Baccarat

The Game

The presentation is nice. Seams are hidden well and there aren't too many veins. The foot is neat and the "triple cap" is squarely placed, if not slightly irregularly cut. The yellow and red band is nice and seems unchanged from decades past. The scent off the wrapper is a standard, tobacco, cinnamon, coffee, and very slightly nutty. The cap took the guillotine cut from my cutter well and gave me flavor notes of creamed coffee, hay, and light cinnamon on the cold draw. In retrospect, I probably should have punched or V-cut this as the cap is sweetened, and I only got the tail end of that with the straight cut. Upon light up, I immediately got flavor notes of cedar, hay, and creamy coffee. White pepper and a vegetal "green" note were present on the retrohale. Initially, the burn was a bit wavy, but it did fix itself. It never became razor sharp, but it was clean. In the first third, the flavors settled down a bit. The "green" note became grassy, and there was more hay on the retrohale that was somewhat like wheat. A creamy flavor showed up about half way through the first third, but disappeared by the end of it. The foot smoke was not aromatic, unfortunately, and smelled slightly cheap, but it did get more pleasant as the smoke went on. When the second third came around, the flavors were more or less unchanged; this was not an overly complex cigar. The ash was gray and a little flaky. The finish was definitely short throughout the entire stick. The final third was much like the first two with flavors unchanged. Eventually, they died out to a rich, smooth tobacco only. Pepper notes kicked up a notch on the retrohale, but that was it. The lack of aging showed up at the end; it never got bitter, but the smoothness decreased. Overall, the flavors were a medium, but the strength was mild. The ash fell off in thirds (around 2" chunks) and showed it was a well-rolled stick. The draw was slightly tight, though. I smoked mine down to a 1" nub. It wasn't bad, but there are other Connecticuts and inexpensive cigars that I'd reach for first.

Terrible aftertaste

Just lit it up now. I don’t hate it but I may grab it again.