Saturday, November 19, 2016

Illusione Rothchildes & Ward/Kovalev Review

B"H
THE CIGAR
Illusione Rothchildes
4 1/2 x 50 Rothschild
w. Mexican San Andrean
b./f. Nicaraguan
Tabacos Valle de Jalapa SA, Nicaragua
K A P L O W I T Z SCALE
Construction.
k a p l o W i t z
Draw starts at a full tension, humsoever, my smoke-hole don't feel cheated. Loosens to quite doable medium+ at the mid-mark onset prior to me sucking out my dental work. Ash is a pretty sheath a' white in the 1/3 but then lesser-so the remainder. Seams hold quite well. Ton of tobacco in a 1/2 ton package. Pack starts with a brick feces house rating and softens just ever so slightly at the nub. Smoke stays cool throughout.

Combustion.
k a p l o w i T z
Burn-line is nuts even, gate-to-wire. Slowly-paced. Even-keeled smoke out-put off each end. Not a lot to say. Verily well did.

Flavor.
k a p l O w i t z
I tasted a definite marzipan here and there; thought I'd mention that first. Notes were led by a verily nuanced and finely ground pepper, both white and black w/ sweet accompanying spices. That tandem'd with a nigh as nuanced woody melange of sweet hardwoods and dried cedar. Nuttiness braced the woods in a pine and almond manner -- flesh only. The remainder of notes seemed to gravitate around a natural tobacco tightly coiled core. Coffee and cream. Cocoa. Toasted grape fruit. A vague grapeseed extract particularly on r/h. Smoked car-a-mel. Honey malt. Floral bits. Interestingly 'nuff for a mainly core delivered profile, there is an under-belly of leathery earth.

Body.
k a p l O w i t z
Fairly classical medium body. Delivered in creamy wood/pasty nut fashion with a neat-o sweet but not overly-so finish. Smooth but not pillowy. Crisp. Not a tingle to be seen on an excellent moisture level mouth-feel. Very clean ending.

Strength.
k a p L o w i t z
Just' nuff backbone to carry the profile. Minimal nicotine zetz.
FINAL GRADE
****B+****
WARD/KOVALEV
Mr. Andre Ward won the Light Heavyweight crown via three American judges scoring it 114-113 each. Unofficially and meaninglessly, I scored the fight the same way, but for one Mr. Sergey Kovalev.

Krusher started strong and Ward started sluggishly stiff. A second round knock-down by the Russian had me thinking B-Hop all over again. Ward, humsoever began to put pennies in the jar via body-shots whilst circling counter clock-wise to avoid Kovalev's Krush. A Krush involving a fantastic left power jab which he used and uses as a traditional set-up as well as a far less traditional combo's ending.

All told, Kovalev faded in the mid to late rounds. I blame it as much on his own inability to cut the ring off, as I do on SOG's brainy grind. Not to fall into this generation's participation trophy silliness, but there was no loser in this bout. Kovalev simply did most of what he needed to do, whilst Ward did all of what he needed to do. Simple math says it was Ward who made it his fight. Just depends on whom's math, apparently. It was no robbery as some are screaming. Brilliant fisticuffs.

A rematch hath already been mentioned and too, seems begged. I just don't see it ending differently, lest a puncher's chance which dwindles by the quickening tick.
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