RealFreakinCigarReviews

Dan goes outside, searching for his happy place, with a 5 Vegas Miami "Knuckle."

Initial Thoughts

In my house, I'm outnumbered 4 to 1 (technically 5 to 1 if you include the spasti-cat) with regard to females to males.  This means that I have no man-cave, and the last bastion of hope for any sort of solitude is outside with a cigar.  Tonight, the stocatto of my oldest, middle and youngest daughter doing dishes, playing (ok that was a stretch) her trumpet, and jumping rope inside respectively, has reached a point where it resembles what I would imagine a Shriner's clown convention would sound like, only without the muted dying cow sounds from trumpet practice.

So, in that spirit, I am reviewing a 5 Vegas Miami.  A short, cigar that hopefully will give me the male equivalent of "Calgon take me away."

So, looking at this cigar, it appears to be well constructed, no blemishes or soft spot.  Sniff test... ummm...  pungent, with notes of ammonia.  No, I'm not within smelling distance of the cat box, and yes, it HAS been in my humidor (no, the cat has not).  I had my wife take a sniff and she agreed... only she said it "almost smells like the cat box."  My hope, is that the cigar tastes better than it smells.

The Smoke

I use my punch cutter, and then use my handy dandy torch lighter to toast the foot and light the cigar.  I take my first couple of puffs, and thankfully, the cigar tastes much better than it smells.  So... what exactly does it taste like?  Well, I'll describe it as having a somewhat "charred" flavor.  I gotta say... this cigar has an interesting flavor profile.  I would say it is medium to full bodied, a little peppery. 

At the 1/3rd point, the burn and draw continue to be good.  Flavorwise, the cigar flavor continues to have this "charred" flavor to it, although I'm tasting some other nuances.  The spiciness is getting a little more intense, and honestly, I can 'taste' the ammonia-ish flavor.  I gotta be honest, thus far here, I'm just not liking the flavor profile; for me, this is unusual, especially given that this cigar is blended by Don 'Pepin' Garcia.

At the 2/3rd point, I can taste some leathery undertones, its spicy, but again, the weird ammonia-ish flavor/smell persists.  The spiciness isn't overpowering and the draw and burn continue to be good.

And I'm done... and I'm disappionted.  I've smoked several other 5 Vegas cigars, and have been very happy with them.  This cigar, not so much.  Yes, the burn and draw were good; it was a well made cigar, but the flavor profile just sucked.

The Rating