Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown Habano
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5 x 54
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00
Today we take a look at the Black Label Trading Company Salvation.
This is a boutique brand that started in 2013. I won’t go into the backstory as I am about the last person to get around to reviewing this cigar. So here goes…
It is a good looking cigar although its stature is mostly hidden behind a giant main cigar band and a footer band.
It is a very oily coffee bean wrapper with visible seams and a normal amount of veins. The triple cap is pretty cool looking. Each one perfectly horizontal. There is a silky smoothness to the wrapper. Very little tooth. The cigar is perfectly round making the foot a work of art. And this baby is jam packed.
I clip the cap and find aromas of freshly mown grass. There is a mint julep aroma that is intoxicating. There is also delicious smelling milk chocolate; like a big milk shake. And lastly, a big dose of leather.
Time to light up.
Whoa. Nose hairs on fire! That’s a’ some a’spicy meat a’ ball!. I immediately break into a flop sweat. This is great. You can’t out spice me. The more the better. And I particularly love it when a cigar stays spicy throughout the entire smoke.
Caramel shows up and tips its hat. Then a bit of campground smokiness, milk chocolate, cedar, wood, and a nice generic sweetness.
BTW- I have allowed this cigar to humidor rest for about 5-6 weeks. And it’s hitting the mark.
The draw is fantastic producing a blinding white snowstorm of smoke.
As I puff away, I am not sure it is caramel. It might be butterscotch.
“Caramel is a beige-to-dark-brown confectionery product made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used: as a flavoring in puddings and desserts as a filling in bonbons as a topping for ice cream.”
“Butterscotch is a type of confectionery whose primary ingredients are brown sugar and butter, although other ingredients such as corn syrup, cream, vanilla, and salt are part of some recipes.”
As you can see, one is easily mistaken by the other.
Right away I have burn issues. I have to burn away one quarter of an inch to match where it wants to canoe. Tsk, tsk.
The woodiness is a big component. Creaminess appears and completes the trifecta of chocolate and butterscotch.
Flavor Bomb 1.0. The Black Label Trading Company Salvation ain’t fucking around.
I get a berry influence. Also generic at the moment. Either blueberry or blackberry. I hope it continues and I can delineate the two.
Now some roasted nuts and toast boost the flavor profile.
The butterscotch is replaced by caramel; heavy on the butter. And then some vanilla enters completing the baking process. Reminds me of those decadent buttery Madeleine cookies. I get them at Costco for Charlotte. Even though I don’t eat sugar, now and again, I break off a tiny piece just to get that heavy on the butter and vanilla taste in my mouth. And then I put the cookie back looking like a mouse took a bite.
The strength is medium body.
Funny thing. I measured the cigar at the start and it only got to 4-1/2” instead of 5”. That’s a big divot.
One thing I like about big ring cigars is their ongoing burning. You can put it down and pick it up 5 minutes later and it’s still going.
Clearly now, I realize that the couple weeks or so I gave the other BLTC cigars was insufficient because this cigar is Marvin the Friendly Whale. I feel bad. I should probably buy another sampler of all the blends and re-do the reviews. Only fair thing to do.
Very flavorful, but not complex yet.
Flavors: Creaminess, caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla, butter, toasty, nutty, blueberry, wood, and leather. Nice combo.
And a very interesting mix of leaf countries.
This packed cigar is going to take a long time to smoke so I stop writing.
The second third begins. I’ve invested 35 minutes in smoke time.
I’m on the clock. I have a doctor’s appointment in one hour and 40 minutes. Can he finish the review in time? This will be the analysis of how my spinal stimulator implant is doing. So I need to finish this review in one hour and 10 minutes. Hurry Katman, hurry.
I was going to review the Leaf by Oscar Maduro but it looked like a longer review time. And on top of that, I slept in a bit. I spent 4 hours staring at the ceiling worrying from 2:30-6:30am.
Flavor Bomb 2.0.
Godamm the Pusherman! This is a hot potato. Marilyn Monroe’s cleavage. And a roller coaster ride.
With 3” to go, it seems the char line has worked out its difficulties. A bit wavy but no corrections needed.
I changed things up a bit this month. I got a few shekels from some sponsors and took sorely needed social security dough to buy cigars for review. All singles. This time around, it won’t be all boutique brands. I went to Cigar.com and found some good looking new blends.
Being so broke, I can only buy singles. And I have to save them for review. And there is no money left for every day cigars to smoke. So my humidor for that purpose is dwindling quickly. I just can’t get over that I worked my ass of my entire career and here I am; 6 weeks away from my 65th birthday and I have bupkis in the bank. Losing my job in December 2008, the recession, wiped me out. No savings any longer. No 401k. It is despicable how older guys are treated in the work place. I was replaced by a 25 year old who would take $25000 instead of my six figure income. A person like that can spend my salary in one mistake. Commercial construction doesn’t suffer fools lightly and each mistake can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Go figure.
The cap is verblunget. I have to snip it off as it has completely come apart.
I am now at the halfway point.
Flavors are blasting away like Flash Gordon’s ray gun.
The classic rock station on cable is playing “Badge” by Cream. One of the great bass riffs of the 60’s. Did you know Eric Clapton played on that?
I have a sound bar on top of the entertainment center and I crank it. Then I hear from upstairs, “TURN IT THE FUCK DOWN!!!”
Another touch up is required.
The price point. I don’t know. $9.00 for a boutique blend ain’t too bad but the burn issues really disappoint me. I just don’t get it. I’d say that 70% of all expensive boutique brands have construction issues; especially the char line. Finding one with a razor sharp burn line is next to impossible. For the prices they charge, they should be more diligent.
Clearly, the BLTC brand is one that needs each cigar to get 1-2 months of humidor time before they are ready to smoke.
The giant billboard sized cigar band comes off without a hitch. Man, once you roll it out you really see how big this thing is because of the 56 ring gauge.
Complexity finally settles in. The finish is long and chewy. And the balance is spot on.
There are no changes as the last third begins. The Black Label Trading Company Salvation is on cruise control.
Here are the flavors one last time: caramel, milk chocolate, creaminess, smokiness, toasty, vanilla, buttery, blueberry, wood, and leather. And a nice earthiness.
Staring at the clock it looks like I will finish the review but I will have to put it together after I come back from the doctor. After I finish, it is G.I. bath time, get dressed, and fly like the wind.
Once again, the char line seems OK. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
And then…BAM! Flavors explode like a nuclear back pack. Now the Black Label Trading Company Salvation is worth every dime despite the burn issues. It has a well-rounded approach. Flavors intertwine, mingle, and circle each other like a disco ball.
As a musician, I hated the disco period in the mid/late 70’s; early 80’s. I would audition for a band and I had to suppress a gag reflex when asked to play something by KC and the Sunshine Band. No kidding. It was a depressing time for good musicians. It drove me to play contemporary blues which always had an audience. I also played in jazz bands. My roots. I was listening, and studying, jazz at the age of 15.
Flavors have not changed in this explosion.
Now I truly wonder what the other BLTC blends really tasted like. My bad.
Gotta get a sampler and start again.
The cap is behaving itself now.
The last 1-1/4” is very powerful. Kicking my arse. But the flavors are so addictive, I can’t put it down.
The Black Label Trading Company Salvation is finishing beautifully. Strength has moved to medium/full. Not a lick of harshness or heat. No bitterness.
The BLTC line is worth your time if you haven’t already tried them.
And I’m gone….
Don’t forget to enter the Paul Stulac Contest to giveaway a 20 count box of Classic Lord Maduros. My favorite blend of the Classic line. So I had some sway in deciding what to give away. Paul is one of the most down to earth, regular fellas I’ve ever met in the cigar industry. Through email, we have become the best of friends and we have become confidants to each other. This is man so grounded; he has daisies growing out of his Keds.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
