Kingantz
Growing too fast.
This afternoon I’m smoking a Bolivar Legendario Regional Edition (Exclusivo Suiza – Switzerland) 2008 release. I’m curious to see how it smokes young, and then what age does to it, say after a couple of years.
The wrapper is a dark brown, leaning towards rosado in color, with some blotchiness throughout. It’s very coarse with a number of veins running the length and has quite noticeable oils. It’s spongy when squeezed and has one spot that’s very soft midway, seems to be a bit on the damp side. The head tapers slightly and then has a flat, triple cap. I detect only tobacco smell when sniffing the foot. With the cap punched, cold draw has a perfect resistance with a taste of straightforward tobacco. I torched the food with my trusty Zippo (Z-Plus), blowing on the embers to get the burn as even as possible. A couple of puffs, then my first draw.
Hmmm. The smoke was quite bland, other than a very bitter taste on the lips and tip of the tongue. There’s not much flavor to the smoke at all really. I find it difficult to get any smoke out and do quite a bit of puffing to keep it going. With the ash about a half-inch, I knock it off and see a fairly decent tunnel in the ash. Ah, so that’s the culprit. I continue to puff a few times then take a draw, and am getting a good bit of pepper spice and some faint hints of nuts and cocoa. A third in and the burn is doing better, and I can still slightly detect cocoa and a small amount of nuttiness. I find a medium body to the smoke with a black pepper spice and not much of a finish to speak of. It seems I can almost taste a Bolivar profile down in there somewhere, however I’m thinking it’s just my mind wanting it to be so.
Halfway in and the smoke smoothes out a bit and the bitterness on the lips and tongue subside. A semi-sweetness appears in the smoke, much like a raw pecan that’s not quite ripe yet, however leaving that dryness on the tongue. There’s a hint of black coffee that comes through as well. I’m still not getting very much smoke from the cigar, and the finish is very short, not leaving much aftertaste.
The final half of this cigar was for lack of a better term, lacking. Not much flavor at all and left the mouth quite dry. I smoked it down with to about an inch and a half, then finally just put it down. I certainly hope that a couple/few years of rest will bring these around. We’ll just have to wait and see.
The wrapper is a dark brown, leaning towards rosado in color, with some blotchiness throughout. It’s very coarse with a number of veins running the length and has quite noticeable oils. It’s spongy when squeezed and has one spot that’s very soft midway, seems to be a bit on the damp side. The head tapers slightly and then has a flat, triple cap. I detect only tobacco smell when sniffing the foot. With the cap punched, cold draw has a perfect resistance with a taste of straightforward tobacco. I torched the food with my trusty Zippo (Z-Plus), blowing on the embers to get the burn as even as possible. A couple of puffs, then my first draw.
Hmmm. The smoke was quite bland, other than a very bitter taste on the lips and tip of the tongue. There’s not much flavor to the smoke at all really. I find it difficult to get any smoke out and do quite a bit of puffing to keep it going. With the ash about a half-inch, I knock it off and see a fairly decent tunnel in the ash. Ah, so that’s the culprit. I continue to puff a few times then take a draw, and am getting a good bit of pepper spice and some faint hints of nuts and cocoa. A third in and the burn is doing better, and I can still slightly detect cocoa and a small amount of nuttiness. I find a medium body to the smoke with a black pepper spice and not much of a finish to speak of. It seems I can almost taste a Bolivar profile down in there somewhere, however I’m thinking it’s just my mind wanting it to be so.
Halfway in and the smoke smoothes out a bit and the bitterness on the lips and tongue subside. A semi-sweetness appears in the smoke, much like a raw pecan that’s not quite ripe yet, however leaving that dryness on the tongue. There’s a hint of black coffee that comes through as well. I’m still not getting very much smoke from the cigar, and the finish is very short, not leaving much aftertaste.
The final half of this cigar was for lack of a better term, lacking. Not much flavor at all and left the mouth quite dry. I smoked it down with to about an inch and a half, then finally just put it down. I certainly hope that a couple/few years of rest will bring these around. We’ll just have to wait and see.
