Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Binder: 10-year Costa Rican Pelo de Oro
Filler: 22-year-old Honduran Habano ‘98 Copan Ruinas
Size: 5 x 54
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $40
Only 7500 cigars were released 2 years ago last month. They aren’t cheap. And they did not sell out. That, my friends, is an omen. But the reviews I’ve found were written in 2021. The cigar I have today has had two years of humidor time. It might make a difference. And they are still available…so, who knows.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Very few written reviews and just a small handful of YouTubers reviewed this cigar. 2020 was the 30th anniversary so the 22-year-old Honduran tobacco was harvested in 1998…but released in April of 2021.
By all accounts, this should be a sweet cigar by now. Or not.
The cigar is solid and heavy in the hand. Like holding a carrot with Peyronies Disease.
I’ve been on a winning streak lately with cigars whose draw is not obstructed by detritus and swamp grass. No need for my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for this cigar.
Amazon Music is my muse as usual. Maria Muldaur. “Midnight at the Oasis.” 1973. It must be a live recording because her vocals suck. Man, she can’t hit a single note in key. I loved that song but this is like pulling fingernails. My ears hurt.
The cigar smells like a candy bar…milk chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, spicy cinnamon, malt, and creamy vanilla.
Pretty good start. A smash up of flavors: creaminess galore, milk chocolate, café au lait, cinnamon, sourdough toast, mixed nuts, black pepper, malt, cedar, and aged tobacco.
Oh good. The Cowsills. I’ve blocked my memory of that band for 50 years. Did they ever know how embarrassing they were as artists? I assume 11-year-old girls loved them.
Strength is mild/medium.
Some depth of character is immediately present.
I read the Halfwheel review from November 2021. I believe all the problems the reviewer encountered were solved by the two years that this cigar has laid dormant in cigar stores’ humidors.
Sometimes, a cigar just pleads to be left alone for extended periods. And yes, maybe a helpful hint from the manufacturer would be in order. But this will never happen as a great majority of cigar buyers smoke their sticks too soon and being told to wait two years will just dive bomb sales. Go figure.
The complaint that the cigar was underfilled and squishy is not the case here. The cigar is solid and a slow burner. It takes 10 minutes to burn half an inch.
This could be good news for cigar smokers with the kind of cash needed to buy a couple of these cigars. The humidor time was bestowed upon you at no charge. And I believe my rating will be higher than an 88.
The flavor profile is much wider than was reported two years ago.
Peanut butter and blackberry jelly knock on my brain only to find nobody home. Still, a pleasant surprise.
Transitions are not in play…but I feel them scratching at the door. The finish is creamy, spicy, and sweet.
I swear that the char line keeps growing back.
The peanut butter is entertaining, but I accept the fact that it will be a fleeting factor I have only burned 1” in 20 minutes.
Into Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine. The Amazon Music Channel I picked is playing my teen years. Before Jefferson Airplane, it was The Great Society. Plenty of the same songs but done in much different styles and not slick at all. (Sorry for the pun). The first time I got stoned was listening to this album in my bedroom at home. It was 1966 and I was 16. I remember coming downstairs very wobbly and heading for the kitchen. My parents were in the den below my bedroom and my mom asked what that smell was…I told her it was incense and she just nodded. Bringing back every bag of junk food to my room gave no hint of what I was up to.
I get it now. The channel is playing nothing but live versions from 60’s artists half a century ago.
The cigar changes pace. Transitions kick into gear. The depth intensifies. We now have serious complexity. The char line is razor sharp. Still a slow mover.
As the cigar moves into a sophisticated lane, the flavors lessen in concentration. They clog my palate and exact flavor points are less distinguishable. The density of the blend, and those extremely aged tobaccos, take the wheel. The cigar develops its own uniqueness. A good thing.
Construction is the immaculate conception. The absence of the cigar as it burns seems to be non-existent. It’s like a funky magic trick. I’m now half an hour into the cigar and I still have 4” to go. What evil is this?
Sips of water and flavors pop and leave my palate unplugged. Fast moving transitions of black pepper, cinnamon, creamy vanilla ice cream, café au lait, lots of maltiness, peanut butter, blackberries, cedar, and gorgeous aged leaves.
The cigar goes from very good to great in the time it takes to change out my Depends.
The ash refuses to extricate itself from the cigar. I cover my naughty bits just in case.
From my perspective, the extended use of aged tobaccos should have made this a brilliant cigar after a few months of naked humidor time. Apparently, it did not meet that criterion. Hence, few reviews. And those that did critique it felt it was not worth the price.
So, some part of the 7500 cigars released two years ago are still on the market.
I try to tap the ash off so it doesn’t decide to pull the rip cord right over my elongated nutsack. I gently urge the ash to disembark in the ashtray and it complies.
The long burn is on the side of the flavor profile for this cigar. Strength is upped to a potent medium. The blend becomes ultra smooth. I guarantee that soon the strength will be a newbie killer. At 1-1/2” burned, this blend becomes a dream.
The cigar is kicking ass and taking names. Holy shit. Like a light switch flipped on.
My hair is being blown back like an old Maxell commercial.
My last post, “A Most Probable Waste of Everyone’s Time” will certainly irritate every reviewer on the planet…except for a few. I don’t give a shit. Certain perks come with staying alive as long as I have. And for those reviewers much younger than me…just watch…I need more than two hands of fingers to count the number of friends that croaked in their 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s. I will be 74 on my next birthday. Unless you’ve been here, you have no idea. None. When you are young, you’re not capable of understanding what extended life experience feels like. I earned the right, the hard way, to say what I please. I started reviewing when I was 60. And I’ve written nearly every week for over 13 years. Every reviewer hates me. Ha. I love it.
OK. Enough of that old man speak…the cigar is just cruising at 30,000 feet and I feel the strength, but I do not succumb.
It is now full tilt. And I haven’t collapsed into a heap.
I just snagged a new sponsor. I will reveal it as soon as they fill my PayPal account with a bag full of shekels.
Also, Luxury Cigar Club has come home to roost once again. Glad to have them.
The aged tobacco is now center stage and performs like the smooth ride of a Bentley.
One time, when I was in Curved Air, our manager sent a Bentley to pick us up at Heathrow Airport. The windows were tinted so no one could see inside. We brought the windows down so we could stick our heads out of the window like your pet dog. We wanted everyone to know it was us. We were young and dumb.
Yeah, the cigar is worth $40. Let it sleep a while before smoking. This is a real treat. A couple sticks won’t break the bank and you can tell your wife you donated to a cigar charity. She will still beat you within an inch of your life, but you still have the cigars to enjoy when you heal.
With more than 2-1/2” to go, the cigar becomes a Mossad assassin. The depth of the complexity is overwhelming. My head is spinning. It’s been a very lovely hour of smoke time.
“Till There Was You.” Peggy Lee. I like it better than The Beatles’ version. For me, that says a lot. In the 60’s, The Beatles were godhead.
I apologize for the length of this review but it has been nirvana without Kurt Cobain. I will stop typing and just kick back. Be back to wrap it up soon.
Milk chocolate swoops in on the back of gooey caramel.
The iconic K.D. Lang is playing. What a voice. I never understood why she performed in bare feet. There is a ton of shit on every stage floor that can rip a tear in your footsies.
I’ve blathered long enough. An outstanding cigar filled with an intense passion for blending.
A wonderful 2-hour smoke.
If you can afford it, treat yourself.
My sponsor, Small Batch Cigar, has them for sale in packs of two or the $1000 ceramic jar of 25. Promo code ‘katman’ gets you 10% off.
RATING: 95
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by the Katman 
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