Dunbarton Cigars Umbagog Bronzeback Robusto in Review

BRAND: Dunbarton T&T
BLEND: Umbagog Bronzeback

WRAPPER: American Connecticut Broadleaf
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Robusto (552)
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium
SPICE: 3/5

NOTES:
Dessert spice | Cedar | White pepper

Sweet not sharp pale dessert spices. Obviously solid, deceptively smooth. Malty textbook pages. Animalic depths. Caramel. Praline. White pepper. Sweet bread. Cozy cedar. A clean underneath of salted minerality; floral cotton fabric overneath. Richly-densely nuanced, a warm evolution.

Carefree and intense, a smokeable juxtaposition.

As to the nuts & bolts of the combustion & construction; Excellent draw and burn (see below). Smoke out-put is sans complaint. Ash grows solid, long. Burn-rate is moderate to slow, evenly-so. Build takes a ding (see belower) as pack does tend to soften some on-down.

TASTE: A
DRAW: A-
BURN: A-
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very ::: 

Don Doroteo Cigars El Vencedor 1942 21 Anos in Review

BRAND: Don Doroteo
BLEND: El Vencedor 1942

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Corojo
BINDER: Dominican
FILLER: Dominican, Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Toro (5.5x54)
ORIGIN: Dominican Republic (La Aurora)
INTENSITY: Medium
SPICE: 2.5/5

NOTES:
Leather | Dr. Pepper | Amaretto

Starts in reverse-order of italics above. Settles into as noted outside of onset. Starts on a jagged-burn, almost evens out at about that same time. Smokes quick throughout. Chicken coop, barnyard. Seams loosen, don't open. Draw is a tick-towards airy. Fuzzy sweet malt, spiced apricot. Transitional; mildly not wildly.

TASTE: A-
DRAW: B+
BURN: B
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very ::: 

Don Doroteo Cigars El Legado 1936 in Review

BRAND: Don Doroteo
BLEND: El Legado 1936

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Sumatra
BINDER: Ecuadorian Sumatra
FILLER: Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Robusto
ORIGIN: Dominican Republic
INTENSITY: Medium
SPICE: 2/5

NOTES:
Citrus | Graham Cracker | Milk Chocolate

Graham cracker, citrus, and a fluffy-toasted cream filling-topping conjures up Meringue pie imagery. Dessert spices hint at apples, peaches. Buttery cedar structures. Milk chocolate shavings top it off. Silty sandy-clay saltiness. Silky earthiness. Slow-mo action. Deliberate not dull. Consistent not unchanging.

TASTE: A-
DRAW: B+
BURN: A-
BUILD: A-

FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very ::: 

CAO Cigars Arcana Series Stokk in Review

BRAND: CAO
BLEND: Stokk

WRAPPER: American Broadleaf
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Dominican, Cyprian Latakia, Honduran

FORMAT: Belicoso (6.5x52)
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium-full
SPICE: 2/5

NOTES:
A bit like a campfire kindled with pencil shavings. Oranges roasting over-top in cast iron. Creosote and anise. Black pepper and chicory. Grows smoky-more towards the half and on-down as back-loaded Latakia takes hold. (But you've been smoking through it all along.) Straight-ahead single-minded pungent marching. Fast-paced, unwavering; entrenching. Resistance is futile.

TASTE: B
DRAW: A-
BURN: B+
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very :::