I got this as part of CI's CigarFest 'sorry you missed it' sampler. It came to me with a nice crack in the wrapper, near the head of the cigar. CI's shitty customer service is a different story....but, on to the cigar.



This is a beautiful looking behemoth of a cigar, measuring 6.7" x 64 I believe. It has a glossy brown wrapper with absolutely minimal veins. It does feel like it is packed too loose, though; there are soft spots all over the cigar, and it feels relatively light despite its size. This theory was confirmed when I cut it; the pre-light draw was about the same as a 2" wide PVC pipe would be. The draw was so loose I could have used this thing as a snorkel. I couldn't taste much of anything before I lit it, but it absolutely reeked of leather and spice.



Here is a picture of the cracked wrapper. I knew this would be a problem towards the end of the cigar, but I put it out of my mind, held the stick carefully, and lit it up.



The flavor started out EXTREMELY mild, with flavors of very sweet spice and cream. It reminded me of a milder version of CAO's Brazilia Amazon, with less spice and more cream flavors. It wasn't producing a whole lot of smoke, and I had to either double puff it or take super long and slow draws in order to get anything substantial. The ash was cement-colored and very flaky, which proved to be annoying; it was a windy day, and tiny bits and pieces of the ash kept flaking off and sticking to my shirt. The burn was surprisingly good; I figured that it would be absolutely abysmal due to the less-than-perfect construction, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was able to correct itself the whole way through with minimal help from me.



At 1.5 or 2" into it, I started to pick up on leathery notes in addition to the spice that stayed with it from the beginning. However, the flavor and body are still incredibly mild. I had brought out a large glass of ice water, since I figured this would be one powerhouse of a smoke. At 2" into it, I donated my water to a few of my plants outside that looked thirsty, thinking that I'd be fine without it. This turned out to be a mistake...



The cigar ashed quite well at just past 2". The draw was still too loose, but I began getting a much higher volume of smoke. Also, the flavor REALLY turned up a notch. I tasted all the same flavors as the first third of the cigar, but much more pronounced and with a much heavier body. I began wishing for a water refill, haha.



The cigar is quite majestic looking at this point. It was really a shame that the wrapper had cracked, because it would have looked absolutely beautiful otherwise. The flavors remain strong, spicy, and creamy. The draw eventually tightens up slightly, which is a nice change.



With maybe 1.5" or so left, the wrapper took a turn for the worse and made it almost impossible to smoke. I hung onto it for as long as possible, before finally chucking it.

Overall, this was quite a good smoking experience. I hope that mine was a dud in terms of construction, because these cigars are fairly expensive. If you can pick one up at a local B&M and make sure that the construction is up to par, I'd highly recommend them.