Monday, May 3, 2021

Ventura Cigar Co. Archetype The Pupil in Review

lo-fi & lovely

Ventura Cigar Co. 
Archetype The Pupil

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Connecticut
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

FORMAT: Toro (652)
ORIGIN: Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.
INTENSITY: Medium

WEBSITE: venturacigar.com

NOTES:
White pepper | Chamomile | Buttery oak

Lots here. White peppercorn drives, mainly. Chamomile swirls in a floral, not tea fashion. Buttery oak is the bend-not-break structure. Creamy earthiness floods the basement; softly-bright & dense-crammed. Candied pale fruits. Meanderings of clay, suede, cardamom. Delivered somewhat dryly--at times flirting w/ maybe dating, helter-skelter. In the 2/3 they move in together. Often-times improvisational, more-times flamboyant. Cosmic?

A try-hard. Complex & of good heft, l (loudly/jarringly). Lacking some in tethered nuance, some more in balance. Flighty. Edgy. Macadamia, white birch, kaolin. "Jump around! (Jump around!) Jump around! (Jump around!) Jump around! (Jump around!) Jump up, jump up and get down!" - House of Pain. The get-down is where it suffers. Depths are lacking. Darkness is lacking. Too much Yin, not 'nuff Yang. White chocolate. Orange blossom honey.

Performance, like pimpin', ain't EZ. Although I've never understood the perceived difficulty of the latter. Draws fine, evenly-smooth. Grows decent ash, except for when it doesn't (flaky). The burn jags in spots & wants to cone; then wants to go out if slowed. Hot-sided, either way. Pacing ain't EZ? Pell-mell, all told. A demanding stick delivering in one way only--in a cocaphony. Entertaining, tho. Robin Williams coked up on the set of Mork & Mindy. Extra-terrestrial.

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

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

Other Ventura reviews:

@kaplowitzmedia

::: very :::