FOH International Blind Tasting Competition: Cigar Number 1. Official thread

[Bijan]

Looking back on my notes. I wasn't so sure about cigar one until a third or maybe halfway through.

Here are my notes (flavors in order from beginning to end):

Chocolate
spice cinnamon
Floral
Earth
Leather
Malt
Sweet berry
Honey
Citrus peel
Cedar

Cigar was very strong but it was humid and a rainy day so that may have had some impact.

Smoking time was 70 minutes.

[Sir Diggamus]

Nice breakdown! I got several of the same notes you did but in a different order. I got the cedar in the very beginning and some of the other notes later than you. I had narrowed it to 2 and leaned heavily toward one, but after reading your review I am reconsidering my backup choice even more. I only rested it about 10 days so that may have impacted my read on it.


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[ChangBang]

Mine was 9.26g and got mostly a faint unsweet chocolate in it.  Some breadyness.  Not my favorite, but I think I know what it is based on that haha.  Not too sure on the aged or not aged.  Wish we could at the end identify the 3 aged cigars!  I'll be smoking #2 in a couple days and then hopefully I can solidify my guess on this one.

[RichG]

Cigar number one has a rustic wrapper with slight-moderate tooth. Draw is firm but acceptable. 

Upon lighting bitterness, slightest bit of burnt sugar, salt and tannic notes. 

About 1/2" in there is a hint of sweetness on the draw, and a woody/cedar character has entered the picture. 

By the end of the first third flavors have ramped into wood, cream, salt and sweetness. The sweetness feels as if it is barely there on the draw, and neither on the draw nor the retro can I detect an associated flavor of floral, honey, caramel, etc. to accompany this hint of sweetness. 

Heading into the second third the saltiness recedes in favor of a deeper creamy espresso coming to the forefront, with the initial woodiness still there, but less prevalent. This is joined by some faint anise/licorice notes that remind me of a Davidoff Millenium or Churchill Late Hour. 

Heading through the final third to the finish the wood has dissipated and been overtaken by a dark roasted coffee character.

The cigar has no youthful bite to it, and was well rounded and creamy throughout. This leads me to believe it is aged.

Light-medium, nicely rounded smoke. 8.5/10

 

 

[inter4alia]

I'm relatively certain I got a dud. We know, it happens but it's too bad it happened in the context of this comp. Mine was generally lacking in any discernable flavors, or much flavor at all, it was pretty muddled. Based on this, my guess on number 1 will truly be a blind guess. Complete contrast to number 2, which was just singing with flavor - a cracker of a cigar! 

 

[Boxer31]

Smoked #1 one last weekend- no idea what it is. If it was box pressed just barely.   

[slowsmoke]

I smoked #1 yesterday, and thought it was quite good, a variety of flavors and all well balanced, smooth to the end, if not quite "classy".  Never more than medium bodied.

Pre-light and cold draw was totally anonymous, generic cedar.  The burn was a bit wonky at times, required some touch ups, nothing out of the ordinary.

In the first third I tasted just about every marca I could think of at one point or another 😆, and was really thinking I haven't the slightest clue what it could be.  But things settled in after that, and overall I got light coffee, raw leather/suede, some tannic oak, some sour dry grass.  Occasional blasts of nuttiness that really had me thinking this could be a certain recently-discontinued petit corona (though I understand this is limited to current production).  Then I recalled trading some cigars with a member here years ago, and some comments he made about a particular petit corona that I had sent him, and it clicked.  By the end, I was pretty sure that's what this is.  If I am right, I will have to send that member some cigars!

Of course I am probably completely wrong.  But I thoroughly enjoy this nonetheless.  Thanks Rob and FOH.

[saltbox]

Smoking #1 right now. When I first received the package, I made guesses on what each cigar was based solely on the smell off the wrapper. Now that I'm smoking #1, my guess hasn't changed. If I'm right, I'm a genius. If I'm wrong, clearly the cigar was a dud.

[PigFish]

Can I just guess now. I have as good a chance as any... even without smoking...! -LOL

Cheers! -Piggy

[Chibearsv]

I smoked #1 last night and whatever it is was absolutely delightful.  I got none of the bitterness that others are getting.  I'm a little stumped but i think i made an decent educated guess.

 

14 hours ago, slowsmoke said:

I smoked #1 yesterday, and thought it was quite good, a variety of flavors and all well balanced, smooth to the end, if not quite "classy".  Never more than medium bodied.

Pre-light and cold draw was totally anonymous, generic cedar.  The burn was a bit wonky at times, required some touch ups, nothing out of the ordinary.

In the first third I tasted just about every marca I could think of at one point or another 😆, and was really thinking I haven't the slightest clue what it could be.  But things settled in after that, and overall I got light coffee, raw leather/suede, some tannic oak, some sour dry grass.  Occasional blasts of nuttiness that really had me thinking this could be a certain recently-discontinued petit corona (though I understand this is limited to current production).  Then I recalled trading some cigars with a member here years ago, and some comments he made about a particular petit corona that I had sent him, and it clicked.  By the end, I was pretty sure that's what this is.  If I am right, I will have to send that member some cigars!

Of course I am probably completely wrong.  But I thoroughly enjoy this nonetheless.  Thanks Rob and FOH.

My experience with #1 is right in line with yours, and I agree that if discontinued cigars were on the available list, I would have picked the same as you.  That said, I'm looking forward to learning what #1 is since mine was sensational.  I think I'm making a decent guess but there's so many PCs I haven't tried, I'm groping a little here.

[Monocle]

So is SPNP not an option because it is "discontinued"?

[El Presidente]

Knock this cigar over by Late Sunday US time and get your pick into Lisa. We will reveal Monday 

[MigsG]

So I have smoked cigar 1, 2 and 3. 
All I’ll say was number 1 was very familiar. How many PCs have that unmistakable milk coffee and vanilla sweetness? There were definitely flowers. Milder than number 2.

Number 2 was, per my very limited notes, rich in flavor. Even had a delightful spice to it. 
 

 

 

I will say that number 1 was an easy one for me to identify. While number 2, I’d say being fairly fresh, took a bit more until I came to my conclusion.

[inter4alia]

Such wildly different experiences with 1 and 2 it seems from all the posts thus far. I chalk it up to CC inconsistentcy. Can't wait to see the reveals! The more years I do this the more I think @PigFish is dead on with his assessment of blind tasting CC. But I still have fun doing it. 

[Bijan]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:28 PM, Monocle said:

So is SPNP not an option because it is "discontinued"?

That is correct.

[DaBoot]

 

 1st third- leather, earth, wood, cinnamon and cocoa . Very easy draw, strong body

2nd third- draw not as loose and the cigar in body goes to medium, sweet cocoa , woody dominant.

Final third- burn really slowing down. Now getting orange, burnt honey , cedar. Leather is gone. 
 Kinda came to life the final third, but an ok cigar, score it 87

Going to guess based on this profile, not something I believe I have tried yet

[EMC12]

First time for me taking notes, definitely a different smoking experience. 
My notes from cigar #1:

Blind cigar 1

Cold nose- faint sweet tobacco

Cold draw - faint floral

1/3  med/med+

Coffee dark espresso

Earthy

Slight floral

A Little spice

Rich

Creamy

Nutty - almond

Chocolate 

Dry earth goes to creamy nutty on finish

2/3 - med+

Dry roasted nuts/seeds

Chocolate dark

Touch of dark spice

Earthy

Bit of dark sweetness - honey?

Roasted nuts

3/3 - med/med+

Floral earth

Vegetal aftertaste - recedes quickly

Dry nuts

Toast

Earth

Sweet floral

Dark sweet spice

Wood 

leather

I really enjoyed this: 93-94

[griller]

I'm pretty sure I stand as good of a chance of guessing this cigar as blindly throwing a dart & hoping to hit the bullseye. My palate just isn't that refined, but I really did enjoy this smoke. What has me confused is the box press (my example definitely exhibited this characteristic), which had me guessing whether this ring gauge was actually a 40 and not a 42. I've emailed my guess to Lisa as to what I believe this cigar to be, but I could be WAY off if I didn't correctly assign the ring gauge. Anyhow here are my thoughts...

1st Third: Coffee & cedar at the onset, which morphed into some sweetness (cinnamon?);

2nd Third: Sweet spice, then I get a little bready flavor with a faint cedar hint. Occasional tannin/tar on the tongue so I slowed down a touch;

Final Third: More of the middle array of flavors, but the sweet spice was replaced with a little honey. Put it down after 58 minutes;

Overall thoughts: Excellent construction with my cigar, and the burn was flawless. Draw was firm but not difficult in any way. My drink partner was a Lone Star (adjunct lager) tall boy, which was a great match.

Looking forward to the reveal here!

Edited November 14, 2021 by griller
Added pics

[Nevrknow]

3 hours ago, griller said:

I'm pretty sure I stand as good of a chance of guessing this cigar as blindly throwing a dart & hoping to hit the bullseye. My palate just isn't that refined

I’m right there with you 😬. Still having fun with it tho. Same with the polls, poker game et al. 👍🏻

[RDB]

Blind Cigar no.1

Mild, aged profile: hay, bread, savoury rather than sweet. No chocolate, no caramel, no roses. Not Monte, PL or Romeo to me.

It’s pleasant. Under medium currently, moderately refined.

Nice wrapper and good construction.

Immediate thought is one of the Partagas PCs or RGPC. 

Picking up more body into the second third. Darker flavours. Some sweetness now but not dominant. Could it be Bolivar? Not RG now.

I don’t think it’s rich / sweet enough for Bolivar.

Burn is sharp. Sure this is aged.

Into last third now. Consistent profile. Predominantly savoury. Toast. No leathery richness. Touch over mid bodied. Perfect burn. 

Ok, this is hard.

[mbrody]

My mystery cigar #1 is a little tight, but opened up enough upon first light. First third is interesting. I don’t think this is a cigar I have smoked much of, if at all, before. Getting wood, leather, burnt marshmallows, cream, baking/floral spice, anisette and a hint of candied orange. It’s overall medium bodied and smooth. No rough edges. Second third amps up the wood and cigar is now over medium. More one dimensional. Last third it stays medium plus. Licorice, anisette, wood with a touch of cream. 

[El Presidente]

Get your picks in to Lisa people 

[Edicion]

23 hours ago, EMC12 said:

First time for me taking notes, definitely a different smoking experience. 
My notes from cigar #1:

Blind cigar 1

Cold nose- faint sweet tobacco

Cold draw - faint floral

1/3  med/med+

Coffee dark espresso

Earthy

Slight floral

A Little spice

Rich

Creamy

Nutty - almond

Chocolate 

Dry earth goes to creamy nutty on finish

2/3 - med+

Dry roasted nuts/seeds

Chocolate dark

Touch of dark spice

Earthy

Bit of dark sweetness - honey?

Roasted nuts

3/3 - med/med+

Floral earth

Vegetal aftertaste - recedes quickly

Dry nuts

Toast

Earth

Sweet floral

Dark sweet spice

Wood 

leather

I really enjoyed this: 93-94

Nice cigar holder. Where is it from? looks like it comes from a 70-80s Soviet made machine, in a good way.

[EMC12]

24 minutes ago, Edicion said:

Nice cigar holder. Where is it from? looks like it comes from a 70-80s Soviet made machine, in a good way.

It’s the bottom of a Xifei lighter.
I’ve found it to be a decent, reliable, good value single torch with built in punch, draw poker, and cigar holder.

[Edicion]

19 minutes ago, EMC12 said:

It’s the bottom of a Xifei lighter.
I’ve found it to be a decent, reliable, good value single torch with built in punch, draw poker, and cigar holder.

Thanks! Never heard of it before. It's like the Swiss army knife of cigar lighters.