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Mason Dixon Project 2014 - Northern Edition

suprchunk

What kind of bug is this?
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
267
I hadn't seen many reviews for these and didn't come up with any on a search here, so...

I love everything Crowned Heads has put out, that I have smoked, so far. Which is pretty much everything they have released. If I only had two choices, of brands, that I could smoke for the rest of my life, it would be Tatuaje first, and a very tough decision between Crowned Heads and anything from Pepín. Luckily these are rolled at his My Fathers facility. That would make it feel like I'm not cheating.

I saw these pop up on the radar just a week or so ago as I had not been in the market to buy anything lately. I've been smoking through my stock slowly this past year due to neck issues. I've since had neck surgery, almost two weeks ago, and have been feeling a little better and well enough to have a stogie. So I bought a fiver of last year's two editions, and this year's two editions. They all arrived the day before this review, so the only age on these it what the store had put on them.

I figured I'd start with the Yankee stick first.

Forewarning, my palate is not the best, cigar-wise. I've taken a long time getting it up to snuff for beer. I've only been smoking cigars, steadily, for the past 8 or so years. So bear with my nubile cigar hole. And, please, excuse the horrible camera phone shots.

The deets below, courtesy of Halfwheel:
  • Cigar Reviewed: The Mason-Dixon Project—Limited Edition 2014 Northern Edition
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
  • Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $9.85 (Boxes of 20, $197)
  • Release Date: Oct. 22, 2014
  • Number of Cigars Released: 1,250 Boxes of 20 Cigars (25,000 Total Cigars)
The appearance is a veiny, though not overly so, coffee brown leaf. Triple capped with just a slight loosening of the top cap. This wouldn't affect the cut so it's nothing worth mentioning, but I will. Slight tooth to the texture. I'm pushing it there as it's more smooth than toothy, but the veins give it enough texture that one could say "toothy". Medium to medium-firm when given a gentle squeeze. I've seen "spongy" given to this, but I don't get that at all. 5 Vegas Classic is spongy, this is like a rock compared to that budget stick. If you wanted to press the issue, there could be a couple spots that are semi-close to spongy; near the foot, and just under the band. The aroma, pre-cut and pre-light, is leather, wood (cedar), and a tobacco aroma that reminds me of Red Man or a moist pipe tobacco.

After cutting the cap just below the top cap with my guillotine cutter I give it a few draws before lighting it. I'm greeted with the same as the pre-cut; leather, tobacco, and wood. But there is also a slight bit of black pepper coming through. Not much, but it's there. The draw is not tight, but it is not too loose either. Perhaps if I cut further down it would loosen up. I couldn't possibly cut any further up. I think a punch would be perfect for this if it were not for the loose top of the cap I mentioned earlier. But that just seems to have been this particular stick after going back to look at the other four. So it should pose any problems if one were to use a punch. I lost mine a few years ago and haven't really found one I liked enough to replace it.



Light/first third:

Lightly toasting the foot so I can get an initial impression of the aroma, my nose is met with a nice tobacco aroma, nothing like the chew aroma I got earlier. Like walking into a cigar shop. The first few draws after getting it lit fully allows me to detect more of the leather from pre-light. Mixed in are some notes of dry dark chocolate. A little bit of the pipe tobacco notes I got earlier are also present. Gone is the Red Man, thankfully. This first bit of the beginning reminds me, almost, of a KFC stick. But not as over the top as those are. Settling into this third I start getting more of a bitterness, much like a very dark chocolate would give me. It's almost in the same vein as an espresso. The burn continues evenly throughout. Towards the end of the first 1/3 starts getting really good. It starts reminding me of a FFOX, from 8 years ago when I first had one. Strong tobacco and spice. A bit of that tar-ness that is hard to explain, that I get from the old Opus. I'm also really having to keep taking draws as the light seems to want to go out, but towards the end of this third it seems to not be an issue.



Second third:

Going into this second third of the stick continues with the FFOX comparison, but more rich tobacco and espresso-like flavors pop out. The leathery not is richer as well. I start getting a slight chlorine note, that isn't strong, but is there. Maybe it is something else, but that's how it seems to me. Like when you jump in a pool and get water in the nose and have to blow it out. That kind of chlorine. Toward the end of this third I start getting less of the Opus-like notes, but that flavor starts melding with the others already described making this part of the smoke really delicious. Gone now is the chlorine notes. The burn starts getting away in some spots but slowly corrects itself. There is a brief period towards the middle-end of this third where I get an acetone note when I cough or clear my throat, or exhale with force. I'm not sure where it is coming from as I don't get any hint of it in the nose, or taste for that matter. Maybe it's the meds I'm on? Which I doubt as the rest of the stick doesn't have this anywhere. It's not overpowering, or that offensive, as it is very short in duration.



Final third:

The spice is getting stronger, almost to a pepper blast you'd get in a blue label Don Pepín Garcia. But it quickly fades into a creamy mild espresso, almost a latte. The burn starts getting more uneven, and this stick has ashed itself with it having an inch or more on it every time I've laid it down on my ashtray. The creaminess fades into the same Opus flavor toward the middle of this third. The chlorine like aroma is back, but briefly, as before. The burn starts to run again. I lay it down for a minute and it finally goes out. After relighting the burn evens out. I get some more of the powerful peppery, espresso notes again. There is also a dark fruit/nutty note; fig or dates. I'm almost to nubbing this, but have to leave on some errands. Which is good as the last inch or so starts running again and I'd be unable to correct it and smoke it evenly to the end. I don't think I'd even use my nub tool. But it finished as strong as the end of the end of the first third did.



Overall:

I really enjoyed this smoke. In total I invested almost two hours smoking it. The smoke didn't have an many ups and downs as I thought it might. But is was an even, pleasant smoke, which had more highlights than I imagined. I'm hoping some time laying down will eliminate the chlorine notes that I was getting. I'm not sure where the acetone notes came from, but I'm guessing my palate just isn't refined enough define that flavor just yet, at least from a cigar. I'd know what it is in beer, but that's a totally different ball game. But there were some stretches that were tasty enough that I am considering buying a box. I'll be trying the Northern Edition tonight and hopefully writing up a review tomorrow on it.

 
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Thanks Brandon. I just posted the Southern review as well. I didn't think I could ever get this wordy about cigars. Hopefully my palate will catch up with my words so there is more usable information for people looking to pick up what I'm throwing down.
 
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