MEGA Review: Carolyn (Cubao Maduro No. 5)

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prelight taste:

badwhale: sweet tobacco and leather. A little spice.

buzz: spicy and slightly chocolately.

craig: nice 'barnyard', whatever that is.

egq: woodsy, grassy.

logan37: spicy dirt.

mangyrat: leathery.

memphisfred: kinda dark musty taste... Reminded me of taking a chaw of plug tobacco.

mizicke5273: woody, grassy taste.

nhab: earth, leather, good tobacco.

slcraiders: none really present- but the smell is of light-bittersweet cocoa.

tachycoventry: didn't taste like much pre-light.

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taste (1/3):

badwhale: oil. A little harsh. Has some sweet tobacco notes mixed in with a very toothy woodsy tone. Hopefully, this mellows out a bit. Getting a few more flavors now, puffing slowly... A bit acrid leather notes.

buzz: lots of smoke, nice spice and creamy taste - goes absolutely great with coffee.

craig: this is a nice cigar, well-constructed. Tasty. The band is cool.

egq: grass and hay and a horrible aftertaste.

heftysmokes: burnt toast, little bit rough on the palette, not a bad thing. Pairs well with the floral abbey.

logan37: nice mild spice. Tasted of roasted nuts with a slightly bitter leather finish. Very nice start.

mangyrat: tobacco with some pepper.

memphisfred: ...

mizicke5273: a smooth spicy initial taste which is followed by a strong woody aftertaste. Hints of coco began to appear along with the spice picking up.

nhab: easy light, burns even. Loads of smoke. Earthy leather with light pepper smells like good dominican seed. Comfortable bite in the back of the mouth.

slcraiders: cocoa, hints of floral and light spice.

tachycoventry: decent spice off the first third but not a lot of flavor. Not sure about this stick...

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taste (2/3):

badwhale: got a little tunneling going on now. Flavors have mellowed out a bit, but still pretty toothy. Aggressive, but not bad. Oil, slightly acrid leather and woodsy. Nice draw.

buzz: medium strength, smooth and creamy, maybe some cocoa and some spice still sticking around.

craig: i'm liking this. Some leather, spice. A good cigar, burning very well.

egq: it somehow got worse.

heftysmokes: not smoothing out like i expected, smoke feels dry, more of the same flavorwise.

logan37: spice mellowed a little bit. I started getting a fruity taste in the smoke. Green apples is the best way i can describe it. There was a sweeter finish now with a hint of nuts.

mangyrat: tobacco and a hint of wood.

memphisfred: didn't finish.

mizicke5273: still smooth with hints of coco. Towards the middle of the 2nd part, the woody aftertaste began to pick up.

nhab: toasted flavors of light coffee and earth. Light pepper still. Smooth. Full body.

slcraiders: cocoa/chocolate still present, spice picking up slightly and floral tones are now more woodsy. I am really digging this cigar!

tachycoventry: i have a bitter taste now with a little bit of the spice left. If i didn't enjoy smoking so much i would pitch this now but i just like smoking too much, even a stick this bad.

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taste (3/3):

badwhale: need to give it a purge. Tunnel fixed itself. Mostly the same flavors. Oil, acrid leather and very woodsy. Getting more intense now.

buzz: bitter burnt taste, final third is not great, but i still nubbed it.

craig: a little hot, but still very good.

egq: i tossed it - that was the worst cigar i've had in years.

heftysmokes: this guy is just not doing it for me.

logan37: spice picked up again and more intense then the beginning . Taste of the smoke is a more prominent nutty flavor with a "cool" finish. Meaning that i get a cool mint sensation in my throat. Kinda like a menthol cool.

mangyrat: slight pepper.

memphisfred: didn't finish.

mizicke5273: the woody taste continually got stronger until it became the dominate taste.

slcraiders: getting slightly bitter. Picking up some leather now and spice remains, but not dominating. This cigar reminds me a lot of the san cristobal.

tachycoventry: yikes, got more bitter and acidic at the end. I had a few draws off this once it was at the start of the 3/3 and then pitched it.

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last words:

badwhale: i think some age might help these take off the initial edge and mellow the flavors together.

buzz: great smooth spicy cocoa taste when paired with coffee. I've had this cigar with scotch before and was disappointed.

craig: a very good cigar. I had the cigar with some good fresh-ground coffee, so that may have enhanced the cigar's impact.

egq: horrible.

heftysmokes: it might be the abbey, it might be the fact that i'm freezing my balls off, maybe i just feel off. I think if i gave this another shot i'd enjoy it a lot more.

irish79: best of the bunch so far.

logan37: i would take this girl out to a steak dinner.

mangyrat: not a bad cigar but one min after i let it go out i was looking for something stronger it left me wanting more.

memphisfred: sorry but i didn't get to finish it, however i did clip it and will save it and try the rest of it another time.

mizicke5273: this was a very good cigar and i am looking forward to the revealing of it's identity. I'll be picking some up to smoke again.

nhab: had to leave at 2/3 for dinner date, but it was getting very smooth and toasty. Wish i had time to finish it.

slcraiders: purely awesome cigar, imho!!!

tachycoventry: this was bad, but that isn't to say it was cheap. The kinky friedman comes to mind with being a pricey smoke that still sucked...

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PICTURES:

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EDITOR’S NOTE:
These cigars were purchased from RMR Cigar (www.rmrcigar.com). They were running a 30% off special so we were able to pick them up for $85.05 (box of 20). The cigars came nicely packaged in a cool looking distressed-wood hinge-top box. The lowest box price from the December 2010 CigarCyclopedia's Comparison Shopper is $121.50, coming out to $6.08 per stick. The average price guess was very close at $6.32. The closest guess for this round belongs to Irish79! Remember, the prize pack goes to the person who is closest overall (all 5 cigars). Here are the current standings:

| PARTICIPANT:... | AMANDA | BETTY. | CAROLYN | DAWN.. | EMILY. | TOTAL. |

| nhab .......... | $ 1.98 | $ 1.02 | .$ 1.35 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 4.35 |
| slcraiders .... | $ 0.11 | $ 5.72 | .$ 1.35 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 7.18 |
| EGQ ........... | $ 1.98 | $ 3.58 | .$ 2.56 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 8.12 |
| TachyCoventry.. | $ 6.68 | $ 1.02 | .$ 0.92 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 8.62 |
| Irish79 ....... | $ 4.12 | $ 5.72 | .$ 0.00 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 9.84 |
| Mangyrat ...... | $ 4.12 | $ 4.93 | .$ 0.92 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 9.97 |
| MemphisFred ... | $ 4.12 | $ 4.93 | .$ 0.92 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $ 9.97 |
| Mizicke5273 ... | $ 2.77 | $ 4.93 | .$ 4.01 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $11.71 |
| Tdre977 ....... | $ 4.31 | $ 1.50 | .$ 6.08 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $11.89 |
| badwhale ...... | $ 6.68 | $ 2.66 | .$ 2.56 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $11.90 |
| craig ......... | $ 8.00 | $ 2.66 | .$ 3.48 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $14.14 |
| logan37 ....... | $ 5.04 | $ 5.72 | .$ 4.01 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $14.77 |
| heftysmokes ... | $10.20 | $ 7.06 | .$ 0.92 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $18.18 |
| Alcibiates .... | $10.20 | $ 2.50 | .$ 6.08 | $ ---- | $ ---- | $18.78 |

Good luck with the next round guys! Here's a hint: It's in my sigtag.

-Buzz

[JiveTurkey]

taste (3/3):

badwhale: need to give it a purge. Tunnel fixed itself. Mostly the same flavors. Oil, acrid leather and very woodsy. Getting more intense now.

Ya think!?!?

[Tdre977]

Dropped the ball getting my review in, life has been hectic lately, I've smoked the #5 before with the Sumatra wrapper and enjoyed it, look forward to giving this one a go.

[craig]

I've liked the OR Cubao's that I've smoked, so it isn't surprising I liked Carolyn.

Another wide variation of opinions for a DPG-made smoke! I wonder how much of it is us and how much is the factory? Perhaps Dawn and Emily will answer that ...