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These cigars have gotten great reviews in Cigar Aficionado lately so when I saw a box in my local B&M I decided to pick up a few. The wrapper is beautiful and toothy. It smells a bit stinky, which is a good thing I’ve found, when it comes to flavor later on. Beyond the stinky, almost wet earth-like smell, comes chocolate and a little spice. Very pleasing on the nose.

When I cut the head of the cigar, I barely cut into the cap and it still immediately unravelled, leaving me a little perturbed. Little did I know this was only the beginning of the construction issues to follow.

The first third of the cigar tasted of tobacco, nuts, and hints of spice on the back palate. Then – as I was still puffing on this thing, mind you – this cigar extinguished itself. I’ve been smoking for over five years now and I have yet to experience a cigar with a plug so bad. I kept puffing in vain but the tobacco just wouldn’t burn. Pictured to the right is where it stopped. And things were just starting to get good!

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I let the cigar cool off and then clipped it about an inch past the burn line and it was clear it was bunched so tight that the air was just not able to enter the center of the cigar for fueling the burn. I have two more of these so I will not jump to conclusions just yet. Perhaps this was a fluke. Although, even as a fluke, they have machines that test the airflow through the cigars before they package them that should have alerted them to a problem like this. Not sure if box-pressing played any part.

Oh well. For now, its a good tasting cigar with unsound construction.
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