The cigar: Bad Dog Robusto
Nutritional information:
Vitola: robusto 5x52
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Rhodesia
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
The marketing: Scantily clad large-breasted woman with cigars.
http://www.baddogcigars.com/collectables_posters.php
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Pre-Light: The tan Rhodesian wrapper was fairly dry and thin, relatively smooth, but with some splotchy dark and light variations. The box pressed robusto felt firm to the touch and neither markedly heavy or light. My nose picked up some light tanginess from the wrapper. I clipped the head with my best cutter, which caused the wrapper to get a little ragged. When I put it to my lips to take a cold draw -- very smooth -- I was surprised to find that the head was sweetened.
Light & Burn: I toasted the foot with a torch until I got a nice cherry and then took my first draw. The lighting was easy and even and the burn was stunningly straight through the first ashing. It stayed pretty straight, though not so perfectly, through the end. The gray-brown ash was just a bit flaky but grew surprisingly long -- it was nearly 2" before it dropped. The smoke volume was excellent, and no relights or touchups were necessary.
Construction: In terms of draw and burn, the construction was very good. The easy draw produced a lot of smoke without burning too hot. The burn line was thin and very straight through the first half, a little less straight but still quite good thereafter. There was no real ligero cone after the first ashing, and a small, slightly off-center cone after the second. The biggest problem with construction was the cap, which didn't hold up to the slicing very well and grew a bit ragged, which I always find irritating. By the last third it started to unravel just a bit but I was able to spit-glue it.
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Flavor:
First, I'm not a fan of sweetened tips and I don't like how they interfere with my taste of wrapper and smoke.
The flavor was ok -- not bad, but just not great. In the first third, I found some pleasantly bitter notes of coffee mixed with wood and grassiness. These flavors persisted without much variation or dynamism through the whole smoke, staying squarely in the medium range, and they never really coalesced into anything very interesting. By the last third I thought I detected some more interesting lighter, Cameroon-like flavors, but they were pretty ephemeral. The last third also brought occasional ashy/dirty flavors and a bit of harshness on the back of my throat. I had no urge to nub this cigar and let it die with about 1.5 inches left.
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Summary
Apart from the unique Rhodesian wrapper, this cigar doesn't really stand out from the large crowd of decently made cigars that deliver static and unexceptional flavors. I'm glad I smoked it (a friend gave it to me to get my thoughts), and as a red-blooded male I can't help but enjoy the marketing, but I can't really recommend it.
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