Belinda Belvederes 1999

[Kingantz]

It’s a dreary feeling day with clouds, strong winds, and leaves falling all over. Cool weather is finally coming in with temps only getting up to the low 60’s today and dropping down to 40F tonight. Only thing I like about cold weather is no bugs. That and it’s nice for snugglin’ with my girls.

I was in the mood for a small smoke after lunch, so picked up a Belinda Belveders from ’99. Not a very pretty smoke with a very coarse, golden wrapper and prominent veins throughout. You can see the wrapper on the foot was stretched when rolling, however the cigar was perfect as far as firmness and when cut, a perfect draw. I put fire to the foot and immediately got a full bodied smoke with strong black pepper. This little thing packed a punch! There was a good, well aged tobacco flavor with earth, wood, and underlying herbal tastes.

The first third of the cigar was a good full strength, however the power started to subside after that and the black pepper on the throat died down as well. I found the smoke actually became quite smooth and picked up a hint of vanilla and what seemed like citrus. Towards the end it seemed like I was getting a mint flavor in the smoke with a strong, dark earth. I really wasn’t paying it much attention, however there was a good amount of tar that had built up in the end of the stick. Bet that tastes good, huh?

This discontinued machine made was a nice treat with good flavors and a perfect burn. I will say it would definitely not be for the weak. If this thing has been aging for almost ten years and still that strong, I couldn’t imagine what kind of power it had when fresh. Whew!

A little something for Halloween…