The Evil Dr. Moki’s Blind THANK YOU Test

[sinnyc]

"""Buncha mean stuff""" :whistling:

I am happy to get an "un-dogifed" smoke out to you for review. Or if you prefer, we will let your review stand as is and I will reveal cigar #8's info this evening when I get home from work. Let me know.

- Tim

Yeah, but being able to actually taste the cigar, by having a decent draw, would help too!

Might as well let it stand... I leave on Monday for two weeks (I'll be doing a few events at the World Series of Poker), so I won't be around to receive any replacement cigar anyway.

I hope you're happy, ya big meany.

Heheheh will do. Tell you what Andrew - when you get back from the utter and total insanity that the WSOP has become (and I hope you kick some serious ass out there), PM me and I'll get you a replacement stick or three

I'll post the results of #8 tonight.

- Tim

 

[moki]

Heheheh will do. Tell you what Andrew - when you get back from the utter and total insanity that the WSOP has become (and I hope you kick some serious ass out there), PM me and I'll get you a replacement stick or three

Don't forget, there's more than the Main Event... total of 54 events at the WSOP this year!

 

[insight]

So are you giving me my 1.50 piece of not? Time is money here!

 

[sinnyc]

Heheheh will do. Tell you what Andrew - when you get back from the utter and total insanity that the WSOP has become (and I hope you kick some serious ass out there), PM me and I'll get you a replacement stick or three

Don't forget, there's more than the Main Event... total of 54 events at the WSOP this year!

Exactly. It's so big now that they need a facility the size of an international airport terminal to host the damn thing.

 

[Strayvector]

Heheheh will do. Tell you what Andrew - when you get back from the utter and total insanity that the WSOP has become (and I hope you kick some serious ass out there), PM me and I'll get you a replacement stick or three

Don't forget, there's more than the Main Event... total of 54 events at the WSOP this year!

Just remember, my offer still stands. If you make it to a final table, give me a call and unless I'm at a customer location, I'll get down there and add to your cheering section.

 

[moki]

So are you giving me my 1.50 piece of not? Time is money here!

$1.50 doesn't even get a snuggle from me No action for you!

 

[sinnyc]

Cigar #: 8

ACTUAL CIGAR INFO:


Cabaiguan Guapo (Original style) - 2007

Moki's thoughts: Watch it here!

Origin: Andrew was off here, guessing the Dominican Republic when in fact these are from Nicaragua.

Marca: He vacillated between Davidoff and Avo and ultimately went with the latter, guessing it was an LE 05.

Age: Andrew guessed 3 or 4 years but noted at one point in the review that it might have been just the blend that was tricking him and that is indeed the case here. This cigar is only a year old.

Price: I don't think he guessed but this would likely end up in the upper end of the everyday range or the lower end of the premium range.

Rating: Andrew enjoyed what little he smoked of this cigar, rating it an 8.

I put this "tricky" one in as a bit of a paypack since he caught all 10 of us with the Cabaiguan WDC he placed in our test. We all thought that one was Cuban and I am still amazed that it wasn't or that I even liked in the first place since the Cabaiguans are generally a little "papery" to my palate. Not so, the WDC.

I was fairly certain Andrew was going to nail this before I even sent them out since I knew he was familiar with the line. During his review when he noted the thin, delicate wrapper I was sure he was going to get it. I had issues all winter as the radiator heat in my house bakes virtually all of the moisture out of the air and I had regular wrapper cracks and splits all winter, particularly with Pete's lines. That's not a knock against Tatuaje but rather the simple reality of the effects of living in 5% RH for a few months. Even keeping my smokes at 65% or below, they still get "stunned" by the sudden humidity drop and any cigars with delicate wrappers have a chance to cause trouble.

In any event, Moki did enjoy this cigar and gave it a high rating. Although he was correct in saying it was not a Cuban he did think it was one of a couple of (arguably) significantly more expensive cigars.




OK, onward!

 

[moki]

hey, I got the origin right... Non-Cuban! 8/8 baby!

If it wasn't chewed to hell, ya never know!!

 

[sinnyc]

hey, I got the origin right... Non-Cuban! 8/8 baby!

If it wasn't chewed to hell, ya never know!!

True on both counts! Yup, apparently the old "sucker him into thinking it's a Cuban" trick doesn't work as well with the Guapo as it does with the WDC, heheheh.

 

[moki]

True on both counts! Yup, apparently the old "sucker him into thinking it's a Cuban" trick doesn't work as well with the Guapo as it does with the WDC, heheheh.

Just wasn't feelin' it. Time to hit the yardwork... I should be able to polish off #9 & #10 today!

EDIT: postponed due to rain... maybe tomorrow, or possibly later on tonight.

 

[moki]

No video reviews... was working outside today... these will be quick, because I have to finish up work outside before it gets dark.

.....

Cigar #9 review

Tasting Notes: Nice cigar... double corona-ish in size, with some tell-tale dark oil wiggles seeping though the wrapper. Lit it up, very much enjoyed this cigar, though it's a bit younger than I'd like.

Slight spice, little hints of cherry, and a fantastic finish. This is either an easy one for me to guess, or it's a tricksy one that I'm going to completely blow. Tastes like Chateau d' Fuente to me...

Age: 2 years
Origin: Dominican
Price: Premium
Marca: Fuente Fuente Opus X Double Corona
Rating: 8/10

.....

Cigar #10 review

Tasting Notes: Nice light claro wrapper... at first the wrapper looked very aged to me, then in looking closer, it seemed to me it was a CT shade wrapper. This cigar started off bitter, had hints of very nice flavors, and a nice aftertaste in the mouth, but did not deliver overall.

Perhaps more age will help. I think this is one of Pete's... and a young one that needs more age (or it's just an off specimen). I call it a Cabaiguan.

Age: 1 year
Origin: Nicaraguan
Price: Everyday/Premium
Marca: Cabaiguan Imperiales
Rating: 6/10

 

[sinnyc]

Cigar #: 9 Hoyo De Monterrey Double Corona - 1998

Moki's thoughts:

Tasting Notes: Nice cigar... double corona-ish in size, with some tell-tale dark oil wiggles seeping though the wrapper. Lit it up, very much enjoyed this cigar, though it's a bit younger than I'd like.

Slight spice, little hints of cherry, and a fantastic finish. This is either an easy one for me to guess, or it's a tricksy one that I'm going to completely blow. Tastes like Chateau d' Fuente to me...

Age: 2 years
Origin: Dominican
Price: Premium
Marca: Fuente Fuente Opus X Double Corona
Rating: 8/10

Origin: Andrew felt this Cuban cigar was from the D.R. and thus his perfect Cuban/non-Cuban streak came to an end here.

Marca: Andrew incorrectly guessed that this was a Fuente Opus. I must admit I am jealous as I have never tasted a Cuban that put me in mind of the high end Fuentes.

Age: Andrew guessed 2 years, in fact it is 10 years old.

Price: Andrew was correct in rating this a premium.

Rating: This stick received an 8 which is one of the highest scores of the test. Glad you enjoyed it!

I must admit that I am puzzled by this one as this was certainly not a cigar that I thought would give him any trouble at all and yet he blew this one across the board. I basically included this one as another "standard" aged Cuban. I am really intrigued by his experience. Andrew, do you have any more tasting notes on this? I am curious enough that I am going to go back to my source and see if more are available as I would like to try one now too


Cigar #: 10 Jamaican Dunhill Macanudo – 1970's

Moki's thoughts:

Cigar #10 review

Tasting Notes: Nice light claro wrapper... at first the wrapper looked very aged to me, then in looking closer, it seemed to me it was a CT shade wrapper. This cigar started off bitter, had hints of very nice flavors, and a nice aftertaste in the mouth, but did not deliver overall.

Perhaps more age will help. I think this is one of Pete's... and a young one that needs more age (or it's just an off specimen). I call it a Cabaiguan.

Age: 1 year
Origin: Nicaraguan
Price: Everyday/Premium
Marca: Cabaiguan Imperiales
Rating: 6/10

Origin: Andrew was incorrect here, guessing that this Jamaican produced cigar was Nicaraguan

Marca: Dunhill Macanudo

Age: Way, way off. Moki guessed 1 year when in fact this cigar is 30 or more years old.

Price: Moki felt that this was an everyday/premium cigar and I would really say that the price is unknown/premium

Rating: 6

This was the ringer of the bunch and the one I was most interested in. Bfreebern donated this one and I expect he may have some more info because I don't have much myself although I'll relate my own observations.

The cello was yellowed, verging on gold/bronze and was somewhat brittle. This cigar has a simple red band with a gold border containing some typical embossed dots. The central circular emblem of the band is just an empty white dot. Printed on the red field surrounding the dot is Macanudo across the top and Jamaica below while each side of the band it says Dunhill. I tried getting some photos but my camera is junk. I still have the band so I'll see what I can do about getting a good closeup with someone else's gear.

As Andrew initially observed, the cigar looked quite aged but he second guessed himself and decided that it was a young stick masquerading as an older one. I detected faded tobacco and some subtle herbal notes when I smelled it before packaging it up for shipment. Judging from Andrew's review this cigar may have been past its prime which is too bad. Still, very interesting to see his response.

 

[sinnyc]

Moki's THANK YOU Blind Test​

Overall Results
​

High Score: 8
Low Score: 2
Average score: 6.5

Correct (or close enough)age guesses: 5 of 10
Correct country of origin guesses: 7 of 10
Correct Cuban vs non-Cuban guesses: 9 of 10
Completely correct guesses: 1 of 10
***And since Andrew also correctly guessed the Litto Small Batch #2 missing only the age, I have am amending his score for full-tilt correct guesses to: 2 of 10.

Interesting facts:
- Andrew rated four cigars as an 8 and 3 of those were Cuban.
- Andrew's lowest rated cigar was a C.A. rated top 10 of 2007.
- Looking at his overall results, he would have ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack in the taste test he administered to us.
- Lastly, I would say that Andrew proved his own arguments about taste being subjective. Not that I expected anything different but he praised some cigars I dislike, panned some I do like and, just like the rest of us, gave his purely personal reasons as to why. All this does is get us back to what many have been saying all along:

TASTE IS SUBJECTIVE SO LIKE WHAT YOU SMOKE AND SMOKE WHAT YOU LIKE.


Here is a list of all of the contributors. Please note that not everyone in the test was involved as some had already made previous thank you arrangements with Dr. Moki by the time we all got off our lazy asses and got this thing together.

Cigar #1 - Sinnyc – 2007 Illusione cg:4
Cigar #2 - B.B.S. – 2002 Bolivar Royal Corona
Cigar #3 - Tone-NY – 2003 Punch Ninfa
Cigar #4 - Brickhouse – 2007 Litto Gomez Small Batch #2
Cigar #5 - sinnyc – 2000 Quintero Panatela (Machine rolled, in cello)
Cigar #6 - Enerjay – 2007 Avo LE 07
Cigar #7 - Insight – 2006 H. Upmann Magnum 46
Cigar #8 - sinnyc – 2007 Cabaiguan Guapo (original vitola, apparently dog-friendly)
Cigar #9 - sinnyc – 1998 Hoyo De Monterrey Double Corona
Cigar #10 - Bfreebern – 1970's Jamaican Dunhill Macanudo


Andrew, thanks for being a good sport and accepting our "thank you with strings attached" with such good grace. And I know I speak for all of us when I again say "Thank you" for taking the time to organize and run the test that we all took. After doing this for just one person, I can imagine how much time you put into it for all 10 of us. I hope you continue to offer these tests as your time allows because they really are a ton of fun both to particpate in and to read. And you sure as hell learn a lot about your own preconceptions, prejudices, and preferences - I know I did.


- Tim

 

[Infinity]

Excellent job Tim!

Yes Andrew certainly put in a lot of work for several guys but to your credit, you made this a very interesting thread with your commentary and comments.

I thoroughly enjoyed the thread, all credit to you for the format.

Brian

 

[br174]

Excellent job on everyones part :thumbs: . Enjoyed it, I hope one day to be involved in a taste test like this.

Brian

 

[Brickhouse]

Great stuff, thanks for playing Andrew

 

[insight]

Andrew: You are rigged (and a communist). Good work!

 

[moki]

ERM.., I only got 1 wrong in terms of Cuban vs non-Cuban... So it should be 9/10

 

[lordlister]

Thanks to both Tim and Andrew for the wonderful read. The results are somewhat surprising, IMO, given the quality of the cigars in the lineup. The same was true for the origional blind test. I guess we're all really quite impressionable. Anticipation must add quite a bit to our perception of what we smoke.

Job well done :thumbs:

 

[moki]

- Looking at his overall results, he would have ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack in the taste test he administered to us.

hrm... I'll have to go back and look to see if anyone in my taste test got 9/10 right in terms of Cuban vs. non-Cuban, and 7/10 right in terms of country of origin. I don't think so, but I could be wrong. EDIT... I was curious, so I totaled 'em up:

bfreebern -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 6/10 -- Country of Origin: 3/10
BlindedByScience -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 3/10 -- Country of Origin: 3/10
Brickhouse -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 8/10 -- Country of Origin: 8/10
enerjay -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 7/10 -- Country of Origin: 3/10
grateful1 -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 9/10 -- Country of Origin: 6/10
Insight -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 6/10 -- Country of Origin: 6/10
NorCalCigarLover -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 7/10 -- Country of Origin: 3/10
sinnyc -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 8/10 -- Country of Origin: 5/10
Smokyballs -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 9/10 -- Country of Origin: 7/10
tone-ny -- Cuban/non-Cuban: 5/10 -- Country of Origin: 5/10

Looks like I'm at the top of the pack, tied with Smokyballs (though using different cigars of course)... though Brickhouse kicked my ass in terms of nailing exactly what the cigar was (even if he missed 1 more than I did in terms of Cuban vs. non-Cuban).

I'm ashamed I guessed Opus X for the Hoyo... the wrapper just looked very Opus-ish to me, with the squiggly blackish oils seeping through, something you see on Opus X cigars very often... and that took me down a very bad train of thought. I've smoked so many Opus X cigars, it's just lame that I got this one wrong!

That 1970's Jamaican cigar... christ... if that's what it tastes like with 30+ years of age on it, I'd probably vomit tasting a fresh one!

Thanks to everyone who contributed the cigars, and it was fun doing the blind taste test. I'd be happy to do another one where I sit down and contemplate the cigars rather than chomp on 'em whilst cutting the lawn... but I'm not sure I'd do any better!