Subscribed, glad to see this going again.
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This is awesome. Will continue to read the reviews. Really cool idea!
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Wow this is amazing....love it!
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I will smoke #3 in the morning :-)
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MMMMM........have a good iced coffee with it :-)
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ApexAZ Cigar #3
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4/14/2012

It's another windy day in Phoenix, but my allergies aren't acting up too bad. Hopefully the wind won't cause me any burn issues. This time I will be pairing the cigar with some citron Perrier, per the advice of Dan.

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Pre-light
Cigar #3 is just shy of 5.5" long and has a ring guage of about 44 or 46 I'd say. It seems to be about corona in size. It has a smooth natural wrapper with small veins all throughout. It's not as velvety to the touch as the others were, but very smooth instead. The construction appears to be great with a triple cap and there are no noticeable soft spots. It actually feels pretty firm compared to the others. I don't detect any distinct scents from the foot other than just sweet tobacco.

The pre-light draw is pretty tight, but so were the others so we will see. No flavors other than tobacco and some cedar came through that I could detect.

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1st Third
I lit the cigar and immediately noticed the draw is very tight. I start to squeeze the cigar a little harder than before in different areas closer to the head and think I feel a plug. Although I'm struggling to get any smoke from it, it's very smooth. I don't have a proper draw tool yet, so I used a super small phillips head screwdriver. This seemed to do the trick and opened the draw up some. This cigar has a nice sweet flavor, but I can't really place what it is. Sweet cream and vanilla comes to mind, but I'm not really sure. I also get some toasty charred wood flavors and very faint pepper that lingers on the tongue for a few seconds. It's mild in both body and strength. The burn isn't perfectly sharp, but doing well enough in this wind. The salt and pepper ash dropped on their own into the ashtray after about 1/2 inch.

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2nd Third
I reached the 2nd third in about 25 minutes. The draw is giving me a lot of trouble and I'm not detecting much flavor except for charred wood. The burn is also not very even and the cigar is tunneling. It also doesn't seem to want to stay lit as I work my way into the area where I felt the plug. I don't know if this is due to the plug itself, the gap in the tobacco from trying to open it up some, or too much moisture. Maybe it's a combination of the 3, I don't know. After touching up several times and getting past that burnt taste from charring the leaf, I'm starting to get some decent flavor out of it, but I am really having to work for it. I really don't have much to comment on as far as flavor, but the body is more mild-medium now.

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Final Third
About 40 minutes in I'm at the final third. I blew through the 2nd third in like 15 minutes due to all the touchups it required. I'm really struggling to get anything out of the cigar at this point. It's like trying to suck on a milkshake that's too thick and practically sucking my face inside out. I am getting some nice sweet cream flavors and maybe a hint of coffee. I tried to open up the draw again and the flavors turned to crap. It's as though the channel it creates messes with the flavor. I assume this is because the smoke is no longer passing through all of the tobacco as it should be. After a few puffs and about 1.5" left in the cigar, the flavors are starting to return and the draw is a bit easier. It seems as though I'm beyond the area where the plug was. I also notice that some of the ash is brownish in color. I'm not sure if this is something to do with the tobacco, or from the torch. Flavor is still a sweet cream flavor, but more pronounced. The body is more medium now and strength has built to medium as well. With a little less than an inch left, it tunneled and expired again, so I just called it quits after 65 minutes.

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Conclusion
Man, I really wanted to enjoy this cigar, but I have to give it a 6/10. I think if I didn't have the draw issues, it would have been much better and more deserving of a higher score. When I was able to get flavor from it, they were delicious, but it was huge struggle and all the touchups really hindered the progress of the smoke. Next one I will cut the cap a few days in advance and test the draw and possibly leave it out for a bit before lighting. Sorry guys =( Hopefully Josh didn't have the draw issues I did. I'm looking forward to reviewing #4 in the next few days. Thanks, DBall!

Score: 6/10

Total smoke time: 65 minutes
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smitty81 Cigar #3
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This stick appears to be a box pressed cigar and it had a rut on the first 1/3rd of the stick like something heavy was laid across it. Maby this is where a band was???

The wrapper is lite and had the texture of paper. The stick doesn't seem to give off to much smell prior to being lit. A few small veins in the wrapper and a double cap?

The stick had a good draw prior to being lit. There was only one thing that came to mind when I took a pre-light draw. The taste of chlorine in swimming pools came to mind immediately.

First 1/3rd

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I usually have to really think about it if I can taste caramel in a cigar or not. Not with this one. This one had a very deep rich caramel taste on the first draw, almost like sticking a spoon of caramel in my mouth!
The smoke aroma was nice too, it was a deep rich tobacco/aftershave smell. This thing is burning razor sharp too.

2/3rd

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The taste of caramel is still present but not as sweet. Now a cedar flavor is becoming dominant. Still burning very well. Not to much to touch on in the 2/3rd. Draw remains good and I'm just enjoying this cigar.

Last 3rd

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The caramel was gone and it was just a nice cedar taste now. The burn had to be touched up once or twice on the last third, draw was still good.
I smoked it down to about half of what is pictured above and then gave up as it was just harsh.

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I REALLY enjoyed this cigar! I liked everything about it from the draw, aroma, taste, burn, burn time.
I'm more of a maduro kind of guy but I wouldn't mind finding more of these if possible. This cigar really caught me off guard.

9.2/10
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What they smoked:

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2005 Romeo y Julieta Corona

ApexAZ score: 6

smitty81 score: 9.2

Every time I smoke one of these, I get unreal grassiness. Hell, I tried another one after reading Josh's review last week. No love for me... I don't get any of those flavors... then again, different strokes for different folks.

Presently, I'm on my balcony with a RyJ Corona from 98... I like these much better... :-)
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Send them my way!
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Didn't I already send you 10 cigars.......?
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By the way, Brian, try it with unflavored sparkling water next time... I once had someone tell me that the citrus will cut down on the other flavors you taste....
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Well, I wasn't just gonna take them for free........
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Hahaha... I should've put a smiley after that...
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Seems like something I would enjoy...great reviews! I'm really impressed with the detail and how comprehensive you guys are....kinda intimidates me from writing reviews
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nah, man... it should inspire ya! Reviews make me actually pay attention...
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Hmmm, I didn't get much grass, but then again I didn't get much of anything except for the occasional sweet cream and charred wood flavor, which may be the sweet that Josh and I both tasted. I think the draw and burn issues really made it screwy though.

As far as being intimidated, don't be! I don't have a trained pallet whatsoever, so I just do my best to describe what I'm tasting. The rest is easy because its just a matter of documenting the details.
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Gosh I love these threads.
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I agree, I didn't get any grass. If grass tasted the way this cigar did, I'd eat grass daily! :-)

Also about the reviews, I'm not good at reviews. I just write down what I taste basically and document what I observe about the cigar.

It's pretty basic. Heck, look at my review compared to ApexAZ's. That guy can write a good review. Mines just basic.
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Thread jack on.

If you want to participate in your own Blind Tasting here is the thread.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...t=927&page=118
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:-) no permissions.
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