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Cigar pass rating experiment Part DEUX REVEAL # 3

CgarDan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
6,002
Was surprised that many people did not like this one. But I can see why. Its very mellow if you dont take your time with it

RESULTS

CONSTRUCTIONFLAVORCOMPLEXITYAPPEARANCETOTAL
BLIND RATINGSOUT OF 35OUT OF 50OUT OF 10OUT OF 5OUT OF 100
cabaiguan juan
35​
40​
7​
5​
87​
Le Primauguet
35​
46​
8​
5​
94​
Gavin
35​
38​
5​
5​
83​
JoeMO
35​
30​
3​
5​
73​
CBoukal
30​
40​
7​
4​
81​
wingman1974
32​
38​
6​
4​
80​
modo22
28​
30​
5​
3​
66​
Aalvord2
35​
45​
7​
5​
92​
TexEagle
29​
42​
8​
4​
83​
modo22 Friend
30​
20​
6​
5​
61​
drunkfish3
30​
15​
1​
4​
50​
JArtimez
33​
43​
7​
4​
87​
H. Vachon
32​
42​
5​
4​
83​
Nate1977
27​
45​
8​
5​
85​
Smokemorestressless
35​
48​
9​
5​
97​
Johnny B
28​
44​
4​
3​
79​
31.81​
37.88​
6.00​
4.38​
80.06​
WITH THE BANDS
CgarDan
35.00​
44.00​
8.00​
5.00​
92​
BurnBerry
35.00​
39.00​
5.00​
5.00​
84​
dawgie34203
35.00​
45.00​
9.00​
5.00​
94​
35.00​
42.67​
7.33​
5.00​
90.00​

Review Notes:

Paired with water and Basil Hayden. Nose pre light was sweet tobacco with nothing popping out. Draw after a guillotine cut was perfect for me with much kind of "pull". Measured 62 RH so it seamed happy to light. 1st third was mostly leather that transitioned to a dry sawdust at 1st third. Leather backed down with a slight tongue tingle of spice with a dry frosted flake sweetness hint at the back of the throat that fled quickly. Really nice construction with a relatively straight burn line throughout -1/2" ash fall so stay awake brothers. Final third really mellowed out taste and retro with much lighter leather and concentrated hay with continued lip tinglage. Put her in park with an inch or so left as it was heating up. Total smoke time was 50 mins.
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I couldn’t find any fault in the construction. This cigar had a great “feel”, perfect cap, and just the right amount of rebound when squeezed. The cigar needed no touch-ups or relights, and had a razor sharp burn line.

The flavor profile seemed a little one (maybe two) dimensional to me. It was good, just not “wow”. One thing that I really enjoyed was a smooth retrohale from foot to nub.

The cigar started off fairly mild, but it continued to build strength as it progressed. I am not a big fan of super peppery cigars, and this started right where I like it. When the pepper started to creep in, I thought “here we go”. But it crept in, then left, several times. I didn’t get the full on pepper until well into the final third, and by then, I was ready for it.

This was an example of a great looking cigar. Smooth, dark tan, and just inviting.

I smoked this cigar until it was burning my fingers. I really enjoyed this one!
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Appearance and burn were flawless. A lot of spice on the tongue, with wood notes mixed in. Flavor profile staid consistent with not much change.
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10/3/23 # 3
6:18 - 7:10
Dry draw - brownie?

Nutty, plenty of smoke, earthy, wood, brownie, more tobacco, seemed to disappear after 1st third. First third was interesting, but the 2nd and 3rd were totally nondescript. Construction and appearance were excellent, but flavor and complexity were lacking at best. Not something I would pursue again.
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Tasting Notes:
White pepper, slight sweetness, regular tobacco, slight cedar.

Retro: Slight white pepper, cedar, medium burn.
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Earth, light citrus, nutty, popcorn - don’t laugh. Great daytime smoke. Little mild-medium.
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floral cold draw, foot was cut kind of crocked hence the 3 for appearance. It was a harsh smoke from start to finish. Flavor of hay and grass was nice, and white pepper on retro, but just didn’t enjoy the harshness of it, still nubbed it down though.
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hour 10 burntime

Smooth light wrapper, thin/ delicate seeming. Even and good firmness. nice medium draw. Very uniform. Some crystal like reflections under cell phone light.
Cold draw light earth, sweetness.
1st puffs very nice. Sumatra?
Hay, sweetness i cant place, mineral
Ash drops early but solid and clean.
Very enjoyable, long lasting flavors. It likes 1 or 2 gentle puffs then a rest, really enjoying this one so far.
Very nuanced, extremely well blending flavors.
hay, honey, earth, pete, mineral, smokey
These flavors really last on the mouth.
Burn, draw, ash, cone are all top notch.
It's gona a bit stale/ bitter for 2 puffs as it enters the last third, I expect this to change.
Yup, shes back to her usual greatness, easy does it.
I slacked and it almost went out, gentle relight with no bitterness or issues.
Smokes great right to nub, it got more light bodied at the end.

I will be buying these, can't wait to see what it is.
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Nice looking little corona with a claro wrapper. Mild, but I’m getting an apple cinnamon thing that’s really nice! Burn line is sharp. Ash falls off in one large clump on my chest. Flavor gets a little dull in the 2nd third. When I leave it unattended to go get more coffee it stays lit. Definitely well-constructed. Flavor has a few moments of greatness, but overall, meh.
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The wrapper seems pretty loose and brittle. Saving grace for the score is the draw is perfect.

Very mild and creamy. Strangely enough praline and graham cracker come to mind. No noticeable transitions. Though this cigar is not the best for my palate, I could see this being an ok cigar for a newbie friend.

No real transitions. Really only had a few flavor elements.

Slightly lumpy but otherwise it was a solid looking cigar.
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This one was pretty good. I’d smoke it again. I smoked it pretty much first thing this morning. Drank water throughout while working in the garage. Definitely tasted better than it looked.

FINAL REVEAL :
Purchase site: COH
Purchase price: $11.8
Cigar: Davidoff grand CRU #3
Cigar Aficionado Rating 84 https://www.cigaraficionado.com/ratings/13503/name/davidoff-grand-cru-no-3-corona
 
Thanks for doing this Dan!!! I am not overly surprised by this. While Davidoff is a good brand to me, I find a lot of their stuff to be very light.
 
Well, sh.t, I give a 5.80 stick a 94, but a 11.80 stick a 73. Go figure. Like most cigars, I'll give it another go and see if it was just one of those days. Thanks for all your hard work sir Dan!
 
Would not have guessed this! Interesting to see the other ratings as I must have gotten a dud. Thanks for doing this Dan!

Also, when is #4 and #5 getting posted?
 
Would not have guessed this! Interesting to see the other ratings as I must have gotten a dud. Thanks for doing this Dan!

Also, when is #4 and #5 getting posted?

I still have a few left i will send you one more next time something is coming your way.
 
Well, sh.t, I give a 5.80 stick a 94, but a 11.80 stick a 73. Go figure. Like most cigars, I'll give it another go and see if it was just one of those days. Thanks for all your hard work sir Dan!
I think this is where our subconscious ideas come into it. If you knew it was a Davidoff, do you think you would have gone into it with any preconceptions of what it was going to be like, and maybe talked yourself into believing it was better than it really was? That's kind of what I loved so much about doing blind smokes -- I was very often not even in the ballpark with my guess, but it really helped me figure out what I did and didn't like in a cigar, and my smoking experiences got much more enjoyable once I knew what I was looking for in selection.
 
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