This cigar immediately presents itself as full-bodied and flavorful with some spicy overtones. Even with the firm draw, this cigar produces a ton of smoke. First ash around the 1″ mark, although the rest of it held on tight.
About an inch and a half in, I noticed a small split developing in the wrapper about a 1/4 inch above the burn line. Once I smoked to this point, the wrapper unfurled a bit, but nothing too bad. I got through this slight problem and noticed another split developing the same way the first one did. This continued off and on throughout the middle third of the cigar. While annoying, the only real problem it created is some flaky ash that I ended up wearing. The flavor continued to develop more complexity and I noticed an earthy, slightly woody flavor beginning to come through along with the merest hint of sweetness (a touch of caramel perhaps?)
In the final third, the wrapper problems disappeared and the flavor got much more robust. The smoke was thick and almost chewy with the woody overtones becoming much more pronounced. I smoked it all the way to the nub before finally putting it down.
Overall: A rich, complex cigar that is definitely geared toward the more experienced smoker as the strength and subtleties of the ligero would be lost on a newbie. I believe it would pair up well with a peaty single malt. This was a wonderful cigar and without the wrapper problems, it would easily rate a 9. With the problems however, I can only give it a 7. However, I am looking forward to trying another one again soon.
 Written by Eric | Cigar Reviews and Related Topics www.tophatcigar.com  |
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