Blind Tasting Results

First my rating system. I will be using a 100 point scale with the breakdown as follows:
Appearance: 10 points
Construction (including draw): 20 points
Beginning flavor (first ¼ of cigar): 20 points
Ending flavor (remaining ¾): 40 points
Overall enjoyment (a somewhat arbitrary number that I assign to how all the other factors come together): 10 points

First thought on the cigar: defiantly not a Cuban cigar. The wrapper is probably Connecticut Shade (a negative since I rarely like Conn Shade cigars). When I first got the cigar, it was kind of squishy to the touch; I assumed it was because of over-humidification. When I smoked it about a week later, it had firmed up a bit, but still too soft, I attribute it to construction.

The wrapper was very nice, a light shade of brown, somewhat veiny, and with very little tooth. There was a minor tear on the wrapper near the head which could be attributed to the removal of the band.

I cut the cap and got a somewhat hard draw, probably because of the humidification. It had a good smell to it (very familiar scent, but defiantly not Cuban). The pre-light flavor was good, but not great. Appearance 9 points.

The cigar had a very good burn throughout and did not require any touch ups. The wrapper stayed intact. The draw eased up as I smoked. Construction: 18 points.

Beginning Flavor: Not good. I got an almost chemical taste to it in the very beginning. That taste died down after the first few puffs, but never really went away. It’s a medium body cigar to begin, but mellowed out fairly quickly. I might just be to harshin this aspect, but the chemical flavor really hurt the score here: 10 points.

Ending flavor: the cigar mellowed out even more but about halfway through started to develop more strength. About this time I got up form my chair and it hit me. A bit of a sleeper. The chemical taste never really left and the finish was extremely harsh. At about the 3/4 mark, I simply could not smoke any more, the flavor became too bitter and it was far too harsh to be enjoyable.. There is a lot of very dark smoke, which is uncommon for Conn Shade cigars and the ash is very dark, also uncommon. I think I might be a bit too generous on this score, but the middle of the cigar was enjoyable. Was the harsh beginning and end worth it, I don’t know, I am giving it the benefit of the doubt and awarding 35 points.

Overall, I don’t think this was a very good cigar, but it has some potential. I think a lot of negatives could be overcome with more aging. I think this cigar could be much better with about 2 years in the humidor. Would I smoke this one again, depends. If I were in a bar and just wanted something to smoke and was drinking a beer and it was offered to me for free, sure, if there were no others available. If I was at a cigar shop and I saw this on the shelf, I’d pass on it. I would not make this a part of my regular rotation. Overall Enjoyment: 5.

Final Score: 77