MEGA Review: Halle (Avo 85th Anniversary Limited Edition 2011)

[buzz]

About the cigar:
Brand:	Avo	Color:	Natural
Name:	85th Anniversary 2011	Wrapper:	Dominican Republic
Country:	Dominican Republic	Binder:	Peru
Type:	Diadema	Filler:	Dominican Republic
Size:	6.625'' x 50	Price:	$ 14.50
Strength:	Medium	Website:	www.avo.com

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Information from My Stogie:

There's no better way to celebrate someone's 85th birthday than with a great cigar, and Avo Uvezian truly hit the mark with the Avo Limited Edition 2011 85th Anniversary. These Dominican beauties are made with Dominican sun-grown wrappers, Peruvian Pelo de Oro binders, and filler blend of Dominican San Vincente and Piloto leaves. The result is a zesty smoke with layers of earth, spice, and rich tobacco, along with subtle notes of cocoa and cedar that will burn straight from start to finish.

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General:	Experience	Date Smoked	Where Smoked	Duration	Smoked
badwhale	Amateur	4/14	Backyard	1 hour	Nubbed it
buzz	Newbie	4/14	Backyard	1.5 hours	Most of it
FightingFish	Newbie	4/16	Living room	1.5 hours	Most of it
heftysmokes	Amateur	4./20	Patty-hizzo	1.5 hours	Nubbed it
Irish79	Newbie	4/19	Deck	1.5 hours	Most of it
kevin7	Been around	4/21	Patio	1 hour	Most of it
logan37	Amateur	4/19	Front porch	1.5 hours	Most of it
Mangyrat	Amateur	4/14	In my shop	1 hour	Most of it
Mizicke5273	Amateur	4/20	Back deck	1.75 hours	Most of it
mrtr33	Newbie	4/21	Back patio	2 hours	Most of it
prophetic_joe	Amateur	4/16	Cigar room	1.25 hours	Nubbed it
TheGreekTitan	Newbie	4/20	My office	1.5 hours	Nubbed it
VancouverMark	Newbie	4/20	Work	1.25 hours	Most of it

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Other Info:	Food	Drink	Entertainment
badwhale	N/A	Bell's Porter	The Black Keys
buzz	BBQ Chicken	Margarita	Learning a new language with Rosetta Stone
FightingFish	N/A	Light beer	N/A
heftysmokes	N/A	Moscow Mules	Thunder/Kings game
Irish79	N/A	Fat Tire & Founders Imperial Stout	Pandora radio & reading on my Kindle
kevin7	Nachos	Water	N/A
logan37	N/A	Water / Dr. Pepper	Death in Vegas - Pandora station
Mangyrat	N/A	Ice water	N/A
Mizicke5273	N/A	Diet Coke	Blast from the Past
mrtr33	N/A	Some stout out of a can	Bats
prophetic_joe	Wantons and Wasabi Peas	Vodka on the rocks	N/A
TheGreekTitan	Tuna sandwich for lunch	Agua	Local rock station
VancouverMark	Cranberry lemon scone	Coffee	N/A

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Miscellaneous:
Solomon or figurado shape. Solid colorado wrapper with nice construction. A little veiny. Musky tobacco scent.	Today was our company picnic, hung out at the park, played some kickball and football, had a great time. Got home and fired Halle up to end a nice day.
Wind is playing havoc on the patio. I better drink faster.	Cleaning my guns.
Figurado vitoa with a nice triple cap. Hardly any veins. Clipped very easy.	Chat.
Nice cigar night with my buddies. Made for a good experience for this smoke.	Light drizzle outside. Perfect day to hang out in my office and smoke this beauty.

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[buzz]

Appearance:	Poor	Fair	Good	Outstanding	Perfect
badwhale				X
buzz				X
FightingFish		X
heftysmokes				X
Irish79				X
kevin7				X
logan37				X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273				X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe				X
TheGreekTitan				X
VancouverMark			X

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Construction:	Poor	Fair	Good	Outstanding	Perfect
badwhale			X
buzz				X
FightingFish			X
heftysmokes				X
Irish79				X
kevin7				X
logan37				X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273				X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe				X
TheGreekTitan				X
VancouverMark			X

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Burn:	Very Uneven	Uneven	Even	Perfect
badwhale			X
buzz		X
FightingFish			X
heftysmokes				X
Irish79			X
kevin7		X
logan37			X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273		X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe			X
TheGreekTitan		X
VancouverMark			X

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Draw:	Too Easy	Easy	Perfect	Tight	Too Tight
badwhale	X
buzz				X
FightingFish			X
heftysmokes			X
Irish79			X
kevin7			X
logan37			X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273			X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe			X
TheGreekTitan			X
VancouverMark		X

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[buzz]

Ash Color:	Black	Dark Gray	Gray	Light Gray	White
badwhale			X
buzz				X
FightingFish				X
heftysmokes		X
Irish79		X
kevin7			X
logan37				X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273			X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe			X
TheGreekTitan			X
VancouverMark			X

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Ash Structure:	Flaky	Typical	Solid
badwhale	X
buzz		X
FightingFish		X
heftysmokes			X
Irish79	X
kevin7		X
logan37		X
Mangyrat	X
Mizicke5273	X
mrtr33	X
prophetic_joe		X
TheGreekTitan	X
VancouverMark		X

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Ash Length:	< 1 inch	1 inch	1-1/2 inch	2 inch	> 2 inch
badwhale		X
buzz			X
FightingFish	X
heftysmokes			X
Irish79	X
kevin7		X
logan37			X
Mangyrat	X
Mizicke5273	X
mrtr33	X
prophetic_joe			X
TheGreekTitan		X
VancouverMark			X

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Aroma:	Horrid	Poor	Fair	Good	Great
badwhale				X
buzz				X
FightingFish			X
heftysmokes				X
Irish79				X
kevin7				X
logan37					X
Mangyrat			X
Mizicke5273				X
mrtr33			X
prophetic_joe				X
TheGreekTitan				X
VancouverMark					X

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[buzz]

Strength:	Mild	Mild-Med	Medium	Med-Full	Full
badwhale			X
buzz	X
FightingFish		X
heftysmokes		X
Irish79			X
kevin7			X
logan37		X
Mangyrat		X
Mizicke5273		X
mrtr33	X
prophetic_joe			X
TheGreekTitan				X
VancouverMark			X

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Prelight Taste:
Sweet / bitter prelight taste.	Not much, a little cedar wood and just a bit of spice.
Golden raisin tobacco-ness.	Minimal.
None.	Mild, dirt.
Not much of anything that stands out.	A mix of light earth and hay. There was a slight undertone of wood.
I can't pick up anything.	Nothing overwhelming. A little dry wood maybe. Very mild prelight taste on it.
Not a lot of flavor but pleasant.	Sweet tobacco, hint of spice. Fruit taste, peachy?

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Taste 1st Third:
A little spicy, but subdued like a red hot candy. Oily, some woodsy / nutty going on. There is a buttery saltiness. This is nice, I'm enjoying it.	Light cedar wood with some spice, I hate to say ''smooth'' cause that's what everyone seems to say about every cigar. Definitely mild but not boring.
Mellow. Slightly sweet vanilla.	Very nice, very smooth. Dry leaves, nice balance against the ginger and lime of the mule. Mmmm, mules.
Good volume of smoke. Bigger cigar than I usually prefer, but an enjoyable smoke. Had to relight.	Started mild almost grassy.
Smooth and earthy. Very light spice on finish. Smoke has a grassy aroma. Very nice start. Mild body.	Very mild to me, slight peppery hint on the exhale.
Mmmmm, good......very good. Nice earthy and woody taste. Ash is light and flaky; just after starting, ash fell off. After an inch in, the woody taste has given way to the the earthiness as the dominant taste.	After the first 5-6 puffs, there's almost overwhelming spice. This is going to be a long review if the cigars stays this spicy.
Light spice with a good woody flavor with a little dryness on the finish. The burn is nice and straight with an excellent draw. Very smooth with no overpowering flavors. It's producing quite a bit of smoke for me. I have an idea I am going to like this one.	Uneven burn, but not affecting the experience. I'm probably gonna have to correct it soon though. Lots of smoke and lots of flavor...I like it.
Leather with a minty twinge. Developed into a nice oily leather.

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[buzz]

Taste 2nd Third:
Tastes woodsy / nutty. Seems like a corojo wrapper. Medium body and full flavor. Oily residue on aftertaste. Medium power retrohale. Creamy. I'm likin' it. I'm torn between hondo / dr.	Spice went away, just soft wood now, pleasant but might be getting boring.
Little more hearty, earthy with some mild spice.	Not much developing but a serious life discussion with the neighbor. The review portion is out the window at this point.
Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but I needed to relight again.	Same (mild almost grassy) but a little less grass.
A bit of fresh grassy flavor came out. The spice on the finish has dulled quite a bit. Finish became leathery. Burn started to burn uneven. I decided to not touch it up and see what happens. The burn issue corrected itself. Ash became a little flaky. Mild.	More of the same (very mild to me, slight peppery hint on the exhale).
Earthiness. Slight burn issues have developed. About half way through the 2nd third, a very nice tobacco taste has replaced the earthiness. Excellent!	Nice, even burn. The taste just kind of died here. Not sure what's going on. Good amount of smoke, but where did the spice go? If there is something here, it was killed with the spice at the very beginning
The spice is a little more predominant but not harsh or anything this cigar is staying really smooth with a good flavor and nice smoke. Burn got a little wonky for a small amount of time but by the end of the second third had straightened out nicely without the need for any touch ups. Staying lit well. Good cigar so far that isn't requiring a lot of work to maintain.	Took me 30 minutes to get this far and technically I don't think I'm even in the 2/3rd yet. A little spicy now, still great smoke production and a little less flavor but still a lot.
Nutty taste at beginning of second third. Sweet tobacco and leather. Very tasty cigar.

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Taste 3rd Third:
Buttery with a little oil zing. Woodsy and nutty. Retrohale picking up with strength. Dry profile. Sill enjoying it. Oily aftertaste.	Got boring, taste isn't bad but it's just wood and very mild/muted.
Earthy.	Nice cigar. Three mules in and I'd be happy with pretty much any cigar at this point. I wish I had another one of these to give the proper amount of time to. Also, the picture taking went out the window with the arrival of company.
	Couldn't really pick anything out that caught my attention.
a relight around here. Spice picked back up. Grass and earthiness became subdued by prominent leather flavor. Taste became quite bitter at the begging of this 3rd but mellowed out half way through. More of a Medium bodied smoke now. The spice on the finish picked up more.	On the medium side now and much more enjoyable.
Eh.....the hell with it. I was too engrossed with the great smoke and good movie to worry about writing anything for you all!	Here we go - the spice is back. A little bit more/stronger tobacco flavor as well. Still billowing smoke, still an even burn throughout
Really enjoying this smoke. I found my Wasabi peas weren't really the right compliment though so I at one point I put the cigar down thinking I was done with it. Cleansed my palette and found to my delight after resting the small bit of harsh flavor i had found during the last third was completely gone and the cigar was still well lit and super smooth for me. Still hints of spice and wood with a little more of a dryness during this last third but it seemed to me to have gotten a bit more mellow and a little lighter. Lighter, mild cigars aren't usually my thing but I found it to be a good surprise here.	The uneven burn finally corrected itself. Great smoke.
Slight mint reappears, but oily. Thick creamy smoke with great tobacco taste.

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[buzz]

Grading:	1st Third	2nd Third	3rd Third	Overall
badwhale	A-	A-	A	A
buzz	B	B-	C	B-
FightingFish	B	B	B	B
heftysmokes	A	A-	B+	A-
Irish79	-	-	-	B
kevin7	B+	B+	A-	B+
logan37	A	B+	B+	B+
Mangyrat	C+	C+	B-	C+
Mizicke5273	A	A-	A	A
mrtr33	B	C	B+	B
prophetic_joe	A-	A	A	A
TheGreekTitan	A	A-	A	A
VancouverMark	A	A	A+	A
Average	A-	B+	B+	B+

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Thoughts:	Smoke Again	Buy a Box	Recommend
badwhale	Definitely	Maybe	Yes
buzz	No	No	Maybe
FightingFish	Maybe	Probably not	Probably not
heftysmokes	Yes	Maybe	Yes
Irish79	Maybe	Definitely not	Maybe
kevin7	Maybe	Definitely not	Yes
logan37	Yes	Maybe	Yes
Mangyrat	Probably not	Definitely not	Probably not
Mizicke5273	Definitely	Yes	Definitely
mrtr33	Yes	Probably not	Maybe
prophetic_joe	Yes	Probably not	Definitely
TheGreekTitan	Yes	Maybe	Yes
VancouverMark	Definitely	Yes	Yes

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Last Words:
A tasty, satisfying cigar.	If you like mild cigars I'm sure this is a good one, but for the price I don't think it'd be worth it.
It's all riding on the Whiny Bitches savant Logan at this point. Hopefully our ringer comes through!	Enjoyable, but I'd prefer a smaller vitola.
Good cigar, not my cup of tea but still a good smoke.	Avo 85th Anniversary fits the bill. Lots of flavor but not much of a punch.
Not a bad cigar at all it just was not what I prefer to smoke.	Excellent! That is all.
Nice tobacco flavor in the last third of the cigar. Kind of mild. The narrow end of the head presents some interesting flavors at the end of the cigar. It's well made - not perfect, but well made. I appreciated the even burn, but the spice, when present, was just too much.	I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I have liked all of the review cigars to this point but for me this one has been the best. I would definitely buy this one again. The very subtle spice of it along with the nice thick smoke make this one a very pleasant smoke.
To me, this is what a cigar should be. Strong flavor and lots of smoke. I loved this thing! My only wish is that I smoked this at night with a good beer. Can you send me another one please?	Took a second clip off the cap in the first third which really helped this cigar. The first clip with my ''perfect cutter'' made the draw too tight due to the small hole.

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[buzz]

Pictures:

[buzz]

Pictures (continued):

[buzz]

Pictures (continued):

[buzz]

Editor's Note:

These cigars were purchased from My Stogie. We picked them up for $289.90 with free shipping (2 boxes of 10). The cigars came nicely packaged, in nice hinge-top cedar boxes. I didn't see any damage to the cigars and the two bands came off fairly easily without much wrapper damage.

[buzz]

Blowholes:	Brand	Country	Price	Points
TheGreekTitan	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
craig	Avo	Dominican Republic	$15.62	2138
VancouverMark	Avo	Dominican Republic	$15.62	2138
kevin7	Avo	Dominican Republic	$17.27	1973
badwhale	Avo	Dominican Republic	$10.14	1814
FightingFish	Avo	Dominican Republic	$7.65	1565
Paddy	- Voted off -			0
Total:				11878

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Whiny Bitches:	Brand	Country	Price	Points
Irish79	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	4064
heftysmokes	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
logan37	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
Mangyrat	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
Mizicke5273	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
mrtr33	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
prophetic_joe	Avo	Dominican Republic	$14.50	2250
Total:				17564

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Standings:	Brands Correct	Countries Correct	Total $ Off	Total Points
Irish79	2	1	$1.54	6910
logan37	2	3	$0.10	5740
TheGreekTitan	1	2	$2.82	5208
heftysmokes	2	2	$4.37	5063
Mizicke5273	1	2	$1.28	4372
VancouverMark	1	1	$3.49	3901
mrtr33	1	1	$3.90	3860
kevin7	1	2	$6.58	3842
badwhale	1	2	$7.08	3792
craig	1	1	$5.15	3735
Mangyrat	1	1	$8.15	3435
prophetic_joe	1	1	$4.93	3250
FightingFish	1	2	$14.40	2553

Irish79 is now in the lead, the Whiny Bitch team figured out the exact identity of Halle and nailed her price. Good luck with the next round guys!

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[badwhale]

Ah, nobody has said a goddamn thing about this cigar review.

I'll say it, I really liked it.

Thanks for putting this in the mix Jamie & Buzz!

Will

[Cody44]

I really appreciate the time and effort everyone puts in to these reviews. They are amazingly fun to read and really put the perspective on the flavors and not the brands.

Great review, looking forward to the next one.

[mrtr33]

Ah, nobody has said a goddamn thing about this cigar review.

I'll say it, I really liked it.

Thanks for putting this in the mix Jamie & Buzz!

Will

Oh, I've got something to say:

"We won! We won! We shot the BB gun!"

I did enjoy the cigar - nice pick!

[Mizicke5273]

Ah, nobody has said a goddamn thing about this cigar review.
Will

I made it clear as pitch black night in my submission; I DID NOT WRITE ANYTHING FOR YOU GUYS FOR THE LAST 3RD OF THE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[craig]

Geez, now my team captain is leading and encouraging the whining. I sense a conspiracy! ;-)

[badwhale]

Geez, now my team captain is leading and encouraging the whining. I sense a conspiracy! ;-)

Don't be whining about my whining! We have reason to bitch, what with all the bribes and whatnot that Rich as been giving Buzz...

[buzz]

Don't be whining about my whining! We have reason to bitch, what with all the bribes and whatnot that Rich as been giving Buzz...

I do love me some pizza...

[logan37]

That reminds me. Buzz your order is ready and will ship out as soon as I get Irene's identity.

[buzz]

That reminds me. Buzz your order is ready and will ship out as soon as I get Irene's identity.

PM sent.