Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Viso

Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina

Filler: Cuban Seed Nicaraguan, Honduran

Size: 5.5 x 52

Body: Medium

Price: $14.35

NOTE: April 18, 2013: Amendment; I decided to treat myself with this last stick. The entire first third is a Garcia-like pepper blast. No flavors whatsoever. The burn becomes erratic from the start and flowers. A $14 stick should have perfect construction. The cigar turns from flowering to canoeing.  I’m at the halfway point and all I taste is pepper. I should add that incorrect humidity can cause burn issues. But I dedicate my good cigars to one special humidor that I get perfect 70% humidity…on the button. I get a new taste beside pepper and it is salt. Never again. These cigars are nothing more than the success a of fantastic PR machine.

FLOWERING

CANOEING

It has been raining hard all night. It is still raining. My morning light is shot. But I need to smoke this cigar. My first. The Liga Privada UF-13. The tobaccos come from seven different farms. The sticks are rolled in very small batches by only three pairs of torecedores. The cigar is also referred to as UF-13 Dark. It is the ninth blend in the Unicos line. All within the line virtually impossible to get your hands on unless you know someone.

The UF-13 Dark starts out just as its name suggests, with an extremely dark wrapper. The wrapper is a crazy dark brown, almost black. In fact, it’s pretty much black in some areas surrounding the webbing of the tobacco. The wrapper feels very, very solid as the toothy texture gets pressed between my fingers. The wrapper gives off a nice shine from the subtle oils covering the cigar. The thick body leads up to a round, “Pig Tail” cap. Essentially it’s a triple twisted pig tail similar to the one of the Dirty Rat, only it’s coiled a few times at the foot of the tail before flaring out.

The stick is as solid as dynamite with a very thick wrapper. It is so dense, that I am concerned about its draw. No one wants to spend this kind of dough on a stick and then suck on it like a flattened drinking straw. There is no shortage of tobacco inside this cigar. And a beautifully done double cap.

I know my camera won’t pick it up, but the wrapper virtually drips oil. In the right light, it shines like a new ’57 black Chevy. The seams are invisible. The veins almost nonexistent. Some tooth.

I sniff away and detect spice and cedar..and at the foot, a very intense tobacco and spice aroma. There is dried fruit sweetness like prune.

I hate to snip the pigtail but I carefully use a guillotine cutter and snip the perfect yarmulke cut without removing any tobacco, just the wrapper.

I sit at the dining room table with a large window in front of me. The rain is so dense that there are sheets of water plummeting down the glass and it is impossible to see outside. Perfect photography weather. Oy.

I light ‘er up…

I am immediately hit with a bevy of incredible flavors. Cocoa upfront, then coffee, wood, deep treacly sweetness, some wood, and a tad bit of spiciness. I can taste the dried fruit. And it is more a raisin than a prune. Wouldn’t it be great if someone invented a really good cigar with laxative qualities for old smokers like me? The Liga Pruno Poop-13.

A thick earthiness envelops the cigar’s profile. The stick is a classic medium body. The char line is friggin’ perfect. And I should not have worried about the draw, it too is perfect. The ash doesn’t last past the first half inch.

There is a slight saltiness in the background accompanied by a meaty flavor. Smoke begins to spew. The char line begins to waver and I am at the 1” mark.

So far, this is an excellent cigar. Is it worth $14? Dunno. We’ll see.

I really expected a spice bomb when I lit up. I’m kind of disappointed that the spice is way in the background. To be honest, the flavor profile is delicious with or without the spiciness that I dearly love. I’ve had this cigar for a month. It should be a sufficient amount of time for me to receive the blender’s intent. Which I believe I have already received. I project that the cigar will gain strength, gain an intensity to the flavors and that’s it. No magic genie. I am very suspect of mysterious cigars that cost a lot of money which puts it out of the hands of Every Man. It’s an elitist attitude. The tobaccos are rare, blah, blah, blah…yeah; I’ve heard it all before. So far, this is a good $8-$9 stick.

I assume that by the first half point, I shall taste some creaminess; as of the first third, there is none.

The double cap comes off completely in my mouth. Bad torcedor. No treats for you.

I am intrigued by the dried fruit component. It seems to change regularly. I taste nuttiness in conjunction with the cocoa. The coffee is gone. The sweetness is a perfect complement. And I finish the first third.

The char line continues to waver. What happened to that early perfection? Fortunately, it’s not so bad that I need to correct it.

I read a review where the reviewer said he could see the oils burning off. ?? I stare at where the cigar meets the cherry. And I stare. And I stare some more. I’m going to have to try reviewing stoned just once. The char line is trying to correct itself. It knows I am disappointed in it and it is trying to make amends.

The missing cap has made a mess of things and I trim it with some scissors. All is well now. The strength is still at the medium level.

I close in on the halfway point and the flavors are muted. No spice whatsoever. And the only flavors I taste are the cocoa, sweetness, dried fruit, and earthiness. The stick is not well balanced. The flavors come and go as the stick burns down. I have no idea what to expect with each puff. I mean, it’s OK. But I expected more. Maybe the last third will surprise me.

There is a cult of DE fans out there. Moonies. Mr. Drew can do no wrong. It creeps me out. I see photos of him everywhere and Mr. Drew needs to stop shoving food in his mouth. He has gotten HUGE. I don’t usually mention someone’s body, but I was shocked seeing a current photo of him. Maybe it’s not food. Maybe it is something else. But he is too young to be that big. He probably has a personal chef that is stuffing him like Elvis.

Look, this is a good cigar. It does not deserve the bowing down of every cigar smoker on the planet. I’m glad I bought two of them. Could be they need 6 months of aging, not one. But generally speaking, reviewers don’t wait like I do to review. They get it and the next day they are writing. And they are raving about this cigar like it gives you a blow job.

I start the last third and the flavors are dissipating. I cannot believe this. This cigar is about as far away from being a flavor bomb as a Victor Sinclair cigar. The cocoa and sweetness are just barely there. No creaminess. And even that rich earthiness has tamped down. I am totally confused. Did I get the only lousy stick they made? I have one more and I will let it sit for several months and then re-visit this review for an update.

I was truly concerned when I read all the reviews I could last night about this cigar. I was afraid that I would get a terrible case of the nicotine spins and be laying on the floor calling for my mommy.

But this last third actually sees the strength going down. It is on the mild side of medium. And now the cigar, with 3” left, is just plain boring. This is why I don’t spend $14 on cigars. There is a virtual treasure chest of great cigars in the $7-$9 range out there. Even cheaper if you catch them on sale.

I’m going to finish the cigar for the sake of the review but if I wasn’t writing, I’d put it down and walk away. And then go have my Cheerios.

The voluminous smoke has disappeared. It barely spews any smoke. I have to really puff on it to produce smoke.

As the stick burns down, the flavors continue to disappear. I stop typing and stare out the window. The rain is coming down in torrents and really pelting the window. I had to take the dog out and I never saw her take a pee so fast in her life. LOL. This boxer is clearly not a water dog.

With 2” left, some creaminess arrives. It is just about the only flavor except for the distant cocoa.

At the same time as I bought the UF-13’s, I bought two Feral Pigs. I’ve never smoked this stick either. My expectations have been altered. And since there are a gazillion reviews out there for this stick, I see no hurry to review it so I will let it marinate for a couple of months. I want to give it a really fair chance to impress me.

The cigar ends with a whimper. I don’t know what to say. Is it me? Are the other reviewers under some sort of spell? Are the smokers who have tried this under a spell?

I just don’t get it.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS