AUGUST blind taste test review POST YOUR REVIEW HERE

[ilikecigars]

guess ill be the first too share my experience with this fine gifted cigar.

upon inspection my guess is this was a dahlia not a lonsdale at all..

i settled down after a hard days work into my favorite yard chair under the stars a most pleasent night with a slight mild breeze, opening and pouring myself a finger or two of balvenie 12 yr. old single malt i examined the cigar.

i found this beauty to have a tripple cappa its outer leaf shimering in the moon light, dark, oily, and smooth...a fine looking habano with perfect construction and ever so mildly veined.

it hard a firm construction with a very mild resilience, i sniped the cappa and took a pre light draw..wow...sweetness is what comes to mind.

the cigar lit without a hitch a perfect draw a very well rolled habano indeed thus far.

the first third of this ciagr was mild, tremendous sweetness with hints of nuts a very nice start.

the ash held firm and opened up into a medium strength smoke with very full body...i now am tasteing more spice as the sweetness subsides and the nutty flavour has changed into a more woody flavour..this cigar is going very well with my balvenie and i am in my element at this point........ pure bliss.

the last third creeping up too one hour of sitting under the stars i find this cigar to be leading up too a strong finish the woodiness and spice coming through more now with slight hints of dark,bitter chocolate this cigar has great dimension to it starting off mild and sweet, nutty then med with wood and spice finishing well leaving me with a grand aftertaste of spice and chocolate..i hated too put it down and my guess is i may have just smoked a romone allones 898 or maybe a monte "D" ?

im not quite sure what it was as im not very good at putting my tastes/experiences into a brand but this was a very well made and extremely enjoyable cigar !

my thanks to el presedente for allwing me to share in this experience and also too lisa and andrew for making it happen.

enjoy guys looking forward to others reviews.

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ilikecigars

[Jimmy2]

When the next taste test ? I am down to give it a try..

[El Presidente]

EXCELLENT REVIEW!

This could be a suprise to a few people ;-)

[kwong21]

First off, I would like to thank Ron and Lisa for the sending me a fine cubano to blind taste test.

Upon opening the package, I immediately noticed the strong aroma the cigar was seductively sending me. It was a beautiful dark brown wrapper with slight veining. However, the foot of my cigar was a bit smooshed.

Construction appeared to be very good, but I did feel a very tight firmness to the top third of the cigar. I was bit concerned about this tightness (tight draw/plugged).

The size of the cigar appeared to be 61/2” x 43.

After letting the cigar rest for a few days in the humidor, I decided to fire it up. I clipped the cappa, and took a pre-draw test. This confirmed my fear, no draw….=(

I massaged the cigar in hopes of loosening the draw, but no luck. I decided to cut the top third of the cigar and smoke what was left. I know… I know….shame on me, but I didn’t want to waste the thing.

The initial flavors to hit the palate was pure spice, full in body. The spiciness soon mellowed out, and a sweet spice/nutty flavor came about. On occasion, I could taste bitter cacao with a slight creaminess (maybe a tad young?). Of course the sweet spice was always in the background. It started to remind me of my 2000 Partagas Lonsdales, but a trifle stronger.

The flavors didn’t waver too much than what I already mentioned. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to smoke a full length cigar. Overall, I think the cigar was a Partagas 898 Varnished. Very enjoyable with similarities to the Partagas Lonsdales.

Thanks for the opportunity!

[Guest smithyai]

Well Rob has been on my case for the last week about submitting the August review rather than just taking free cigars from the humidor and smoking them without any review. So here I go...

The cigar was beautifully selected with a smooth dark brown wrapper. The unlit draw was firm but acceptable with a fine tobacco smell to it. These tobacco flavours came through in the first third of the cigar also with hints of nuts and cedar.

A slow burning cigar with no hint of meatloaf that Ken would have tasted if he was reviewing this month. The cigar built in intensity during the middle third as it opened up and became easier to draw.

A smooth oily feel in the hand, a good indication that I have been maintaining the humidity in the humidor perfectly for El Presidente. The oils in the cigar are clearly evident in the final third which adds to the earthy flavours of the cigar.

Looking forward to being on next month's tasting panel...

[El Presidente]

Smithy

...you are no certainty to be on this months panel given you allowed Ken to ransack the humidor at will.

[Ken Gargett]

don't blame smithy (well, better him than me). if you had been at the humidor for our agreed meeting, we would not have had to help organise things to ease your next stocktake.

[tmos]

I copied and pasted this from the other thread to keep things organized. Here is my un-review review.

I didn't get the ruler out but I'm fairly confident this was a Lonsdale. I compared it to a VR Classico and they were dead even in length, but this Lonsdale was significantly heavier.

As predicted it was a bit overfilled and the draw and combustion was just o.k. It wouldn't stay lit and I tired of fighting it so I let it die with 1/3 of the cigar remaining. I'll cut my review short since the construction problems and re-lights really interfered with the flavor development. It was earthy and familiar which leads me to believe it was an RyJ Cedros Deluxe No. 1.

[GoatLocker]

The mystery cigar arrived last week and has been resting comfortably in my singles humidor, waiting patiently to meet it's end. A beatiful cigar with a milk chocolate wrapper, it had an oily sheen and somewhat prominent veins that gave it a slightly rustic look. Like some others have commented, the foot was a bit flattened.

Like Kwong21, I was concerned about the cigar being plugged. It was heavy and very firm, with no give for the top 1-1/2". I clipped the cap and found virtually no draw. Using my drawpoker, I pierced the cigar 4 times and it opened a bit, only to close back up within minutes. I made the same attempt as Kwong, cutting the top couple inches off. It was still pretty tight, but I did get a little smoke out of it, and figured I'd take one for the team and give it a try.

Initially, it was sweet toasty tobacco, with nutty and woody overtones and a bit of spice. The flavor didn't change much, but the spice did pick up a bit, and there was a hint of floral and cocoa flavors in there at times. For the last inch or so, I was able to get a reasonable amount of smoke, and found it to be medium+ in body and flavor. The flavor was very nice, and I'm sure if it had not been plugged, I would have loved this cigar.

I'm probably way off, as (a) I'm not that skilled or experienced at all this blind review stuff, and ( I'm sure I wasn't really getting the full flavor of this cigar until the last inch, but my impression is that it was an SLR Lonsdale from a 50 cab, maybe 4 or 5 years old :-D . A few times I thought It might be a Party lonsdale, but it just didn't have that spice and kick of Partagas. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Thanks El Prez and Lise for including me in this. Looking forward to the rest of the reviews, and finding out what cigar this was.

[El Presidente]

Well, Given that Ken Gargett can't post anywhere outside of his bedroom Iwon't hold my breath waiting for his review as he is in Portugal.

The % of tight draws from this test was a concern as I know Smithy tried to minimise it. We specifically used this batch because when on it has proven to be a cracker.

Lonsdale, Mild medium body with lilting notes of caramel. It is the bestway I can describe this cigar which isone of my favourite lonsdales along with the Sanch Panza Molino's. Bothare some of the finest mild bodied cigars in the world because they combine something whicheludes so many other cigar makers worldwide....lightness of body and complexity.

Let me introduce Saint Luis Rey Lonsdale

Thankyou reviewers for another outstanding job!

[tmos]

Never would have guessed an SLR. Don't really have much experience with this brand though.

Thanks for the opportunity again Rob, and I'm not just padding my post count so I can get those 898's.

[GoatLocker]

Fortunately, I had an SLR PC a couple weeks ago with a very similar profile. I always worry about lonsdales, as for me they have a bad habit of having tight draws. I'm really going to have to explore the SLR line some more. Thanks again!

[Ken Gargett]

a smidge past the cut off but i'll still post...

Nice milk choc appearance, but veiny. Had a feeling a bit like icky suede and very old dried leather. Cold, there was a teak, woody note to it. Lonsdale size - this doesn’t remind me of anything that I can specifically recall smoking before but it looks awfully familiar to a spare stick sitting in the humidor that I have been meaning to try - SLR Lonsdale (it might be a shortcut but for these mystery cigars, I always try and check them against what I have and also what the books suggest - helps a lot unless Rob has switched sizes on me). Opened with a nice creamy coffee note and attractive mildness. Suspect that it might have 2-3 years of age on it. Construction was very good, certainly a little tight and not overdone (I rather like the idea of actually having to do some work for reward, at least as far as cigars are concerned). Burn nice and slow. Opened quite mild but the flavours soon started building. Originally thought that the mildness and creaminess might have been down the R&J track but the creamy coffee notes soon turned into something much more powerful. Last ½ was quite power-packed. Certainly not the same whack with a baseball bat as from the SLR DC’s but enough here for me to think it possibly could be of the SLR family. I really liked it and thought it worth a good 91. Mind you, I did have this with a bottle of 1970 Crasto Colheita and that would make dog turds marinated in sauv blanc taste good. As this is being done while away and assume most will have posted by the time I am home and can submit, will be fascinated to see what it is and what others thought.

» Well, Given that Ken Gargett can't post anywhere outside of his bedroom

» Iwon't hold my breath waiting for his review as he is in Portugal.

»

» The % of tight draws from this test was a concern as I know Smithy tried

» to minimise it. We specifically used this batch because when on it has

» proven to be a cracker.

»

» Lonsdale, Mild medium body with lilting notes of caramel. It is the

» bestway I can describe this cigar which isone of my favourite lonsdales

» along with the Sanch Panza Molino's. Bothare some of the finest mild

» bodied cigars in the world because they combine something whicheludes so

» many other cigar makers worldwide....lightness of body and

» complexity.

»

» Let me introduce Saint Luis Rey Lonsdale

»

» Thankyou reviewers for another outstanding job!