2014 Blind Tasting Competition: Reviews: Cigar No. 3


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2 members sit above the pack on 2/2. With three cigars left, the third cigar could be a turning point. A chance to streak away, or an opportunity to make up ground! Remember - the winner (who can correctly identify the most cigars) will receive a $500 USD/AUD cigar credit. In the event of a tie, prize is will be split.

Some of you may have already smoked cigar no. 3, or will be doing so soon.. This thread will be used to share reviews on this cigar. Please post your review on this thread without giving away what cigar you think it is.

Just a reminder on the process for this competiton:

1. The third cigar (banded 3) is to be smoked by smoked by May 30th.

2. Email me ([email protected]) with your nomination for this cigar before June 1st

For the following cigars it is easy. Cigar 4 to be smoked by June 31st (etc etc). Each time the results will be posted via spreadsheet on the forum 7 days after the close and submission of all results.

GOOD LUCK party.gif

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My cigar number 3 experience was the best of them so far.

The flavour profiles I experienced were unlike Blackhams (above) and may have been due to being a bit drier than his example.

A well contstructed smoke, that was very firm with no soft spots. In fact, it was so firm that I feared it being plugged but it was in fact an ideal draw.

Flavours and body were delivered smoothly, not harsh and reflected good quality leaf and blend.

90 pts.

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My cigar number 3 experience was the best of them so far.

The flavour profiles I experienced were unlike Blackhams (above) and may have been due to being a bit drier than his example.

A well contstructed smoke, that was very firm with no soft spots. In fact, it was so firm that I feared it being plugged but it was in fact an ideal draw.

Flavours and body were delivered smoothly, not harsh and reflected good quality leaf and blend.

90 pts.

I like your game. Not giving it away, lol.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Reddish, smooth and oily wrapper. Well constructed, a bit springy. Should have dry-boxed as it seemed to be a little wetter than I like though the draw was fine.

Nice toasty and woody notes on the cold draw. Touch of strength on the initial draws after lighting.

Some creaminess at the onset but I didn't get a lot of flavor from this smoke, pretty muted. Turned bitter toward the end.

Not nearly as enjoyable as the previous two example. Rate in the mid-80's.

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Cigar No. 3

The cigar in question is a beauty to behold: perfectly rolled with just a touch of give when squeezed, draped in an oily dark wrapper and an expertly applied triple cap.

Right into the initial puffs it's very fruity, like a dark cherry flavor. There's a large amount of harshness there as well, unfortunately. The draw is wonderful, a slight tug and it bellows smoke. The burn requires a touch up here and there, but nothing worth complaining about.

Into the second third the harshness has subsided and it's all leather. The dark cherry flavor is completely gone. There's a slight spice through the nose, but it's a very mild spice. The draw continues to be excellent in this medium-strength stick.

Winding into the final third, Cigar No. 3 is putting out nothing but leather, with a pinch of harshness creeping back into the profile. It has stayed at medium-strength from first light to last puff, all the while exhibiting a fantastic draw and burn.

Cigar No. 3 had top notch looks and construction, but the flavors just weren't there. Harsh at first, leathery and harsh at the end. The cigar wasn't complex and the flavors it did have weren't very exciting. If I owned a box of these, I'd store them for a couple years and pray that it helped alleviate the harshness and brought the flavors together.

If my guess is correct, I've had plenty of these that were ten times better than this batch.

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Blind Cigar Tasting No.3



0 for 2 so far… On to no.3.


Appearance: This cigar has the best construction overall. The wrapper is colorado/maduro and very oily, with a mottled appearance I have seen on only one cigar in the past, this is currently influencing my choice for this cigar. I hope it holds true with the taste to solidify my pick. There is a grassy aroma with a touch of floral sweetness.


Cold Draw: Cedar wood and an underlying sweetness.


Initial Draws: Wood with chocolate and floral perfume. The draw is perfect.


1st Third: Wow what a complex cigar! There are lashings of perfumed smoke at the start with grassy creamy coffee and chocolate aspects alongside barbecued vegetables.


2nd:

A very smooth smoke, with aspects of sweet milk coffee and roast vegetables, a nutty note appears towards the end


3rd:

Continues in the same vein with the sweet creamy coffee dominating. There are hints of chocolate and an ever-present toasted tobacco note. I burnt my fingers smoking this one right to the nub.


Overall this fitted the profile I was expecting from the cigar’s appearance. The strength was at a low/medium level throughout. The first third was among the most complex I have ever experienced and it is a bit of a shame this did not continue throughout the smoke. A lovely change of pace cigar that I would definitely like to add to my rotation.


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I just finished smoking blind cigar #3. The first two in this series were great, this one, not so much. It had a harsh and bitter taste despite having several months in my humidor. However it had an underlying, pale sweet and creamy and woody flavor. I actually pitched the cigar about 20 minutes in. It just didn't taste good.

I think I've got a decent idea about what this cigar is. I went to my humidor and smoked one of (my guess) from 2011. I think it's the same cigar but without that harsh and bitter edge. I tend to age my cigars and smoke most with three or more years.

I'm 0/2 so far but have hopes I got this one right. It's always fun to be a part of this great adventure!

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Blind no.3

At cold, sweet mild tobacco

11mm punch= perfect resistance, straw, salt on the lips.

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1rst, hints of perfume, sweet citrus notes

Med-full body, fairly long finish.

Dark toasted notes, turning to almost cocoa at the end of the 1rst.

A bit milder now, but with thick smoke, strong and stacked ash, and a razor sharp burn.

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2nd, an almost liqueur like taste develops with an accumulative chocolate finish.

Full shift to chocolate, molasses, and tobacco.

A fruity finish starts near the end of this third and the stick shifts to chocolate, leather, and dark fruit.

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Into the final third, "twang" picks up, some tannins showing now.

Fruitiness builds as does that "twang" then back to chocolate

Finishes with all twang and tannins, but very smokable to the nub.

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Tasty smoke for sure, but all freakin over the place! Distinct moments of "Ah-HA" through this one, but it was a different epiphany each time, so safe to say, I'm stumped. I have 3 smokes in mind, and I've smoked 2 of them since, but with only 1 to go, I am realizing how hard this is given the variances in each cigar within even it's own box.

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What a shocker!

I had just finished a big piece of gammon so if I decided on this cigar being Sancho Panza then I know how much food influences my palette!

No spice at all on cold draw, just a smokey tobacco flavour, nothing else stood out

Straight away a massive hit of heavy charred tobacco, this is the first time in months that I've used a torch lighter so not sure if this is the issue but regardless, MASSIVE! Some very dark berry fruit notes

Straight away from that initial puff everything changed, a very bitter and sour flavour emerged, coating the whole mouth and tongue. Carrying on as I thought this was a hiccup, this profile continued. After 30 min I'm sat thinking what cigar has the profile of burnt dirt?! I've never tasted a cigar like this, the flavours burst initially with the draw then vanish instantly, zero after taste. I had bought a pint of Coors Light (I'm at the pub by the by!) to keep my pallet clean and fresh but by this point the Coors Light was tasting like champagne in comparison.

Burn was all over the place, a tight draw. The cigar ended up looking like it had been stubbed out with the filler almost bursting out of the cigar when burnt.

At the half way point I tried to even up the burnt by going nuclear on the cigar with the torch, success! I get a quick waft of burnt, smokey peat. That will do, that ticks off a flavour I get from ***********!

4/100

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This was the best of the 3 so far. The first two didn't do anything for me. Cigar #3 hand a beautiful red wrapper and was perfectly round. Construction was great and the draw was perfect.

Initially I had lots of spice coming through. This was the same aroma at cold. It was well balanced and stayed about medium all the way through. Very good construction and a perfect burn for the entire cigar. Not a single re light. Toasted tobacco was prevalent throughout but some cherry came through during the 2nd third. It stayed pretty consistent at each 3rd with spice, cherries and toasted tobacco being the main flavor profile. It did have some creaminess at times. The final 3rd did have some notes of leather which weren't there in the first 2/3rds.

All in all a very enjoyable cigar. Not a lot of depth but held my attention enough to almost nub it. I think I know but I'm 0/2 so what do I know.

-Kevin

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Great construction. Ideal draw for my taste. Cocoa on the cold draw. Stone fruit and earthy chocolate throughout the first third. Then the second third came and this cigar just went dead. Bland and harsh, nothing enjoyable in the middle. Things picked up a tiny bit jn the last thirs basically a repeat of the first third but harsher.

Now I'm really curious about the reveal!

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Late night here in Greece, been a crazy last few weeks, so not much time for smoking.

This third cigar had a very good construction, with a fruity profile to start, some sweet chocolate tastes emerged in the middle that turn darker towards the end. Definitely a full taste, medium to full body cigar.

Paired it with a much needed glass of Talisker.

Cigar submitted, fingers crossed!

Good luck to all!

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Smoked this morning, paired with water and the Sunday papers. No sign of box press here, round and very well filled. There's a slightly mottled pattern to the wrapper and a couple of water spots. There's a slight knot before the cap but after cutting the draw seems ok. I took this on holiday with me last week with the intention of smoking it but didn't get chance so it's been unintentionally dry-boxed for almost a week.

No problems with the draw after lighting, it's firm but producing good quantities of smoke. It's youthful, good quality tobacco and some cream on the first third. No spice at all at this stage. The smoke is nicely textured, it's rich but the strength of the cigar is medium at most. I'm not getting any harshness, it's an enjoyable smoke but not particularly complex. Seems to be holding something back at this point.

The burn is perfect despite a slight breeze and the ash has a lovely zebra stripe as it burns down. This example is very well constructed. The flavours aren't doing much though, my attention wavers as it burns down towards the final third. There's some grassiness and perhaps a hint of sweet spice and lemon zest.

It's a good cigar, not complex at this stage, but well made and has potential.

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Blind cigar No.3, a Robustos

Matt Colorado wrapper, sweet but faint honey

Punched it and got a perfect draw

A bit harsh on the palate the first draws, peppery with a hint of sweetness. Tons of smoke

Harshness is soon diminished and the sweetness moves to front

Fruit, dark and potent, emerges and retreats. Peppery sweet wood remains

Lovely ash pillar, almost totally white, but deliberately dropped after an inch

Sweetness and harshness are chasing each other the rest of the way, slowly developing into leather flavour

Getting tired of this cigar after two thirds. Dropping it7y7ugepa.jpg

Skickas från min iPad via Tapatalk

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Finally had a chance to smoke this one on the afternoon of May 31st.

This was a well constructed cigar. Dark brown wrapper with a shiny, slightly oily sheen, and was firm to the feel.

Cold draw was a bit stiff with tastes of earthy tobacco.

First third: Hint of spice at the beginning, quickly changing to cedar and strong tobacco. From reading other reviews, I think my idea of "strong tobacco" is the same as what others are referring to as "charred tobacco". First third finishes a bit leathery. I notice the cigar isn't putting out much smoke. The burn was fairly even.

Second third: The first third now seems like a mirage as all I'm getting is a harsh tobacco, leathery taste. Still not much smoke and burn is still fairly even.

Final third: The last third turns back to leather with cedary moments mixed in.

I think I've smoked this stick before, or one very similar to it. I guess we will see with the reveal...

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Mine tasted like fruit. No variation really through it, had avery rushed smoke as it was getting mighty close to the end of the month so smoked it as soon as i got back to work. So smoked with a dried out nose after 36 solid hours of being in air conditionned planes and airports.

I liekd it, i couldn't pin down what it was, though the taste was familiar i thought.

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Life has thrown some crazy curve balls at me, but alas I had time to burn this cigar.

Started out woody, and then the fruit rolled in. Cherries to be exact. The cigar bounced back and forth between fruit and a sweet leather taste.

A couple burn issues but overall the cigar was enjoyable .

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Overall I enjoyed this cigar. Quite a nice wrapper, very fine veins, good construction and even draw. The beginning flavors had me stumped as I couldn't really place them with any of my usual cigars. As I finished it off I did get hints of some familiar notes of cream and grass. It tasted fairly young and I would think with a few more years of age it would even out to a nice pleasant smoke.

I'd rate it an 88.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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