WRAPPER: Connecticut Broadleaf
BINDER: Indonesian
FILLER: Nicaraguan
FORMAT: Toro
ORIGIN: Honduras (HATSA)
INTENSITY: Medium-full
NOTES:
Baking chocolate | Black pepper | Cumin
Straight-forward and consistently-so. Not linear, per se. Quite hefty and quite more black peppery, but not in a cumbersome nor abrasive manner. You get the baking chocolate, cumin-led red spices (paprika, cayenne), and they're pulled forward by a casual juggernaut of black peppercorn, cracked here and there. The rest is a weighty far-down underbelly of inky earth, made savory via leathery inclusions.
A ding in performance is a tick of a resistant draw, which shows some hesitance as well. Nothing major, but present nonetheless. Burn is quite nice although each time the ash is rolled off, the top-leaf threatens to lag some. One retouch is lightly-required at mid-point. The ash--dense with an oily core clings exceptionally well in a slightly splintered sheath. Oily core can also be used as a 2/3 and on descriptor of profile.
A nicely balanced, rather rudimentary but pleasing blend. No real complexities but decently transitional as both alluded to and up-coming, and okay depths. I will say it finishes darkly sweet on long legs and then ends cleanly. Definitely not the brute I'd prepared for but also as (more) definitely not a light-weight. Espresso comes in near the final third and on-out, as sweet meaty aromas linger about.
TASTE: B+
DRAW: B
BURN: B+
BUILD: A-
FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79
::: very :::