BLEND: Daruma (2023)
WRAPPER: Nicaraguan
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan
FORMAT: Toro (650)
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium-full
NOTES:
Chocolate | Black pepper | Vanilla bean
It once took me forever to fail at finding a black jacket. What kind of black jacket? A black jacket. Just a plain black jacket that lived oh so clearly and plainly in my mind's eye. What kind of chocolate do I taste here? Chocolate. It tastes like chocolate and I'm stuck with a camouflage-lined monstrosity because I ran out of patience. This smoke is patient. Purposeful.
Chocolate forms the core and shell of the ball-bearing-shaped profile. Between that core and shell are chocolatey-influenced notes of black pepper, vanilla bean, molasses, and dark, rich earth under a pile of compost. The ball-bearing is focused enough on its rail-tracked way to be a very important marble in a Rube Goldberg contraption. An unerringly single-minded and consistent blend, then.
The burn-line wobbles but never needs retouching. It also somewhat puts me in mind of the fictional Blues musician I created named Lumpy Shaft. This cigar is making me hear John Lee Hooker playing Boom Boom. Smooth draw and superb ash growth. I once got lost in Gary, Indiana, and had a great time. I can't recall the jacket I was wearing. I dig this smoke. Smooth-grooved and warm gravely-voiced.
TASTE: A-
DRAW: A-
BURN: B+
BUILD: B+
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79
TASTE: A-
DRAW: A-
BURN: B+
BUILD: B+
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79
::: very :::