Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Peruvian
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Size: 5.5 x 54
Strength: Medium
Price: $50.00
My cigars have had 5 months of naked humidor time.
Only 5000 cigars released in May 2023.
Aged for up to 10 years in French oak (wine cask wood) and cedar rooms.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I know. Fucking ridiculous. A $50 cigar. …the fuck. I bought it so I’m reviewing it. I could only afford a single. So here goes another blind review that I hope will not be full of regret. I understand that my Euro and Commonwealth readers pay this kind of dough for a single cigar all the time. That’s all kinds of fucked up. We Yanks have it pretty good. We need to remember that wherever we begin to whine…myself in particular.
Reviews for this blend are all over the place. From loving it to hating it.
This stake needs a bloody air hole. My PerfecDraw goes in too deep like a first time cunnilinguist. I scrape it like a Peruvian doctor performing dilation & evacuation in Northern Yerbouti without anesthesia…the patient, not the doctor.
Does a $50 stick smell better than a $10 stick? Yes, it does. Huge notes of floral dominate the massive air hole entrance to my face. Behind that is black cherries, black licorice, black plums, black pepper, and black cow shit. The latter was the name Ozzie first had for his garage band in 1962 while drinking sloe gin, bitters, and imported Schlitz.
I reviewed the Alfonso Extra Añejo ($40) in 2022 and loved it. Gave it 97. Brilliant blend. I also reviewed the Atabey Delirios ($33) in 2023 and didn’t care for it.
The cold draw is delicious with flavors of aged wine casks and honey. You gotta savor a $50 cigar.
Starting with 60’s Motown. Can’t go wrong.
This cigar is dense and heavy. Notes of red pepper, maple syrup, buttery toast, caramel, cinnamon oatmeal, lavender, figs, and good bourbon. Wow. How do you follow up that first impression. Stunning foundational launch.
The It factor is the level of richness and complexity the cigar brings. Nothing is more important because flavor points are fleeting and usually unimportant. But the mystical ‘do I like it or don’t I?’ is based upon the resonance dried leaves have on your Orbitofrontal Cortex that decides pleasure. It decides whether you go ooh and ahh over a cigar or throw the stick to the ground and smash it with your boot…cursing ‘how stupid am I?’
Dry boxing is an oxymoron. If the weather is humid, it might increase the plumpness of your cigar without intention. We got unexpected rain. As a result, my cigar is damp and goes out without recourse. If I was an industry reviewer, I might complain. But as an outlier, I rear my head back and laugh while hurting my back and cursing ‘how stupid am I?’
Good cigar. If you trust me, this is the final arbiter. But is it worth $50? Fuck if I know.
So many smarter cigaraholics than me. I know that. But they haven’t spent 14 years writing about this filthy habit. Splitting hares.
Very slow cigar. Exactly what you want when you spend half a C note.
In the early 70’s, my friends spent weekends at a cabin in Yucca Valley in the high desert of SoCal. YV/Landers is the home of Giant Rock Airport.
This was where the yearly International UFO Convention occurred. You must experience the bizarre vibe to understand the weirdness of this place. At that time, the owner of the place was building a parabolic domed building that, as he claimed, housed a time machine. Donations were welcomed.
A couple miles from the cabin, a 200-foot hill rose above the floor of the surrounding flat desert. We often walked there to bask in the sun and smoke us some J’s. One day, we saw two black limos spiriting down a dirt road heading directly towards us. They parked at the base of the hill. We shut the fuck up and didn’t speak. Men, dressed in black, got out and did a grid…searching the ground for a very long 10 minutes. They never looked up and saw us 100 feet above them. We were as quiet as silent farts. We were more than a little freaked out. After finishing their grid search, they got back into the black cars, and drove like bats out of hell…spewing huge rooster tails of dust. Never knew what the hell happened. But next time that the owner’s wife of Giant Rock Airport told us that people from Jupiter walked among us, we just gulped and nodded. We always got free apple pie when we listened to her story. Here is a link to Giant Rock Airport. They take this shit seriously.
Sip of coffee. Sometimes the compliance of moose and squirrel just works.
I’m having burn issues due to humidity. I don’t base my entire summation on this issue because I’m not a sissy boy. As Charlie says, ‘I’m in my 70’s, fuck ‘em…I earned the right to be cantankerous.’
Creamy root beer, black pepper, graham cracker, peanuts, honeysuckle…damn, just throw in the entire flavor wheel. But they aren’t in your face herbal notes. Subdued and complex. You may not taste any of this. This is a real gentleman’s cigar. No shit.
This is turning into one of the best cigar experiences I’ve had all year.
It’s impossible to turn the chuckle factor on or off.
The first half of the cigar’s strength was medium. As the second half begins (70 minutes), it creeps into medium/full. I feel the power of the leaves. Did you know the great Black Crowes song ‘Hard to Handle’ was originally done by Otis Redding in 1968. Otis does it better. Think. Motown has me bopping.
Is smoking a cigar alone the same as drinking alone? I think not. One is desperation and the other is pure joy.
Super complex. Richness that barricades the bulkheads. The second half is just screaming laughter. Do I factor in the price? Nope. Great cigar. Do you buy a couple of Padrons, or do you buy the Alfonso Gran Selección? The latter is a treat that provides a new experience. Both are grownup blends. I feel sorry for men whose lives are spent afraid of their spouses. Cigars are what life is about. Add the perfect libation and you can navigate through all the bullshit.
I’m stunned, bled out, and dressed. 2-1/2 hours of sheer bliss.
You can purchase Alfonso cigars from sponsor Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code ‘katman’) and Luxury Cigar Club (15% off with promo code ‘katman’).
RATING: 98
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS