mother of god a 9.3 .... it has to be a gurkha ;)

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9-4-08 been in humi since 3-14-08
Gran Habano, Habano #3
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano seed.
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Mexican

This cigar is a reddish brown in hue. A toothy feel is brought on by a few dominant veins. The band is red, gold and green with a white background. The secondary band is black. All of this seems to compliment the cigar in every way. It also appears to have a triple cap. The cigar looks magnificent. Cut with a punch. Very good draw. I wouldn’t call it perfect. Though close, I find it a bit loose. It is a bit barnyard on the unlit taste.

The 60 ring gauge takes some effort to light.

The first draws are round and a bit sweet. It puts out a ton of smoke. There is a bit of leather on the taste and aftertaste is a bit on the grassy side. I think that this has to do with the light. The wind outside meant the lighter was to close to the cigar. The aroma is good and on the woody side.

As the cigar settles from the light, an earth flavor begins to develop. It is on the sweet side. It sort of reminds me of “woody moss” the burn isn’t even but it is not to the point of corrective lights. . Again, there is a ridiculous amount of smoke coming off of this cigar.

The first ash drops at about an inch and a quarter. The taste now has a great depth of flavor. There are leather, wood, and earth notes. Each of the flavors fades in and out and has dominated the palate at one puff or another. The other two flavors at the moment the third flavor dominates are there, not competing, but complimenting. Balanced is the word I’m looking for. The finish is short leaving only a hint of leather behind. When the aftertaste is leather a short finish seems to work well IMHO. Well done on that point.

The burn is very slow and somewhat irregular but by the half way point only one corrective light is needed. Earth and leather dominate the palate at that point as well but with a vegetable-like sweetness to them. The cigar has more depth per puff than most. However the flavor profile does not deviate through the length of the stick. It is still putting out an astonishing amount of smoke. Very fun. Very satisfying.

By the last quarter the cigar has developed to a full body. It slows my puffs per minute even more, and makes the cigar hard to keep all the way lit. Somehow I manage.

I think I have found another cigar to keep in my humidor at all times.

Burn: 8
Draw: 9
Taste: 10
Aftertaste: 10
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 10

Overall: 9.3
5 smoke rings -- an exceptionally good cigar

Recommended to:
Those who like a cigar that develops, not only in flavor, but in body as well
Those who have the time to smoke it (100 min Toro)
Everyone.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

kuzi16:

The band is red, gold and green

red, gold and green.... Karma,Karma,Karma,Karma,Karma, Chameleon. red, gold and green. red, gold and greeeeeeen



sorry. thats all i could think of after i typed that.

its late. gimme a break.

but seriously. this is a good cigar.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

It sure does sound like a good cigar. The flavor profile and progressive nature of the cigar sound very appealing to me, this one's going on my list. I'm anxious to try the #5 Corojo, I'm sitting on some of the Gran Robustos now, but I want to give them a decent bit of time to settle in and get used to the place before I burn one.

Excellent review, as always.

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When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Thomas Jefferson

kuzi16:

kuzi16:

The band is red, gold and green

red, gold and green.... Karma,Karma,Karma,Karma,Karma, Chameleon. red, gold and green. red, gold and greeeeeeen



sorry. thats all i could think of after i typed that.

its late. gimme a break.

but seriously. this is a good cigar.

Boy George...scary.

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Andy

A little rebellion now and then...is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, 1787
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

I have a few of these resting. Actually 6 to be exact :D!

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9-9-08 been in humi since 1-19-07
CAO Sopranos Edition Associate. (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Colombian

I’m not so much a fan of the show but of cigars… And this one looks good. The red and black color scheme against the dark cigar looks pretty B.A. The smell is on the coffee side of barnyard. The lick on the cap has a strange bit of sweetness to it. The draw is perfect. The unlit taste is on the coffee and chocolate side.

The light is quick

The first few puffs are very coco and coffee. A hint of toasted rye is noticed through the nose. There is a good depth of flavor on the finish as well. It has a red wine like flavor and maybe a woody note.

The first ash fell at one and a half inches. The ash itself is firm. It landed on the end and is standing like a little ash tower. The taste has eased into a light coffee with plenty of coco. The rye is still in there as well. The wine flavor has now become the oak taste that shows up in many oak aged red wines.

At the half way point the cigar is more coffee than ever. The rest of the flavor is about the same but with less rye. The burn so far is perfect.

I’m noting that the cigar burn extremely slow. This is good. It makes it last longer.

Nearing the end, the coffee taste is dominating. It is in the taste and in the aftertaste. The coco is there but it is very light. The oak only exists on the aroma off the lit foot of the cigar.

Burned to the burn.
Time: 1h 35m (I told you it burned slow)

Burn: 10
Draw: 10
Taste: 9
Aftertaste: 9
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 8


Overall: 9.1
4 smoke rings -- an above average cigar

Though this was a great cigar the “feel” was low because the “wow factor” was not there.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

because this was compared to the Mx2 on another thread that will be my next review. Its been a while since i have had one of those and its about time anyway.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Can't wait to see your review of my favorite everyday cigar.

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i did one a while ago (6-28-07) on the Mx2. at the time i gave it an 8.7
thats not a bad rating. alot has changed in that year and two months. ... plus the one i will be smoking will be from 12-12-06. i figure thats fair given that the Soprano veviewed here was put in the humi about a month after this Mx2.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Sounds fair. I like the Soprano too but it has no wow factor I agree, but neither does the MX-2 its just a good smoke. I'd almost be willing to bet the younger Mx-2 will rate better than this aged one you're about to smoke. I bet it mellows to the point of beginning to lose flavor.

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iduno. i seem to remember it being a fairly medium to full body cigar with an oily feel. this would lend itself to aging well.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

True, very true. Not extremely oily but it has a little to it. I just think it doesn't have a lot of bite as is the time on it may mellow that out of it. IDK I look forward to the review though.

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Not really new to cigars here, but rather new to consistantly smoking them and appreciating the flavor and depths of cigar smoking.  I love the reviews Kuzi!

Anyway, I have a couple questions about your cutting and humidors.

You mention you use a punch and a guillotine.... What makes you decide what to use?  Any figurado gets a guillotine and any regular tube cigar gets a punch?  Do you have a preference why you use a punch?  Do most us a punch vs. a gullotine? 

2nd on the humidor.  I am just getting to stocking up my humidor.  I have just a standard humidor I got in a package from another cigar distributor a while back.  It works well and currently holds all my smokes no problem.  I think it is a 25-50 ct. humi.  But after starting to stock up I will be quickly at mass capacity shortly and was wondering what all the newly experienced newbies were using to store there smokes.

If this is in the wrong thread and I should post in 101 vs. your review post let me know.

Ill just blame it on being a blogging newbie too!

Ha

 

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Work called! They said if you dont come in on Friday, dont bother to come in on Monday! - Whoo hoo four day weekend!

i use a punch for the standard round ended parejo cigars. A topedo shape gets a double guillotine. i prefer the punch because i seem to get less loose tobacco in the mouth after the cut. since i usually tend to the larger ring guage cigars i use a larger punch. this means that anything under a 40 ring i also use a double guillotine. (panatella, petite carona...) Im not sure how many people use a punch. it doesnt really matter to me as long as we are all enjoying the cigars we are smoking.

for overflow a bunch of people use tupperware. personally i just dont overflow. I have my humidors and when they are full i stop buying. my stock is actually getting low because there are a bunch of cigars that i would like to buy but i had no room.


feel free to ask me questions about my personal set up and my tastes in cigars and accessories in my thread. thats why its here.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate