Monday, September 11, 2023

Room101 Cigars (Forged Cigar Co.) Big Payback 2023 Redux in Review

BRAND: Room101
BLEND: Big Payback 2023

WRAPPER: Honduran
BINDER: US Conn. Broadleaf
FILLER: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican

FORMAT: 770
ORIGIN: Honduras
INTENSITY: Medium

NOTES:
Snickers | Earth(spiced) | Coffee

It would sure be nice if this thing didn't have a 'Snickers vein.' Other than its enormous size, it's moderate in all ways. An engorged perceived value. According to the Talmud, Moses stood 15' tall. Not the same-same insofar as sentiment but I'm in the mood to talk size. Blue Whales are about the length of three school buses. I always thought school buses were an odd unit of measurement. This cigar is roughly a Snickers and a half.

I actually get some Snickery notes. And raisins. A good amount of dried earth enveloped in spiced leather. The spices infiltrate the earthiness. Coffee left out to burn on the hot plate of the drip machine. I actually like that sort of coffee, cream and sugar. You get a bit of cream and sugar here too, lent from the confectionary bits. No real structure or delineation here and not much nuance. It just sorta is, and is's a lot. Moderately.

I will say it burns quite well for its size, and any size really. The combustion and construction aspects are excellent all around here. The ash builds big. The draw draws smoothly and in a balanced manner. Balanced is another good word for this smoke. There is one other item surpassing moderation here: the smoke out-put. Although the aroma it leaves for all its plume is rather mutedly sweet-woodsy.

As a novelty, it is quite novel and as a smoke, it is ultimately quite serviceable.

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

FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very :::