Not a good cigar. Poor draw even before lit. Very bad burn. Had to constantly stay on it to keep it lit. Tasting profile was an awful "charred wood". Terrible. This was properly stored and aged for over two years. No excuse for such bad quality. Early discard.
Has a very nice earthy aroma. Cold draw is similar with faint notes of chocolate and dark coffee. First draw has cedar, earth, dark coffee notes , and pepper on the retrohale. Has a definite tobacco sweetness to the aroma. First third maintains initial notes with some chocolate and cinnamon notes that develop. Second third holds the notes but a noticeable anise aroma comes out briefly. Last third the dark coffee and chocolate notes become more prominent but initial notes are there but subtle. Also develops a creaminess. Some hints of salty caramel show up intermittently throughout. Surprisingly smooth in the last third considering how dark this stick is. Has Burn is very good throughout and holds a nice ash. Very well balanced stick with good complexity.
Used a punch cut and the cap cracked a bit, seems like my humidor may be under-humidified. Time to reseason. Fantastic flavor and aroma from the cold draw. A strong hay/cedar/leather flavor and aroma right off the bat which continued through the first third of the cigar. Much more mild than I was expecting since it is a maduro but very enjoyable nonetheless. It's smoking quick, first third ashed in about 15 minutes. I assume the cigar is fairly dry. A great, effortless draw gives a great plume of smoke. The burn is uneven and canoeing but minor touch-ups are keeping it even. Still burning quite fast, partially due to the touch-ups. The 2nd ash dropped at about 30 minutes, much quicker than I was expecting. I don't think I'm smoking any faster than usual but I am really enjoying the cigar so I may be smoking faster than usual. The strong hay/cedar flavor and aroma is sticking around much more than the cocoa/coffee bean flavor. It's hard to tell that it's a maduro but it's very enjoyable.
