Had one yesterday. Had to set it down in the last third because it tasted like nickle. With some time these may settle in a bit.
I learned my lesson after the Bueso. The Bueso sucked bawlz ROTT and significantly changed and improved after a few months down. I have also had the pleasure of sampling many prereleases as of late, and IMO they need 6 months off the rolling table. Basically, for about a week or two they are good, then they typically get released around 90 days to the public. I've had plenty of prereleases around that 90 day mark that had all sorts of odd tastes, balance, acidity, etc... The 6 month point is where I've noticed huge differences. To me, it's a waste of a cigar to smoke one now.
So these were the desired characteristics:
Wrapper Sumatra Ecuador ligero - Sumatra seeds grown under Ecuadors famous cloud cover. The core elements of this leaf are leather tones and some sweetness balanced by just the right amount of spiciness. As a seco, it tends to be bitter but as an upper priming in harmoniously balances a complex bouquet of flavors displaying an impressive range. Some examples are Man O War Armada (ligero), La Herencia Cubana (visa), Ashton VSG and many more
Binder San Andres maduro - found on cigars like Padron Maduro, Nica Libre and Liga Privada Under Crown, this wrapper is very popular among maduro fans but its appearance is not the rich, espresso brown most maduros may present. Grown in Mexico from proprietary seeds planted in San Andres for nearly 150 years, this wrapper has excellent combustion with a pleasant sweetness and is ideal for medium bodied maduros which don't lake anything in flavor department.
35% Esteli Habano ligero - this wrapper has a very, very small yield. So small in fact that I can't name a single cigar on the market that uses it on account on how limited it is. Esteli is known for growing nicaraguas most robust fillers, every year, 1 to 2% of the crop is over wrapper grade and could be used as wrapper. A forum blend with this would be the first blend I know if in the industry actively using Esteli Sun Grown.
35% Habano Condega - ligero Nicaraguan filler from the north of Nicaragua near the Honduras Boarder. Found in almost every Nicaraguan blend, this filler is a main stay in many premium cigars as it provides a smooth base of flavor with some sweet and spiciness.
20% Jalapa Habano viso - Nicaraguas northern most growing region, its red soils and shade growing produce a very sweet habano seed leaf that is thin for ideal combustion and shows notes of cedar and hints of red pepper. Also available in limited quantities of sun grown for an even richer experience. Examples include Padron natural, gran habano corojo, cuba libre one, cu avana intensus and many others. Nicaraguas most popular wrapper growing region.
10% Habano Ometepe - Nicaraguas famous sweet water island. This tobacco is robust, sweet and hits you in the sinuses.
So maybe more time will tell if we achieved the flavor/combustion characteristics we were trying for?
I by no means have the pallette that some of you folks have but, I tried one yesterday & here are my thoughts:
First off, it's a real good looking cigar with its chocoalte color.
After lighting, I found the first few draws very harsh. Underneath the harshness I got some "earthy" flavors.
After the first inch the harshness calmed down a bit and I got to detect some pepper with the earth. The draw was a bit loose but, copious amounts of smoke came from this cigar on each draw (which was nice). The aroma was nice as well. At half way I got a little spice. Unfortunately it still had a fair amount of bite to it throughout. At about the last third I got what I can only describe as a burnt/charred flavor. At this point I had to put it down and let it die. I expect to find a much more pleasant experience after some rest. It certainly wasn't all bad.I should also mention the cigar performed very well. I have hope for this and have smoked worse.
My $.02
mostly on the finish. its like a drying effect and the slightest hint of spice. the spice is so light that it cant even be called spice. its more of an impression on the tongue. the dry and the spice with a woody note all adds up to be a pulpy, wood pulp, sawdust, note. iduno... that texture is how i usually identify nicaraguan tobacco.
I'd describe it as chewing on wood; that's what the aftertaste reminds me of. Not entirely unpleasant, to be honest, but I'd prefer something else. As for what else . . . well, my palate is gloriously unrefined. The cigar as-is is a great yard gar, but not something I'd sit down with to concentrate on.
Honestly, I'd buy of box of these right now; the one-dimensional flavor is a plus in the right situations, like when I'm playing golf or on the patio tinkering. And if the price was right, I wouldn't have to worry about blowing thru them.
But yeah, work needs to be done if we want this to be a premium cigar
mostly on the finish. its like a drying effect and the slightest hint of spice. the spice is so light that it cant even be called spice. its more of an impression on the tongue. the dry and the spice with a woody note all adds up to be a pulpy, wood pulp, sawdust, note. iduno... that texture is how i usually identify nicaraguan tobacco.
I'd describe it as chewing on wood; that's what the aftertaste reminds me of. Not entirely unpleasant, to be honest, but I'd prefer something else. As for what else . . . well, my palate is gloriously unrefined. The cigar as-is is a great yard gar, but not something I'd sit down with to concentrate on.
Honestly, I'd buy of box of these right now; the one-dimensional flavor is a plus in the right situations, like when I'm playing golf or on the patio tinkering. And if the price was right, I wouldn't have to worry about blowing thru them.
But yeah, work needs to be done if we want this to be a premium cigar
Interesting perspective. Should we really shoot for a premium cigar? Do we lack the experience to do so? I'd like to think with Alex's guidance we can make it happen, but is that too much to expect?
How much are we talkin about for this "Forum Premium"?At $25, they can probably expect people to buy them just out of curiosity/loyalty/whatever (IE, me). However, at say...$50 for five? Probably not. I would think as the price rises, the amount of people that would buy it would decrease...so at what point do they cap it? Just something to think on.
I by no means have the pallette that some of you folks have but, I tried one yesterday & here are my thoughts:
First off, it's a real good looking cigar with its chocoalte color.
After lighting, I found the first few draws very harsh. Underneath the harshness I got some "earthy" flavors.
After the first inch the harshness calmed down a bit and I got to detect some pepper with the earth. The draw was a bit loose but, copious amounts of smoke came from this cigar on each draw (which was nice). The aroma was nice as well. At half way I got a little spice. Unfortunately it still had a fair amount of bite to it throughout. At about the last third I got what I can only describe as a burnt/charred flavor. At this point I had to put it down and let it die. I expect to find a much more pleasant experience after some rest. It certainly wasn't all bad.I should also mention the cigar performed very well. I have hope for this and have smoked worse.
My $.02
Pardon me, as I'm a bit late to the party, but what cigar is everyone talking about?
Thanks!
Search the forum for "forum Blend" Many of the guys, along with Alex, put together a batch of cigars following leaf discussions here. If you want to try, you'll need to talk to a rep. and ask about it. Don't know how many they rolled
Pardon me, as I'm a bit late to the party, but what cigar is everyone talking about?
Thanks!
Search the forum for "forum Blend" Many of the guys, along with Alex, put together a batch of cigars following leaf discussions here. If you want to try, you'll need to talk to a rep. and ask about it. Don't know how many they rolled
Ok, thanks. I guess it's a similar program to the CI "Blend Lab", but much more undercover!
Too "thick" a smoke for lack of a better term. I thought it was a little bitter and acidic and very metallic tasting. The finish was short and not at all smooth. It seemed like a poor blending of the tobacco is all as the flavor profile just seemed very mashed up and inconsistent.
Too "thick" a smoke for lack of a better term. I thought it was a little bitter and acidic and very metallic tasting. The finish was short and not at all smooth. It seemed like a poor blending of the tobacco is all as the flavor profile just seemed very mashed up and inconsistent.
the acidic and bitter may or may not age out. the rest of it IS a blending issue. from what i can gather, this is an ongoing project. changes will be made. the progression should prove interesting.
I need to review mine soon. Ometepe is one of my favorite tobacco's. It has the cuban note in it and I cannot get enough. Granted, I don't think the rest of the cigar has what I'd want, but i figured a blend like this needs to sit a long while to marry. My fiver is still chilling.
I love a good Sumatra wrapper. the GoF Don Carlos comes to mind along with VSG, the original forum blend, etc... With that being said I wonder if we overdid it with a Ligero Sumatra. Maybe by using the top priming we had too much of a good thing which caused it to be bitter and loose some sweetness? Not really sure though. Alex and Matt would know better than I.
I just wish we could have some idea of what we would like to change about the blend. I think most of us have tried a couple at this point and have some idea of what we like and dont like.
Does anyone know how I can get my hands on some of these? It sounds like fun
They are not for sale at the moment. There were a limited amount made for forum members as we were blending on paper. There might be some who are willing to share, trade, sell, etc... We are supposed to work on tweaking the blend but I don't know when that is going to start.
Does anyone know how I can get my hands on some of these? It sounds like fun
They are not for sale at the moment. There were a limited amount made for forum members as we were blending on paper. There might be some who are willing to share, trade, sell, etc... We are supposed to work on tweaking the blend but I don't know when that is going to start.
I think we decided to let them rest then do a revisit. I'm going to light one up as soon as I get over this friggin' cold.
I decided to light one a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was not a bad smoke at all. Good draw and lots of smoke output , however mine began to unravel from the foot very soon after lighting. It never really corrected itself even with touch ups
Taste was overall consistent from start to finish. A little spice to begin with, then woody, tobacco taste with a very slight background note of a sweet earthy tobacco flavor. I didn't really notice any "out of place " flavors like a funk or mustiness. I think the omtepe showed up a little during the middle of the smoke with a sweeter note, but overall this was a very very woody cigar
Ok just smoked my first. It was at best just....ok. No complexity whatsoever. Smooth , perfect draw and burn. Not for everyone for sure. But not horrible.
Comments
Careful man, the voices don't like it when you say things like that.
First off, it's a real good looking cigar with its chocoalte color.
After lighting, I found the first few draws very harsh. Underneath the harshness I got some "earthy" flavors.
After the first inch the harshness calmed down a bit and I got to detect some pepper with the earth. The draw was a bit loose but, copious amounts of smoke came from this cigar on each draw (which was nice).
The aroma was nice as well. At half way I got a little spice. Unfortunately it still had a fair amount of bite to it throughout. At about the last third I got what I can only describe as a burnt/charred flavor. At this point I had to put it down and let it die. I expect to find a much more pleasant experience after some rest. It certainly wasn't all bad.I should also mention the cigar performed very well. I have hope for this and have smoked worse.
My $.02
Honestly, I'd buy of box of these right now; the one-dimensional flavor is a plus in the right situations, like when I'm playing golf or on the patio tinkering. And if the price was right, I wouldn't have to worry about blowing thru them.
But yeah, work needs to be done if we want this to be a premium cigar
Pardon me, as I'm a bit late to the party, but what cigar is everyone talking about?
Thanks!
Ok, thanks. I guess it's a similar program to the CI "Blend Lab", but much more undercover!
I'll drop a note to Tim B...
What didn't you like about it?
Taste was overall consistent from start to finish. A little spice to begin with, then woody, tobacco taste with a very slight background note of a sweet earthy tobacco flavor. I didn't really notice any "out of place " flavors like a funk or mustiness. I think the omtepe showed up a little during the middle of the smoke with a sweeter note, but overall this was a very very woody cigar