Size: 5.8″ x 57 was measured (supposed to be 6″ x 60, Perfecto)
Strength: Medium-Full
Wrapper: Cameroon
Filler: 8 year old Dominican

Appearance:
This appears to be a nicely rolled stick with the Perfecto shape and all. The wrapper is a nice rich brown and there are a couple of medium veins, but it’s impossible to tell where this stick was rolled. The ring is a bit large for my taste, but the Perfecto shape makes up for any loss in points there…

Construction:
This stick is quite dense – evenly so, but dense. Given the difficult roll it earns some points there, however it came in under on both stated length and ring gauge – two serious disappointments for the Rolls Royce of cigars. The large ring does remove with ease and there are no issues with the wrapper.

Aroma:
The aroma of this cigar is quite heavenly. It has a spicy full cigar smell, yet it never seems to burn the nostrils, no matter how much you inhale. It has a hint of dried fruit as well and it just begs to be smoked. A little strong for bystanders, but not pungent.

Burn/Ash:
Burn so far has actually been pretty good. Sometimes there can be issues starting out with the burn on a Perfecto and I thought it started to canoe right from the start, but I just held the lighter to it a bit longer and it all evened out. The ash was very impressive as the first one held on until 3″ in and the second until nub.

Draw/Smoke:
Unfortunately the draw is quite disappointing, as is the smoke. The draw is super tight and the smoke is weak. I tried rolling it around a bit, cutting some more off the head and a few other tricks, but nothing seems to work. Maybe a coat hanger would, but I don’t resort to those tricks…. Moving an inch and a half into the stick the smoke is starting to pick up a bit, approaching more of a medium level, but the draw remains pretty damn tight.

Flavor:
The flavors are decent, though not as strong as I would have hoped. On the draw I taste some definite earthiness and maybe a hint of cocoa? On the aftertaste it’s some cedar, earth, and something rather dry. 1 1/2″ in I’m starting to pick up some pepper, more in the aftertaste, but also in the draw. 2″ in and it’s earth, cedar, some leather and pepper. Pretty much the same on the aftertaste, but maybe a hint of cocoa. Throughout the rest of the stick it tasted about the same as it did at 2″ in. No development and no real complexity.

Overall/Value:
I think if you were to pay $15 for this cigar you’d have to be pretty much nuts. It’s definitely not worth that. These made it into my hands by a fluke of CI – they were in a shipment of mine but I never purchased them and they definitely weren’t on the receipt. So at free.99, they’re a good deal. The best two qualities of this cigar are the aroma and burn/ash. Otherwise the draw/smoke sucks and the flavors aren’t that impressive. It’s not disgusting or anything, but it just didn’t do much for me – lacked powerful flavors and lacked development.

Retail Price: $15.00

Appearance: (4.5/5)
Construction: (3.75/5)
Aroma: (9.5/10)
Burn/Ash: (9.5/10)
Draw/Smoke: (12/20)
Flavor: (25/35)
Overall/Value: (7/15)
Final Score: (71.25/100)