Cigars of Tally Lounge and Bar

Perdomo

TL;DR: A bold flavored, medium plus stick with little to no change from light up to nub. Still, it’s better than the Connecticut of the same line. ——— 69% RH @ Cap, 65% RH @ foot - Home humidor aged 1 month. ——— Initial observations - Very dark, almost “oscuro”, toothy wrapper. Seams are visible along with veins and some mottling. The cap is cut neatly, set deeply, and placed straight; top marks for that. The foot, however, is slightly cracked, but otherwise neat, showing how tightly packed the cigar is. It’s a very firm stick with a little give, but not much, and immediate spring back. The band is large; functional in advertising and finger resting. I especially like the colors as they contrast with the dark wrapper, including the blue background. Overall it’s a classy, impressive looking stick. Wrapper scenes are standard: hay, cinnamon, and coffee, with a SLIGHT chocolate aroma in the background. The foot has a little more chocolate, almost barnyard scent in addition to the others mentioned. The cap proved to be sturdy and took my double guillotine straight cut very well. ——— Cold draw - The draw itself was nice, not too tight or too loose. Flavor notes included wheat, cinnamon, and coffee. ——— Light up - Start Time - 11:00 - This easy lighting cigar gave up flavor notes of wheat, espresso, and raisin on the palate, along with black and red peppers, and milk chocolate on the retrohale. ——— First third - The slight box press was not doing this stick any favors as it had a little uneven burn to start, but nothing to worry about. Flavors start off bold and dark with earth, leather, espresso, woody hickory, walnuts, and a touch of buttered toffee for some mild sweetness. The retohale kept all the pepper and milk chocolate from light up, and also had hay with a hint of cream. The finish held onto the hay, espresso, and hickory notes. The burn quickly canoed and a touch up was required. The first third seemed to burn especially quickly as I was preparing to take the wrapper off after about 20 minutes. The flavors mellowed some going into the second third, so while most of the bold flavors hit the palate up front, the last notes on the palate are the sweeter chocolate, toffee, and walnut flavors. The band came off easily and I got into the second third. ——— Second third - With my touch ups burning off some of the ash, it fell off as I removed the band. The flavor notes hadn’t changed from the first third. Still lots of earth, leather, espresso, and walnut up front, with dark chocolate and a slight cream on the back, and hay, espresso, and hickory in the short finish. Lots of smoke output, but that’s a byproduct of the draw loosening up. ——— Final third - Without much herald, the final third arrived in 50 minutes. Flavor notes still hadn’t changed and the cigar revealed itself to be a 1-trick pony. ——— Other notes - Medium plus in strength throughout. Flavors started and stayed bold. The aroma was slightly pungent upfront, but that calmed down after a while. The ash held well throughout, but the burn line was wavy the whole time too. The finish wasn’t very long, but that was okay since the flavors never really changed. My cigar burned expectedly quickly with me getting down to a 1” nub in 1 hour and 5 minutes. Somewhat bitter anise showed up at 0.75”. Overall, it’s solidly OKAY, but I wouldn’t buy a box. There are decidedly better cigars at this price point. ——— Personal Final Score - 76

Brick House

I’m a fan of foot bands, and I don’t think there’s a better one than this. If nothing else it’s the most recognizable. Combined with the regular band, it’s a great presentation. The cap is fancy and deep as well. The wrapper could look better; smoother, less veiny, but it’s not bad. My cigar was firm with a nice spring back. Scent off the wrapper is a standard cinnamon, hay, coffee, and barnyard. Foot has the same scents, but deeper. Straight, double guillotine cut was easy and the cold draw gave me cinnamon toast, and coffee. After light up, I immediately got wrapper sweetness, cinnamon, and toast, along with white pepper and nutmeg on the retrohale. The first third brought in some creaminess to the flavor along with cedar. The burn line was razor sharp, and I was enjoying the cigar right away. Retro gave me the graham cracker note I figured would be in there as well. The foot smoke was very close to being pleasantly aromatic. Nothing foul going in at all. Into the second third and the flavors didn’t change much, but there was some shifting. There was more creaminess, a touch of almond, and the retrohale gave more of an herbal/vegetal note. Ash stayed solid and fell off in 1” clumps by itself. Construction of these sticks is very good given the price point. The second third was also where the sweetness became more like a refined honey note. Towards the end of the second third going into the final, a floral note started to develop, which I really appreciate. The final third and things took a slight dip. I had to touch up the burn once, but no big deal there. The cream died down and the wood came up. The vegetal note turned more into a tea flavor, but that worked well with the honey note that was hanging on. The finish through the entire stick was great. It lasted longer than I was expecting and let the sweet toast flavor linger. The band came off with very little struggle, and the ash continued to hold on nicely, if not better than in the first two thirds. I smoked it down to a half inch nub and the flavor never got bitter at all. In fact, the final tasting note I got was a buttery almond. Overall, strength was a mild plus and this was a very enjoyable smoke that will not be my last.

JC Newman

Mild tobacco and raisin on the wrapper. Wheat bread on the cold draw. Perfect draw after lighting. Black pepper immediately on the retrohale. Notes didn’t change much throughout. Mineral notes in the end. Razor clean burn. Nice smoke if not slightly over priced.