StewNasty69
Well-Known "Member"
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2023
- Messages
- 240
Gather round, Boils and Ghouls, we got another Davidoff review today. @wrussell46 said that this was a good smoke and I'm seeing now that I can trust their tastes, not that I ever doubted them.
Visually, it had an absolutely beautiful red-brown wrapper. Decently veiny and full of fine tooth with an almost silken quality to it thanks to the fair amount of oils I could clock on the surface. There were a couple small hitches along the cut line, but this doesn't detract from the obvious care that was put into the creation of this stick. The, what appears to be a triple, cap was very liberally applied and done with quite a bit of care. In the hand, it felt nicely packed, very evenly rolled and had just the right amount of give. I haven't even cut into it and I'm already excited for what is to come given my previous experience with the Winston.
Sniffing the foot like I'm at a disco in 1986 and it's been at least 12 minutes since I last had a bump, I pick up lots of brooding notes of a semi-sweet dark chocolate, a bit of espresso and a heavy cream element. Slicing the cap with a straight cut, I'm relived to find that it has a much looser draw than the Winston I had, near perfect for my tastes. I pick up notes of sweet earth, chocolate milk, and some form of wood bark.
First third: I'm immediately greeted with the taste of a light roast coffee and semi-sweet chocolate. About an inch in, a sweet cinnamon aspect joins the party. These flavors are all vying for who takes place at the front, but it doesn't come off as confused and muddled. The very slight bitterness of the coffee note and the sweetness of the cinnamon note play off of each other for the entire third, waltzing back and forth while fighting over who takes the lead. At the very back, there's a distinctly cedar note. This note makes itself more evident on the retrohale, bringing with it a notably sweet quality to it with just a hint of red pepper.
Second third: By the time the second third begins, the coffee note fades while the cedar note comes up. A bit further in, the cinnamon note that was once sweet starts to dry out but it is far from unpleasant. Due to this, there's a lovely interplay of sweet and dry, split almost dead down the middle as far as total effect goes. Halfway in, that red pepper on the retrohale joins in on the palate at the very back, yet it's still unsure if it actually wants to be there and is in and out. Around this time, the cedar kicks its way up front and the semi-sweet dark chocolate notes start to leave. The sweetness from the cedar starts to dry out. Retrohale was mostly just cedar throughout the entire third.
Final third: The cinnamon note that's been with the whole stick works its way upfront and turns more into a general baking spice, dead even with the cedar and without any fighting between the two flavors. Halfway through the final third a slight ginger note makes itself known and is in and out with a note that I think reminds me of a very dark caramel. I'm thoroughly surprised as a cardamom like flavor starts to make itself known on the middle of my palate, yet the cooling effect it has on the spice only helps the perceived complexity of the stick. The very last inch had an almost burley/Kentucky pipe tobacco aspect to it.
Smoke production through the entire stick was fantastic. The body started solidly medium and stayed there all the way to the very last inch, where it bumped up to medium+. Despite this and the flavor profile, it still had a lighter mouthfeel than I would expect, yet lingered on the tongue for quite a long while. Burn was mostly even, requiring a couple small touchups here and there, but nothing to complain about. This was quite the fantastic smoke and I rue the day when I'll be forced to buy a box of these on sale.
