I was lucky to get my hands on a few of these. I never had the chance to smoke a small batch #1 or #2 so I was looking forward to this stick. I believe the filler and binder are both from the 2004 crop.
Cigar Size: 6.5 X 54,
Wrapper: Sumatra Seed grown in the Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
The Sumartra wrapper was nice and dark with some reddish hue to it. There was a nice oily sheen to the stick. The cigar was firm in hand with no soft spots. I gave it a v-cut and the pre-light draw was spot on. Picked up some hay and something like a plum taste on the pre-light draw(my palate is isn't very refined).
I put fire to it and it and took my first puff. It produces ample amounts of smoke that had a touch of pepper and a woody taste. When I exhaled through the nose it seemed alot more powerful. My experience was it was medium body and medium to full strength but when I exhaled through the nose it was very powerful.
Into the 2nd third I picked up a touch more of a peppery taste and it became more meaty. The burn was fantastic with a light to medium grey ash that held well. The oil sheen on the stick was even more pronounced at this point.
The last 3rd of the cigar the peppery spice really started to kick in and it became full strength. I was also picking up a citrus type of flavor that was pleasant. The last 3rd of this cigar the oils on the wrapper increased even more.
Final thoughts. It was a excellent to outstanding stick. I have never tried the small batch 1 or 2 so I have nothing to compare it with. At a MSRP of $16 a stick it is pricey. With that being said it was one of the better cigars in that price range. I will visit this cigar again next year.
Cigar Size: 6.5 X 54,
Wrapper: Sumatra Seed grown in the Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
The Sumartra wrapper was nice and dark with some reddish hue to it. There was a nice oily sheen to the stick. The cigar was firm in hand with no soft spots. I gave it a v-cut and the pre-light draw was spot on. Picked up some hay and something like a plum taste on the pre-light draw(my palate is isn't very refined).
I put fire to it and it and took my first puff. It produces ample amounts of smoke that had a touch of pepper and a woody taste. When I exhaled through the nose it seemed alot more powerful. My experience was it was medium body and medium to full strength but when I exhaled through the nose it was very powerful.
Into the 2nd third I picked up a touch more of a peppery taste and it became more meaty. The burn was fantastic with a light to medium grey ash that held well. The oil sheen on the stick was even more pronounced at this point.
The last 3rd of the cigar the peppery spice really started to kick in and it became full strength. I was also picking up a citrus type of flavor that was pleasant. The last 3rd of this cigar the oils on the wrapper increased even more.
Final thoughts. It was a excellent to outstanding stick. I have never tried the small batch 1 or 2 so I have nothing to compare it with. At a MSRP of $16 a stick it is pricey. With that being said it was one of the better cigars in that price range. I will visit this cigar again next year.
