It was light in the hand and very firm when I tried to squeeze it. I didn’t want to squeeze too hard as I was afraid it might fall to pieces it was so old.
The wrapper was slightly coarse and no oils to be found, actually was a bit dry looking. I wet the tip of the cap to let it soften a bit so hopefully the punch would cut through with no cracking. I slowly, carefully punched the cap and did have one small crack appear but nothing major at all. I found the draw perfect and a taste of old, stale tobacco.With the foot toasted, I took my first draw and found the smoke extremely mild. So much so it was almost undetectable, delicate came to mind. I could taste a very faint hint of toasted nuts, but mostly a very dry hay. The finish was very clean with a very nice aftertaste. The burn was perfect on this smoke with a very light gray ash that held until I ashed it at about an inch.
Around the halfway mark, the very mild and creamy smoke started getting a bit floral and had a definite lemony zest to it. Again, extremely light or as mentioned, delicate. Towards the end I happened to notice a little bit of tar on my finger and then realized the tip was full of it. I was surprised to see so much of it, and such a strange reddish color. Glad I didn’t get that in my mouth!
I believe this smoke had definitely gone past it’s peak and lost some of it’s “kick”, however I’m absolutely thrilled that I had the opportunity to put fire to such a rarity.
