Prickle-Prickle Confusion 73rd, YOLD 3184
Archetype Dreamstate
WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Connecticut
BINDER: Dominican San Vincente
FILLER: "multi-country blend"
FORMAT: Toro
ORIGIN: Occidental Cigar Factory, Dominican Republic
STRENGTH: Mild-Medium
PROFILE: Sour/Sweet
DELIVERY: Smooth/Peppery
PEPPER-SPICE: medium
COMBUSTION: excellent
CONSTRUCTION: excellent
A blend so bright, ya gotta wear shades. Dollar Store white-framed wayfarers for me, thanks. Driven by lemony tangy-sour then sweet overtones of a lightly-toasted manner; backed by undertones of more salted pale spices and vegetal savoriness. It's sunny af in the raw down there, too. There's a big dose of squirrelly (white) pepper playing about which bears direct notation. Notes are a tick sharp & bitter nods apparently nod off prior to lighting. Read: there are no bitter notes.
Flirts with acidity but leaves the Discotech safely solo. Quite more a complex thing than many a CT but it's all so loud. According to the co. write-up, they seem to be going for a mellow experience. This feels more like a rave to me. I like raves. Another knock is the cacophony seems outta balance hither and thither, albeit in an unoffensive way.
- Pepper (white)
- Citrus (Lemonhead candy)
- Spices (cardamom, white ginger)
- Fruit (pale, candied)
- Almonds (slivers)
- Floral (chamomile)
- Vanilla (extract)
- Dirt (a path of yellow brick rd. thru it)
Combustion leaves me miserably finding zilch complaint. Ash grows pale and dense till I rll it off at the thirds. Pace is slow and the mellowest part of this mellow attempt. Smoke out-put while moderate passively, explodes in volume off the active puffing. No complaint re: construction as well & I remain in critic's hell. A perfect draw and tight seams and solid cap/shoulder and blah blah and blah.
Given some knocks here, I still feel this is a lower-end must-try cigar. That is if you prefer lighter brighter fare. Its possessed of a different 'nuff profile to warrant that sorta exploration & rolled supremely well.
FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
s/o: Bumgarner
www.TableRockTokers.wordpress.com
"Archetype is an exploration of nuance that rewards the discriminating palate with a new line of highly-complex, yet perfectly balanced cigars. Each vitola is artfully crafted with a unique blend of rich, flavorful tobaccos and bound in a pristine wrapper—working in harmony to create an intense, memorable smoke that has no equal. Archetype is inspired by the work of psychologist Dr. Carl Jung and mythographer Joseph Campbell who defined ‘archetypes’ as the constantly repeating characters who occur in the dreams of all people and the myths of all cultures. Campbell discovered through his study of world myths that the ‘Hero’s Journey’ is a common storytelling arc that has been retold in infinite variations since time began. We invite you to share our journey and leave compromise behind." - www.VenturaCigar.com
"The Ventura Cigar Co. is evoking the collective unconscious of the cigar-making world with a new brand called Archetype. Five new blends have been created for the brand's debut: Dreamstate, Sage Advice, Strange Passage, Initiation and Axis Mundi. According to Ventura, these intellectually probing smokes were inspired by the works of Dr. Carl Jung and mythographer Joseph Campbell.
"Dr. Jung, a 19th-century psychologist, coined the term "collective unconscious," which refers to notions of the subconscious mind that are prominent across all cultures. Central to this theory are Jung's archetypes, the characters and motifs that exist within the collective unconscious of humanity. It was Joseph Campbell who then took these Jungian archetypes and applied them to existing myths and religions in his seminal work The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
"In keeping with the theme of universality, Ventura produced these blends at three different factories located in three different countries. Dreamstate and Sage Advice are rolled at Occidental Kelner Cigars, located within the Davidoff facility in the Dominican Republic, while Strange Passage is produced in Honduras at AgroIndustrias Laepe S.A. Initiation and Axis Mundi are made at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Nicaragua.
"Ventura has divided the brand into two categories: Series A consists of the Dominican and Honduran cigars, while the two Nicaraguan cigars makeup Series B." - www.CigarAficionado.com (2016)
+
"At next month’s IPCPR [2018] Convention & Trade Show, Ventura Cigar Co. will be expanding its Archetype Series with the Fantasy Miniseries.
"According to Cigar Insider, the company will add three different 5 x 50 robustos, each slightly different, all with Nicaraguan fillers. Cloaks is a box-pressed robusto with a broadleaf wrapper; Crystals has a sun-grown habano wrapper, a closed foot and a pigtail; and Curses uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and also has a closed foot and a pigtail." - www.Halfwheel.com
Report a typo, win a No-prize.
Like Kaplowitz Media on Facebook HERE
& join the Kaplowitz Media Group HERE
Keep me going.
Keep me GROWING.
Go HERE for ways to support K/M.
70. Kaplowitz Radio