JHolmes763
Drinkin' the koolaid
Was a nice day out yesterday, so I figured it was a good opportunity to fire this thing up. I had read an interesting review on them, so I picked up a single from CI to try. I've had a couple other Cusanos a while back, but wasn't sure what to expect of the maduro. This was a robusto, 5x50. I paired it with some Folgers I brewed earlier in the day. 
Construction was good. Nice and smooth on the front, dark... was a little rougher on the back. I think they knew which way to put the band on.
Clipped a little off the end, draw seemed right on, so I lit it up. Flavor right away was a good medium body. Flavors of leather and chocolate. I swear I tasted bacon on one puff, but that must have been wishful dreaming.
Smoke was a light blue from the foot and a gray from the draw. Smoke was nice and thick, but not super plentiful as some other cigars I had. It did hang around in the air for a while, though. Flavor didn't really change at all throughout the cigar, but stayed a good medium tasting leather...
Burn wasn't very consistent. It required a few touch-ups and burned a lot faster on one side. Ash was gray, brown and black. The burn finally evened out for the last couple of inches as I finally gave up on the touch-ups and just puffed through it.
A little over an inch into the cigar, I started to get a good amount of tar coming out of it. Looking at the cut, it didn't look as clean as it should, so I lopped off a little more. That cleared up the tar issue, as I expected.
The flavor stayed consistent throughout the cigar. It got a little harsh near as I nubbed it, but that's to be expected as it got hot, imo. I put the flavor profile about on par with an Onyx Reserve. A quick look on CI puts these at $70 a box for 18 versus $50 for a box of 20 of the Onyx. I'd stick with the Onyx, personally, especially as they get a little age on them.
I know you shouldn't make a decision on a single cigar, so I'll perhaps revisit this down the road. I'd give this a 6 out of 10, but since this is my first rating, I guess that doesn't mean much.
(EDIT: Changed rating to 6 out of 10)
Inspired by Gator, here's my dog Maggie that likes to hang around outside with me as I smoke.
And my kid who did a little rollerblade practicing while Dad smoked.
---John Holmes...
Construction was good. Nice and smooth on the front, dark... was a little rougher on the back. I think they knew which way to put the band on.
Clipped a little off the end, draw seemed right on, so I lit it up. Flavor right away was a good medium body. Flavors of leather and chocolate. I swear I tasted bacon on one puff, but that must have been wishful dreaming.
Smoke was a light blue from the foot and a gray from the draw. Smoke was nice and thick, but not super plentiful as some other cigars I had. It did hang around in the air for a while, though. Flavor didn't really change at all throughout the cigar, but stayed a good medium tasting leather...
Burn wasn't very consistent. It required a few touch-ups and burned a lot faster on one side. Ash was gray, brown and black. The burn finally evened out for the last couple of inches as I finally gave up on the touch-ups and just puffed through it.
A little over an inch into the cigar, I started to get a good amount of tar coming out of it. Looking at the cut, it didn't look as clean as it should, so I lopped off a little more. That cleared up the tar issue, as I expected.
The flavor stayed consistent throughout the cigar. It got a little harsh near as I nubbed it, but that's to be expected as it got hot, imo. I put the flavor profile about on par with an Onyx Reserve. A quick look on CI puts these at $70 a box for 18 versus $50 for a box of 20 of the Onyx. I'd stick with the Onyx, personally, especially as they get a little age on them.
I know you shouldn't make a decision on a single cigar, so I'll perhaps revisit this down the road. I'd give this a 6 out of 10, but since this is my first rating, I guess that doesn't mean much.
(EDIT: Changed rating to 6 out of 10)
Inspired by Gator, here's my dog Maggie that likes to hang around outside with me as I smoke.
And my kid who did a little rollerblade practicing while Dad smoked.
---John Holmes...
