Originally Posted by
JJ Westbrook
After receiving this box in the mail at work a little before noon, I could not help but to antisipate what suprises I would find inside. By the time I got it home I could wait no longer. I opened the box and, to my delight, I found two cigars that I immediately knew that I have never had before. These are both so far from anything I have ever had that I have no way of guessing what they are. The wrappers on both were as dark and rich as one could imagine. I examined them both as closely as my un-trained eye would allow and stuck them in my humidor. That is when I posted the confirmation that I had received them and intended to begin my expedition later that night. After dinner I decided that the time was right. Now I had to choose.
Well, I smoked cigar #1 if for no other reason than it was the smaller of the two (in ring gauge only as they were the same length - 5 inches) and was about the size of what I smoke regularly. Pre-light draw was smooth (almost loose) but not very tasteful. It wasn't bad just nearly no taste at all. It was easy to light and started off tasting pretty decent. The taste did change slightly throughout the smoke but never got any better or worse than pretty decent. There was not really a large amount of smoke, but it was not disappointing either. The burn was really my least favorite attribute of this cigar. Almost from begining to end it burned unevenly. On my 1-5 rating [1=Really Bad; 2=O.K.; 3=Decent; 4=Good; 5=Excellent] I give this one a 3.
I had hoped to smoke the second suprise last night but found myself on the road far later than I had hoped. So, I had it after breakfast this morning. Pre-light draw on this was was close to medium, the way I prefer it. It was also more tasteful. Now, I don't pretend to be able yet to really pick out and describe the different flavors in a cigar (especially these that are so new to me) but I could definately taste more "aroma" with this cigar. I was equally easy to light and started out tasting better than the first had ever gotten. The first thing I noticed with this smoke was the volume of smoke. There was more thick billowing clouds of smoke with this one than any cigar I have had yet, lots more. It caught me off guard and was a nice suprise. The taste was much stronger (more full-bodied) than I am use to but I didn't find it at all 'harsh'. The second thing that I noticed as unusual was the ash. The ash all the way down this stick had a reddish or brownish tint to it. This is the first time I have ever seen this. Now, it may be that this is common to the dark wrapper and I just am not familiar with it. I did not notice this with the first cigar but I did smoke it outside in a not-so-well-lit area in front of my house, so who knows?... This smoke just seemed to go on and on. The draw became a little looser than I am use to shortly into it. I can only assume that this is due to the larger diameter. This one did burn much more evenly than the first, which I was glad to see. As for rating it, this was a very hard thing for me to do. I suspect that my tastes are not yet developed enough to appreciate this smoke but to me it was still a least a Good (4) smoke.
Many thanks to Basil for both of these interesting smokes. I am very anxious to find out what they were.
(P.S. Please over look any typing/spelling errors you run across in this post as I am on a borrowed computer with no spell check and at 0100 I am sure I have missed something.)
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