Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Dominican Criollo ’98, Nicaraguan Medio Tiempo, Estelí
Size: 6 x 52 Belicoso
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $20.00
My cigars received 5 months of naked humidor time.
The cigars have 15 months of box aging at this writing.
Limited release of only 500 Boxes of 10 Cigars.
Factory: El Titan de Bronze
Released December 2022.
The original 2015 La Rosa 520 was a Nic puro.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Anytime you throw the word ‘rare’ into the name…twice, you’re asking for it. We’re all asking for it.
I was sitting on the toilet reading my CI monthly catalog that comes weekly and I thought that the esteemed online cigar retailer treats the cigar smoking public like idiots. Or could it be that from this day to the ending of the world, we few, we happy few, are a band of idiots? Chicken or the egg theory.
The cigar screams for air. I circumcise the bastard. A sigh of relief from my PerfecDraw…it thought it might need to work on the sabbath.
This is a nice-looking cigar. Tap your right hoof once if you agree.
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Moans of salted caramel, pretzel logic, Irish soda bread, black pepper, slight creaminess, and rich honey butter. Nice.
The burn is stupendous. Razor wire sharp. Another adventure smoking a cigar that is a double sawbuck. This shit is just nuts and there is no end in sight. If My Father and Tatuaje can charge $60 for a single cigar, what’s next…A $30 Quorum? Specially aged for 13 weeks?
I tend to sound off too much. But aren’t you with me on this one? How does the avid cigar smoker on a budget get by. At one time, a special treat cost $13. Now it’s double or triple that.
I have specific expectations from a $20 cigar. So far, this Rare of Rare of Rare is doing well under the microscope. Too many rares? An expensive cigar must be compared to its equals. A Padron, a Casdagli, an OpusX, a Byron, a Zino, or a Cohiba Behike 56.
Despite the chocolate influence, this is mostly a savory blend…which is OK. The near year and a half of box aging is serving this delicacy well. Very rich. Complex notes are in line taking names. The finish is the star. I’m lapping and licking my lips to soak up the gravy of the cigar’s aftertaste like a chimp on a cupcake.
A good cigar should take you to a place you’ve never been…like a rich white man’s private club where brandy is in a snifter and a man named Jeeves stands at the ready. The Rare of Rare has me talking like Thurston Howell III as I declare that a fly is in my ashtray. What?
‘Incense and Peppermints.’ Strawberry Alarm Clock. 1967. I had a friend in that band who played bass. The band had two bassists. Turned out that the original bass player couldn’t play his way out of a hat so they added a good player, my friend. But they didn’t want to fire the old one. Two bass players.
The burn gets a bit wonky. Humidification error.
Strength started at medium but at only 1” burned, we are bordering on full tilt. Uh oh.
The Rare of Rare is knocking it home. Supremely fucking rich. Super duper complex. How’s that for technical cigar jargon?
A great cigar from Renier Lorenzo.
Take another gander at the leaf stats. I’ll wait. Does this tick off all the boxes or what? Add El Titan de Bronze and you can’t make this shit up.
The $60 My Father La Union wishes it was this good. Bam.
Even HW came out of its den, with flaps down, and gave this cigar an all-time high rating of 88. You go, boys.
With only 5,000 cigars released in December 2022, I have no idea why these cigars are still available. And the cigar goes out. I gotta stop talking while I write.
This is what happens when you don’t prepare. One goes on and on contemporaneously. If I think it, I type it. Bad habit. This is why 99% of smokers immediately scroll to the rating and book. Which by all accounts gives me license to write whatever I please since no one is listening.
I crawl from the wreckage at the halfway point. Well over an hour. The cigar is so beautifully constructed that it defies you fucking it up. This is a manly cigar. If you are a manly woman, it’s good for you too. I’ve known manly women. I liked them. And they liked me.
Flavors: Salted caramel, scoche of clotted cream, German pretzel, raisins, espresso, dark chocolate, charred oak, black strap molasses, black pepper, black licorice, black walnuts (that’s a lot of black), and Italian herbs. I believe the flavor wheel is exhausted.
The first cigar of the day is a Wonka golden ticket. The palate is uncrispified. There’s no going back.
A BJ Story. I dated a girl, briefly, who refused. That’s it. End of story.
1966. My band played at an exclusive party in the Bixby Knolls part of Long Beach. It was a freak out. Blacklights and disco balls. Lots of acid. I used my new Vox Fuzz Tone for my bass. I saved it for the 12-minute jam in the middle of ‘Gloria.’ An inopportune time to find out you have epilepsy when a strobe light is blasting away. Drooling white-eyeballed kids laying on the dance floor. Everyone kept dancing.
There is so much I don’t know about cigars. What am I doing here. Saving up for my retirement like every other reviewer.
Oh man, this is a sophisticated smoke. But the strength is bordering on Oppenheimer. I’m over under sideways down. I can see for miles and miles (mono version). Yeah, the power of this cigar is like staring at the Grand Canyon at sunset while frying on blotter, but it is a controlled burn of the synapses. No nicotine…just incredible authority.
Flavors are canonized. In a good way. I love a good balance of sweet v. savory. But when a strictly savory blend comes your way, and it’s done right, wow…
This might be my all-time favorite cigar from HVC. No shit. Worth every fucking shekel of its $20 price tag ($18.00 with promo code).
Grape juice. This came out of nowhere. The last third is a mind blower. Hogwart heaven.
I’m going to kick back, take it all in, and finish the cigar in silence. Makes me happy to find a gem for you. Take it serious, boys.
You can purchase this diminishing limited edition, with over 15 months of box time, from sponsor Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code ‘katman’).
RATING: 97
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by the Katman 
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