Hey all...
This is my first review of five of the cigars generously sent to me by Drew as the winner of the "get your feet wet" contest. To start... I've smoked very few (less than 10) cigars in my life. I got into the hobby in Antigua where I smoked a few cubans on resort with my wife. When I returned home I purchased a humidor and a sampler pack to get things going. The cigars I've smoked to date are:
--Romeo y' Julietta #3
--H. Upmann Coronas Major
--Cusano 59 rare cameroon
--La Perla Hanana maduro
--Rocky Patel Decade
--Punch rare corojo
Oh, and a Rolando Reyes "Aliados cuba" which I'd rather forget... it was VERY dry and I think it wasn't stored properly from the vendor... or it was just crap.
So... the first cigar I received appeared to be a robusto (around 5") with a fairly dark wrapper with a few small veins present. It felt very firm upon pressing it and it rebounded well. Obviously Drew stored his cigars very carefully.
It should be noted that the cigar appeared very similar (minus band and wrapping) to the Gurkha black dragon in my humidor that I bought in a sampler. The wrapper appeared a few shades lighter though.
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I cut the cigar with the double guillotine cutter he provided and it produced a very clean, dare I say, perfect cut. The pre-light draw was very easy with just the right amount of resistance.
The pre-light draw tasted of tobacco (obviously) with a sweet taste lingering on my lips. The cigar lit very evenly using a butane torch lighter (a grill lighter, but I have a nice cigar lighter wrapped and ready for a birthday present).
Initially the cigar gave a lot of smoke that hung in the air. My initial taste was a woody/cedar taste from the smoke. After a few puffs I tasted an aftertaste of pepper that was rather enjoyable.
For the first 1/3rd of the cigar the burn was slightly uneven but as it reached the end of the first 1/3rd and began the second 1/3 it evened out. I also (very quickly) tasted an anise flavor as it continued into the 2nd 1/3rd.
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As I said, the burn on the cigar evened out and the flavor stayed the same for the second third. The cigar was a bit stronger, however, in the second 1/3rd.
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I suppose I should mention that I smoked this cigar while drinking a few fingers of Jack Daniels Single Barrel whiskey. I will also smoke the entirety of the cigars with this drink for future reference.
In the final 1/3rd of the cigar I began to get a strong leather taste that wasn't unpleasant. Everyone knows the draw of the odor of a Wilson's leather store (or maybe not based on location) and it was a very pleasant taste.
During the last 1/3rd I had to drop the ash to do a touch up on the burn of the cigar. The wrapper came slightly unwrapped but it didn't affect the burn at all and it still smoked well.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this stick... obviously I don't come into this with a lot of experience but from what I've had it was very good. I opened the envelope after extinguishing the cigar and found it to be:
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La Riqueza petite robusto... which from my quick research is a cigar with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and nicaraguan filler. It is "blended in the style of a full flavor, medium body cuban cigar."
Apparently, it is traditionally box pressed and "La Riqueza" means "the riches" or "the wealth" in Spanish.
Thanks for the great smoke Drew!
Randy
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