A gorgeous Ecuadorian Habano wrapper encases a blend of Nicaraguan binder and fillers to create a perfectly medium-bodied profile that engulfs the senses with notes of cedar, a blend of red, white and black pepper, nutmeg, clove, and finished with a natural sweetness to round it out.
This was the right cigar, at the right time. Sometimes it works out that way.
It was medium in flavor and I thought it was medium in strength, until I was done....
TL;DR: A good but simple blend. Don’t overpay for one of these.
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68% RH @ Cap, 67% RH @ foot - Home humidor aged 5 months.
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Initial observations - A fine toothed, dark brown, oily wrapper with hidden seams, but obvious veins is what I noticed first. It looked good under the simple, but effective band. Top marks for the complex cap as it was cut neatly, set square, and extended deeply onto the wrapper. On the opposite end, I found a closed foot, albeit messy and haphazard. I expected to get a blast of wrapper flavor right on the light up. The cigar was as firm as it should have been and felt good in the hands. Rich scents of coffee, leather, hay, and cinnamon came off the entire cigar, including the foot since it was closed off by the wrapper.
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Cold draw - After a quick double guillotine straight cut, the resistance felt spot on. Cold flavors included coffee, chocolate, and untoasted wheat bread.
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Light up - Straight into light up, no toasting, and I immediately got espresso and leather with a touch of vegetal earthiness. There were red and black peppers in the retrohale along with a hint of cream and sweet tobacco. The flavors quickly began to settle and I was into the first third.
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First third - A razor sharp burn line kicked things off. The ash was light gray, solid, stacked, toothy, and not very flaky. The main flavors on the palate I picked up were espresso, leather, cocoa powder, a green vegetal note, and earth. There was more balance in the retrohale with black pepper only, a good amount of cream, nutmeg, and walnut. The finish left earth, espresso, and some faint cream and pepper on the tongue. Smoke was thick and plentiful. As I made my way through this third, the cream mellowed more into an almond butter, which announced the beginning of the second third.
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Second third - The burn powered on razor sharply, and the ash held on until the beginning of this third (1.75”). Flavor notes on the palate didn’t change too much, but the earth-coffee 1-2 punch began to step out more than the other notes, like cocoa. The pepper pulled back even more on the retro, and it kept notes of almond creaminess and cedar. The finish stayed coffee, peaty earth, and leather. However, as I got mid way through, a citrus zest joined the finish notes. What was interesting in this third, when it came to the flavors, was a sweet floral note that was left on my lips. Nicotine strength was a solid medium throughout. I noted that the room aroma wasn’t foul by any stretch, but it was a little more pungent than I’m used to from cigars in this price range. The cigar ashed itself again midway through this third. I noted that, after this ashing, it got more flaky and the burn line started to wave up before the final third. The band came off very easily and that announced the beginning of the final act.
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Final third - The creaminess was completely gone at this point, and the smoke became dry. Cocoa powder as a flavor note came back here, but it was subtle. Aside from that, the cigar’s tasting notes didn’t change.
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Other notes - I honestly thought this cigar was going to be more complex than it was. It was fairly simple to the point of being boring by the final third. It wasn’t a bad stick, but I found myself wanting to just be done with it by the time the last couple of inches came around. There are more complex, interesting, and just plain tastier cigars at this price point, and while you could certainly do worse, it wouldn’t take much to do better. I took 1 hour and 20 minutes to get down to a 1” nub and let the cigar die there.
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Personal Final Score - 79
Paired with Stranahan’s mountain angel 10 year.
Good budget stick. Lost points for a sub par draw and a bad burn that has to be touched up multiple times.
Charter Oak Maduro Toro. Has aroma of dark chocolate and mint. Cold draw is earthy and dark chocolate with leather on the lips. First puff is cedar and earth. A little leather, black coffee, chocolate, and lightly sweet cherry notes come after a couple more puffs. Retrohale has some black pepper but light enough to retro the whole draw. Flavors and aroma are subtle, but stay consistent. The pepper picks up a bit into the second third and holds through the last third. Overall a solid stick. Wrapper started peeling toward the nub but didn't affect the flavor
