VR DC review (FreeMar24)

[Ford2112]

I was lucky and scored a few of these recently. I have no idea what year they are from, but my understanding is they were discontinued in 2017? First one I've had so I didn't have a frame of reference. It's a beauty of a cigar with a nice dark wrapper. 

Evidently it's his birthday anniversary today. I googled him while I was smoking this. So that was interesting that I randomly picked this out tonight. I'm on a DC kick lately. 

1st third. It started out alright,lots of smoke. Construction is flawless ,perfect draw. Good ash. The flavors were a bit muted in the first inch or so ,but lots of smoke output. The cigar began to open up and I was getting leather,some bitterness, maybe needs more rest? 

Good ash...

2nd third it hit a real lull once the ash fell off. Like hardly any smoke coming out, couldn't pull any flavors ,then all of a sudden bam! Smoke is pouring put of this now! It has a great aroma, coffee bean and some chocolate. I'd say a bit over medium. Some pepper is coming in and out so I slow down my smoking. The retrohale is a bit muted. It got a little wonky for a bit so I needed to touch it up.

Final third. Best part. Cocoa, toasted tobacco, leather. Coffee. Good smoke! But it's got a little harshness and smoked a bit faster than I thought it would. An hour and a half in now and it's above medium. A couple touch ups here and there. I really see some upside to these so I won't touch one for a while. 

Total smoking time was about an hour and 45 minutes before it gave up the ghost. Just a bit bitter and harsh. The Punch DC I had a while ago kicked it's ass. Still, I'll rate this an 89. Not bad, but needs rest I feel. I'll try and find out what the date was on these. 

[JohnS]

Great review. These were deleted in 2017 but I doubt that the last box dates went much past mid-2016. I myself have 3 sticks left and I acquired some stock when the discontinuation was announced. The box codes for my sticks were OCT 15. So you may have smoked a stick tonight that is no younger than eight years old.

[Ford2112]

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

Great review. These were deleted in 2017 but I doubt that the last box dates went much past mid-2016. I myself have 3 sticks left and I acquired some stock when the discontinuation was announced. The box codes for my sticks were OCT 15. So you may have smoked a stick tonight that is no younger than eight years old.

Thanks John. I will let these rest in my humidor for 90 days and try another.  

[Doctorossi]

5 hours ago, JohnS said:

I myself have 3 sticks left and I acquired some stock when the discontinuation was announced.

I only have 2 left.  😢

[SCgarman]

1 hour ago, Ford2112 said:

Thanks John. I will let these rest in my humidor for 90 days and try another.  

They certainly shouldn't need any serious down time. These were axed years ago. Famosos were always good, the Unicos are a good example of having that distinctive prune flavor note. Everytime I smoke a super large format such as a DC or Churchill, I always regret not grabbing a smaller size. Large vitolas always seem to have much more "muted" flavors than smaller sizes in my experience

[Ford2112]

6 hours ago, SCgarman said:

They certainly shouldn't need any serious down time. These were axed years ago. Famosos were always good, the Unicos are a good example of having that distinctive prune flavor note. Everytime I smoke a super large format such as a DC or Churchill, I always regret not grabbing a smaller size. Large vitolas always seem to have much more "muted" flavors than smaller sizes in my experience

It seemed a bit wet. I think the guy stores his at 70. I like mine closer to 62. I've had 1 Unicos and loved it! And I agree about the muted flavors although these Punch DC I have are not at all muted.

[Wookie]

Haven't tried the DC...hope they come around for you. My favorite is Famosos...always splendid sweet coffee/chocolate. Unicos I like as well but find they are less consistently good than Famosos. On separate note, I love RAG as much as RASS. So I would like to believe the VR DC is a good stick.

[Ford2112]

13 hours ago, Wookie said:

Haven't tried the DC...hope they come around for you. My favorite is Famosos...always splendid sweet coffee/chocolate. Unicos I like as well but find they are less consistently good than Famosos. On separate note, I love RAG as much as RASS. So I would like to believe the VR DC is a good stick.

I've been eyeballing Famosos for a while. Maybe I'll snag a box soon.