I jumped at the chance, both out of curiosity and respect for Greg, and so this here is my attempt at fulfilling my end of the bargain. I'm no Kingantz, and I don't have the most sophisticated palate, but I can stumble through writing a review now and then. Below you will find a review without Greg's precise analysis of the flavor profile, nor his bevy of photographs, but hopefully it will serve as a bit of tribute.
Kingantz Custom Roll
5x50ish
Wrapper: South Carolina
Binder: Not sure it has one.
Filler: South Carolina
Made in: South Carolina
This is one ugly cigar. While I'm sure it wasn't rolled on Greg's virgin thigh, it's still roughly cigar-shaped, and I really had to guess at the ring gauge because of how severely pressed it is. It's about as squished flat as any cigar I've seen other than a Java Wafe I saw my wife smoke once. The color is a nice medium-brown, with some faint red. Veins are all over the place, but none of them are very large, and they shouldn't affect the burn. The foot is shaggy, while there isn't really a cap to speak of, just where the leaves have been cut.
I fire up the cigar with a torch lighter, and immediately notice a very tight draw, which I attribute to how pressed the cigar is. It begins to burn remarkably evenly, despite its penchant for unraveling. My immediate impression of it is the smoke is very mild with an almost buttery taste to it. I think of Epernays as similarly buttery, and I wonder if this has to do with their mutual lack of ligero ( I assume). There is not a ton of smoke coming through, so throughout the smoke, I try to squeeze it into more and more of a round shape which seems to help a lot. The smell of the smoke coming off the foot is very pleasant and aromatic.
After about an inch of the cigar, it goes out, so I relight, and this seems to forestall the unraveling problem I thought I was going to have. Flavors are still very light, with hints of caramel sweetness that I certainly was not expecting. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this thing to be good, but it's very inoffensive, at least.
It seems like I have to relight once every inch or so into the cigar, but draw issues seem much ameliorated after I hit the halfway mark. Through the nose I get a hint of....corn? Greg, if you've ever grown corn on your property I'm going to be extremely proud of myself. Let me know. Regardless, there's a definite corn flavor to the cigar. Most surprisingly, right around the halfway mark I feel the little tingle in the gut that tells me that despite the super-mild flavor, there's strength to this cigar!
With only around two inches left to my cigar it starts to change drastically. The flavors are deepening, and it has become more medium-bodied with some oak notes I'm really enjoying. Given that the draw has opened up, it's transitioning in my mind from a curiosity to a real cigar! My belly is rumbling now and then, which I find odd, because I've eaten today and my stogie hasn't seemed super strong. It's really sneaking up on me. There are some grassy flavors coming through now, but they're not bad. There doesn't really seem to be lots of layers to the flavors, more just one dominant flavor at a time. Early in the cigar it was butter, then corn, then oak, and now grass.
I'm certainly puffing away at this cigar to keep it lit, and get enough smoke, and that's probably giving a feeling of greater strength since I'm power-horking it. With an inch to go, I do a final relight, and snap a second picture of it. No step by step burn pictures like you'd get from Greg. Face it, he spoiled us. In this last little bit of the cigar, it tastes a lot like radishes, with a sour edge to it that tells me it's time to let this take a nap in my ashtray.
While a meager attempt at a review, I hope that in some small part, Greg, you get some satisfaction knowing that your cigar, made with your tobacco, was smoked, and in fact enjoyed. There's certainly nothing wrong with the tobacco. If some of your leaves found their way into professionally rolled cigars, no one would be the wiser. While I take cracks at your cigar rolling skills, it was still far and away better than anything I could do. Believe me, since you sent me the tupperware, I've tried on several occasions!
I'd like to close with what I think CP owes you for an archive of great reviews: Thank you, Greg.
