Wrapper: Ecuadorian Hybrid
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Dominican San Vicente, Dominican Criollo ‘98, Pennsylvania
Size: 5.5 x 52 Gran Robusto
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $30.00
Quantity Released: 2,000 boxes of 10
Factory: Kelner Cigars SAS in the Dominican Republic

I sent Andrew Considine and Dave West at Small Batch Cigar my notes on this blend. It was meant to be my informal thoughts. Upon second look at my synopsis, while raw, is good enough as is. Please forgive the informal contemporaneous approach. It is forthright and provides moment-to-moment reactions throughout the two hours I spent with my third cigar.

BACKGROUND:
This has been over a two-year project from Andrew Considine, Dave West, and Klaas Kelner. It has been a well-guarded secret.
From the Avowed Cigar Co. press release:
“Awakening features the very last of a highly revered wrapper leaf for one final flavor expedition. Each tobacco was carefully selected to highlight the unique nature of this wrapper, simultaneously providing a nostalgic yet novel cigar experience. Because once the last Awakening is enjoyed, this wrapper leaf will only exist in memory.

“Awakening’s famed wrapper leaf (an Ecuadorian Hybrid) was affectionately referred to as Capa Marron internally and was last grown almost a decade ago. Each limited-edition Awakening was then carefully aged after production to allow the ligero-heavy tobaccos to marry and provide an experience worthy of one last farewell. And once again, production was restricted to just one pair of rollers from start to finish.”

You can read more about Avowed Cigar Co. here.

THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I will see if I can taste the suggested flavor notes of: “Roasted Malt, Cream, Wheat Bread, Oak, Molasses, Leather, Fennel Seed.”

Wrapper aroma is spectacular: Caramel, milk chocolate, cinnamon, burnt brown sugar, black soil, toasted brioche, wet cherry wood, honeysuckle, and barnyard.

Cold draw: The cigar is plugged. I use my PD tool. The cold draw opens like a sudden gushing well with notes of peanuts, caramel, chocolate, black pepper, heavy malt, rose petals, clove, and cinnamon.

I could have sucked on this unlit cigar for an hour. I have never tasted a cigar with this capacity to tantalize the palate without ever putting torch to foot. Amazing. Bottle this and Rod Kurthy will market it.

I honestly don’t want to light it because I fear the new rush of flavors won’t match the cold draw. But since I am an underpaid professional, I start a bonfire under this snausage.

Big whack in the puss as my tongue is coated with red hot cinnamon, melted caramel, milk chocolate nougat, and malt-o-meal.

I should have dry boxed the cigar because it has trouble staying lit.

An instant flavor bomb. Can’t remember anything like this…I need to consult my flavor wheel so I can nail down the subtleties. My imagination is limited so a leg up helps.

The caramel becomes a path to burnt caramel and butterscotch. Then there is an incredible combo of oak and fresh cedar. I can smell it.

Spiciness is great. I like the kick. A random assortment of peppers from black to red and cinnamon.

I’ve only given half an inch to the gods. What will be next over the 90 minutes coming my way? Yikes. I grab my Medic Alert red button and hold it beneath my chin just in case.

Isabela Cigars garners fame over the ¾” transitional quality of a few of its blends. I’ve tasted them and I say they are real. I’ve not smoked a blend that does this with such passion like the Awakening.

The trick will be for the blend to keep this up without faltering because a great start that belies future disappointment is the worst of the worst.

The burn funkifies a little. Not going to touch it up. With what I read about the quality of the rollers used, it should self-correct.

The richness and depth were immediate. A pressing complexity wasted no time. Again, it’s just amazing.

I must torch the foot to correct it. Let’s see how it progresses. I fear the cigar may be a little wet which would account for this.

In the back of my throat is smoky sirloin. It’s very nice.

Strength began at medium but at the one inch burned point becomes medium/full.
I’m in love.

There is a very Cubanesque breadth at work.
The organic sweetness is punchy but not overwhelming.

There is only the slightest hint of creaminess. My palate tells me creamed corn rather than the usual Ecuadorian Connie style…which can be good, but usually one toned.

The burn issue ceased after fixing it early on. The construction is near immaculate. The cigar feels manly in my clenched paw.

I’ve been huffing and puffing. I need to put the cigar down and let it rest. I’m getting carried away.

The ash is very gentle and invariably ends up on my chest.

I often get a sassafras flavor note in good cigars. Probably how my palate is wired.

As I near the halfway point, the creaminess becomes full throated. Flavors mute so the richness and complexity can point the blend to a higher plane. Things become dense. Like a wiener imploding.

Strength makes its move. I’m hanging on. My gonad catcher is activated.

This whole experience feels like I’m smoking a very nicely aged cigar blend. Can only guess what it will taste like in 3-6 months of humidor time.

There is a respite in the stregnggthethh…Maybe not.

It’s within the body of the second half that I begin to taste the suggested flavors. I taste a subtle fennel. Much better than the usual roadkill of black licorice. Wheat bread is more the rye variety. The malt fades and becomes a bourbon-like essence.

Creaminess is broad. The sweetness contains a nice variety of black grapes, brown sugar, and caramel covered nougat.

The burn is regimental. Sharp as a stiletto. Construction is full of someone’s pride. The wobbly ash has become almost impossible to detach.

The wrapper glows with oil.

The intensity is mind boggling. Its depth is miles and miles. The cigar began with a surprising amount of richness not normally seen so early in a blend’s journey.

The first half was transitional to the point of I couldn’t keep up. It was a prelude.

The second half is different. There is a penetrating soul to this thing. It grabbed me from the cold draw and doesn’t let up. This is a very hard cigar to put down.

I thought I was going the way of a Paul Stulac cigar that sees the second half hitting you like being dropped down a mineshaft. But the strength evened out with the Awakening. It seems to have a need to hit full tilt but just keeps its toes from going over the precipice.

The last two inches morphed. Like plutonium wanting to melt but doesn’t get an ignition. Flavors claw. Complexity is through the roof. Depth of field sails.

Brilliant blend.

You can purchase Avowed Awakening on March 1 from sponsor Small Batch Cigar.

RATING: 98

THE ENTIRE LINE OF AVOWED CIGARS GOES LIVE ON SATURDAY MARCH 1 AT APPROXIMATELY 3:00PM EST.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: Avowed Cigar Co. 'Awakening' | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, avowed cigar company, cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, katman, phil kohn, small batch cigar