Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina
Binder: USA Connecticut Broadleaf aged in Whiskey Row Mizunara barrels
Filler: Nicaraguan Estelí Habano
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $15.79
My cigars received 5 months of naked humidor time.
BACKGROUND:
From Diesel Cigars:
“This full-bodied blend boasts a dark Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper and spicy filler tobacco from Nicaragua, but the real star lies at its core. We aged the Connecticut Broadleaf binder in Rabbit Hole’s rare Japanese Mizunara oak barrels—the same ones used to age their Founder’s Collection Bourbon. The result? A smooth, robust cigar with great complexity.”
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
A $16 Diesel. Nothing represents the outright greed of the cigar industry in 2024 like this does. A $16 Diesel. Jesus.
Smells good like I knew it would: prominent barnyard, melon, dark chocolate fudge brownies, fancy black coffee, old shoelaces, and some generic booziness.
Damn thing is plugged like a junkie on opioids. My PerfecDraw swings itself to my right hand and I dish out some vengeance of the gods to this tubular snausage. The plug is in the usual spot of the cigar band’s areola. Good to go.
The cold draw tastes of aged oak with a hint of bourbon. The more I suck on it, the better it tastes…and there is a surprising bitterness that I find attractive.
I put torch to lips and toast my gaping nostrils. I hear this is an after-symptom to Covid.
A berry sweetness with overtones of dark cocoa covered oak barrels hits it out of the park. One thing that is noticeable about this overpriced Diesel…the construction is way more solid than the rest of the clan. This stick feels expensive.
The blend makes a nice shift adding flavor notes of caramel, vanilla, and some essential creaminess. When a cigar is soaked in bourbon, it cannot avoid a minor amount of bitterness. A creamy leaf element beautifies the slight bitterness and makes it appeal to our lesser selves…why? No fucking idea. Ask a botanist with a chemistry minor.
I reviewed the God of Fire KKP Special Reserve 2021 yesterday. A $54 cigar. The first half was pretty good but then it faltered in the last half. I’ve had decent experiences with my earlier stabs at this Diesel. But they slipped on a banana before they were done. I’ve allowed a couple extra months of humi time for today’s review cigar.
And only 2” in, it is a better blend than the God of Fire.
This cigar is aimed at guys who pair it with the Japanese whisky. As I don’t begin knocking it back until after I brush my teeth, coffee and water will suffice.
The first time I was truly scared as a kid happened in 1962. I was 12. It happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Russians were stocking long range missiles on the island of Cuba and there was an ultimatum from JFK that the Russkies were either to remove the missiles or WWIII would begin. In school, we did the regular duck and cover underneath our desks. But in this short two-week period in October, there was an unusual urgency that we saw in our teachers’ faces. Every kid went to bed with the fear that the last war on earth was imminent. Even the toughest kids in the 6th grade would burst out crying in the middle of lessons. The TV was always on. Our parents would bite their nails incessantly and noticeably. It may seem trivial now, but it felt like life or death in 1962.
Hanging and playing with The Who’s guitarist Pete Townshend at George Martin’s Air Studios London was a blast. Of course, Curved Air’s drummer Stewart Copeland was there. How’s that for name dropping? Pretty fucked up…I know.
Transitionally, not much is happening. The blend can’t shift into next gear. It is morphing into every Diesel on the market. As our brain is inexplicably connected to our palate, mood can change everything. I sit back, close my eyes, and sing ‘So You Want to Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’
It takes a good hour to get to the halfway point. The cigar ain’t bad and I don’t want to put it down. It seems the flavors have been canonized in time. Richness is barely there. Complexity is minimal. Not much depth. A $16 Diesel.
If the second half doesn’t scream to me that it loves me, I’m not going to venture into the last 2”.
The same thing happened on the two previous Diesels I smoked for this review. Great beginning that slowly peters out. If you go chasing rabbits.
I take back the laudatory things I said about AJ. This $16 Diesel has become pedestrian. The nerve to charge this much…
This has been a total waste of both our time. I allowed a couple months of naked humi time between the last two sticks and today’s review stick hoping it would improve. It did not make good on the fancy P.R. The leaf stats are correct for producing a good cigar. The added use of even fancier storage in oak barrels should have created success. Sometimes a blender rolls the dice and gets snake eyes. What is a manufacturer to do? Sell it to the trusting cigar public.
You can purchase Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara from sponsor Small Batch Cigar (15% off through Dec. 31, 2024, with promo code KATMAN).
RATING: 81
Check out Katman’s Kartel at Small Batch Cigar and score deals on cigars from My Top 32 Cigars of 2023 ~ Rated 96 or Higher! Use promo code: KATMAN for 10% off. Until Dec. 31, katman promo code will get you 15% off.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
PT Barnum had it right.
Glad you’re on the mend. -Ma
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Damn straight.
Thanks for your comment.
Phil
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