Wrapper: Habano Maduro
Binder: Dominican Olor Viso
Filler: Dominican
Size: 4.5 x 54
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $14.60
BACKGROUND:
From Atlantic Cigar:
“The founder of J. London Cigars, Jonathan Fiant, is working closely with a family in the Dominican Republic that has been growing and processing tobacco for 4 generations. Now that they have decided to start a factory and have become fully integrated, they hired a master blender with over 40 years of experience in the industry that has blended at some of the biggest factories in the world. Using 4–6 year aged tobacco that the family has stored away for this time.”
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Nose bouquets: Dark chocolate, baking spices, black pepper, cinnamon, barnyard, espresso, and cedar.
The cigar is very light in the hand. Once the cap is clipped, the draw is like sucking on a wide-open fire hose. Hope I don’t have a cigar-ette. My PerfecSmoke gear remains silent in torpor mode.
Very nice start…that aged tobacco comes home to papa. Big fat notes of chocolate, creaminess, buttered matzoh, caramel, espresso, rich soil, and black pepper.
Complexity wastes no time. Clearly, no warmup time is required.
Strength: Medium/full. Uh-oh.
I spent the weekend reading other reviewers. Everyone is so professional. And so dug in. I spent my career as a project manager building monolithic monuments to man. I wrote 10 letters a day…explaining why the architect or engineer of record screwed up a design issue. It was always the same. Something went wrong during construction and the general contractor tried to blame the subs. I had to be a sharp contract administrator at the start of the job. I don’t miss it one bit. And hence, I choose to write in a most non-professional style when I spew my opinion on cigars. Feels good. I paid my dues.
Nice cigar. The blend is a little black pepper top heavy at the ¾” mark. 10 minutes have passed.
“Train, Train.” Allman Brothers. Every blues and rock band in the world has played this tune. Classic song writing. Always a crowd stimulator. 4 chords. Can’t miss.
Same as it ever was. The initial flavors are pounding away like quarter notes. But a good time is had by my palate. Aging makes such a difference. And other times, not so much.
Despite the cigar being light as a feather, its burn crawls.
Not so much sweetness. If espresso, creaminess, spiciness, and baking spices weren’t so powerful, it wouldn’t matter that much. But I crave that balance…just one man’s opinion.
I watched a PCA video from July. Steve Saka. He’s huge. He is only 50. If he doesn’t get smart about his weight, he is looking at big trouble. The man can’t stand me, but I don’t want to see him deal with a serious illness due to stress eating. I take Charlotte to a lot of doctors, and I see folks in their 50’s and 60’s that are just crippled sick due to their weight and I just know that the end of watch clock is ticking. Baby, please don’t go.
Strength is being upped at the 1-3/4” burned mark. 30 minutes.
An interesting blend. The aged tobaccy is doing all the lifting. The power of the cigar is a sign for newbies to stay away. Even seasoned smokers will find themselves on a magical carpet ride. I like it. My doctors tell me to stop smoking cigars. Ha. That will never happen. You guys are stuck with me…for a while anyway.
The halfway point appears. The spiciness calms. The first sweet spot shows up wearing a party dress. Sweetness finds notes of salted caramel, cinnamon buns, and café au lait. Balance is reached.
I found a YouTube recording of my time with Curved Air playing live for the BBC. Copeland was a great drummer but hadn’t found his acclaimed style yet. The audio continues to another BBC concert a year later…my bass replacement, Tony Reeves, was killing it. He was a much better bassist than me. And Copeland’s style had morphed closer to what he became in The Police.
I believe that J. London Cigars has a real chance of shining. Their future looks bright.
My hands are shaking. Oh no.
I wonder what participants at the PCA show were like after they sampled this cigar. It is a gonad crusher. I’d have found it hard to walk around smoking this cigar.
This is a cigar that will benefit from long humidor sleep. It should smooth the spicy corners.
Mocha java and creaminess reign supreme.
This is an excellent blend. But if you can’t handle strong cigars, you might want to pass.
I recommend smoking this cigar on a full stomach. As mine is empty, I feel it.
The stick finishes out at 80 minutes.
Three of my sponsors carry this cigar: Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code ‘katman’), Luxury Cigar Club (15% off with promo code ‘katman’), and Atlantic Cigar (no promo code).
RATING: 92
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
