The KC/DW Review Series

[King Catfish]

This evening I tried the God of Fire Don Carlos blend, sent to me by DeeDubya.

The cigar was a solid-packed robusto with a medium-toned, fine-textured wrapper. The red and gold double band showed a picture of Prometheus being tormented by the eagle and the name of the blend, “Don Carlos”. The cigar gave the impression of high class and workmanship, and felt good in the hand. Construction was rock solid, and I feared a tough draw.



The unlit aroma was not strong, but a little sweet and perhaps slightly woody. I lit the cigar, and was immediately greeted with a large volume of mild, woody, leathery smoke that was easy on the tongue and civilized in the throat. The draw was easy as well, despite the hard-packed feel of the cigar. The ash was ghostly white. The burn was a little uneven at first, but this happens to me often; it might be that I light my cigars inexpertly; in any event, the burn evened itself out quickly with no help from me.

The first third made an understated presentation of wood and leather, perhaps with a tiny hint of spice. The flavor was very subtle and I had to concentrate to get a clear impression in the first third. The ash was really extremely white, and fell off after about an inch (and later ashes were much longer). The aroma of the smoke wafting around the cigar was dry, faint, and pleasant. Aftertaste was nearly absent.

As the second third got underway, the leather in the taste began to assert itself a little more; it was late at night when I smoked this stick or I would have liked to try it with coffee. It seemed this cigar would be complimented very well by a nice cup of java. The aftertaste was faint, supporting my hypothesis that this would be a good cigar for the (late) morning, when the palate is more sensitive and a strong, lingering aftertaste would be less desirable. In the second third I was a bit surprised as the cigar started to assert itself more strongly. In the very middle the cigar started to pump out a nice, somewhat dry leathery flavor that I really enjoyed, and it did not seem to suffer too much from its loss of any hint of spice.

In the final third, it occurred to me that this cigar was perhaps a little bit like the Montecristo White but less creamy and more dry, and again I thought I would like to try this one again sometime earlier in the day, with a nice cup of black coffee. The aftertaste was developing that slightly alkaline character that always makes me think of coffee. To my surprise, a very interesting sort of burnt chocolate taste appeared near the nub, and was quite a treat. There was a touch of bitterness at the nub (which I did not mind, and it did not stop me from smoking until my fingers were practically ablaze).

All in all this was a very civilized, classy, memorable cigar that developed moderately well and had a very pleasant taste. It suffered a bit from a weak start and a lack of complexity until well into the last third. I would save this cigar for a thoughtful late Saturday morning coffee alone in a sunny kitchen or porch, not wanting to risk it getting overpowered by conversation, strong drink, or proximity to a meal.

Score 17.85 (x5) = 89.25, gaining half a point for exceptional construction, losing half a point for the weak start, and gaining a half point for good development after the middle, for a final score of 89.75. I would suspect it would score higher when paired with the proper beverage and time of day, as mentioned above.

Thanks again to Deedubya for his generosity and another unique smoking experience. Apparently this stick is limited in production and hard to find. This is the best sort of gift, an experience that otherwise I would not have had.

To expand a bit on cigars in general, I am beginning to see that I like different kinds of cigars for different situations: The God of Fire fits into that category of a thoughtful smoke one has alone and provides with the perfect setting for full enjoyment. Other times I like a cigar with a more assertive character and a strong start, best for conversation with a couple of good friends and depending less on setting and complimentary beverages or food.