2015 FOH International Blind Tasting Competition: Cigar Number 1

[topdiesel]

Awesome, welcome Hamlet.

[NJP]

Great to see you here Hamlet.

[khamy]

Indeed, welcome welcome.

[GavLew79]

Guys let the cigars rest as you have to remember that they have been in the air making their way over to you and may be jet lagged , if you can hold off until mid March there might be a different outcome with the cigars

Hi Lisa,

Mine was resting for a good 3 weeks. Probably just a bad example. Hopefully the others will be spot-on.

[Lotusguy]

Hi guys a big hello from me to all of you,I m doing well so far and 8 m glad that I can use this way to be in touch with all of you

Welcome!!

It would be awesome if you could participate in this competition - I for one would love to see a true master at work

[backslide]

How in the world did i miss this?

Easy to get missed when we have people bumping 2-4 year old threads all the time.

[El Presidente]

Welcome!!

It would be awesome if you could participate in this competition - I for one would love to see a true master at work

If hamlet was participating, I would have made then skinnies and he would be clueless

[Lotusguy]

If hamlet was participating, I would have made then skinnies and he would be clueless

Wouldn't he simply refuse to smoke them?

[First Lady]

Don't forget to email me your guess of what the No 1 cigar is

[email protected]

[GavLew79]

Has nobody else smoked theirs yet? It's lonely out here...

[Tino]

Weather permitting I'm planning on smoking mine this weekend

[Carts]

Had some unforseen time today to smoke so I decided to smoke the 1st cigar for review

Here we go:

overall smoke time was around 75 minutes (I'm slow)

Construction: no overly hard or soft spots to the touch, the weigh feels right. Smooth looking wrapper, looks like chocolate

pre light aroma: milk chocolate and cream

cold draw: a little sour tasting on the tongue. draw is perfect

went with a punch cut that revealed a nice divot under the cap. A sign of a good roll in my mind

1/3: starts off right away with the flavour of coffee with milk. The finish shows some chocolatey notes. this thing started out strong. Id say between med-full body leaning more towards full. Retrohale (something I'm slowly learning) is harsh and doesn't reveal much else other than what's stated above. As the first third comes to an end some earthy and dry-woody tones come in to play. The sweetness isn't as prevalent.

2/3: the strength mellows down to a medium. This third shows the most confusion, almost as if the blend is at a fork in the road and doesn't know which way to go. the pronounced flavour profile from the first third is now muted. The chocolatey notes go away, still some sour tasting cream and coffee flavours. They are joined with more woody notes and it shows it's youth in full force in this third. Similar to the previous reviewer, I was confident after the 1st third but after finishing this second third, this cigar isn't leaning towards any marca and I start to question myself.

3/3: finally a transition away from boring confusion and back to sweetness. This cigar would be nice with a sweet espresso drink, though I'm pairing it with water to give myself any chance at guessing correctly. The strong sweet cream is coming back in to play, along with it returns a pronounced milk chocolate. I start to taste shortbread very subtly, but at centre stage is the smooth sweet cream and chocolate. This third steers me closer to a confident guess.

If the the middle section of this cigar showed more character this would have been a 93-maybe 94 cigar, but all in all I think its closer to an 89 at the moment.

Sending my guess in. Cheers all.

[Habanos2000]

1 down.

Had some decent weather in Chicago yesterday so I decided to get the competition started.

Cigar #1 is a nice little PC. I have a few in my standard rotation but I'm not sure if that will help or hurt my chances of guessing correctly.

I noticed the little 'divot/dovot' upon punching the cap. To me that's a nice little touch that I'm not sure is supposed to be on every cigar, but I do believe that the cigars that have this divot have drawn better for me. May be hard to tell in this photo, but it's there!

Nothing extraordinary stood out pre-light, perfect draw, and the cigar was instantly at a medium body. Predominant flavor was cedar with a faint hint of spiciness.

First ash fell off at 13 minutes in.

Second third maintained the medium body, good strength. I was starting to notice a bit of cream as well and a touch of sweet. Not sure where this cigar was going, but I was still trying to match it to one of my regulars. Even with little evolution, it was very enjoyable so far. With a bit of wind, the burn started to go a little haywire, a touch up from the lighter got it back on track quickly.

Final third saw the cream go away and back to the original flavor. Still a solid medium and a good smoke. Noticed a hint of paper towards the end of the smoke, that was an unusual flavor until I inspected the cigar a bit closer!

At the end I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. It lasted 57 minutes. Good strength, good flavor. I'd give it a solid 89.

I'll submit my guess to Lisa and wait to see how far off I was!

[bradbrennan]

Have been looking forward to this...been in hard core training!

A little baking spice in the cold draw, maybe hints of baking soda or salt. Nice oily wrapper! It's been in my humidor for well over a month at 65/65. Paired with water.

As I've been smoking a few in this size for the last few weeks, I recognize this cigar, but not one of my regulars. 70 minutes in (obviously not this pic, thought I had that one too...lit with wooden match, not the lighter hiding there) and just past the first half, slow for me! Sweet spice on the nose, kind of like homemade pumpkin pie from scratch.

This was at near two hours, just keeps going! Several very interesting transitions, meaty, rich toasted tobacco. Still sweet spices on the nose with hints of salt. Very nice smoke! Put it down at two hours and ten minutes. Lots of transitions, dry toast, darker toast, hints of bacon or ham and still sweet spice in the nose. I'd buy a box of these! Not sure, but think have it down to three guesses. Need to revisit a couple other smokes before I send my pick. I'd give it a 93, thanks, Rob!

[GavLew79]

2hrs 10 mins for a Mareva!!! That's almost world record times. You should enter that event the "cigar smoking world championships!" In Croatia I think?

[bradbrennan]

2hrs 10 mins for a Mareva!!! That's almost world record times. You should enter that event the "cigar smoking world championships!" In Croatia I think?

:-) I told some of the guys in the group I smoked with that it was going to be unbelievable

[ShortFatHokie]

Smoked this one on Saturday afternoon while my wife was out riding with her cycling group.

Smoked it outside as the temperature was 58*-60*F with a slight breeze.

This cigar had been kept in 65/65 since I received it. It was a well made cigar with a colorado maduro wrapper with a few small veins. Firm to the touch with what looks like a box press...not sure if it's an actual "box press" or if it was "pressed" in the packing/shipping process. Aroma was a floraly barnyard smell, almost sweet.

First draw after lighting was quite firm with a sweet, cedary toastiness.

First 1/3: Coffee with some white pepper spicines. Hints of cream, honey, and dark chocolate followed as the draw loosened up.

Second 1/3: More of the coffee and hints of cream and dark chocolate sweetness and a slight woodiness. I'm enjoying this cigar very much and would rate it at 91-92 at this point

Final 1/3: The coffee and woodiness dominate the final third. Have lost all the creamy, chocolate sweetness.

The cigar started just under medium at the light and grew to just above medium by the end.

This cigar has characteristics of several different ones that I've smoked. I think I have it narrowed down to a few sticks but that box press is confusing me.

Regardless of whether I guess this cigar correctly or not, I got to enjoy a fantastic smoke. I would love to have a box of this exact cigar. I would rate it solid 90, encroaching on 91.

[Bernardini]

Smoked cigar no. 1 over the weekend. Short and sweet review.

Smoking Time: 1hr 5 min

Cold Draw – Picked up chocolate sweetness and cedar. Draw a little tight, but certainly acceptable

1/3 – Started off with cedar and occasional big hits of chocolate sweetness. The woody flavors were the primary flavor, with a little spice on the retrohale. The sweetness slowly transitioned away from chocolate towards more of a fruit flavor as the cigar progressed.

2/3 - The woody flavors moved to the background, as the sweetness moved to the forefront. Towards the end of the third, the spice practically disappeared.

3/3 – Still moved along with a similar flavor profile as before. As the end drew near, the woody flavors came back with a vengeance. I picked up a little leather as well right near the end.

I thought this cigar was enjoyable, not something I would rush out to get, but not one I would turn my nose up at either (like I ever would turn down a cigar !). It started out as mild, but moved to medium bodied from the halfway point on.

I am torn between two guesses, and might just have to flip a coin!

[GavLew79]

:-) I told some of the guys in the group I smoked with that it was going to be unbelievable

Awesome. A double corona must last you an entire weekend and into Monday morning. ?

[bradbrennan]

Awesome. A double corona must last you an entire weekend and into Monday morning.

I wish but actually I smoked another cigar later the same day thinking it could be the same marca and it only went hour and 5 minutes. I don't know what was up with that one, but it also was quite enjoyable for me!

[Rye]

Well, I wasn't going to play this year, but good friends got together & schemed a way to get a numerically banded assortment into my mailbox.

Given my perfectly horrendous streak of 0 for 10 so far, I'm going about it in a different way, and enjoying it a ton more already over past years.

Ok, onto the cigar.

Perfect construction on this slightly box pressed Marevas with a gorgeous and oily colorado maduro wrapper, snug bunching, and a perfect quadruple cap.

The smell at cold on this one is all clean tobacco and sweet baking spice.

Punched with my 11mm and picked out a perfect inverted pigtail, leaving a deep Cuban dimple. I don't even need to test the draw after seeing that!

The perfect cold draw is the same as the smell at cold.

It takes to light very well, and produces thick clouds right off the bat.

The first couple puffs are quite strong, but it settles quickly to a medium profile with tastes of rich cocoa, strong baking spice, & roasted tobacco.

A baking soda like saltiness shows in the finish on & off, and I am getting metallic, or tannic notes on the accumulative finish.

The flavours remain consistent through the remainder of the first portion...

And the second...

And the final third...

Well, while there was nothing really wrong with this cigar, I just kept expecting more. Anything would've improved my opinion of it. A strength increase, a twist in flavour, anything!

While the construction and burn were as good as I would ever ask for, it lacked in the taste department for me.

The cigar burnt perfectly for over an hour and a half, and if only I could get my BPC's to burn this long and well!!

I am locked into my guess, and I very much look forward to the unveiling and the next cigar!

[Optic101]

Blind tasting no 1

PC size

23 March 15

12:10 am just after midnight

Dark wrapper, slightly oily, straight cut

First draw

Very tight draw, minimal smoke

An unusual new flavor for me, Flour, baking powder, salt

No change in flavors throughout the whole cigar

Good construction

1:20 smoking time

Not too much of smoke

Good burn

No idea what it is.

[melies]

Ok, I had mine! I completely forgot to take pictures as I was distracted with the cigar

Cold Draw was lovely, one of those cigars that I could have not lit it and still enjoy it. Barn Yard and some sweetness.

Made a straight cut and lit it with a torch. Construction was perfect and the cigar beautiful.

1rst Third. Started strong but quickly went to medium light body. Had some sweetness to it and some bake bread characteristics, I'm enjoying this cigar, specially since i smoked it with water in the morning, the lightness went great.

2nd third, has an espresso and the cigar stayed more or less the same, now with some saltiness in the mouth. i think I know what this cigar is, but still have to smoke something else to be sure.

3th third. Not a lot of change, but have enjoyed it a lot, its not a cigar to concentrate on it, but a great morning smoke with coffee and the news paper IMO.

Let's see if Ive got it right

[Yagermeister]

Crap! Less than 2 weeks to go. I need to get on it.

[Fumadoro]

Here we go…

The wrapper beautiful, slightly oily, and just a few tones below what I would call colorado maduro. The construction seems spot on with a nice, even, firm packing of tobacco. There was a muted aroma of sweet barnyard coming off the wrapper, and the foot smelled of chocolate, baking spices, a touch of pepper, and cedar. The pre-light draw gave similar flavors, and the filler tasted quite salty.

The cigar opened up with notes of toasted tobacco, and a touch of pepper, but the true flavor profile soon settled in. Sweet coffee and cream, shortbread, and bittersweet chocolate were the main flavors presenting themselves. The body of the cigar was well within the medium range for me, and on retrohale, there was a lot of baking spices, and a touch of youth. Youth was not ammonia, but just gave a slightly harsh sensation.

During the second third, the body increased more into a medium-full range and there were no major changes to the very enjoyable flavor profile.

The final third of the cigar retained the medium-full body of the second third, but the flavors become muddled, eventually becoming wholly dominated by cinnamon. It almost reminded me of Big Red chewing gum.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable cigar, and I think I have what I need to take a guess. I’ll be smoking a few other Marevas in the coming days just to help solidify my final choice. I would rate this cigar at 90 points with some definite upside for aging a few years to workout the flavor profile in the final third.

There are my thoughts and I wish us all the best of luck. Happy smoking ladies and gents!