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Blind Cigar Review Thread #2

Alright, time to smoke this blind stick!  Jimmy suggested rum as a pairing, however I have none on hand, so I’m opting for coffee with splenda and milk.
 
The stick is about 5x50 with a pig tail cap and a very dark wrapper.  It’s dark with some small black splotches.  I think the stick’s origin is definitely not Cuban; probably Central American.  The wrapper seems a little thin to be Connecticut Broadleaf, so I’m thinking Brazilian Mata Fina.  The appearance and pig tail has me thinking K.A. Kendall 7-20-4 Robusto.  I have a bit of experience with the Dog Walker and Corona, along with some Lanceros patiently waiting in my Newair, so we’ll see how this goes.
 
I clip with the silver Palio and take a cold draw.  I taste good aged tobacco with subtle hints of nuts and leather.  The toasting and lighting are uneventful.  I’m greeted with great flavors in the first third:  a hardwood core with a bit of black pepper and coffee notes.  There’s some fleeting cocoa in there, but the finish has me floored.  I get a tangy, citrus note that reminds me of orange chocolates… it’s a distinct orange peel flavor that is, as Greg would say, “lip smackingly good.”
The burn line is extremely sharp with very decent smoke production.  The ash held on for about an inch before I gently tap it off into my old H. Upmann ashtray. 
 
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About half an hour in, I’m into the second third.  The cigar gives strong cappuccino flavors—espresso with some creaminess—and a pronounced marshmallow sweetness.  The delicious orange peel tang occasionally pops up, but the wood notes are gone.  There is also a faint nuttiness present.  The robusto is a solid medium stick for me, with a very slight nicotine kick.   At fifty minutes in, I purge the cigar as we head into the final third.  I’m greeted with more black pepper but much looser sweet and sour tastes.  There’s a more pronounced saltiness/nuttiness to the cigar, which I take down to a nub.  Easily an “Excellent” in my grading criteria.
 
This has to be a 7-20-4.  If not, I’m going to be shocked… OH HELL YEAH!
 
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Jimmy, thanks for the great smoke.  I think this vitola may become a new favorite.
 
Excellent!! Glad you enjoyed this, I thought for sure I had a nice stumper.
 
Nice review, makes me want to get a few of these to try. Seems like many enjoy them.
 
emoshun said:
Excellent!! Glad you enjoyed this, I thought for sure I had a nice stumper.
Jimmy, had I not been quite the advocate of this blend, this would have baffled me.  The pig tail was also a dead giveaway. 
 
CMontoya79 said:
Nice review, makes me want to get a few of these to try. Seems like many enjoy them.
Caesar, I think these will be in your wheelhouse.

 
 
coopsdeloops said:
Nice review. I've never even heard of this stick. Is it new?
Coop, glad to see you up.  No, 7-20-4 isn't new.  Kurt Kendall, a tobacconist in New Hampshire, first released it in 2009.  It can be a little challenging to find, though.  I'm guessing one of Jimmy's reasons for putting this one up for blind review is to generate some interest... it seems the line flies under the radar around here.
 
mjolnir01 said:
 
Nice review. I've never even heard of this stick. Is it new?
Coop, glad to see you up.  No, 7-20-4 isn't new.  Kurt Kendall, a tobacconist in New Hampshire, first released it in 2009.  It can be a little challenging to find, though.  I'm guessing one of Jimmy's reasons for putting this one up for blind review is to generate some interest... it seems the line flies under the radar around here.
 
 
They are obviously known pretty well around here and Kurt is an amazing guy. A lot of guys rave about the cigars and how great they are honestly I have never really tried them. I recently picked up a couple of the barber pole hustlers when I was in his shop to give them a go. The petite corona scored a 91 in CA recently.
 
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Check them out. 
http://www.7-20-4.com/
Also Kurt always has a HUGE sale on 7/24 every year that I know Jimmy has taken advantage of. If you call the shop they will take orders over the phone and ship out.
 
I'm inking low on the 7-20-4 size, so if anyone's interested LMK. (I can get a box for $90 shipped)
But what I really want are the Lancero's!
 
The Dog Walker in the core 7-20-4 line is one of my favorite petite coronas. 
 
I need to set fire to the lancero in my humidor soon.  MarkJr raved about that size a few weeks ago on Stogie Geeks.
 
Yes, once they land and rest for a week or so I will set flame and review.
 
I finally got a chance to smoke the blind review stick from mjolnir01.  I wasn't able to get any decent pictures because it was so dark outside, but it's finally spring in Ohio and I didn't have to freeze to enjoy a cigar outside.
 
The cigar itself was a lancero with a pigtail on the cap.  The wrapper was a dark chocolaty brown color with a toothy appearance.  The cigar had a musty barnyard smell to it.  I punched the cap and lit it up.
 
The initial draws were very sweet and full of a coffee/cocoa flavor.  It was mild/medium smoke at first and very enjoyable.  It took some work to get the smoke flowing, which I thought was unusual for a cigar this size.  The ash started to fall at less than half an inch and I found the culprit was a tunnel.  I took my time and sipped the cigar through the first third.  The flavor remained a bit hollow from the tunneling, but the sweet notes of cocoa remained consistent and I was enjoying the cigar.
 
At about the halfway mark I got past the underfilled part of the cigar and the flavors really started to pick up.  The cigar had a smooth tobacco taste and was still very sweet, but now I was getting a finish of toasted bread...almost like cinnamon toast.  The retrohale was slightly spicy like mild white pepper and the cigar picked up in strength to a medium.  It was nice that the flavors were more pronounced now and I was able to concentrate more on what I was smoking.
 
As I smoked the cigar down to the last few inches the flavors all remained very consistent.  I would say this cigar had a very clean tobacco taste with a nice compliment of sweetness and very slight spice.  Not much of a change in flavor, but that's not a bad thing since I was enjoying it.  It was a little more earthy as I got down to the last inch and the sweetness started to fade.  I put the cigar down with about 3/4" left.  Total smoking time was about 1hr 30mins.
 
I'm not sure what this cigar is.  It reminded my of a Liga L40, but it wasn't as strong and didn't coat the palette the same way.  The cigar wasn't nearly as dark and oily as the L40's I've had, but something about it seemed similar.  I really have no idea what this smoke was, but I did enjoy sitting down and smoking it.  I opened the envelope with the label inside to reveal the identity and find out its a Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970.  
 
Thanks for the chance to try this one out Barry!
 
Alan, I'm glad you enjoyed it.  I'm not a big fan of the line, but for some reason it really shines in the lancero.  I agree with your L40-light assessment, but it's much easier to find.  I think it's an often overlooked cigar in the lancero discussion.
 
My .02 on blind cigar from Blind review.

Prelight:dark chocolate brown wrapper, about a 6.5x52 in size with a pigtail cap.
Sweet tobacco, cedar on cold draw. Smells like aged tobacco/barnyard at foot and wrapper, faint molasses sweetness.

1st third
First few puffs are giving off great flavor. I get molasses and raisin, cedar with aged tobacco. Aroma is of sweet cocoa and molasses with honey. Great. Medium in flavor and strength. Long finish of toasted tobacco and wood. 0 spice. About an inch in sweet earth, wood and molasses dominate. Aroma is sweet. Right now I'm guessing Dominican or nicaraguan. No idea on marca. Smoke transitions mid away 1st third to a woody, and slightly sweet earth flavor that dominates. Smoke aroma is like roasted marshmallows and molasses. Finish is long and leaves bread and molasses flavors with a slight mineral note. Ash is solid, grey with light grey. Burn is pretty even.

2nd third
Cedar dominates at the beginning of second third with molasses and slight cinnamon. Midway through second third I get a fruity floral flavor interesting. Aroma continues mostly with mostly Cedar, strength is medium, flavor is full. Leather along with stewed fruit are the dominant flavors at this point in nearing end of second third. Bread like flavors and aged tobacco also in the mix. Slight touchup required heading into final third. Floral and fruit notes continue at this point along with cedar and sweet earth.

Final 3rd
Wood and leather dominate the final third very little if any spice at all. Faint molasses sweetness still present throughout.
My guess is still Nicaraguan or Dominican.
Floral and fruits still present but faint. Smoke output throughout has been great.

Revealed time and it is...

HEX.

Hell of a smoke!

4/5. 90 points.

Great smoke!

Thanks Jonsey for the opportunity to smoke this stick!

Recommended!
 
Construction/Appearance
Wrapper had a velvety suede slipperiness it was so smooth, slight give to it. Very nice construction here, no major veins, great reddish color
 
Pre Light Draw
Sweet cinnamon bread and grains to compliment the open draw.
Generous smoke from the start, draw was perfect.
 
Burn/Draw
Draw is effortless, smoke in abundance with every pull.
A small bit of ash just fell off, not close to an inch but could be a forewarning of a weaker ash.
Ashed, was very easy to drop the first bunch. Towards the end getting hot with every draw, even when sipped, this might be due to how open it is even though it's a smaller ring gauge.
 
Flavors/Aroma
1/3
Tobacco is fragrant, citrusy, and has a slight acidity.
2/3
Creamy vanilla coffee notes blast from the retrohale. Nutty roasted peanuts mixed with faint leather now take stage.
Ash falls off when the cigar is rested in the ashtray. Steady burn, not super sharp but no touch ups are needed.
3/3
Still dominant toasted bread flavors, no peppery spice yet, very medium bodied smoke.
Nutty cinnamon toasty sweet tobacco is center stage in the final 3rd.
 
Final Thoughts
No ideas as to what this could be, not at all Cuban. Wonderful mild/medium bodied smoke, perfect breakfast cigar or something to hand a newb that wants to enjoy something that won't knock him out. My only guess is that it's something from a line of cigars I've not had much exposure to, so I'll say 4 Kicks Corona Gorda?
 
 
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Totally got me!!! Wow I have not had enough of these at all to even guess close. I don't remember ever having a Fuente with little to no peppery spice. Great job Ceasar, you stumped this chump! :thumbs:
 
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Glad to stump! In my opinion, while I really like the R52, the smaller R44 is stellar, nice, easy going sweet smoke. Great anytime and especially when you want a change of pace.
 
R44s are my favorite Fuente!

I really enjoyed the blind-review cigar that Jimmy sent me. Not only was it a damn tasty gar but one unfamiliar to me.

A pretty typical corona at 6 x 42 with a maduro wrapper and slight box press.

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Toothy wrapper with a single cap but lots of filler leaf veins visibly pushing against it. This gave it a "rustic" look that reminded me of some boutique cigars. Wrapper smell was spicy and bready like nic maduro wrappers can be. I punched the single-cap and it held fast nicely. Pre-light odor is fruity and draw firm but good. Even a couple leaf vein visible beneath the punched cap.

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Lights and draws easily and spicy nic ligero dominates at first. Balanced pretty quickly with woody flavors. Getting some cinnamon and nutmeg. A bit harsh but not too bad. By end of this third it has balanced nicely and lost the harshness.

2) Woody still there but more spice and berry. I definitely have never smoked this cigar - but wish I had sooner. The woody goes very well with the sweet and spicy. Burn has been near perfect and draw opens some. Woody flavor gets a bit grassy.

3) Draw firms up again and woody flavor starts to overpower the lighter flavors. Midway through the berry comes on strong.

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The flavor profile screams Padron but if it is, it's one I've not tried. Could be a boutique blend ...


Aha, a 64 Padron. That explains why I've never smoked this as the only 64s I've tried are the Exclusive and Monarca, both maduro. The rough look threw me because I thought Pardron 64 was more anal about nice construction. The single cap and rustic look was more like the Londres.

Thank you Jimmy! I may be in the market for some of these rustic babies - for the right price. :p
 
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