Belated Bolivar Week Review : '03 Tubos No. 1

[tigger]

Since Rob extended Boli week, and was looking for a review of these, I thought it might be a good time to have the No. 1s that I had put in OHS last year shipped to me. They arrived this morning, and I figured, "May 21, May 22, what's the difference, time for a review." I don't often smoke cigars right off the truck, but thought that the tubes may have offered a degree of protection from the heartbreak of Nicotianic jet lag.

I bought these as a proxy for the dearly departed Bolivar Coronas after Rob was kind enough to review an '05 sample for me:

[link]http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/board_entry.php?id=59668#p59668[/link]

Seated on the porch at lunchtime, today is a continuation of much of this Spring in New England - breezy, chilly, and showery. The upside to this is that the Dogwood trees seem to be holding their flowers longer than usual. :-)

Prelight impressions:

A finely veined wrapper that smells of leather and cedar. The bunch at the foot looks slightly open, with aromas of earth and damp cardboard.

There are a few soft spots along the body of this corona-sized cigar, but they aren't outlandish, or of particular concern.

Draw at cold is very slightly loose, and tastes reminiscent of bell pepper and coffee grounds.

On Fire:

Initial draws are nice - Sweet earth and baking spices with a tart note. Big pepper on the finish...

First Third

Full-bodied, earthy and leathery - not a surprise from ol' Simón. Not as strong as the CE I reviewed last week, but it's undoubtedly a Bolivar. Ash is flat medium gray with dark striations throughout. Overlaying the earth and leather are flavors that remind one of a well made mole (the sauce, not the small mammal) - cinnamon and bittersweet chocolate.

This is a very fine cigar thus far, as evidenced by the moment where I did a double take while looking at it and uttered an involuntary "mmmmmmmmm."

Second Third

Getting chewier and stronger as it progresses, variations of the flavors from before are still there, with an emphasis the bittersweet/unsweetened chocolate. Gobs of cayenne on the finish. Purging a couple of times, as I think the strength might be hiding some of the underlying taste.

Final Third

More of the same, with cedar, cinnamon and sweet nuts rolling about my tongue. No bitterness toward the end. Good stuff!

Wrap up: 5 years of tube time have kept this quite strong - strong enough that I suspect that additional time working its magic would make a terrific cigar better still.

Accounting for the slightly loose draw and strength masking some of the flavor in the last two thirds, I give it 94/100.

There are a couple of ifs involved with me and the rest of this box...IF the contents of the rest of the tubos are of similar quality and character as the first, and IF I can bury and forget them in a corner of one of my coolers for another 5-10 years, I think I'll have classics on my hands.

[Leftridge]

Excellent Review Sounds like a great cigar with the potential to go the distance or smoke now!

[Tampa1257]

Nice review, thanks for sharing!

[Colt45]

Tigger, great review. Mole is an excellent descriptor that I'll have to keep in mind

and use in the future.

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[tigger]

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:-D