Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan, Peruvian
Size: 5 x 52 Robusto #2
Strength: Medium
Price: $39.99
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
First, the elephant standing on my foot in the room…$40 for one cigar.
Halfwheel gave this cigar, in the Toro size, a 92. Pretty damn good.
There are 6 sizes, and prices, per stick that range from $30-$50. Holy shit.
The cigar is hard. I’d approximate its hardness to Feldspar.
I clip the cap and find that the flow of air is fire (I want to sound hip). I allow my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool to sleep in this morning.
A blast of lovely flavors slam into my palate like the comet, Hagodufus…which will hit Earth in 2032.
Caramel, creaminess, heavy nutmeg and cinnamon, milk chocolate, black pepper, peanut butter, fresh bread, cedar, lemon citrus, and café au lait.
Delicious cigar. It better be for $40.
Construction is impeccable. And the char line is a top sergeant’s dream.
Sweetness wins the early battle of Savory v. Sweet. The peanut butter, fresh bread, creaminess, and baking spices gear up to make the balance engage toot suite.
For $40, I am going to smoke this cigar as slowly as a brisket in the backyard smoker. I’m the brisket. I know…that was confusing.
Strength is a light medium. All great blends have one thing in common…the strength is tempered masterfully so that whether the cigar is mild or full tilt, it has no bearing on the execution of the blend’s delivery. Or it could mean I am overdue for a brain aneurysm.
The cigar is bloody overwhelming with deliciosity. Transitions are sweeping by in a blur. The finish has every element of flavors I’ve described. The lingering finish is creaminess, spiciness, chocolate, baking spices, and peanut butter. The spiciness has morphed from black pepper to exotic pepper. Not Mexican. An Asian spiciness.
If the blend was any smoother, I’d slide off.
I’m taking a few minutes between puffs as the finish refuses to depart the crime scene. It lingers beautifully. And no matter how long I let the cigar sit in my ashtray, it refuses to go out.
If you are going to smoke a cigar at this price point, one expects a dramatic experience. The Alfonso delivers. From the get-go, this cigar screamed complexity, flavor, depth, and intensity. Speaking of intensity, this is exactly how the cigar is progressing. The multiplex of depth from the cigar’s flavors are just amazing to this old man…that’s me.
Clearly, blender Nelson Alfonso Egüed knows what he is doing. Of course, I’d love to see the man make an equal splash with a less expensive cigar so that hedge fund managers aren’t the only ones who can afford his cigars. A 25-count box of these cigars runs $1000.
Banana crème pie joins the fray. Reminds me of Soupy Sales. In the 5th grade, Soupy visited our local JCC and entertained the troops for an afternoon. There was a Soupy Shuffle contest and I won third place. The shuffle was mimicry of Curly Howard’s shuffle but less frenetic. Plus, there was a side-to-side move that Curly didn’t do.
The strength, at 2” burned, is still teetering on mild/medium. I would love it if the cigar had more punch. I will be patient. Ha.
The first major sweet spot occurs, and I can’t decide if I want Thai food or Vietnamese food. It’s that kind of spicy.
The ash and char line are stunning.
This is a grown-up cigar. But newbies, as well as seasoned smokers, will be able to enjoy this cigar while bunching up together and singing We Are the World in Esperanto.
The richness of the stick comes from its disparate flavor profile while the magical tobacco silently does its job.
The citrus element shines through the detritus of the minor flavor points. Peanut butter rages against the machine. Big fat extracts of sweetness and savory render the balance perfectly.
As I approach the halfway point, I realize that the flavor profile changes every half inch. The intensity of described elements take their turn in the queue and elaborate their importance to the blend.
Complexity ain’t no jester. It behaves like a grape press. The wallop of zest is mind numbing.
Men, I’m telling you that this blend is a cigar that ruins you for further herfing for the rest of the day. But it will leave in its snail trail sweet memories of what a truly excellent cigar tastes like. The passion entrenched into this blend demands respect.
Even if you can only treat yourself to one stick, do it. This is a memorable smoke.
I reach the halfway point at 40 minutes.
The ash is near impossible to detach. It hangs in there like your brother-in-law’s appetite for your cigars.
Strength detaches the mildness and lands square in the middle of medium potency.
The spiciness ratchets up giving the cigar that needed punch.
Nicotine squirrels its way into the journey. But nothing I can’t handle as long as I keep my harness in place.
I would love to smoke this baby in one of its bigger sizes. But that adds another $10 to the price. With the Robusto, the math makes it $8 per inch. There is something inappropriate at a mere donkey tail’s length.
When I’m stunned by a brilliant blend, it is difficult to find my inner clown while I write. Overwhelmed by the cigar’s excellence drains all of that right out of me. That’s my excuse…and I’m sticking to it.
So creamy. So many explicit flavors while teasing my palate with a flotsam of miniscule points that my palate cannot put a finger on.
Here’s the thing…I love Casdagli cigars. And for the most part, for the American market, prices are in the $20 range. Half of the Alfonso’s price. I know we are not supposed to take the price into consideration when rating a cigar, but I certainly do take this into account. Since reviewing a cigar is totally subjective, who can say I’m wrong. (Everyone).
Sips of water flashbang all those wonderful flavor notes that my palate eats up like a starving man living underneath the Santa Monica pier.
Acid flashback…that is where we were when our daughter first tasted an ice cream cone. On the Santa Monica pier. One of the great things about young children is watching them experience a food for the first time. Pickles and lemons are always the most entertaining.
I don’t want the cigar to end.
Not a lick of harshness or heat. 1-1/2” to go.
I pierce the cigar using my PerfecDraw tool as a method of nubbing.
The cigar finds its demise at 90 minutes.
You can purchase these cigars from Small Batch Cigar (Promo code katman gets you 10% off).
RATING: 97
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
