Wrapper: Undisclosed (Corojo 99)
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Undisclosed (Criollo 98, Habano 98, Habano 2000, HVA, Piloto Cubano)
Size: 5.5 x 54 Super Robusto
Strength: Medium
Price: $18.95
Released: May 2024
Quantity Released: 400 boxes of 10
Factory: Eladio Diaz Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera, Dominican Republic

The factory aged these cigars for one year after rolling.
My cigars received 4 months of naked humidor time.

THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Look at my bare bones photo of this cigar. Look at the goddam oiliness of that wrapper…the sunny sheen, the pop factor…like a bodacious pin-up. The cigar behind the Mr. London is a Krakatoa (a good cigar) for $22. Night and day…no pun intended.

I reviewed the Eladio Díaz 71 Aniversario last month. A bomber jacket full of cigar…that I rated 99. A perfect cigar. Another Diaz blend…nearly the same leaf stats as the 71 Aniversario. And $6 cheaper. I only have two sticks and as such, this is an in the moment choice for review. I’m crossing myself as I genuflect on my one good knee.

Now and again, a beautiful cigar needs its props. It demands that you to stare at it, not in public, and wonder about its birthright. Gorgeous cigars don’t come around very often.

Strong barnyard aroma from the wrapper. If you want me to play Cream’s ‘Badge’ bass line on your outgoing message, let me know. In addition, are lightly floral notes of geraniums, bristling with dark coca leaves, buttered mushrooms, nice cedar, minutiae of lemon zest, and rich black coffee.

The cold draw. I don’t need my stinkin’ PerfecDraw. It misbehaved at the dinner table last night due to it catching cold from our grandsons. Yes, the PD and I had children together. Voice your concerns. But I will heed not. You don’t get to choose who you love.

Sucking away on a dead stick provides notes of exactly the same flotsam and jetsam as the aroma factory. Nice.

My sinuses are roached from decades of retrohaling. I had this discussion with Morris B. and Adam G a few days ago. There is a mystique about the practice that doesn’t show profit on the scale of benefits vs. rewards. You might get a slight reach around with minor addition of flavors; maybe not. If you like doing it, go for it. But from the perspective of being at the other end, I wish I had never started it. I taste shit just fine, thank you.

Enough fol de rol, I hear screams as I torch its foot.

A rich bitch start. Loads of caramel on toast as well as spicy red pepper, earth tones, soft pretzel, honey sweetness, and vanilla sky.

Casdagli cigars were at the forefront of bringing the Kelner Dominican touch to cigar blending. It was about bringing the isle of Cuba culled from exotic countries. I mentioned to you and JC a couple years ago that the tides were turning. Everyone is playing catch up to Jeremy. And doing it just as good. There is a glut of similar blends using Dominican, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and the mysterious ‘undisclosed’ filler that is often code for Cuban. These blends are right up my alley…yours too.

Smooooth…. lovely, refined start. Yeah, it could be a Cuban. Early signs of complexity on the horizon. Is hoping for transitions too much? The answer is the same as you give your wife, “Nah, that’s not mine.”

Sip of coffee. That $25 coffee cream frother I bought was something missing in my life. Takes one minute. One button push. Adds such a nice flavor and now it takes half an hour before my coffee cools. Check out Amazon.

There is a sudden flavor of big boy pants. The damn thing kicks in with a super deluxe flavor profile. I’m only ¾” into this and 5” to go. Yippee ki yay mother fuckers.

I better take a break, so I don’t turn this into the rant of a crazy lunatic dying for your attention. I take time to stare at the ceiling while saying, ‘Nice smoke output.’ I should put on a suit during a review just like the young men at Famous Smoke.

Moments later, essential perfume oils enter the air…and my nostrils. My palate tells my brain I’m chomping on cherry red roses.

Damn. I should stop writing and buy more. I wish SBC sold them. Maybe you can give your fellow readers a leg up and tell us where.

Skip to my loo. 15 minutes later.

In a couple of weeks, after visit 5 of 12, I am going to describe the benefits of acupuncture. It is clearly accepted now as Medicare pays the entire amount. And your insurance will pay for it too. Stay tuned…

This is odd. I lay in bed at night and listen to music. I’ll be damned if a good amount of the tunes has a player or two that I have known. It distracts me with anecdotes from the memory bank, so I must turn it off.

Unless the last couple inches falter and die, I’m going to rate this cigar highly with a dog whistle number.

Only a couple months before I left Curved Air, I had a conversation with guitarist Mick Jacques about me. He brought up that my solos were lacking in appeal. Jacques was a bluesy guitarist and knew how to play. I was always supportive. Instead of getting defensive, I asked, ‘Let’s get together and you can show me some tricks.’ He made a stinky face, waved his hand in disgust, and said no. I was taken aback. In my defense, I was forced to solo on a shitty beat akin to Grand Funk’s ‘Some Kind of Wonderful.’ Then add Stewart Copeland’s non-stop soloing while you’re trying to play something cohesive, and it was not an easy thing to do. Instead of just complaining to your bandmate, you lend a hand. Not in Curved Air. It was every man for himself. Jacques felt secure with his place in the band. A year after I was let go, he was also canned. He went on to play a few more years and then called it quits and moved to France to raise horses. He died a few years ago. There is a moral equivalence in there somewhere.

These are on the road photos that I took that are posted on the Curved Air website.

Albums I’ve played on still sell. Not a lot but a steady flow. And there are royalties to be had. In my old age, I’ve just given up. To get my British royalties, I would need to hire an English lawyer. I’d then have to hire an American lawyer to keep an eye on the Brit. Below is the last time I got royalties. I had to deal with multiple people who were savvy on keeping artists at bay. Notice that they took their 15% cut.

Syrupy lemon curd, frothy gentile potato chips, chile crisp, avocado toast triangles, swarthy milk chocolate, uncooked cedar, sweet undun cashews, and sweet honied horizons. There, I sound like Cigar Aficionado. It ain’t that hard.

The first half was magnificent. Eladio Diaz is magnificent. He spent decades at Davidoff before he went straight. And years with Hendrik Kelner. If you see a Diaz cigar, buy it.

Elegant and refined. Goddam I wish I had more. But I don’t have Dr. Rod’s dough.

The ash is very delicate. I cover my lap with multiples of Teflon cookware. I have a big lap.

Strength began at medium and stays right there with no variations or surges. A goo goo doll morning cigar.

The caramel creaminess flows like Egyptian lava. I didn’t notice a lot of creamy notes in the first half. Now, it dominates. A good thing.

Medjool dates. Transitions are unassuming and take me by surprise.

On my 25th birthday in London, around 25 friends all got blistered on acid provided by Stewart Copeland. We were at The Marquee Club off Picadilly Circus. Mick Jaques maintained an even keel throughout. He left around 2am to go home and have sex with his Canadian girlfriend. The next day he told us she was too sleepy and pushed him away…so he laid there for hours frying. I don’t know how he did that. Ha.

Sudden herkie jerky green grapes. This ain’t no flavor bomb. It is a sophisticated cultured blend of the best dead leaves on the planet. It is polished like your knob on New Year’s Eve. It is cultivated like the best 50/50 of sativa and indica. Concentrated essences like your mama’s cooking. And honed distillate like Jack Daniels Blue Label.

$19 ain’t cheap. But there is a laundry list of $40+ blends in the wild that don’t come close. Eladio Diaz is behind the super-premium brand Freud Cigars. Most of their blends are in the $30-$50 range. With the Mr London, you get a sneak peek into the window of Diaz at his finest. For nearly half the price. This is a must have. A fiver if you can…a box if you must.

No idea where this cigar can be bought. Let us know.

Meantime, you can sample blends from Eladio Diaz from sponsor Small Batch Cigar. Take 10% off with promo code KATMAN.

RATING: 97

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, eladio diaz, J London Cigars Mr. London Limited Edition | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, katman, phil kohn