Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Honduran Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan (Estelï & Jalapa), U.S.A. Pennsylvanian
Size: 6 x 46 Corona Gorda
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $12.00
I reviewed the new Wildfire The Wanderer yesterday and found it to be a very good cigar. I’ve only had both blends for a month but decided to review them as they are extremely limited productions. Figured it was better to get the blender’s intent while the cigar is still available for purchase than wait and review it after you can’t get them.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Despite the light-colored wrapper, the cigar is described as medium/full. I haven’t smoked one yet so I’m going in blind. I am publishing whether I like it or not.
Unless I go back to just reviewing catalog cigars, I can’t keep up with the limited production cigars on the market. I have dozens of new cigars that cannot be purchased any longer. I know other reviewers regularly review cigars in this category…after the cigars have left the building…I don’t find it as much fun reviewing something you can’t buy. Maybe I need psychotherapy. (I heard that).
Starting on a joyful note this morning by playing Trombone Shorty.
The cigar is noticeably light. Once the cap is clipped, I have a wide-open draw. No need for my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for the review. I hope the cigar does not burn like an out-of-control cigarette.
A blast of surprising flavors…vanilla custard, chocolate pudding, creaminess, an assortment of baking spices, lemon crème, black pepper, a vinegar-based vinaigrette, and cotton candy.
Not bad…
Strength hits medium/full with extreme prejudice.
Complexity jumps in with both feet. The transitions waste no time in providing a traveling medicine show. The finish is redolent of lemon crème, black pepper, espresso, dark chocolate, pumpkin pie spices, and a slathering of creaminess.
There are no subtleties or nuances. Flavors are bold without any hesitancy or shame.
A striking cigar blend. A unique flavor profile.
But the cigar is burning quickly. One inch in 7 minutes. Still, construction favors a sharp char line.
The lemon crème, creaminess, and baking spices are just killer combos.
I don’t remember tasting anything like this cigar blend…ever. My expectations were completely incorrect. The choice of leaves from disparate countries is brilliant.
Plus, I prefer the Ecuadorian Connie wrapper to the U.S. Connie. The Ecuadorian has more spatial awareness and sweetness…not as bland as this country’s version.
I’m 2” in and my gut tells me the flavor profile is canonized. Although, I hope there are surprises waiting for me in the second half.
The strength is a shy medium/full. If the blend were not so smooth and creamy, the strength might be more noticeable.
Growing up with musicians, playing the trombone was always a source of ridicule and laughter. No idea why. Must have come from the brains of other horn players. A lot of bone players later became bass players. That is a fact, Jack.
The flavor bomb portion makes an unexpected right turn and settles into an intense complexity that shows up for the first time. The transitions are a spinning wheel of soft nuances. Smoothness is enhanced. This is the first sweet spot. It’s smack my lips time from the exceptional intensity of the blend. Wow. This is cigar is a trip. (Use your Hippie Dictionary if you must).
The burn slows down.
Banana cream pie comes out of nowhere. Add the still alive and well lemon crème and this cigar is a great dessert cigar.
The savory components come from a baseline of nicely aged tobacco and therefore creates the balance I enjoy. A cigar does not need to have meaty things attacking the palate to be savory. Sometimes, it is just inherent because the multi country tobacco choices are masterful. A passionate blend.
I genuinely enjoyed The Wanderer that I reviewed yesterday…but The Intro hits my G spot. Which means absolutely nothing as none of our palates are the same. But it does say to me that Wildfire Cigars is an up and comer.
The halfway point presents the big, sweet spot for which I had hoped. The blend and flavor profile goes bat shit crazy on my palate. Holy crap.
If this cigar were any more delicious, my head would explode like 1980’s CGI.
It took nearly 30 minutes to get to the halfway point. I respect that.
Strength is medium/full but the only way I know that is my vision is a little blurry. The dichotomy of strength and smoothness work in tandem that I find rare in most cigar blends.
Sips of water enlarge my naughty bits like a balloon. The enormous flavor profile must go somewhere.
Now the flavors are truly canonized. What a wonderful and inventive cigar blend. I tip my yarmulke to Wildfire.
The Intro hits the point in time where all I want to do is kick back in my office chair and listen to music. Distractions are told there is nothing to see here…move along.
Here is the kicker…the cigar has only had one month of naked humi time. Lawdy.
The cigar has everything going for it…flavor bomb qualities, complexity, intensity, smoothness, subtleties, nuances, and pure depth. What else is there?
Sips of water expand The Intro’s character and psychedelia like the ending visuals of the 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
HAL 9000: “Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.”
I am sitting down. I am ultra calm. I take a stress pill. And I’m done thinking things over.
This is the smoothest medium/full blend I’ve smoked. It is like lying on a 500K thread count Egyptian sheet and being covered by a ferret fur bedspread.
The final race time is 55 minutes.
This is a super limited production of only 700 boxes of 10 cigars.
Lately, I’ve smoked or reviewed cigars in the $20, $30, or $40 range and this $12 cigar blend shames most of them.
Run, don’t walk, to Small Batch Cigar and snag a fiver or box. Use promo code ‘katman’ for 10% off.
RATING: 96
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by the Katman 
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