Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Size: 5.5 x 52 Robusto Extra
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $16.00-$18.00
My cigars received a couple months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
The cigar is light as a feather. Will it plump? Will it divest itself? Or will it become a test tube flatworm?
Strong barnyard from the wrapper that makes my eyes well up with natural lubricant. But also itty-bitty floral notes, dark chocolate, baking spices, BBQ potato chips, and spicy peppers.
The cold draw is all cinnamon toothpicks. Hiding behind the ha cha cha is black pepper, chocolata, dried fruit, champagne whiskey, and brown food. Needless to say, my PerfecDraw can sleep in. The damn PD tool is lazy and shiftless. Like a junkyard dog.
While only in existence since 2021, this brand has become popular among cigar social media participants. Many new brands, like Lure, saw the whirlwind blow in their favor because of cigar gossip.
Ooh…ooh. While typing, there was a favorable brain stimulate from this cigar. More than pleasant observations of sweet and gooey caramel, lemonade, salty potato chips, milk chocolate, a touch of mint, cumin, and toasty almonds. All in the first puffs. Another aneurysm or maybe the Fred Sanford big one.
Strength is medium. I’m still struggling for consciousness. And the burn ain’t so hot…throwing that in while I meander. It needs a serious touch up.
Despite the florid start, the cigar does its own meandering while becoming an unknown face in the crowd. There is a glut of blends like this everywhere. It is like any popular genre of movie. Once successful, every film studio copies the winning formula. And that’s what ChiMolly has done. Everyone is cranking out variations on a theme. Same thing happened after AJ Fernandez became popular. Nic puros were the rage…and then came the addition of Mexican wrappers. The Fuente/Casdagli playbook is the rage. And so on…
$16 is a ballsy number for a company with no track record to snap on their cigars. In actuality, if you go to their website, they charge $18. Big balls.
I’m sure that this cigar will do well with extended humidor time. Just like every other cigar in this price arena.
Honeysuckle and warm naan bread. Very typical of a blend with a nicely done Ecuadorian wrapper. In order for me to slam this cigar against the wall and yell hail Caesar, I need a sign that this cigar is not culled from the crowded stage. So far, a good cigar. Not great.
“There’s a difference between feeling old and being old” …Uberto R. Frandosa, Minister of State, Ethiopia, Died at age 32 from a bizarre pontification accident.
And the cigar goes out.
I bought a box of Eladio Díaz 71 Aniversario a few months ago. Damn. Now that is a fine blend. The Davidoff ex-pat used a similar blend: Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo ’99, Binder: Mexican San Andrés, Filler: Dominican Corojo, Dominican Habano ‘92, Dominican Barrel Aged HVA. No doubt that this cigar is more expensive with a price tag of $25 but you can taste every penny sunk into the blend. Only 2,000 boxes made. I admit that if I place the Diaz first in my daily lineup, I am ruined for the day. I gotta switch to something ass and ball kicking like the Stulac White Blinding Light. Contrast is paramount to any multi cigar smoking patsy…like me…and you.
The burn continues to be wonky as the first half encounters a deadly demise. I pride myself in being able to look for any blend’s tell. There is no science. No formula. Just experience. We all get there. Unless you die a horrible death at the hands of your domesticated marmot.
In grade school, my daughter was confused. She told every teacher that I played with Eric Clapton. I discovered this during parent/teacher meetings when the teacher would fawn over me. I corrected the mishap and explained who I really played with over the course of my life. The fawning came to a screeching halt. After seeing disappointment in the eyes of these women, I shifted gears and stuck with Katie’s formulated tale of brave Ulysses. Unfortunately, my groupie days were over. So it was fun on a subtext level.
I’ve been in two house fires. And yes, I have solid alibis. The first was 50 years ago. My girlfriend set our luxurious London flat afire while I was lounging quietly in the tub. I saw the fire moving at 100mph along the ceiling of the hallway. Know what causes shrinkage? Making a call to the operator who kept saying ‘Oh my. Oh my.’ While I stood there naked and dripping…choking on smoke. Serious shrinkage.
The next fire was only four years later. Same girlfriend…but not her fault. First day in our new house and the plumber set the back of the house on fire while welding pipes for a new water heater. The fire dept was there in minutes. Most of the house was gone moments after that. Now? I have 14 fire extinguishers in every room. On both occasions, I got my bass guitars out the same time I got my people out. Priorities.
I am derived from the derivatives that came before me.
Construction is obtuse and derivative. The cigar goes out. The burn is wonkified. Not impressed.
The second half will tell the tale.
Again, the Dynasty tastes like a million other cigars with similar leaf stats. I refuse to pander to the notion that price does not matter when assessing a blend. Price is everything. I get what reviewers point out when saying it doesn’t matter…but then they’re not me. And I’m sure they are grateful. I feel free. Badge.
Strength is upped to medium/full. I got my swoon on. Ch-ch-changes.
Flavors have not moved an iota. There is definitive richness, mild complexity, mild to medium transitional quality, nice finish, and some refinement. $16.
In talking with you, the message is clear. No one tastes specific flavors. The simple equation is you like it or you don’t. Me too. I don’t pick a cigar apart as I do in a review. Those flavor points are there to please the cigar manufacturer who is the only one interested in this crap. I’d love to stop including the inevitable: chocolate, espresso, citrus, almonds, black pepper (which is the only thing we agree on), and cinnamon. The writers who find no solace in being entertaining use this formula ad nauseum…which makes me nauseous just penning it. Postscript: Know what I hear the most from you? “We must have very similar palates.” I’m Everyman.
Where was I? Am I up to 15,000 words yet? Probably. Suzie Q.
We all love to try new shit. Our wallets thin out like bison herds. I do the same as you. I want to taste the nubile entrants to the world of this filthy habit.
The second half is more of the same.
Rather than plunking down $16-$18 for the ChiMolly, I’d go for the substantially less United Cigars Gold Star, Dapper La Madrina Shade, Gellis Family Cigars Saunter, anything by Principle Cigars, Viaje Private Bale Bird on a Branch, or the Wildfire Cigar Co. The Hook. Feel like going wild? Spend that $16 on Avowed Cigars New Dawn or The Vow. Feel like going nuts? Grab anything from Eladio Díaz.
I will review the Pangu tomorrow.
You can purchase ChiMolly cigars from sponsor Small Batch Cigar. Take 10% off with promo code KATMAN.
RATING: 91
And now for something completely different:
Long time reader, Adam Geller, serves the city of brotherly love as the local yeshiva’s crime boss and attorney at law. Against my best advice, he participated in a bowling tournament in Baton Rouge. L:R: Adam, Chris Felker, Chris Vaughan, Pete Quinlan, and Chris Nunn. Quinlan serves Philly as a potential candidate and longtime supporter for the rights of animals to wear frilled Depends in early spring. He is hoping to run for congress in the 23rd district, but as a non-citizen, can only vote several times and thereby is allocated secret funds from DOGE. Felker runs an Italian deli called Sweet Louisissimo’s. The only place in town where you can get your cannoli with a side of kishka. Nunn runs a day spa for the criminally insane…which is the left side of the city. And Vaughan is 3rd cousin to Vince on his mother’s side. Chris wanted to be an actor but failed his driver’s license test three times excluding him from doing day work on cuz’s films. See Me. Read Me. Zoom Me. Email Me. Tommy can’t you hear me? All this can be yours, although I advise against it.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
