RealFreakinCigarReviews

First off, happy new year to my fellow stogie affecianados!  May you all have an awesome New Year, and may the stupid S-CHIP bill die a painful death in Congress (it won't, but I can always hope).

Initial Thoughts

Well, this is a stubby li'l feller, ain't it? No visible imperfections, no soft spots.  Smells slightly sweet and somewhat earthy.

The Smoke

Now, I remember reading on the CI (Cigars International) site, that there was some sort of equivalency table, where this size of cigar is actually equal to something like a 6.75 X 50 Churchill.  That kind of reminds me of a few years back when Intel and AMD were in a competition for processor superiority.  At any rate, I am using my handy dandy watch to keep track of the smoking time to see if there is any actual basis for this alleged equivalency table.  I will say, no matter what, I am thoroughly enjoying this cigar!  Also, for the record, the CI site claims this thing tastes of nuts... I'm not tasting any nuttiness, but it does have kind of a smoky aftertaste or finish.

 In the meantime, I'll reflect on this past year, and what I'm hoping to see happen this year.  So, I don't know about any of ya'll, but for me, '08 was decidedly less than stellar, so for me, I'm hoping for a much better '09, filled with lots of fun, good memories, good friends, and good cigars!

Now, I'm at about the 1/3rd point, and the flavor has remained basically the same.  One of the "selling points" for this cigar, is that it allegedly hit its sweet spot right off the bat and stayed there.  I am in fact seeing this.  Flavor and burn continue to be excellent, and interestingly enough, nearly 16 minutes have past.

I'm now at the 2/3rds point, the flavor continues to be full bodied and complex.  I would say that its lightened up a little, but so far, its a great cigar!  Draw and burn continue to be perfect.  And, shockingly enough, 33 minutes have past.  To be clear here, I'm taking my time on this stick, basically smoking it and truly enjoying the experience.  I'm still skeptical about a 58 minute burn time, but hey... ya never know!

And I'm done, at 52 minutes and change.  Not 58 minutes, but certainly lasted longer than I would have thought!

I enjoyed the cigar, and it was certainly a nice way to start out the new year!

The Rating