Wrapper : Connecticut Broadleaf maduro
Binder : Back to no clue
Filler : Dominican
Source : cigar.com with my own money
I am starting off another series review for your enjoyment. This time it is going to be the Cigar.com house blends. All of these will be in the robusto size (5 x 50).
Eighth and last one is the Red Label.
Pre-Light
Giving this Cigar.com Red Label the once over and it has a surprisingly nice wrapper with few veins and bumps in it but nothing out of the ordinary for a cigar in this range.
Scent from the wrapper gives a sweeter chocolate scent adn the foot just produces mainly a tobacco smell.
I used a v-cutter and did a cross cut with it (check the video) to open it up a bit more. After the cross cut the cigar gave a bit of the sweet chocolate on the cold draw also.
First Half
Tearing right into this Cigar.com Red Label and the first puff or two do not merit much except a tobacco and earthy taste.
Little ways into the stick now and I am getting a chocolatey taste along with the earthyness. In this stick in particular the chocolate is a bit muddied but the others I have smoked it was a little more pronounced.
Not much else to report at the end of the first half as the earthy taste was in the foreground and the sweet chocolate was in the back. I did start to notice a little bitterness here and there but nothing that concerns me.
Body on this cigar is a high mild right now.
Second Half
Into the last half of the last cigar.com house blend, the Cigar.com Red Label, and I am a little surprised by the lack of body so far. All of the ones I have smoked for the review were easily in the low-medium to high-mild range at best in the first third.
Bitterness has started to pick up in this stick but i have not had that problem in the other ones I have smoked. I am thinking it is just a fluke.
Body is in the medium range here at the end but never gets to a full.
This cigar has the bitterness taking over the other flavors and moving everything else to the background but the others I have smoked kept a bit of the sweet chocolate, the earthyness and added some of the black coffee to the mix. Again, I am thinking this cigar is the exception.
Wrap-Up
Summing up this particular Cigar.com Red Label would be a negative do to the bitter taste that reared it’s ugly head but basing it on all the ones I smoked, I would give it a positive.
I really liked the sweet chocolatey taste and the earthy taste was nice also. Every now and again to have the dark coffee peek in was a pleasant diversion but none of those things happened in the one i smoked compared with the others. I still think this cigar was probably just a dud.
Would I buy them again? Yes I think I would. I really liked how the maduro wrapper gave nice flavors and the body stayed in the medium range at best. I could see keeping a box of these around for when I want a short maduro smoke.
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Ah, the suspense is over. The review for this series that I was looking forward to. Mike, how would you compare your cross-v-cut to a normal guillotine cut? Is that something you have to do very often, or just an abberation? I have three different cutters, and it’s often a conundrum as to which one to use. And didn’t Ccom know that you’ve been reviewing their blends, or is that why they ended their deal?(I keed, I keed!) Just when I was thinking of taking advantage of that! Looks like it’s worth looking into anyway.
Another great job, and I look forward to your wrap-up.
Cheers!
Jeff
Mike,
The photos at the start do a great job of showing why I don’t like to use V Cutters. Looking down on the cigar you can really see just how deep that V is cut into the head. I can’t imagine adding a second cut to open the draw but I see people do it all the time. I’ve seen it gone as far as a Hash Mark style cut (#) with four grooves.
Nice review again! Sounds like an enjoyable cigar. I would personally not go for these because I regard Maduro smokes as a specialty which I choose to smoke only every once in a while. Therefore if I smoke a Maduro I usually choose a high quality brand with the pricetag that comes with à premium smoke. But it’s nice to see that good houseblend Maduro’s are to be found in the US. Looking forward to tomorrow’s wrap-up video!
It’s all over Mikey: what to do next? I enjoyed the series it’s always good to find some good value smokes. Keep em coming hippie