Artesano del Tobacco Viva la Vida Jester in Review "a·mal·ga·ma·tion"

“Have you Kaplowitz’d to-day?”

Artesano del Tobaco

Viva la Vida Jester

WRAPPER: Nicaraguan
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Robusto Gordo (556)
ORIGIN: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez, Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Full

WEBSITE: artesanodeltobacco.net

This Jester is the 6th vitola extension within the Viva la Vida line. That said, this review has not been labeled as a redux. This, due to its name "Jester" being such a large part of its display as to have it stand alone. You can read more of my thoughts on the Viva la Vida blend, check out: Artesano del Tobacco Cigars Viva la Vida & Artesano del Tobacco Cigars Viva la Vida in Redux. This is also the (co) Kaplowitz Media Cigar of the Year 2018-19.

NOTES:

Black pepper and cayenne, boldly-so; upfront but not dialing back a whole bunch. Spices: smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon, clove. Slight ginger (particularly extending on/into lengthy+ finish.)  Powerfully purposeful. Peppery. Pepper. Thick black over-top a thinner red/cayenne and lingering bit. Body is a match for that front-loaded pepper-spice which features cumin & smoked paprika attachments. Meaning it is not an onslaught, but a smoothly fashioned 'flavor bomb' fresh off the light. As that dials back some, a Death by Chocolate myriad of notes dial-up to meet in the braced-by-cedar overtones. 

The rest is a bulging deep earthiness highlighted with glimpses of espresso, citrus, & tropical floral bits. Well-rounded and presented as an over-flowing plate of well-prepared dessert food. Decadent, really -- yet never a bombardment. Finishes quite cleanly given its height of flavor, in a spiced citrus manner w/ that sweet driving force chugging along. Underbelly is compost, barnyard, leather. Manure. Undertones are licorice, hibiscus, plums. There is bigness in the lower middlings which almost wrap around to the top & definitely do steer the profile -- dense Cuban coffee & dark chocolate. There is a roasted savory leathery, beefy & syrupy-sweet top to the undertones which steers the direction of this Viva la Vida. 

Ash builds till I roll it off at 1-1 1/2" at a time. Draws smoothly, evenly. Smoke out-put slows quickly 'tween puffs but each puff explodes into cumulus clouds which culminate into a heavy room-note of sweetly spiced well-aged dark tobacco. Performance is superb. Dead-even char. Languid pacing. Thick solid ash. The draw is a smooth & even gate-to-wire medium+ tension. Plentiful smoke out-put yields a dark almost somber leather & spice room-note. Final-third is a circling-back replay of the pepper-spice opening. Burns straight and at a moderate pace.

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

What was that? It read odd, eh? The above was an a·mal·ga·ma·tion of the previous reviews listed up-top. Each on-par paragraph shuffled together then cut. Why? I'M AN ARTIST. Also, to show consistency in blend across format of offering. The A- as opposed to A of previous is that it presents here a bit less refined & more knuckle-y.

::: very :::