I’ve been re-posting older reviews for cigars still available and ones that I wanted to remind you about. Not every cigar is going to be a steal. But in the case of this review, Cigar Page is selling this cigar for $2.75 less than the price point in July 2020. It is a great knockaround cigar.
And oh yes, I reviewed this cigar because I was working at Johnny P’s cigar lounge and the cigar caught my interest.

Wrapper: Candela & Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.00 (Now only $6.75 from Cigar Page)

SMELL THE GLOVE:
The wrapper has dual aromas: The typical grassy and sweet greenness of the Candela and the Mexican brings dark cocoa, espresso, floral notes, malt, raisins, cream, cedar, black pepper, barnyard, and black licorice.

The aromas might be more potent if the cigar was shipped in cellos; but it is naked as your testicles your girlfriend told you to shave…she’s tired of coming up for air and having Groucho Marx eyebrows.

FIRST THIRD:
The draw is supercalifragi…you know how to spell it…Spot on…maybe a bit too airy but who’s complaining? I put my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for my next cigar.

And it begins…we are eating a big Porterhouse covered in a sweet glaze. A very distinct sweetness takes the reins. There is a touch of spice. There is some kind of nutty element I can’t quite identify at this early stage. A salty pretzel flavor is present. And then the cigar turns into a Pittsburgh chimney belching smoke like its 1999.

Strength is medium.

Creaminess shows up helping other notes to perk up. The chocolate and coffee are more pronounced now. There is a touch of citrus. And the complexity begins its long march.

Just like that, the blend kicks into high gear. Transitions begin with elements of caramel, nuts, It’s just my palate but I swear I can taste some sweet melon in the back of my throat…and then it passes. This is why I like to write contemporaneously. If I smoke a cigar three days before I review and just take notes…I would have no means to convey the moment.

I taste French fries. Must be due to my diet…I’m hungry! I tried hypnotizing myself into thinking cottage cheese tastes like cheesecake. All that happened was I barked every time I took a piss.

This cigar is unique the way the Valladeres Wild Hunter tasted. It steers away from the usual leaf stats this cigar possesses with twists on the profile. There is no way in hell I could have blind taste smoked this and come up with the tobacco origins.

Cinnamon toothpicks. Yeah, baby. Now its 1963. They were a nickel for a little wax paper pouch with a staple holding the folded top down. Shit. I’m 100 years old.

The complexity is nicely balanced now. A richness exists from a deep tobacco mixture done right. Transitions are moving at a relaxed pace. The finish is just spice and cream.
Another perfect medium strength stick.

For some reason, I’m getting barraged at the lounge by newbies who tell me they want something light. I do the heavy sigh…and then talk them into whatever I think they should smoke. They always listen because I look scholarly…and I speed talk. This is how I got the job at Prime Cigar.

SECOND THIRD:
It’s peanuts! The citrus is lemon peel. The peanuts need a partner. Where is the bridge?

While the first third had a slightly linear quality, the second third sees a surge in the blend getting serious.

I’m burning through the Mexican wrapper portion, and it is filled with coffee and chocolate. Right behind is a touch of licorice, malt, caramel, lots of cedar, peanuts find their mate in a hint of honey.

I hit the Candela and the grassy sweetness returns. Jekyll and Hyde.

Drummer Hal Blaine told me that every recording session he did with The Mamas and Papas, John Phillips always arrived with a big leather doctor’s bag filled with every drug known to man. No idea why I just brought that up. At least I didn’t bark.

For the price, this is an excellent blend. The construction is top notch. You’d be surprised…or maybe not…how many manufacturers fuck up the barber pole. And I’m having no issues with the burn on the box press. Alert the media.

This will be at least a 90+ minute cigar. It is jam packed with tobacco; yet the draw is impeccable and the burn exemplary.

Two older women are standing and staring at me as I sit naked in front of the window smoking a cigar. I wave. They show me their dicks. They weren’t women. I’d wave back but the A/C is on and I’m afraid I have nothing to wave with.

I am now breaching the delicious portion of this blend. The first third was a tease. I now begin the second half and there are lurches and grunting noises…wait…I was on the cat.

Chocolate peanuts and chocolate raisins dominate along with a rich creaminess. A sip of water and flavors meld beautifully.

Impressively complex as the cigar steps up its progress. I still taste pretzel with hot mustard. That mustard was once cinnamon.

The meaty quality returns in force. The blend bounces between savory and sweet like clockwork.

Transitions are running for the gold now. They whizz by at breakneck speed.

I’ve had potential customers get mad at me because we don’t sell Swisher Sweets.

I’ve had this cigar for only 2 months. But since the cigar does not receive a cello, it breathes and ages way ahead of the condom draped cigars. A good cigar to try when you are in your local B&M to plotz and drink alcohol.

I now visit my FB page just once a day. Everyone is so angry. So many people with threads of friends arguing and calling each other names. I mean, really…how many times can you post something about wearing masks?

LAST THIRD:
This will be a 2-hour smoke.
Strength reaches medium/full.
No harshness. No nicotine. We have a wiener.

You ever go into a public bathroom only to discover you can’t find the opening in your underwear…so you undo your belt buckle and your pistol falls on the urine-soaked floor?
Me neither.

Peanut butter, chocolate, espresso, caramel, malt, cedar, cinnamon returns, dried fruit, creaminess, sweet raw cashew, and licorice are amply on display.
I need to get more Barber Poles. It’s a great cigar to hand to your mooch friends while you watch them go “Ohhhh…pretty.”

The 2012 by Oscar Barber Pole is a solid boutique blend at a reasonable price.
It never got much further than the hem of medium/full strength. No nicotine or harshness. Smooth to the end.

Cigar Page is the place to go for these cigars. I found a couple places online charging $10. Cigar Page? $6.75 whether in a fiver or a 10 count box.

RATING: 91

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: 2012 by Oscar Barber Pole (2023) | Cigar Reviews by the Katman