Monday, August 3, 2020

CAO Cigars Steel Horse Ape Hanger in Review "I Guess I'm More a Vespa Guy"

“Have you Kaplowitz’d to-day?”

CAO Steel Horse Ape Hanger

WRAPPER: Connecticut Habano Grueso
BINDER: Brazilian Arapiraca
FILLER: Dominican, Honduran, Nicaraguan

FORMAT: 5.5x58
ORIGIN: STG Esteli, Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium?

NOTES:
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Thin & predominantly bland. Insofar as discernable flavor notes, HOLY SHIT DID I GET THE COVID?! (I taste barely any tastes.) The body is a bit sharp; the finish is of a fleeting length. Something like a mild hot sauce? Something like a faraway vanilla extract? Further-out anise/cola melange? Am I asking you or telling you? I wanna say Dr. Pepper.

Mainly earthen & mainly in the midsection, liquidy but not in a lip-smacking manner. Spitty. Hints of waxy dark chocolate shavings, dark non-descript fruits. Dried but wet. Left out on a wet sidewalk... mineral-y. At the 1/2 an espresso sets in well 'nuff then vacates. Then the real bland happens on-out. Leathery under-belly gate-to-wire, chugging along thinking it can but cannot on its lonesome.

Burns jaggedly-so. Draws damply. Nice smoke out-put but wispy/wimpy room-note of diesel & leather (in that order). Ash grows dark & fugly, missing an inch of length. The roll holds well, so there's that & that's nice. Palate abrasion comes in the 3/3. I guess I'm more a Vespa gent than an Ape Hanger dude. This thing really ruffled my silk scarf.

FINAL GRADE: C
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

::: very :::