Kingantz
Growing too fast.
What an absolutely beautiful morning. Right at 70F on the back porch with a nice, soft breeze and baby blue sky. The sun is creeping up over the tree line, similar to someone slowly turning up a dimmer switch, and as it brightens the dewdrops that cover the ground begin to shine like little lights. My cat sits at the edge of the woods staring intently up into the trees as two young squirrels chase each other, barking and chirping as they go. I can imagine a thought bubble pop up over Tinker’s head, “C’mon…one of you…FALL!” Mandy Ann (my JRT) is as usual, laying at me feet with all four legs stretched out. No snoring as yet, however I’m sure it will be any second now. Over to my right are my blue berries, which the birds really do enjoy. As I type this and am actually thinking about birds eating my beautiful, huge, luscious berries, a oversized red-headed woodpecker lands right in the top of the bush. I jump up and it flies away, only to come right back again. We play this game several times, the woodpecker making this awful ruckus the whole time, and I finally take off running across the yard yelling obscenities. Hopefully it’s gone long enough for me to smoke this cigar. 
The cigar I pulled out of the desktop this morning? A Devil’s Weed Raleigh I received from FiveByFifty some time back. Funny because the cigar itself is 5 x 50. I wonder if he did it on purpose, and if all the smokes he sent are indeed 5 x 50. The cigar has a silky smooth, golden brown Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper (Dominican binder/filler) with noticeable oil and one prominent vein running the length. There’s very little give when I squeeze the cigar, has a good weight in the hand, and although the foot seems to have been cut with a dull blade, the bunching looks good. I really like the band, pretty cool.
I punch the cap and test the draw to find a perfect resistance with a taste of good, straightforward tobacco. I then begin my ritual of slowly torching the foot, blowing on the embers ensuring an even burn, at least to start out. I take several puffs to get the tobacco smoking good and then a slow , long draw. There’s a small amount of spice that comes through in the mild to almost medium bodied smoke. There’s a really good sweetness on the lips that goes quite well with a rich, dark roasted nut and honey flavor coming through. It seems there’s a herbal, or maybe vegetable quality in there somewhere, as well as a bit of woodiness. It seems, to me, a complex smoke.
The burn is sharp with a mottled light and dark gray ash forming that holds strong until tapped off. I find the draw to be perfect with the mild to medium bodied smoke flowing freely. There’s a really good sweetness to the smoke that I’m liking with flavors continuing to be quite rich. The finish is very good, lasting on the palate well.
Heading into the last half, the spice actually picks up a notch and the smoke itself turns to a good medium body. The sweetness continues along with very rich, delicious flavors that compliment well the fresh brewed cup of coffee I’m sipping on. I’m detecting what seems to be dark cocoa in the excellent, lasting finish.
This was a perfect morning smoke with excellent burn, perfect draw, rich flavors, and lasting finish. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you Stephen for the opportunity to smoke such a fine cigar.
The cigar I pulled out of the desktop this morning? A Devil’s Weed Raleigh I received from FiveByFifty some time back. Funny because the cigar itself is 5 x 50. I wonder if he did it on purpose, and if all the smokes he sent are indeed 5 x 50. The cigar has a silky smooth, golden brown Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper (Dominican binder/filler) with noticeable oil and one prominent vein running the length. There’s very little give when I squeeze the cigar, has a good weight in the hand, and although the foot seems to have been cut with a dull blade, the bunching looks good. I really like the band, pretty cool.
I punch the cap and test the draw to find a perfect resistance with a taste of good, straightforward tobacco. I then begin my ritual of slowly torching the foot, blowing on the embers ensuring an even burn, at least to start out. I take several puffs to get the tobacco smoking good and then a slow , long draw. There’s a small amount of spice that comes through in the mild to almost medium bodied smoke. There’s a really good sweetness on the lips that goes quite well with a rich, dark roasted nut and honey flavor coming through. It seems there’s a herbal, or maybe vegetable quality in there somewhere, as well as a bit of woodiness. It seems, to me, a complex smoke.
The burn is sharp with a mottled light and dark gray ash forming that holds strong until tapped off. I find the draw to be perfect with the mild to medium bodied smoke flowing freely. There’s a really good sweetness to the smoke that I’m liking with flavors continuing to be quite rich. The finish is very good, lasting on the palate well.
Heading into the last half, the spice actually picks up a notch and the smoke itself turns to a good medium body. The sweetness continues along with very rich, delicious flavors that compliment well the fresh brewed cup of coffee I’m sipping on. I’m detecting what seems to be dark cocoa in the excellent, lasting finish.
This was a perfect morning smoke with excellent burn, perfect draw, rich flavors, and lasting finish. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you Stephen for the opportunity to smoke such a fine cigar.
