Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Artista Cigars Midnight in Review

BRAND: Artista
BLEND: Midnight

WRAPPER: Dark Ecuadorian Habano
BINDER: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade
FILLER: Nicaraguan, Dominican, US

FORMAT: Robusto (554) box-press
ORIGIN: Dominican Republic
INTENSITY: Medium
SPICE: 1.5/5

NOTES:
Mocha latte | Sweet spice | Cashew

Thickly swathed in sweet malted honey, warm citrusy earthiness. Chicken coop. Easy spiciness, also sweetly-so, quite nuanced. Cinnamon, white & green peppercorn, cardamom. Cashew paste. Would benefit from a tick more structure but a creamy-soft easiness is nice. Well-balanced, consistent delivery.

Draws velvety-smooth with a quarter-bit emptiness on rare occasions. Burns on a mainly self-correcting wave (a single re-direct at the mid-point), yielding fluffy short-growing ash. Big smoke out-put culminates in a plush satiny aroma of sweet bread and coffee kiosk. A bit veiny on the top-leaf but well-rolled.

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

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

::: very :::