly ahead of the main market but still always want input. The canonazo took a lot longer to get settled than we expected. Now we  have a waiting list for 50 wheels. 

This DNA blend is showing some patterns. The larger the gauge the longer the settling time. 

[Capn_Jackson]

I had one last week, about two days after they came. I was very pleased with the notes it showed right up front, and it remained flavorful throughout, to me. It was also my first cigar after being sick for almost a week, so my palate was fresh. Some baking spice, bread, and stone fruit were hiding behind the coffee, but I can tell that these will evolve really nicely. I’ll have another in a few weeks, and again probably another month later, and I look forward to seeing those other flavors emerge. It is amazing what time can do. Truthfully, the 2021 Lanceros rosados I have are far better now than after they first acclimated. Same with my Carlota maduros. Can’t wait to see what comes with a little downtime on these SG’s!

[GVan]

18 hours ago, Capn_Jackson said:

Truthfully, the 2021 Lanceros rosados I have are far better now than after they first acclimated. Same with my Carlota maduros. Can’t wait to see what comes with a little downtime on these SG’s!

Fully agree with this!  The 2021 Maduro Lanceros, surprisingly were awesome at 90 days and keep getting better through today (a 5 year old Boli PC meets a sweet PLMC). I'm about to open the second package that's been sitting and waiting. The 2021 Rosado Lanceros took > 9 months of down time to appeal to my smoking palate. The Rosados are now at 19 months in the humidor and I reach for one of them about the same frequency as the Maduro Lanceros (totally different flavors). The 2021 / 2022 Rosado Carlotta's are only a month behind the Lanceros in my humidor and they are generally my first choice now when I want a NC. The flavors are on fire (pure, rich Partagas almost as good as some of my 2020 D4's) !

I've been betting that each of the current 2023 releases will follow a similar pattern of getting better with some down time. As @El Presidente said above - I've found that the current Mareva IV PC's are already smoking great at  ~ 120 days of rest.  They are showing more strength then the Carlotas and the balance/sweetness of a much older cigar (young SPNP meets aged PLPC). I've already smoked 6 of them, tasting them as they have evolved, and just marked them "Ready to Smoke" on my cigar spreadsheet.

I'm still holding out on the Spada Gordas and these posts have convinced me to wait the full 90 to 120 days before trying one. I'm hopeful these will be special but different NC's in the MOFOH line because Corona Gordas are really my favorite size.

[foursite12]

I've had two now. The first on Sept 19, within hours of arrival; the second last night--so two weeks apart.

Same profile each time, with the second one being somewhat more harmonious.  While definitely not what I would call in any way mature now, one can at least tell things are moving that way.

Aroma at cold was all barnyard; perhaps I should just say, "organic". Somewhat surprised this hasn't breathed off much since arrival. Not unpleasant, but pronounced.

Wrappers are simply superb. Color is gorgeous, with some sheen. The aesthetics are top drawer.

Draw was nice and easy. Not a wind tunnel at all but no straining to get the smoke volume you want. Flawless construction on both sticks. Consistent with what we have seen from Rob and Hamlet to date across the lines.

Initial inch was a real wake-up call with both sticks. An attention-getter opening with a spicy, mongrel, retrohale. Given the relatively light draw, it's not hard to over-smoke. Go easy.

After an inch or so, the cigar transitions rather suddenly. A much more nuanced flavor profile replaces the mongrel. Some elegance appears here. Nice but quite a pronounced change in direction. I would say this gentler approach continues through to the final quarter, where things return to a bit more body, with some pleasant evolution along the journey. Again, this is a cigar where taking time in your smoking yields big benefits.

I liked the first one ROTT and I enjoyed this second one equally. I expect these to mature into becoming more "of a one" with a bit of time. That's all that is missing. This is a solid effort and offers a nice change of pace alternative within the Nudies/MOFOH lines.

 

[Magnum Dongle]

I am sitting here smoking one now and I'm really excited for what it will become with rest. I want to echo what was said above that it is great right now, slight pepper, barnyard, cookie dough, bread and coffee notes. I don't know how to describe it other than it just smokes like I feel a younger cigar would smoke. I'm almost to the end of my first year into cigar smoking, so I'm not inexperienced but I'm not experienced either if that makes sense. But I can tell the notes are there that I really enjoy, and I'm excited to really see how it evolved! 

I also love the size of this stick, more than I thought I initially would. It's a good weekday cigar. Not too long of a smoke, but long enough I have to relax and can enjoy a cup of iced coffee (something about chilled black coffee always goes well).

[El Hoze]

Mine were delivered Sept 18th.  I have smoked a few. I just lit one up 30 min ago, I think it is phenomenal. The construction on this, the cañonazo and the IV are spectacular. 

[SCgarman]

44 minutes ago, El Hoze said:

Mine were delivered Sept 18th.  I have smoked a few. I just lit one up 30 min ago, I think it is phenomenal. The construction on this, the cañonazo and the IV are spectacular. 

In your opinion how much different does this taste compared to the Canonazo? Tasted very similar to me. This was ROTT

[El Presidente]

6 hours ago, SCgarman said:

In your opinion how much different does this taste compared to the Canonazo? Tasted very similar to me. This was ROTT

I will let El Hoze speak for himslelf. 

I am smoking one now. down 30 days. As close to an upmann super corona as you will find. Different to the canonazo.....spicier. 

[El Hoze]

19 hours ago, SCgarman said:

In your opinion how much different does this taste compared to the Canonazo? Tasted very similar to me. This was ROTT

They do differ to my taste and I believe my SGs are still coming around. I am terrible at explaining flavors but I’d agree with Rob as spice is fairly easy to pick up for me. A bit more going on in the SGs to me. 

I hardly ever smoke things ROTT but, like many here, these “new”dies are hard to resist testing out. It is quite surprising to me how much they evolve in a few weeks. I am liking the direction they are going. 

[SCgarman]

3 hours ago, El Hoze said:

They do differ to my taste and I believe my SG’s are still coming around. I am terrible at explaining flavors but I’d agree with Rob as spice is fairly easy to pick up for me. A bit more going on in the SGs to me. 

I hardly ever smoke things ROTT but, like many here, these “new”dies are hard to resist testing out. It is quite surprising to me how much they evolve in a few weeks. I am liking the direction they are going. 

I'll spark one up this Saturday to celebrate making it to 57 years. The one smoked ROTT was a month ago. Perhaps they have evolved a bit, we'll see

[Tradesman]

I smoked them a few hours after receiving them as I had a flight to Italy the very next day.

My friend and I were both incredibly disappointed at how flat it was. Now this is not a knock on the cigar, there were slight hints that they’d get noticeably better with rest, and it was ROTT so wasn’t expecting much.

Cold draw distinctly barnyard-y. Probably the most barnyard I've gotten from a cold draw. 

On the palate it was pure spicy. Much spicier than what I was expecting. Some sweetness in the background that stayed in the background and eventually faded.

Again, it was FRESH ROTT and was expected it wasn’t going to be in ideal condition.

I am now 2 weeks into my Italy trip with 2 more weeks to go. Excited to see how the SGs have developed with one full month of rest.