Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Full
Price: $10.00 MSRP (As low as $5.00 online)

NOTE: 2-4-2018 Since I reviewed this cigar before Christmas, the CI Conglomerate has chosen to bring the price of the blend closer to its MSRP…especially at the 5 pack price point. Apparently, they felt it had become so immediately popular…why not jack up the price?

Today we take a look at the new Man O’ War Damnation.
Another blend added to the legendary catalog line.
I scored a 10 pack on cigarpage.com for $40.00 nearly two months ago.
There is really no background info on this new strain from MOW. Just the descriptions on the web sites that sell the cigar. You know…godhead has landed and you are just in time for this miracle from the baby Jesus.

DESCRIPTION:
The Man O’ War Damnation has an oily dark, espresso colored wrapper with plenty of tooth. Construction has that MOW solid body feel of perfectly filled without soft spots or hard spots.
Veins are plentiful but hidden by the nearly charcoal black skin. Seams are secure and tight. And the triple cap on my samples are all expertly applied.

SIZES AND PRICES (MSRP):
Churchill $11.00
Toro $10.00
Torpedo $11.00
Robusto $9.00
Google this cigar and you will find some real deals on 10 count and 20 count boxes in which the average cigar price is $5.00-$6.00 each.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I can smell floral and sweet notes that include honey, caramel, black licorice, jerky, espresso, dark cocoa, cedar, pepper, fresh berries from the vine, barnyard, and shortbread.

From the clipped cap and the foot, I can smell dark chocolate, jerky, citrus, floral notes, honey, molasses, pepper, cedar, barnyard, and a strong earthy element.

The cold draw presents flavors of black pepper, minerals, malt, molasses, chocolate, espresso, and graham cracker.

FIRST THIRD:
This is a very heavy cigar. It hangs like an oversized cucumber from my lips as I type. Yet the draw is spot on. No need for my PerfecDraw cigar poker.
Flavors spew immediately…a bombastic firebombing of black pepper is raining down on my palate.
Malts are varied and evenly distributed among the different veins of the leaves. This is absolutely yummy and a great way to start off.
Chocolate follows but is slammed hard by gooey creaminess and honey butter. More flavors of toffee and molasses.

They just keep on rollin’ in…Complexity hits super early on during the early stages of this cigar blend. Transitions begin. The finish is luxuriously long.

I, like so many cigar smokers, am a big fan of AJ Fernandez. He has that perfect New Breed sensibility about blending. If you’re in a hurry, it is not unheard of that anything AJ is ready to smoke in 3 weeks. A couple months is even better but the early start is a blessing for those who cannot maintain 4000 cigar coolidors.
The char line is proof that the art of rolling was taken seriously.

The Man O’ War Damnation is not really like the previous incarnations of the blend name. While it is a strong cigar, it has its own unique style that contains elements of smoothness, balance, and articulation.

We’ve got malted milk balls now. The chocolate is Nicaraguan strong. While the blend has all the endearments of what we like in Nicaraguan blends, it also veers off into its own universe by adding components of complexity that are light and delightful. There is no heavy hand to the design of this blend. Some MOW blends are just that…a bit too heavy handed and providing a strict Nicaraguan influence.

Strength is full tilt. It didn’t fool around with medium or even medium/full. It galloped its Palomino right into the open range of “Look out! I’m going to knock you out by running into a low lying branch.”

The magic is that it does this without extreme prejudice. There is a wonderful lack of nicotine…for the moment. There is a controlled take off with windless interference.

Due to the impervious density of this stick, it will easily be a two hour smoke. Better slow down as the coffee is turning me into a typist with diarrhea of the fingers. Long way to go.

It seems an appropriate time to put on my DVD of “Joe Bonamassa Live at the Greek Theater.” Can’t write without music.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.

Gears shift. The first sweet spot is attained. Damn (no pun intended)…this is a great blend addition to the MOW line. It is more sophisticated than the others; even the Armada, Ruination or Puro Authentico.
It’s all about subtlety. The spectrum of flavor parameters is broader….yet still maintaining the MOW alliance.

Damnation is one of the more inexpensive cigars from the entire MOW line. How can that be? Too much good tobacco on hand that needed to be used as it was in a perfect state of entropy? Therefore, the Damnation slurps its way out of AJ’s uterus.

The pepper influence is in constant flux. There are moments of strong black pepper but then flashes of red pepper pops up. Then a complete turnaround and powerful dollops of white pepper.

In fact, the entire blend is in flux as it seems to be constantly evolving not depending on a one trick pony delivery system. This is where it stands above the original MOW blend. It provides a progressive timeline that keeps me interested the entire time. There are no bland moments or inconsequential interactions.

It is of the highest importance that you be patient. Sure, after 2-3 weeks you can light one up to get a hint of its upcoming potential…but it really needs a couple months of humi time to light your fire.

I’m jinxing it by saying this; but this is one of the smoothest full strength cigars I’ve smoked. It’s like a hot knife through butter as it entertains my palate with loads of appreciation and showing my taste buds a real good time.

Flavors don’t change from the earlier lists. But they do morph as the blend continues on its path of sincere complexity and lightning fast transitions.

I could smoke this baby all day long. I will definitely put this cigar on my after Xmas purchase list. $4.50-$6.50 per stick is ridiculous. If I had reviewed this cigar on a blind study, I have no hesitation saying it could easily be in the high premium class of $10+ blends.

The halfway point arrives after a leisurely one hour 10 minutes. This sucker is packed to the gills but constructed in a manner that there hasn’t been a single draw issue.

Sweet spot 2.0. Jesus Alou and Manny Mota. We have liftoff. The Man O’ War Damnation is now reaching heights I hadn’t expected. Every nano flavor and each single iota of sophistication come barging through the darkness into the bright sunlight.

I cannot believe I paid only $4. Even at the $5-$6 range, this is a steal.
We are now in the fictional $12 cigar level of ecstasy.

Here goes: Black, red, and white peppers, chocolate, heavy malts, creaminess that oozes fat cow, cinnamon, cedar, jerky, honey, floral tones, graham cracker, rich espresso, toffee, licorice, and a rich dark earthiness.

Plus, there is a sub-layer of smaller flavors all adding to the experience but beyond my ability to describe. In other words, for those who don’t have a sophisticated palate will see this as a great cigar that a smoker will proclaim he knows what he likes and the Man O’ War Damnation falls into that category.

I hadn’t expected this and am now thinking it might deserve a place in my top 25 list. It isn’t a $40 Padron or $15 My Father blend. Yet, it is in contention due to its unadulterated excellence.

Once again, AJ has proven that a good cigar need not always cost $10. Not everyone in the cigar industry is a greedy bastardo. And for that, AJ should be rewarded for his effort.

In the blink of an eye, a wallop of nicotine enters and knocks the pegs out from under me. My vision is blurry. And the posters on my wall are swaying to the music.
Clearly, not a cigar for newbies unless they can handle 9 yards of Vitamin N.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 35 minutes.

A spectacular blend. I’ve tried, and reviewed, all of the MOW line. Loved them all. But the Man O’ War Damnation is something special. It varies from the strict adherence to the MOW philosophy…carving its own path to excellence.

I cannot find a single review of this cigar. Once word gets out, there should be plenty to choose from. You shouldn’t have to read just me to get an idea of how good this cigar is.

Cigars International has a sale in which you get 20 cigars, 5 free cigars, a cutter, and a lighter for $95 in the Toro size. That’s less than $4 a stick.
This is a no brainer. I can verify that not a single $4 stick is in the same universe as the Man O’ War Damnation. Not even close. Throw away your Quorums and Gurkhas and snag the Damnation.

Just as I feel my vision failing, the nicotine eases up. This Jew will live to fight another day.
Surprisingly, with only 1-1/2” to go, another sweet spot develops…catapulting the Man O’ War Damnation into a new dimension. One that only Rod Serling is aware of.

The blend is so deeply complex that I am in awe that a $5 stick has the ability to bring so much to the table.

Top 25 list for sure. Going in, I thought this would be a filler review. Man, I was wrong.

I need to figure out if eating is more important or the purchase of a box is. A tough one. I must take into account that if I ever want to have sex again with my Teutonic gal pal, I will have to come up with some sort of story how it’s been discovered that the Man O’ War Damnation cures a dozen diseases. I don’t think she will buy it but it’s worth a shot.

I believe the lack of other reviews is merely that the MOW line is taken for granted. And here is another blend added to that lineup and who cares?

Construction was perfect. Not one touch up of the burn line required. No draw issues. Not a lick of harshness or bitterness. A galaxy of flavors and complexity. I could complain but who would listen?
I strongly recommend you give the Man O’ War Damnation your time. You will take back everything you ever thought about me and send me money to ease your conscience.
Final smoke time is 2 hours+.

Last note…allow the cigar to rest for 2 months…any sooner and you are just flushing the cigar.

RATING: 93

And now for something completely different:

Bruni worked for the Communist regime back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. She used her womanly ways to garner valuable information from West Germans and Americans. Her nick name was “Windy.” It meant that when she was around, there was a wind a ‘blowin’.

Her handler, Andi, did the same thing with women spies. They were known as Hansel and Gretel. Both were willing to have as much sex with spies as required to get them to spew out critical, confidential information.

And Bruni had a daughter named Charlotte. She was 20 at the time she joined her parents in the art of deception.

Andi was a strange man. When seducing a foreign agent, he wore women’s underwear and a false moustache.
Foreign agents live on the edge and it would always excite the women as they peeled the moustache off only to discover a real moustache underneath.

Bruni taught Charlotte how to woo a spy into divulging classified material. The first step was to offer them a cigar and a brandy. After a couple brandies, she emboldened herself and would sit on their laps in the club they were visiting.
Charlotte would whisper dirty German limericks into their ears until they dropped the cigar on to their laps.
Bruni would stand by. As soon as Bruni saw the cigar drop, she grabbed the hand of the agent and led him upstairs.

Bruni did things. She would wear a dirndl. She would do a slow dance of seduction as she removed the dirndl only to discover she was wearing huge underpants and a pointy bra like Frau Blücher…or Madonna; back when she was good looking.

20 minutes later, she left the room with the valuable microfilm.

Andi was upstairs with an Albanian spy. This woman was 6′-3 and built like a weight lifter. Her moustache was bigger than Andi’s. But Andi had a job to do.

As he caressed her neck, Aferdita grabbed him and flipped him upside down and slammed him to the floor. She undressed. Her underwear was a one piece burlap bag with buttons.
She ripped the burlap off and Andi’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates or latkes made near a nuclear plant.

This woman had more body hair than a Platypus or a Hairy-nosed Wombat.

He tried to quickly crawl to the door but Aferdita grabbed an ankle and pulled him back which caused Andi to let out a blood curdling scream.

She ripped off his clothes and discovered recording equipment. She was outraged but went with it.
She threw Andi on the bed and jumped on top of him. She made wild passionate love to him while he screamed like a little girl.

The spies listening at the other end thought he was being killed and rushed into the room. Too late. Aferdita had fled through the window and left a crumpled body on the bed….Poor Andi looked like he was crushed by a steam roller.
Bruni thought quickly…She was mourning the Germany way: Bury them quick and have a snack of blood sausage afterwards.

She told the other agents to leave and give her some time with Andi.
She cradled Andi in her arms and he was barely alive, but alive. He was trying to utter something. She put her ear to his mouth while he sputtered his last words: “Don’t….don’t…let Charlotte…marry a…Jew.”

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