RyJ Exhibition #4 \'05

[physiognomy]

These are from a dress box (XLB DIC 05) & I have found them to be a very consistent smoke… Trying to let these get any age has proven difficult & I'm sad to say they won't reach the 5yr mark.

I put the torch to this cigar pre-dinner with a cold Skinny Dip ale out on the balcony. Nearly a robusto at 5” by 48rg, it had a nice looking smooth wrapper with a few small veins & slight box-press. Very mild sweet tobacco aroma straight from the box. Prelight draw was initially a little tighter than I’d like, so I shaved a bit more off the cap with my Palio & I was relieved that it improved.

The first few puffs delivered good amounts of sweet floral smoke that let me know I was in for a treat. The first third progressed with mild creamy fruit/floral flavours (Newb palate talking here). I am impressed with the balance of these flavours, neither dominating, but all combining in a pleasant manner.

The draw opened up a little in the second 3rd & produced volumes of smoke. I think the light (swirling) breeze caused the slight uneven burn, but this corrected itself after a light touch-up. While I could probably blindly pick this as a Cuban cigar initially its earthy ‘twang’ came more to the forefront here & it picked up some faint woody tones that added to the previous flavours mentioned. Some reviews I have read mention spice, but I didn’t notice any up to this point.

The last third bumped this cigar into the med category for me… I started to feel a pleasant nic buz & the floral sweetness, while still there, started to take a back seat to a stronger tobacco flavour. While trying to dissect what I was tasting more I noticed that the creaminess was still in the background. The last inch finished off with a sweet woodiness & I put it down when my girlfriend arrived home with some eggplant parmesan sandwiches for dinner.

Overall, this was a great cigar that lasted me over one and a half hours. I look forward to smoking more of these. 5.25/6

[stever]

Very nice review! One of my favorite regular production R&Js. I wonder how the '07s are smoking?