TX Duo Review - Curivari Buenaventura BV 554 LE 2021

[Çnote]

We're back!

@Capn_Jackson loves the value of Curivari. 

Cold draw and wrapper are reminiscent of fresh BBQ smoke. A little yellow on that cello.

This bangs out of the gate with molasses, soy sauce and belt leather. I'm sick to my stomach with the intensity and the texture is velvet with the burn of poison ivy. I cannot retro this.

At about the 2nd third, the profile shifts into toasted pumpernickel, with a -trace- of maple syrup. Intensity is relentless. 

Getting to 1/2way, my prayers are answered and it mellows into a pleasant fruitcake with rum raisin on the retro. Still intense enough to cause hiccups. That savory pork mouth coating savoriness that has haunted my reviews this summer makes itself known.

I'd say about 3/4 of Jackson's and my conversation are about humidity. I've gotten my entire apartment to about 63% now, in fact, it's probably 63% of our conversations. 😄 🤣 😂 It rained hard all morning so the ambient is weird here. Construction seems pretty good, but I've been on a Fuente/Tat kick, so I'll say it's not quite at that level but much higher than the price would lead you to believe. A couple of touch ups to keep it straight, even with my brisk smoking it never cones.

Getting to the band, this crashes into bitter espresso, nearly unpleasant. I'm determined to see this through a little longer, the band was actually choking the cigar a little with today's humidity and the release mellows it a touch to strong Americano with some sweet date kinda nuance.

As soon as I type that, the floor drops back into last night's bitter espresso with about 4cm to go.

I'm not a fan, but I can certainly see why this would end up deeply stocked in someone's humidor. 88 performance, 79 flavor; my trash, your treasure. Could be phenomenal in a decade. Bigboi flavors.

[Capn_Jackson]

Pre-light: The wrapper is a nice medium-dark brown shade, and slightly bumpy with some mottled oily spots (yum!) Slight box press. The aroma off the stick and foot both scream chocolate chip cookie, as well as some faint sandalwood. The cold draw is very chocolate cookie-forward, with some cinnamon, nutmeg, and hay on the back end.

Light-up puff gives me a fair bit of pepper. There is some kind of sweet juice, or maybe grape skin, lingering behind it but the pepper just gets stronger on the finish, so it’s hard to place. A few swigs of sparkling water, I’m hoping, might clear away some of that pepper heat. No such luck. The ensuing puffs don’t have quite the same kick, but it’s still lingering from light-up, at least a few long minutes. 

After a few puffs, the pepper leaves my palate and I’m able to discern some nice, slightly funky dried stone fruit. The finish does have some dusting of that cookie from cold draw, as well as the grape skin. Quite a long finish, too. Carries all the way to the next puff. Through the first third, there are some pectin notes, as if chewing on apple peels or, again, grape skin. Lots of deep, sweet dark fruits, and bakery goodies. Nice oily texture, and good smoke output. Unfortunately, “the Light burn me,” that pepper blast in the nose keeps creeping up to distract me. Strength seems to be around med-full. Bigger than I thought it’d be. Slight dip in richness as things go on, but it picks up after the first ash falls. Heading toward the second third, cedar comes up strong, joining the sweetness and bakery scents.

Going into the second third, the fruit sweetness becomes a more defined plum brandy, along with some sweet hazelnut and nutmeg. Good stuff going on. Pepper is knocking on the door, wanting in, but we’re trying to keep him out of the party. Once he comes in, he always drinks all the booze, eats all the shrimp, and hits on everyone’s girlfriend. We’re having a good time trying to keep him out. 

Around the midpoint, things get delightfully funky, with some mushroom and umami flavors. Not so much pepper, but a sprinkling of paprika. Still some fruity sweetness on that finish, and dashes of cocoa. Strength has been around med-full up to this point. Threatening to go over that line a bit now. 

Going into the last third, I start to get a healthy dose of leather, but still all the baking spices. Not so much stone fruit or grape skin anymore. Instead, that has morphed into an unusual but tasty sort of roasted banana, but without the brown sugar. Almost banana bread, but not as sweet. Texture has become thicker, more syrupy than oily. Strength has stepped up even more, I think. Big bodied smoke.

Towards the band, no more banana. Back to sweet, syrupy stone fruits. Also some graham cracker goodness, cinnamon and nutmeg, but a solid bed of umami. Crushed hazelnuts and cocoa in the finish. Oak barrel. Oktoberfest.

Construction-wise, this has been an excellent smoke. Burn line stayed steady throughout, with only one touch-up needed around the middle. This is a 2021 release, so already 4 years, but I will probably wait another year to re-visit this one. Very good smoke, but for my taste, I think it could settle into “great” territory in another 3 to 4 years.

[Çnote]

I did buy a box 😄 🤣 😂 

[Capn_Jackson]

23 hours ago, Çnote said:

I did buy a box 😄 🤣 😂 

At that price point, irresponsible not to.

[Çnote]