Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Café Claro (Aged 5 years at time of original sale in 2014)
Binder: Nicaraguan Corojo 99, Nicaraguan Criollo 98
Filler: Nicaraguan (Medio Tiempo)
Size: 6.25 x 52 Toro Box Pressed
Body: Medium
Price: $10.00

My cigars have received only one week of naked humidor time.
Cigar Federation is selling sticks from the original release date of 2014. No need to wait when they’re 11 years old.

THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Ten years after. The cellos are orange with oil. I think I’m in for a good time.

The cigar is extremely rustic: Wrinkled wrapper, lots of veins big and small, lumpy and bumpy, and a semi-gloss that the 2014 sticks didn’t have. It is very toothy.

The wrapper provides a faint aroma of barnyard. With shadowy notes of dark cocoa and freshly brewed coffee.

My PerfecPunch goes into action. Slice and dice. But the draw is dead on arrival. My double shill is perfected by using my PerfecDraw to clean the debris from this snausage. Takes only an inch of drilling and it’s open. The cold draw is delightful with notes of clove, earthy mushroom, chocolate, black coffee, red and black pepper, buttery toasted bagel.

I love the cigar already. Immediate richness and full-sized depth the comes from its aging. Of course, starting off as an excellent blend helps most definitively. Bottomless notes of dark chocolate with slightly bitter espresso. A trace of spicy black pepper lingers at the back of my throat while I experience the red peppered tingly tongue.

For many reviewers, construction is a huge issue. I understand it being a critical deficit if the cigar’s performance is crippled. I bought a fiver of the new La Aurora Small Batch Lot No. 006. A cigar with 14 years of aging. I could not get the thing to stay lit. Or get any type of reasonable draw. This is a problem worth mentioning. But if the burn is slightly off or there are other minor issues, fuhgeddaboudit. It’s a bunch of dead leaves and reacts to a variety of organic issues. The Collective has a slight char line issue. It has trouble staying lit. A few months of humidor time heals all problems that occur early in the process after box opening…and that’s why you should never smoke a stick soon after the unreasonable Let’s See smoke.

Flavors of banana custard, cinnamon, black coffee, and cedar. They are minimalistic except for long tall sally chocolate. It towers above the rest. There are baklava-like layers of subtle intimations that reflect more positively on the complexity than individual flavors.

Strength started off with some punch. I expected a more subtle approach due to its age, but clearly the cigar had other ideas.

As the next 2” begins, flavors morph into honey, strong black pepper, and vanilla.

An extremely slow roll. You get every bit of what you pay for with this cigar. But even with the natural ripening, I believe that this cigar will do better with 3 months or longer humidor time.

Huffing and puffing is a nervous condition. We all do it. Stop. Give your puffs a two-minute rest. It allows your palate to settle down a bit. Take a sip of water or two. You have a much better chance of really tasting your expensive cigar if you take your time. Puff like a madman on that cheap $9 stick. Do yourself a favor…if you can catch yourself in the act of huffing, think of me naked.

I checked out the flavor suggestions on Cigar Federation. Spot on. I’m able to taste most of them. The nice thing about reading a review is that a stranger’s palate will bring flavors to your attention that you might miss. You probably won’t taste them all, but it’s a good boiler plate to start with.

This is an interesting transitional cigar blend. Never boring. As the second half begins, complexity becomes entrenched with the deep richness that surpasses being only a solid blend. Do I taste CF’s interpretation of toffee, dried fig, cardamom, marshmallow, and graham cracker? Pretty much but this is by no means a flavor bomb. Notes are understated and I’m happy to use CF’s suggestions as a road map. But it is chocolate that is the heavy hitter throughout.

This is the perfect dessert cigar. Without the atrocious chemical flavorings. Its strength demands you smoke it on a full belly. Add your favorite libation, and it doesn’t get better than this. Best described by saying: Ooh eee ooh ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang. Or in English: Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do.

RATING: 94

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, ezra zion cigars, katman, Katman Kwicky ~ The Collective by Ezra Zion 11 Year Anniversary | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, phil kohn