Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $15.00
Released: May 2025
Quantity Released: 5,000 cigars in 5 count bundles
My cigars received 2 months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
A somewhat ordinary looking cigar. But it feels good in the hand like a bushel of seasonal marmot wings. The little beast has a closed foot. I can’t count the number of cigars I thought were plugged without realizing this added attraction was in play.
It smells good. Like I knew it would. The Ecuadorian wrapper is full of floral and honey notes. But also dark chocolate, acidic barnyard, baking spices, and salty pretzels.
The cap is the perfect foil for my PerfecPunch as I lay waste to a tiny circular plot of land. The damn thing is as reliable as a double Fleet.
As I puff on the open cap, I think I must put my PerfecDraw to work and then realize, once again, that the cigar has a closed foot. Du-oh.
The cold draw is uneventful with notes of barnyard, dark chocolate, rich black coffee, baking spices, and peatmoss.
Multi-layered notes of flavor upon lighting up: smoked brisket, flaky pastry, café au lait, green peppercorn, rose water, and a balanced sweetness.
Not a lick of harshness that so often accompanies the first puffs as a result of torching the foot. Smooth and elegant. It had me at smooth.
I use my Humidimeter because it is as humid as Morticia Adams’ quedgie on Halloween. It reads 66%.
Creaminess pops up as does a sweet lemon curd. Strength is very mellow at medium and followed in earnest by a medium body…that I hope soon moves on up.
If I closed my eyes, and let go of my nutsack, I’d guess this blend to be a million other cigars with similar leaf stats. Although, instead of strictly Nic guts, I’d say there was some Dominican. But there ain’t. So what the fuck am I saying? I don’t know. Or in the parlance of the era, me neither.
A sip of my morning coffee and it emphasizes space and time. Inch two begins after 15 minutes. I expect a secondary stage to engage. One thing I notice that I like is there are floral notes wafting in the air that smell great. It ratches up the appeal when I smell floral in the morning. We evolve as smokers which allows for phases in our desires. Casdagli cigars had it nailed down for years. But the wind shifted and every blender and his brother got on board with this winning, but simple, concept. Build a better cigar using Ecuadorian, Dominican, Peruvian, and African leaves. It left Jeremy in the dust as the species became flooded with clones of his early designs. The not so funny thing is that prices caught up with the Casdagli brand. I dare you to find a boutique cigar under $15. When a Diesel runs $16, all is lost.
The Hooten is a decent cigar. Nothing really exceptional other than its inherent sweetness and smooth behaviour. Only mildly complex with slight transitions and a very earthy baseline.
I have mixed feelings about the NRA. They are a little too right forward for my tastes but as gun owners, we don’t have anyone else substantially representing us. The world sees America as the wild west and filled with cowboy wannabes. The truth is we are a prime example of pandora’s box. The majority of gun owners are extremely responsible. But there is always the fringe of idiots that ruins things for everyone. There I go again, officiously preaching.
Inch two finishes. Nice and smooth. A lot of floral on the palate and in the air. My favorite thing about this cigar. Strength is described by the manufacturer as medium/full. It still hovers at medium. This is a wonderful first cigar of the day. I also think that when smoked later, after food meets belly, these delightfully delicate touches will be swept away.
Know what it continues to remind me of? Anything by Kelner. It has that very cool formatting. Light and ethereal. It nearly floats above me like so many of my dead relatives. And I still have the second half to go which I hope becomes the designated sweet spot. My fervent wish is that the first half was merely a precursor to draw me in so I’d write nice things.
The second half begins at one hour passed. Construction is excellent. The char line is near regimental. The ash is not structural, but rather delicate. I use a straight jacket I received as a parting gift from my stay at Atascadero for a barrier between ash and my clothing. It came with a custom designed gonad protector. Charlotte asked I not wear it during marital conjugation as it interfered with her jack boots.
This is a medium strength cigar, not the medium/full I found in my research.
Flavors have not changed one bit. They were canonized early. Complexity remains at medium body. Transitions only come as a result of their refined approach to contain a smooth delivery system throughout.
The last two inches begin. I didn’t receive the sweet spot I had hoped for. The mention of Kelner screwed me up. Don’t get me wrong, I like this cigar but it ain’t no Jack Kennedy. It’s not that the positives weren’t on the heavy downbeat, it was that I found nearly zero negatives to declare. That’s a big yes on the plus side. But not a rave.
RATING: 93
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
“… found nearly zero negatives to declare. That’s a big yes on the plus side. But not a rave.” And yet a score of NINETY THREE. REALLY!!! 93 looks like a rave score.
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