2019 SoS Blind Pass Reviews

[gurgalunas]

A

@admartinct
Some cigars are like chameleons more so than others. You may find that more cigars change profiles than you think, if you were actually smoking it from a review stand point.... hence the “thirds” in almost every review out there.


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Agree completely. Especially blind reviews. I categorize cigars generally when not focused on a review type situation. Start making notes, and it's amazing the detail, and fluctuation you notice.

 

[WNYTony]

Ok @admartinct - let's see what you have in store for me this time. Cigar #2 - a good old 5 x 50 robusto. Looks beautiful and I'm getting a dark chocolate smell off the foot that immediately has me thinking this is a Crowned Heads stick.

Construction is great and the burn line it near perfect. The taste has me puzzled and I can't pinpoint whether it's a Las Calaveras or Court Reserve but I'm still on the Crowned Heads train on this one. It is an excellent cigar - one I would definitely smoke again.

And then he rips the rug out from under me. A Don Pepin Garcia ! Great curve ball here Adam - showing me how very bad I am at this and how I owe @Dran for pulling me into this ! LOL

 

[gurgalunas]

Time to mow again, but it's such a beautiful morning, I thought I'd take a break before I even get started...

#3, a triple-capped, 5x50ish cigar with veins and visible seams gets put to the flame.



A little on the soft side, I'm surprised it isnt drawing better. A minor touch with the PD brings it up to snuff.

Immediately, a blast of pepper, cayanne. That settles down quickly, taking equal play to earth, mineral, leather. A slight hit of sweet chocolate flashes, but settles in as coffee. First ash falls at 3/4". Kinda leaves a dry mouth, glad I find a bottle of water behind the seat.

2/3 backs off the boldness of the flavor, but stays in the same earth, mineral, coffee profile. The veins are causing an irregular burn line, but not detrimental.

3/3 stays the same, tannic, coffee, earth, leather in the background. I'm guessing nica puro, maybe like a AJ man o war. Not my preferred profile, not bad, just a little too full-bodied for me for an everyday...

Reveal...


I get this. Had a lower shelf LFD last summer and it struck a similar way. Not one I'd stock, but would welcome the occasional stick as a change of pace, maybe after a big meal. I can see this being tasty after a a steak, with a glass of Cab.

Thanks @Redneck_toy. Definitely a contrast to the first two I tried.

 

[Redneck_toy]

Tonight's review is of #3, sent by @fisherclive.
Dark brown wrapper, not sure of size, 6x50ish perhaps.


A quick pass under the nose right out of the cello, i get a barnyard type smell with a hint of mint and semi sweet chocolate. Straight cut and cold draw reveals the same earthiness with a nut flavor. Hazelnut, cashew, something like that. No detectable mint though.
I take it outside, and in the overcast light i see the wrapper is actually mottled, and not uniformly dark. Males me think of a Rocky Patel I smoked early into this hobby that was a dyed maduro wrapper. This one was so bad, it coated my lips, even my fingers with dark brown shoe polish looking stuff. Anyways...
Initial light was a slight hit of pepper, not harsh, but present. Settles down pretty quickly. Getting some coffee, or espresso notes, and a hint of graham cracker, or maybe the cold draw nutty flavors, hard to tell. Burn settles in, a little wavy, but nothing to fuss over.


Settling into the first third, im getting the same flavors, but i notice an insane amount of smoke pouring of this. Liga Privada amounts of smoke. Its crazy. Tried getting pics several times of the smoke, but not would do it justice. First ash falls at 1/2 to 3/4 inch while sitting in the rest.
Nuttiness is getting stronger, and the coffee is dwindling at the start of the 2/3 mark. Had to relight just now. Typing this as i smoke, so it was down maybe 5 minutes. Quick purge and relight, no bitterness at all. Cant nail down the newer flavors coming into play, but it seems familiar to me. Starting to think ive had one of these before.
I'd call this one fullish bodied, medium strength so far. Draw has been good. Im enjoying this one. Ash fell right after the pic.


Im at a loss to describe any new flavors. Hell, they might be staying the same. I suck at the flavor thing. My scale is something like this:
Damn, thats nasty
Meh, ive had worse, would take a free one.
Not bad at all, I'd like a 5er
Damn good, box worthy.
Holy shit, wheres the credit card??
This falls on the high side of not bad at all.
Last third is turning a bit bitter. I tend to smoke fast, so i blame that, not the smoke. Im calling thos one with about an inch and a half to go.
Overall, it was a good smoke.
Reveal surprised the hell out of me.

 

[Tyler86]

Tonight's review is of #3, sent by @fisherclive.
Dark brown wrapper, not sure of size, 6x50ish perhaps.
View attachment 4193

A quick pass under the nose right out of the cello, i get a barnyard type smell with a hint of mint and semi sweet chocolate. Straight cut and cold draw reveals the same earthiness with a nut flavor. Hazelnut, cashew, something like that. No detectable mint though.
I take it outside, and in the overcast light i see the wrapper is actually mottled, and not uniformly dark. Males me think of a Rocky Patel I smoked early into this hobby that was a dyed maduro wrapper. This one was so bad, it coated my lips, even my fingers with dark brown shoe polish looking stuff. Anyways...
Initial light was a slight hit of pepper, not harsh, but present. Settles down pretty quickly. Getting some coffee, or espresso notes, and a hint of graham cracker, or maybe the cold draw nutty flavors, hard to tell. Burn settles in, a little wavy, but nothing to fuss over.
View attachment 4192

Settling into the first third, im getting the same flavors, but i notice an insane amount of smoke pouring of this. Liga Privada amounts of smoke. Its crazy. Tried getting pics several times of the smoke, but not would do it justice. First ash falls at 1/2 to 3/4 inch while sitting in the rest.
Nuttiness is getting stronger, and the coffee is dwindling at the start of the 2/3 mark. Had to relight just now. Typing this as i smoke, so it was down maybe 5 minutes. Quick purge and relight, no bitterness at all. Cant nail down the newer flavors coming into play, but it seems familiar to me. Starting to think ive had one of these before.
I'd call this one fullish bodied, medium strength so far. Draw has been good. Im enjoying this one. Ash fell right after the pic.
View attachment 4194

Im at a loss to describe any new flavors. Hell, they might be staying the same. I suck at the flavor thing. My scale is something like this:
Damn, thats nasty
Meh, ive had worse, would take a free one.
Not bad at all, I'd like a 5er
Damn good, box worthy.
Holy shit, wheres the credit card??
This falls on the high side of not bad at all.
Last third is turning a bit bitter. I tend to smoke fast, so i blame that, not the smoke. Im calling thos one with about an inch and a half to go.
Overall, it was a good smoke.
Reveal surprised the hell out of me.
View attachment 4195

Those are good smokes for sure!


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[WNYTony]

Tonight I'm on to the #3 cigar from @admartinct It's a 6" by 42 or 44 petite lancero with a closed foot. Hmm - that's a clue ! The smell off this is what I would call barnyard and before I even light it I'm thinking Warped

The burn is going great and it is a very good smoke. That barnyard is still present and I'm still on it, but the size is confusing me. I check my inventory list and I can't match it up with any Warped. So I get creative and sort my list (spreadsheet) and look at 6" cigars and the Guardian of the Farm Seleccion de Warped is one that matches the size..... But Adam bombed me one of those in this pass, so surely he wouldn't have also put one in the blinder

Coming to the end of this and I'm still on Warped but don't know which stick it can be. So my guess is some sort of Warped and I look to the sealed packet.

Adam you sneaky shit - you did put that Apollo in the blinder as well as bomb me one ! I'm counting this one as a win. Love everything Warped and this was no exception. If not for the bombed stick throwing me off I would have guessed this cigar, but it would have been based partly on research and not just taste.

This has been a great selection thus far - one more to go !

 

[admartinct]

@WNYTony I figured it would throw you off haha. Glad you enjoyed it

 

[Tyler86]

Number 2 from @Sweemzander

Prelite: Smells faint cocoa, musty, some sort of baking herb or spice. Cold draw about the same. Chocolatish wrapper. Feels like good construction.

First thoughts after lighting it. Strong. Cocoa? Floral/herb? Lot of faint subtle flavors that I can’t pin point but very enjoyable overall. Some plum or raisin coming through. Calmed down a little and became more of a medium cigar. About 1/2 way, still very subtle and mottled flavors that combined into a flavor I can’t name that is super good. Ash will not stay on longer than 3/4”, which is just fine with me. Burn line stays pretty crisp except for the 2 touch ups so far.


2nd Half. Wrapper is beginning to fall apart. May be my fault. Working in the shop. Plum or dark cherry has become stronger as well as the unknown flavor medley that I cannot name.

This cigar has been very good. I’d buy a fiver for sure and might. It seems very, very familiar to me and I yet I have no clue as to what it is.

Wow! Wasn’t even on my radar. Great smoke. Thanks @Sweemzander ! Guess I won’t be getting a fiver of these.



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[Dran]

Great write ups guys! I'm really starting to enjoy these blind reviews!!

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[Tyler86]

Figured I’d skip a few and light #5 tonight as I have some time and it the biggest one left.

Pre light: Toro I think. Dark toothy ass wrapper. Sorta oily. Cold draw is mostly black pepper. Smells like pepper as well. Maybe a little hay. Feels solid construction wise.

1/2: pretty white ash. Light pepper, very faint sweetness. Surprisingly mild. Pretty one dimensional.

2/2: dough and nuts coming into play. Spiced up a bit. Some cream coming through. Burn has been a little wonky through out. 2.5 hours and it’s done.

Overall: Good Maduro. I’m not a Maduro guy but I’d smoke another one of these. Wouldn’t purchase.

Wouldn’t even know where to start guessing. Liga? Undercrown?..........

LOL! Thanks @Sweemzander !!!


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[WNYTony]

Well today was the final round of the Open so I setlled in and pulled the #5 stick from @admartinct - the last one of the group. Apparently I was too into the golf and forgot to get a prelight picture but it was a nice dark 5.5 by 46 ish box pressed cigar. It smelled great a little light cocoa on the foot.

Contruction was very good and the burn and draw were spot on. My early thoughts, and those were largely based on the size and being box pressed, was Fable Fourth Prime. I have found in these blinders that I get on something early and then stay pretty locked in to that - do y'all do that too or is it just me ?

The strength was ramping up as I moved down to the final third but still a great cigar and it was burning very well. Nothing else came to ind, at least not enough to move me off my original thought. My official guess was Fable, let's see what it was that Adam sent me here.

The T ! Another curve ball Adam. I have plenty of these in Robusto and Lonsdale but of course you sent the short churchill that I've never had. Threw me off totally on the size and put me on to the Fable. Another great smoke my friend - thanks for all the mis-direction and and trickery you threw at me in this pass. It was a great line up and I'm glad to see my previous thought and ratings were upheld when smoking them blind.

 

[Dran]

@WNYTony My mind is usually locked in halfway through the first third.... Even if things come up that have me logically saying I'm wrong.... Just to damn stubborn to be swayed!

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[admartinct]

Well today was the final round of the Open so I setlled in and pulled the #5 stick from @admartinct - the last one of the group. Apparently I was too into the golf and forgot to get a prelight picture but it was a nice dark 5.5 by 46 ish box pressed cigar. It smelled great a little light cocoa on the foot.

Contruction was very good and the burn and draw were spot on. My early thoughts, and those were largely based on the size and being box pressed, was Fable Fourth Prime. I have found in these blinders that I get on something early and then stay pretty locked in to that - do y'all do that too or is it just me ?

The strength was ramping up as I moved down to the final third but still a great cigar and it was burning very well. Nothing else came to ind, at least not enough to move me off my original thought. My official guess was Fable, let's see what it was that Adam sent me here.

The T ! Another curve ball Adam. I have plenty of these in Robusto and Lonsdale but of course you sent the short churchill that I've never had. Threw me off totally on the size and put me on to the Fable. Another great smoke my friend - thanks for all the mis-direction and and trickery you threw at me in this pass. It was a great line up and I'm glad to see my previous thought and ratings were upheld when smoking them blind.

I'm glad you enjoyed the selection! (Isabella aside)
I love the blind pass idea, I hope more of these are done in the future.

 

[Sweemzander]

Figured I’d skip a few and light #5 tonight as I have some time and it the biggest one left.

Pre light: Toro I think. Dark toothy ass wrapper. Sorta oily. Cold draw is mostly black pepper. Smells like pepper as well. Maybe a little hay. Feels solid construction wise.

1/2: pretty white ash. Light pepper, very faint sweetness. Surprisingly mild. Pretty one dimensional.

2/2: dough and nuts coming into play. Spiced up a bit. Some cream coming through. Burn has been a little wonky through out. 2.5 hours and it’s done.

Overall: Good Maduro. I’m not a Maduro guy but I’d smoke another one of these. Wouldn’t purchase.

Wouldn’t even know where to start guessing. Liga? Undercrown?..........

LOL! Thanks @Sweemzander !!!


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Fun fact - that sticks from the first batch or two when they first came out

 

[gurgalunas]

Pulled #2 today, a 6" x 45ish stick. Prelight draw is easy, with a vegetal note.

Initial flavors are a mineral tang, pepper, wood. Initial burn was uneven but evens out quickly. As I progress into the first third, a nutty aspect comes out. First ash drops shortly after the pic, about 1". Quickly taking on a medium body.



Second third stays pretty consistent, wood, nut, slight mineral note, a touch vegetal.



Pepper creeps back as 3/3 starts, but stays in the Medium range for me. The pepper confuses me a bit, as I was solidly thinking fuente again. Might be from the wrapper, as its subtle, at least at this point. The usual bitterness comes to play at the end, I quit with a little over an inch to go.

Reveal



Good smoke. Definitely would smoke another and keep some on hand. I've usually liked the fuente I've tried before, no exception here. Thanks @Redneck_toy

 

[Dran]

Brought #3 to work with me today! I was a little scared, with it being a Connie... But WTH, for science!! Ran out the door without cutting it this morning, so I borrowed a coworkers knife, and cutb3 pristine slices in the head. Got in a hurry and missed the prelight ritual.

Construction:
8.5/10. Had some very minor issues that i wouldnt have noticed before i started rolling my own! Slightly soft, but Not terribly.

1/3:
Nothing overpowering here, mostly hay, and slight leather, with an occasional burnt sugar/molassas type flavor.

2/3:
The leather stayed in the background, the hay became a rather pronounced cedar type flavor, and the burnt sugar popped back in from time to time.

3/3:
The cedar faded into the background, the leather picked up a bit, and the burnt sugar came way to the front of the class to finish this one off!!

Summary:
I don't have a clue.... Connies are a Foriegn language to me.... It did kinda remind me of the connie Intemperence I had, so we'll go with that!! I don't really have a clue, but I would definately stock these! And fkr me to say that about a connie is something!

Reveal:

And there it is.. That's what it is.... I still don't know what it is... But that's it!!! Thanks @Tyler86!!

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[Tyler86]

Brought #3 to work with me today! I was a little scared, with it being a Connie... But WTH, for science!! Ran out the door without cutting it this morning, so I borrowed a coworkers knife, and cutb3 pristine slices in the head. Got in a hurry and missed the prelight ritual.

Construction:
8.5/10. Had some very minor issues that i wouldnt have noticed before i started rolling my own! Slightly soft, but Not terribly.

1/3:
Nothing overpowering here, mostly hay, and slight leather, with an occasional burnt sugar/molassas type flavor.

2/3:
The leather stayed in the background, the hay became a rather pronounced cedar type flavor, and the burnt sugar popped back in from time to time.

3/3:
The cedar faded into the background, the leather picked up a bit, and the burnt sugar came way to the front of the class to finish this one off!!

Summary:
I don't have a clue.... Connies are a Foriegn language to me.... It did kinda remind me of the connie Intemperence I had, so we'll go with that!! I don't really have a clue, but I would definately stock these! And fkr me to say that about a connie is something!

Reveal:

And there it is.. That's what it is.... I still don't know what it is... But that's it!!! Thanks @Tyler86!!

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Casa Cuba broheim!


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[Tyler86]

I feel bad cause @Sweemzander sent all these things that are over 5 years old........


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[fisherclive]

I've been really busy, so I apologize for getting my reviews up late.
I smoked #3 from @Tyler86 early last week.
Got some faint floral almost fruity notes early on, nothing harsh at all. Very enjoyable cigar looked to be about robusto size.
Perfect burn line, didn't need any touch ups
Mild to maybe mild + in strength.
Definitely getting the "Cuban twang". Sure reminds me of a RASSC, but not sure given this size...
I really enjoyed this cigar, definitely a great morning stick and would be great on a hot muggy day as well.
I'd definitely buy more of these

 

[fisherclive]

Ok, smoked #4 from @Tyler86
1/3 I got notes of coffee and mild cocoa. Decent smoke output, slightly tight draw.
2/3 some earthiness comes in to play, I'd say it's a solid medium in strength.
Getting a little pepper now
3/3 nothing really changed
Burn needed a few touch ups but overall not bad.
I have no idea what cigar this is, definitely not one I'm familiar with.
It was ok, don't think I'd buy one though