Man O’ War Virtue Toro – Cigar Review

Man O’ War Virtue Toro – Cigar Review

Size: 6 x 50

Blend: Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper around Nicaraguan long fillers.

Construction: The cigar was wrapped with a slightly oily & very smooth near claro coloured 

Connecticut wrapper. The wrapper has some reasonable sized veins on the reverse side of the band. Under the wrapper the pack is inconsistent being textbook density at the foot and progressively turning concrete hard on the band & head. Beneath the wrapper there were some significant lumps and bumps which had broken through to the surface. The seams where barely visible and the cigar was neatly finished with a double cap.

Smell: Slight Hints of green grass and dried hay with subtle hints of butter or oil in the background. The foot smelled of dried hay.

 Cold Draw: After cutting and exposing the pack I was concerned that this stick was going to have a Firm draw, it looked extremely tightly packed. Upon testing the draw I was pleasantly surprised to have a very easy draw with a desirable level of resistance. Flavours on the draw consisted of Dried Hay and a slight inkling of butter.

First Light: Flavours on the first light consisted primarily of a very sharp almost charred tasting white pepper which rapidly filled the mouth and left an electric tingle at the tip of the tongue. Behind the pepper there was a dried tobacco taste with a dash of salt and oil.

Flavours at this time were dominated by the white pepper and very difficult to identify while my palate is literally on fire as if I took a shot of white pepper. At this stage the cigar was offering excellent smoke production with thick clouds of oily white smoke.

First 3^rd – 10 min

As the cigar warmed up into the First 3^rd the sting of the white pepper started to mellow out slightly. The cigar was starting to deposit slight oil onto the palate presenting flavour wise like salty butter. In conjunction with the pepper and butter there were slight hints of tobacco and an extremely subtle sweetness. Overall the body of this stick with because the pepper is a medium to full.

At this stage the cigar was burning and drawing perfectly with a near straight edge burn line.

As the cigar progressed the white pepper continued to dial down and allowed the identification of the more subtle components of the flavour profile. The cigar’s personality was headed for a shift, in conjunction with the subsidence of the pepper, the stick formed a grassy breaded character whilst maintain the buttery oil and hints of tobacco and sweetness in the background. By The end of the third the white pepper had almost disappeared leaving the grassy, bready flavours at the front. In my opinion this was a good thing. The pepper was definitely white pepper, but there was something overpowering and unpleasant about it.

Second 3^rd – 35min

Things really started to look up for this cigar into the second third, the previous flavours experienced lacked synergy and made for an odd and disjointed taste  The white pepper was gone, the bread dried out into a more pleasant toast while the grass remained. The more subtle flavours in the background marched closer to the front presenting as sweet caramel and wood. With the pepper out of the picture this cigar is now presenting with a very pleasant light to medium body.

As the cigar progressed through the second third the sweeter notes mover further into the front leaving the grass closer to the back heralding another change to the character of this cigar in the direction of toasty semi oily sweetness.   Late in the third the head started to foul up with tar and made the draw tighter, this was mad further evident by the tang on the lips created by the tar. A new cut was made which only slightly helped with the draw but did manage to remove the poor taste created by the tar.

The cigar started to smoke very slowly as it approached the band, which I attribute to the pack being significantly tighter as identified in the initial inspection.

Third 3^rd -1 hour

Flavours remained unchanged moving into the final segment of this cigar.

As the third progressed, as per usual heat started to present itself slightly being identifiable in the finish.  As the heat ramped up I tried a purge on the cigar in a bit to buy a few more enjoyable minutes with reasonable success.

 As the cigar was near the finish line the wrapper massively split on one of the binders bumps close to the head.

As the third progressed the heat came up and started to ruin the experience so I retired the stick with 40 mm remaining at 1 hour 25 min.

This cigar started off to a very rocky and unpleasant start flavour wise. The overpowering and acidic white pepper made for a pretty unpleasant start. As this cigar progressed it really turned itself around and made for an interesting smoke with good diversity in the flavours offered.

I personally would not buy any more of these as I prefer the offerings of a sun grown or maduro wrapped cigar.

If you enjoy lighter body shade grown cigars this stick is well worth a try. I’ve only had one of these as it was a gift from a friend at a recent herf. (thanks Burkey) I think the experience would be brilliant if the pepper was reined in at the start a little more. The cigar Burnt and smoked like an absolute dream.

Suggested pairings with this cigar would be a light, wet and refreshing white wine like a New Zealand Sav Blanc or a Vodka & Lime with soda water.

Thanks for reading!

Whisgars

Punch Pita, Maduro - Cigar review

Punch Pita, Maduro - Cigar review        

 

Time in Humidor: 6 months 

Size:  6 & 1/8 x 50

Blend: Ecuadorian Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper, Connecticut binder around Dominican, Honduran, Nicaraguan long fillers.

 

Construction: The dark chocolate brown slightly oily wrapper had a slight mottling and one pronounced vein up the side from head to foot. The wrapper had some minor water spots whilst having some of the hardest to identify seams I’d ever experienced. The pack was somewhat inconsistent, which was rock solid at the band and quite spongy on both the head and foot. The cigar was neatly finished with a double cap.  Overall the cigar looked exceptional but on inspection felt like a little more care could be taken in with the pack. Overall the cigar presented as being quite “rustic” in appearance. 

Smell: Smell on the wrapper consisted heavily of chocolate with subtle tones of tobacco, hay and ground coffee; the foot primarily of cedar with small amounts of hay and tobacco.

Cold Draw: The cold draw tasted exactly as the foot smelled, Cedar, hay and tobacco. With only a small cut on the head the draw resistance was perfect, just enough tension to make it feel “right” without seeming hollow. 

First Light: Flavours on the first light consisted of Bitter Espresso, Dark cooking chocolate, tobacco with a very gentle salt in the background. Smoke production was good from this stick, offering acceptable amounts of moist smoke. 

Aroma: aroma from the cigar was toasty with hints of wood and mocha coffee.

First 3^rd -11 min

Flavours in the first third changed significantly from the first light. The cigar was now tasting much alike a sweet mochaccino. Behind the delicious flavours of mochaccino there was a timid hints of Cuban-esque salt, tobacco and toast. Overall the flavour profile from the first light to this stage was far more mellow and refined, sporting a light to medium body. The burn was slightly undesirable at the 13 minute mark with about 10mm variance. I blamed this in the inconsistent pack experienced in this area previously. A bit of the old “tactical placement and rotation” seemed to bring it back quite successfully”

The retro-hale on this cigar was quite pleasant, offering hints of coffee and a chocolate cherry liqueur which I found quite interesting. Smoke production never came up from the acceptable levels experienced on the first light. I would have appreciated a bit more texture and quantity of smoke from the cigar but it didn’t want to give it up.  

Second 3^rd – 31 min        

Flavours entering the second third were much the same as those experienced in the first. The body had shifted upward to a medium and there was a dash more salt contributing to the flavour profile. The burn line on this cigar for the best part had been razor sharp, oddly the razor sharp line had been on an angle. As smoking progressed the burn came closer to being straight across the cigar, which fits in nicely with my cigar burn obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Third 3^rd – 50 mins

Flavours experienced in the final third were again much the same as those previously found in the first and second thirds with the addition of a slight leather and salted caramel. These new additions make for a very pleasing addition to the already diverse profile of this cigar.

I was expecting the rate at which this cigar was smoking to slow down once I made my way into it. It didn’t seem to want to; which I found quiet surprising. Mid third 3^rd the cigar started to clog on the head which I let go for too long, this in turn created a slight tunnel. I elected to re cut the stick. As soon as a new cut was made the draw opened up and the tunnel corrected itself burning the stick back 10mm in a matter of seconds.

With around 40mm remaining the coffee and chocolate notes started to transition into a more bitter cooking chocolate which I could see being the onset of heat.

I elected to retire the cigar at 1 hour 10 minutes. 

Overall this cigar was brilliant, for me personally, it ticked all the right boxes flavour wise. The constructional issues identified on the pre inspection didn’t seem to have any significant impact on the way the cigar smoked or tasted. The diverse range of maduro like flavours really made this cigar a winner in my books.

I was quite surprised by this cigar, I smoked one 6 months ago when I got them and I was severely underwhelmed and quite unimpressed. I entered the review feeling quite prejudiced against this cigar, I was almost loathing this review as I thought I was in for another round of boring salt. It would appear this cigar has responded brilliantly to a good rest period in the humidor. Now I regret buying only five. I would happily pick up a box of these and put some age on them prior to smoking.

If you coffee and chocolate notes in your cigars, you need to try these. 

Suggested Pairing for this stick would have to be an oak barrel aged whisky, The Macallan fine oak series 15 or 18 year.

Montecristo No #3 (Montecristo Yellow) – Cigar review

Montecristo No #3 (Montecristo Yellow) – Cigar review 

Time in Humidor: 5 months 

 

Size:  5 & 1/2 x 44

 

Blend: Connecticut Shade wrapper around Dominican filler and binder.

Construction: The first thing that stood out to me on this stick was how smooth and oily the shade grown wrapper was.  As soon as I picked it up the velvet oily smoothness was quite overt. The oily caramel coloured wrapper had minimal veins with invisible seams and was hiding a few pronounced lumps and bumps in the binder. The pack was quite inconsistent along the length of the cigar being quite spongy at both the foot and the head while being rock hard in the middle. The pack looked visibly loose on the foot when visually inspecting it, nonetheless the cigar was neatly finished with a double cap.

Smell: Smell on the wrapper was a very pronounced with Lucerne hay (Lucerne hay has a greener more cucumber freshness to it over standard brown barn hay).  The foot smelt quite similar with stronger tones of tobacco.

Cold Draw: Flavours on the loose cold draw were dominated by rich woody tobacco notes coupled with the lucerne hay. This cigar was surprisingly strong on the cold draw, producing huge, easily identifiable flavours.

First Light: Flavours on the first light consisted primarily of tobacco, wood and nut. Hiding behind the dominant flavours was a sweet caramel coupled with an extremely timid coffee. The cigar was producing excellent plumes of smoke with a slight oil being deposited on the palate.

Aroma: Once in a lifetime in here in Mackay the wind abates; that being said I managed to experience the aroma of this cigar without having to stick the cherry up my nose for a pleasant change. The aroma produced by this cigar was very sweet on the nose with subtle hints of white bread and nut.

First 3rd: 13 min

As the cigar warmed up the dominant flavours pulled back and allowed the more subtle components of this cigar to shine through. The woody component experienced in the first light transitioned into a grassier flavour. The nut fell into the background allowing the sweet caramel to move closer to the front. The general profile of this stick became significantly sweeter and oilier, now depositing delicious amount of sweet oil onto the palate, lasting long into the finish. The burn of this cigar was close to textbook sporting a saw-toothed line evenly around the stick. Body of this cigar during the first third was sitting at a light to medium and moving up slowly.

Second 3rd 30 min

Moving into the second third the cigar took another interesting transition. The woody flavour came back to the forefront, while the sweetness remained the same and a toasty component was starting to rear its head. The body had shifted closer to medium without being a solid medium. As the second third progressed the wood toast managed to weasel itself into the sweet oily finish.

Smoking this cigar faster seemed to exacerbate to the toasty components whilst drying out the smoke more and reducing the pleasant oil. Late in the second third the body of the cigar started to shift upward into a solid medium.

Third 3rd – 47 mins

Moving into the third 3rd saw the addition of white pepper to the flavour profile of the cigar. Other flavours were still present with no significant changes or transitions. As the third 3rd progressed the toasty components started to ramp up which I typically associate as the precursor to the cigar getting hot, and therefore nearing the end of its smokable lifespan. A few minutes after this stage, as expected the heat came on and I elected to retire the cigar at 57 mins with 50mm remaining.

This cigar was a quite delicious and a reasonably complex smoke. Throughout its course it managed to keep me interested with its evolutions in the flavour profile. The only detracting feature was the fact it became hot in the final third a little too early. 

I would be happy to smoke another one of these cigars and have a 5 pack on hand in the humidor.

The character of this cigar made me feel like I would enjoy it after a Caesar salad lunch, alongside a beer or vodka lemon lime bitters.

Thanks for reading.

Whisgars.