BLEND: Essence Series Maduro
WRAPPER: Mexican San Andres
BINDER: Honduran
FILLER: Nicaraguan
FORMAT: Toro (652)
ORIGIN: Dominican Republic
INTENSITY: Medium-full/Full
SPICE: 3.5/5
NOTES:
Hickory | Black pepper | Compost
Woodsy and spicy. Hickory, pine; cumin, black peppercorn. Steadfast, unerring. Not-quite aggressive. Leather stiffly envelops. Heavily-packed compost cradles, develops. Underpinnings of quite smoky dark floral notes, cocoa; fruit and nut dark chocolate bar. Well-toasted. Balanced. Delineated. Not transitional but at times that's an over-rated characteristic. However, palate fatigue is flirted with here.
I don't get coffee, but I do get chicory.
Draws smooth and well. Seems to prefer being double-puffed but in a way, don't we all? The filler catches fire quickly and the wrapper lags a bit behind, needing to be nurtured. Burn-line never hits dead-even but the need to nurture ceases after initial torching (until mid-point). Ash is a bit flaky, holds. Very silvery-white. Smoke out-put ebbs and flows, leaving a toasted and spiced black bread patent leatheriness in its wake.
TASTE: B+
DRAW: A-
BURN: B
BUILD: A-
FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79
::: very :::