BLEND: Epicure Habano
WRAPPER: Nicaraguan Habano
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan
FORMAT: Robusto
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium
NOTES:
Honey | White pepper | Cardamom
A buttery take on a rather traditional Habano experience. Edges threaten to sharpen on a couple-few onset occasions but never get to the point of aggression. Really just a tasty sweet-spicy smoke. More toward mundane than extraordinary but close to neither; occupying that vast between in a sating manner. Loads of honey and graham. White pepper and candied spices.
Excellent balance. Not a fantastic array of complexities. Some sunnily (not glaring) entrenched nuances, depth. Nice heft, but not cloying. Cardamom, suede, light grains. Loamy soil. A hint of Builder's tea. Brown butter, distinct from the aforementioned butteriness. Lingering saltiness. Excellent sweet-ahead and spice-behind legs. Toasts nicely via progression. Leans well away from mundane.
Edges are gone by the half, but the profile's structure continues to be lacking. Construction is superb. Draws well and even; ditto for the burn. Razor-thin line and quite buildable ash. Moderate smoke out-put yields a desert olfactory result. I smell cantaloupe, which is odd. Assemblage of cap and seams hold fast and tight. This is a rare smoke in a certain sense, one both approachable and amusing.
TASTE: B+
DRAW: A-
BURN: A-
BUILD: A-
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79
::: very :::