Wrapper: Ecuadorian Dark Habano Criollo
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano 2000
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, Peruvian ~ Aged 5 Years
Size: 4 x 62 Short Perfecto
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $18.00
Release Date: October 2024
Quantities: Regular Production
Factory: Tabacos de Costa Rica
My cigars received 5 months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Last time I smoked a blimp was on my first day in Quentin. I wrote it off as getting to know your neighbors.
The wrapper is feigning smell-o-vision with notes of floral perfumes, barnyard, age, day old matzoh, citrus, dark cocoa, and fresh pastels.
Figuring out how to light this baby is above my pay grade. I clip the nipplette on the cap and inhale it deeply. Nothing. Do I use my PerfecDraw or do I wait? As this is my last stick, I decide to use common sense and give the thing some space. Light and see.
An air buttress. I carefully use my PD tool to create some wind. This is one careful drilling operation and then I’m good. With no disrespect to my PD, I was sweating it.
Lovely start…rich quotients of toasted sourdough, creamy almond butter, café au lait, and mild black pepper.
There is absolutely no way to dangle this participle from my lips. I suppose if my stay on D Block was longer…one thing you don’t do is make jokes telling the Boys of Aryana that you don’t put nothing in your mouth that ain’t kosher. I was forced to subside on pork loin for 4 months.
The burn begins with a sharp edge.
It is right up my alley for richness and finesse. I like all things Kelner and this is what I’m reminded of with the Kingpin. An even smoke with a mouth feel that feels exotic with a delicate sense of being. My apologies for Hippie speak.
I have arthritis issues that stem partly from an old skydiving accident as well as being on the planet for three quarters of a century. After only three acupuncture visits, the pain in my knees is mostly gone. My fakakta back pain is now manageable. And the best part is I’m sleeping better. 3 down and 9 weekly visits to go. I can’t say enough good things about this. Why Medicare took this long to accept a thousand-year solution is beyond me.
Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine was a bit of an oddball. A super achiever for sure. You can’t be blessed with that level of talent and not be cursed by something. Hal could make you swoon with his ability to drop names. But he had so many insecurities. He railed at me after I wrote an article about him because I mentioned that he worried about the future of his ability to stay relevant. Turns out that he wanted no one to know he might not be getting as many dates as his halcyon days. He told me that I could include those neurotic concerns several times before I put pen to paper. But seeing it in print caused him to panic. Still, he remained my friend to the end. How fucking lucky was I? I have a lot of charts that Hal wrote for the sessions he did for me. He would listen to a song once. Write down his part. And play it perfectly on the first take.
Nice smoke output.
Bits of lemon, buttery toast, creamy nougat, white pepper, almond paste, and chocolate macaroons. Very nice. Only an inch burned. 20 minutes.
When I got back to the States, my cousin Fred Selden, who was an L.A. session reed player, asked me if I wanted to read the chart, play it perfectly on the first take…or be in a rock band and play the song a million times. I told him be in a rock band. He shrugged. Real musicians never got rock n roll.
The cigar is fun. Strength is medium in nature with an entertaining lilt. So many times, a cigar manufacturer brags about using aged tobacco and then nothing materializes.
Davidoff is famous for using this ploy to make you pay $100 for a single stick. In the case of the Kingpin, my palate recognizes the effort. Normally, my palate only recognizes Oscar Mayer baloney on Wonder Bread.
The Lampert Cigars website calls this blend out as medium/full in strength. As I approach the second half, it’s been a smooth ride. Am I about to be blow holed?
Poor Dr. Rod. His wiener-mobile is beyond his reach. But not beyond his imagination.
Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine used a cartage company to move his kit. It cost me, in 2025 dollars, $925 for them to move it and have it set up by an expert. After a couple of those times, I got Hal’s approval to pay drummer, and my high school buddy, Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Mavis Staples, John Hammond, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, et al) to use his set. He loved it because Blaine was a great hang. That man was a storyteller extraordinaire. I never met anyone that could win a land speed record by dropping names of the most famous people in show biz. He could tell you intimate stories about playing with Elvis, Sinatra, Paul Simon, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and everyone in between. Hal played on a couple of tunes on The White Album. He didn’t like to talk about it as there was some sort of weird secrecy doctrine behind it. But it has been documented so it’s true.
I planned for another ashtray money shot but the cigar goes out. Damn my eyes.
The cap is getting a fakakta-mundo. And so is the rain outside. AccuWeather notified me of torrential rain. Lightning is making my computer twitch.
The second half is excellent as it spreads its wings to find hidden corners of my mouth not explored by the first half. And then all of a sudden, it reminds me of the Casdagli Basilica C#3 Petit Robusto.
While the shape of this cigar is cute, it is a pain in the ass to smoke. It is difficult to hold. I get it that the perfecto will bring out flavors that only connoisseurs will taste. But I’m not a specialist. I’m Everyman. Like you.
Long ago, I had an interview show on PBS. My partner in crime was Marshall Thomas who was a DJ on several big L.A. FM radio stations. One guest was Richard Berry who wrote the tune ‘Louie, Louie.’ While we spoke to The Larks (The Jerk), he fell asleep in his chair on camera. After waking him up, we talked him in performing as planned. He lip synced to his song, and then once again while standing up, he fell asleep. We left it in. I had written an instrumental tune for the show’s intro and outro. I brought in three of the Tower of Power horn section members. When Berry heard it, he said, “It sounds like ‘All Night Long.’ I was trying to impress him, and as such, I was crushed from his comment…so I feigned falling asleep.
It’s unfortunate that we must spend $18 for a decent cigar. It is obscene. 5 years ago, a cigar like this would have been $12. Covid brought out the greed mongers. The cigar industry will have sales of $59 billion in 2025. And doubling it by 2029.
The last 1-1/2” falters. The richness stalls. Construction in this final story becomes a mess. The wrapper begins to disintegrate. What the hell happened? My first sticks, smoked a couple months ago, were a bit dicey. I had hoped with another month or two, things would resolve themselves. I check other reviews. And damn there it is…construction issues. Damn.
My goal is to leave others to write reviews with so-so outcomes. I want to bring you cigars I think you’ll enjoy, not duds to stay away from.
The wrapper is useless. I’d need to use half a bottle of my PerfecRepair glue to fix it. What a drag.
Now and again, I have the ability to save you from yourself with a stick I don’t recommend. This is one of those times. The leaf stats had the brew that is true. It was all there. And lousy construction ruined the whole thing. Otherwise, it was a pleasant smoke.
RATING: 86
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
