Shamrocker
Sheik Yerbouti
After what seemed like an eternity waiting for my birthday gift to arrive, a delivery slip appeared in my mailbox. I picked up my box and rushed home to rearrange my humidor. After a little leaf raking and lawn mowing, it seemed like a good idea to light one of the new arrivals up. I selected the victim.. er.. cigar and my first impression was "Wow, this is a heavy stick!". I took it out of the cello wrap and inspected it. The dark chocolate brown wrapper had a little tooth to it with a few veins, but nothing prominent. It smelled a little sweet, kind of a vanilla-honey scent, and the wrapper tasted slightly peppery and leathery.
The end clipped off nice and clean and even with no tears or crushing. Pre-light draw was the perfect feel with a very mild bittersweet chocolate taste. I didn't know what to expect from this cigar, as this was my first time smoking a CAO, and smoking a torpedo. From what I'd read this was a medium-full bodied cigar.
The torch lit up the foot nice and evenly. The first 1/3 started fairly mild tasting with an aroma that was intoxicating. Even being outside with a bit of a breeze I could smell the smoke easily and hoped that the flavour wouldn't dissapoint. Half an inch goes by and the flavour profile shifts into high gear, now I'm picking up the dark roast coffee and bitter chocolate flavour and I'm getting a mild peppery aftertaste on the back of my tongue. Going into the next 1/3 there's a real change in the strength of the cigar too, going from mild-medium to medium-strong. The volume of smoke is impressive, and it feels rich without feeling like it's coating the inside of my mouth. The flavour becomes a little more bitter, but not in a bad way. The final third starts to make the tip of my tongue tingle.. a new sensation for me.The chocolate disappears making way for leathery and strangely enough, almost a beefy taste, but that disappeared after a few minutes.
The ash was a medium gray that held firm for the first 1.5 inches, and the burn was fairly straight, needing only one touch up. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar, and I probably would have nubbed it if it weren't for the fact I had to leave to pick up my wife from work. I was amazed at how long of a smoke this was. I started it at 4:00 and left it at around 5:45, and still probably had 20 minutes until nub. This cigar also handed me a bit of an a$$-kicking. After deciding to end the smoke I got up and was a little light headed and felt my pulse was a little higher than normal. I didn't realize how much time had passed since my early lunch today and I guess I had a fairly empty stomach.
All in all, a very satisfying experience with CAO. I look forward to seeing how some age will affect these.
The end clipped off nice and clean and even with no tears or crushing. Pre-light draw was the perfect feel with a very mild bittersweet chocolate taste. I didn't know what to expect from this cigar, as this was my first time smoking a CAO, and smoking a torpedo. From what I'd read this was a medium-full bodied cigar.
The torch lit up the foot nice and evenly. The first 1/3 started fairly mild tasting with an aroma that was intoxicating. Even being outside with a bit of a breeze I could smell the smoke easily and hoped that the flavour wouldn't dissapoint. Half an inch goes by and the flavour profile shifts into high gear, now I'm picking up the dark roast coffee and bitter chocolate flavour and I'm getting a mild peppery aftertaste on the back of my tongue. Going into the next 1/3 there's a real change in the strength of the cigar too, going from mild-medium to medium-strong. The volume of smoke is impressive, and it feels rich without feeling like it's coating the inside of my mouth. The flavour becomes a little more bitter, but not in a bad way. The final third starts to make the tip of my tongue tingle.. a new sensation for me.The chocolate disappears making way for leathery and strangely enough, almost a beefy taste, but that disappeared after a few minutes.
The ash was a medium gray that held firm for the first 1.5 inches, and the burn was fairly straight, needing only one touch up. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar, and I probably would have nubbed it if it weren't for the fact I had to leave to pick up my wife from work. I was amazed at how long of a smoke this was. I started it at 4:00 and left it at around 5:45, and still probably had 20 minutes until nub. This cigar also handed me a bit of an a$$-kicking. After deciding to end the smoke I got up and was a little light headed and felt my pulse was a little higher than normal. I didn't realize how much time had passed since my early lunch today and I guess I had a fairly empty stomach.
All in all, a very satisfying experience with CAO. I look forward to seeing how some age will affect these.