Popular Post PointFivePast Posted April 18, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted April 18, 2020 Not going to lie, I was a bit intimidated by this review theme at first. I don't typically use a point rating scale for my daily smokes (just ones I post reviews of) and tend to put cigars into categories of "BUY A BOX NOW!", "Would buy if I saw the right price", and "Won't be hunting these down". No real sense of purpose, just a general feeling of if I need more of cigar or not. However, I thought "Why not look back through my posts and see what I have rated 90 in the past?" and so I dug up a review I did of these RyJ Exhibicion #4s last September. Original RyJ Exhibicion #4 Review from September. I gave them a 90 there and seemed to imply there was potential to revisit. Having only read the end of my conclusion I figured I would stop there, smoke the same stick (still have one!), and review again while linking to the original and then compare against the review in the conclusion here. I haven't read of any of my original notes from September so this should be an interesting little mashup. On to the cigar! Initial Impressions: Overall construction is fantastic... good fill, supple wrapper, perfect smoothness from a bit of oil in the leaf. Aroma at cold is a mix of light clover honey with an over-the-top floral component; floral reminds of baby wipes in its almost artificial seeming intensity though it is not unpleasant. Cold draw presents dark berries and light cherry as well a bit of chocolate halfway between milk and dark chocolate. Bit of sweetness here not quite like molasses, lighter than that... barley malt syrup maybe? Cutting the end reveals three or four distinct visible stems with one even pushing the wrapper outward at the shoulder of the cap. Draw is perfect though with no signs of plugging; this should make for an interesting review. First Third: Cigars starts with some sweetened bran cereal and a robust, spicy cedar. Some medicinal cherry notes wrap themselves around a very intense oak core. This oak is intense, like sticking your head inside an used, heavy toast wine barrel after its been cleaned and sat outside for a year. An inch in and the woods soften a bit while the retrohale maintains an intense pepper spice. For being six years old, this cigar is still rather rough and tumble. Creamy cherry appears like that inside a cordial. Distinct bitterness on palate that may be a part of the oak component. Hard to tell as it is intense and hangs around at the end of many of the exhales. Second Third: Purged cigar for the first time. Bitter oak note continues despite my best efforts. Bright cedar in the high tones, medicinal cherry in the middle, and heavy oak on the low... a very woody cigar so far. At times the creamy cherry cordial softens the woods but they seem to return often. Spice on retrohale picks up... some sort of sharp pepper note so intense I take a break from doing any retros. A touch of artificial banana flavor now. Not much change noted in this third, very consistent throughout. I purge before entering the next third. Final Third: Cedar finally begins to soften a bit, presumably for good. Pleasant floral notes of fruit blossoms (indistinct type) coming in now with a bit of smoked paprika. Oak returns then fades again as cigar softens. I suspect the stems at the bottom may be a factor through the entire cigar and responsible for this tannic bitterness that reminds so much of oak. Bit of nuts here an there that alternate between walnuts and almonds. Herbs coming in now (oregano, thyme, basil) with a bit of lemon alongside. Spice profile takes on a bit of cinnamon and a hint of barnyard here, reminds me of an elephant cage almost. If you know that smell, its rather distinct and I can't shake it as a descriptor here. Artificial banana returns with some accompanying Lucky Charms marshmallow, the little freeze dried ones in the cereal. From there on out its just general toasty tobacco at the end of the cigar, surprisingly little bitterness on the finish considering how much has been present previously. Conclusion and Score: Time to compare against my review from last summer. Overall, the profile matches up pretty well. I'd previously noted sweet cedar, cherry, peaches (not present this time around), cinnamon, chocolate, barnyard, bran cereal, and oak. Evolution didn't follow the same trajectory but it all seems to be there. The biggest difference is this bitter oak note with tannins which I am 100% convinced is due to the presence of some stems running through this cigar. If I had an x-ray machine available it would have been fascinating to look at the inside of this cigar before smoking. My dentist is right across the street... perhaps I should have run in there to see if they could have zapped a few images of this cigar! I'd love to give this higher marks but the stems effected the flavor too much despite not impacting the draw at all. I'm going to give this cigar 83/100 this time around with major points deducted for that overpowering oak. It wasn't actually as unpleasant as it sounds but definitely obscured many of the flavors I may have experienced otherwise. Oddly enough, my last rating was 90/100 with room to move to a 92 or 93 with some improvement. This cigar was not that but I still stand by my impressions that the RyJ Exhibicion #4 is stick I'd like to get a box of. I'll be keeping my eyes out as I've now smoked through all of mine in the humidor and will be relying RyJ Mille Flours for my cherry hit in the coming month. Thanks for reading and I hope you are all staying safe out there! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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