I thought it was decent.
I found the beginning to be nutty and complex (reminded me of a Payday bar--salty, sweet, nutty, lots going on), middle just plain "tobacco-y" and the end a little empty yet harsh. The fundamental character and overriding flavor of it which was unavoidably present throughout and intriguing at the start evolved to become rather cloying by the end, sort of how the over-rich frosting on a store-bought birthday cake will eventually beat you down.
Construction, burn, ash, etc. was all top notch. Put it down at the 70 minute mark with about an inch remaining.
All in all, I was a little disappointed by the fact that I found myself appreciating it less and less as time went by, but it's solidly in the middle of my "try again some other time" list.
Edit-->Figured I'd add some thoughts now that I'm perhaps a little more articulate than I was at the end of the night, although I'm still not sure how to best communicate my primary reaction to the main taste.
I thought that the main flavor "theme" (for lack of a better word) throughout really overshadowed and distracted from a lot of the more subtle nuances. I didn't bother writing anything down, but I do know that while I did get quick hints of lots of different things last night (nowhere near as many or as diverse as those mentioned in
Macion's masterful poem), many of those were really overpowered by the omnipresent, brutishly assertive main taste. Sort of like hearing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata quietly tinkling away in the background while having
Ice Ice, Baby blasting away on repeat in the forefront, nearly drowning out the Beethoven with it's loud catchiness.
I wouldn't characterize that main taste in any way like those of the Acids etc., in spite of the fact that I think a few of the same adjectives--forced, chemical/artificially flavored, potpourri--could easily be applied to both. I don't know how much of it was the psychosomatic result of some preconceived expectations or even if it could have been some strange artifact of the drinks I'd been putting down all night, but even approaching it with as open of a mind as possible and really wanting to like it (perhaps my expectations were too high) I just couldn't get away from the perception that it was a nice cigar created in a laboratory.
Just as excessive plastic surgery can either result in the terrifyingly artificial
Jocelyn Wildenstein (horrifying yet safe for work link) or the (at least at one time) appealing yet obviously artificial
Pamela Anderson (safe for work), I'd say that the same thing goes for all the tinkering done by the flavor scientists at Drew Labs.
