Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Negro “Cultivo Tonto”
Binder: Hybrid Ecuador Habano “Thin Ligero”
Filler: Independent Plantation Grown Nicaraguan
Size: 5 x 54 Robusto Box Pressed
Strength: Medium
Price: $17.95
BACKGROUND:
“Sin Compromiso is the result of over three years’ of experimental black tobacco harvests in Mexico, Ecuador and Nicaragua and the culmination of my experiences as a cigar blender,” states the founder and Master Ligador, Steve Saka. “The marquee’s name translates to ‘no compromise’ and that is the exact approach I took when creating this cigar. This blend is a direct reflection of all the skills I have learned and developed over the last twenty plus years and I am genuinely excited to share it with my fellow cigar smokers.” – Steve Saka
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Immediate flow of aromas snares my schnoz with notes of dark chocolate, floral notes, espresso, caramel, raisins, licorice, cedar, malt, barnyard, burnt nuts (Be careful when you light this cigar), cinnamon, and fibrous black pepper. No aroma outweighs another. The team is working together.
The cold draw presents flavors of clove, dark cocoa, espresso, caramel, popcorn, burnt nuts, raisins, malt, licorice, cinnamon, black pepper,,,wait…this is exactly the same as the aromas. Nice but unusual. You don’t normally get all the flavors in the cold draw as you get from your nose.
The draw is perfect…hence no need for my PerfecDraw. I place it carefully into its sarcophagus…along with my first wife.
Initial complexity slams into the garage wall. It takes out the ping pong table and my second wife.
A lovely sweetness arrives toot suite. It seems to derive from elements of raisins, caramel, cinnamon buns, and black licorice.
The black pepper is mild to the touch. Just enough to make sure you know its there chooglin’ down the line…a peppy kick.
New flavors are shot out of a cannon at light speed. I turn the light off so I can describe them…an expensive bourbon sweetness, creaminess shows up and coats my mouth with butterscotch ice cream, there is a touch of fine homemade BBQ sauce that just darts around without ever settling into one slot of the puzzle, charred meat stands as the cigar reaches the 1” burned mark. Other flavors dot the horizon, but are so subtle at this point, that identifying them will either come later or I missed a great opportunity for my brain to go into overdrive.
Strength is a solid medium.
The char line of this box press behaves like a champ.
I shall be honest…I fully expect a $18 cigar to blow my toupee off. So far, mission accomplished.
It is as dense as a 3” thick hunk of dark chocolate…or a 2” brick of hashish.
I get some fruitiness…very mild and fleeting…blueberries and rich mango. I don’t expect you to taste everything I taste as palates are as different as fingerprints. But the baseline of flavors is succinct without needing safe harbor.
Almond Roca surprises me as I think I’m beginning to hallucinate as this blend just takes off into a million directions.
The flavor profile expands like a mushroom cloud over Cleveland. Thankfully, my third wife lives there.
The strength is totally controlled by a force greater than the Cosmic Muffin. Still, a nice easy going medium which allows all the nuances and subtleties to shine through.
Butter Brickle. This is a first, but I don’t know any other way to explain what I taste.
My I.Q. is a hefty 83. I’m taking injections to get it to 87.
Incredible cigar. It checks everything on my list.
It is by no means a flavor bomb. It is a solid blue-ribbon cigar. Flavor tidbits fly by like gnats at a picnic.
What a friggin treat. Big time, my dears.
This is by far one of Steve Saka’s finest endeavors. This cigar will be loved by all sophisticates of the tobacco ne’er do wells club. But even newbies can dig a pony as the strength is strictly controlled.
I’m now sitting in my yurt next to the dock of the bay allowing the smoke to coat me like a corn dog while speaking in tongues. I’m sure that the shrooms help.
Brown sugar, cinnamon, charred steak, malt, an ever-changing whisky touch, the assorted fruitiness, a strong oakiness, café au lait, Swiss chocolate, brioche, a very mild hint of cloves, a perfectly potent black pepper, candied underwear, and a new hint of sweet apple.
The sweet spot basically started when I lit the cigar.
I know I’m fawning. Try one and you will understand. It is bold and delicate at the same time. Flavors fan out like a tsunami. It is intense and smooth. It is balanced perfectly and every bit as wild as the stripper you dated when you were younger.
My whole being has been glazed over. I am in a blissful state…instead of my home in Wisconsin.
This has been a good year for cigars. I have started to compile my list for the year, and it is full of great cigars. I am flummoxed as to how I will choose.
The stunning attribute is the cigar copying the ever-expanding universe. The flavor profile widens without prejudice. It is a masterpiece.
The strength begins to move into medium/full territory. No biggie. I’m a grown man…unless you ask my wife.
Not a single flavor has retreated into hiding. It is all there to taste.
Complexity is a mysterious thing to me. But then so is the human palate. How a blend can be so intense and yet smooth and nuanced at the same time is beyond my comprehension.
The last third excels. No prisoners taken alive.
It will be a 2-hour smoke and a very lovely one at that.
I have nothing more to add. Just a stunner by Mr. Saka.
Yesterday, I reviewed the Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara. The Diesel is a $16 stick. $16…only two bucks less than this glorious DT&T blend. Puts things in perspective…or does it.
If you have the means, get some…sponsor Small Batch Cigar has them. 15% off with promo code KATMAN through Dec. 31.
RATING: 95
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.
Discover more from Cigar Reviews by the Katman
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
I know every cigar smoker and their mother love this cigar, but for some reason I did not enjoy it, I barely gave it a 91. Who knows, maybe I was having a bad day or sitting with bad company who would make your Michelin star food taste like shit. On a different note “la Hacienda” I loved and most reviewers did not like it. You liked it but did not rate it. I know it’s hard to rate a cigar a while after smoking it, but what would you have given it. I gave it a 95 and rated it as a medium cigar. I hate when people rate a cigar badly and say it’s too mild for me. I know you don’t do that and that’s why I am asking for your opinion. Tight lines and tight cigars but not too tight like cubans.
LikeLike
I can’t say it enough that this is a mysterious filthy habit that almost no one gets right.
Anything and everything can affect your palate. No one has the same experience.
The Warped La Hacienda is a good cigar. Not great…but a solid go to in my humidor.
If I were to rate it today, I’d give it a 92.
Thanks for your support and thanks for your comment.
Phil
LikeLike