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Review by Chuck |
Appearance: 8 out of 10 |
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Construction: 2 out of 10 |
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Average rating: 4.00 |
Flavor: 6 out of 10 |
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Value: 2 out of 10 |
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Experience: 2 out of 10 |
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Review notes: I received 5 of these as part of a sampler pack back in February. With all of my orders I put 20% away in a separate humidor for long-term aging. With the sampler pack selection, I put 60% away. Therefore my experiences with the sampler pack selections are very limited to date. I just smoked the first of the two El Ray del Mundo Petit Coronas in my "smoke now" humidor this evening, and was quite disappointed. While the flavor was eventually decent, I couldn't discern much more about it, as the cigar seemed to be rolled very tightly, with a plug within the bottom third.
My head almost caved in trying to draw on the first third, and I had to straighten out a paper clip to shove it into the end to try to establish a channel to permit some degree of draw. Doing that, rolling it between my fingers, and pulling some tobacco out resulted in some improvement in the draw during the balance of the first third and the beginning of the second third. At about the halfway point, I finally began to get some decent smoke through it.
At that point, the cigar was so battered from my attempts to get some draw through it, the wrapper began to come apart, and I peeled off the loose leaves. It's a good thing I was also enjoying a Guinness and a Jameson along with it, or I may have taken even more drastic steps in my frustration.
The last half was at least somewhat enjoyable, with a rather mild, woody flavor. Exhalation through my nose and a few inhaled puffs gave the reaction of some harshness however, although this could have been due to having to smoke it "hot" to get smoke though it at all in the beginning, thus perhaps tainting the balance of the cigar to some extent.
All in all, this extremely limited experience of 1 cigar thus far has left me wondering why anyone would smoke this cigar when there are so many others that offer relaxing, rich and totally enjoyable experiences instead of frustration and work.
I will update with an additional review over the next several months if this one cigar was an anomoly and the other four are significantly different.
If not, spend your money on something else, perhaps a Saint Luis Rey or an H. Upmann for something on the mild side, and enjoy the experience. |
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