Several months ago I received a message from Mike’s wife informing me of a surprise birthday party that she was putting together for her husband’s 40th Birthday. Like any awesome host, I was greeted with a smile and goodie bag filled with a variety of birthday candy and a couple of cigars. One of those cigars was the Legend Ario Connecticut Bertha from Camacho. This cigar was in the bag because it was one of Mike’s favorites and she wanted everyone attending to have one.

I brought the cigar home with me and placed it into my humidor. Back around the time that the Legend Ario was re-packaged, for a second time, I really lost interest in the line. I found the few that I smoked to be harsh and unappealing, especially when the new price point was factored in.

While working from home on Wednesday, to avoid driving in an ice storm, I dug around my humidor and decided to light up the gifted Legend Ario Connecticut. What I found was a cigar that burned a bit faster than expected but had a good flavor profile. As I rounded on the final third, the wrapper popped and the flavors turned sour. Up until that point I was impressed and eager to try more.