The Great Wrapper Experiment

[Stewmuse]

Starting mine tonight. Although they may influence one another, I'm going to go through all of them consecutively tonight, trying to keep the flavors most readily accessible in my mind. You may smoke them however you wish. These cigars have a Dominican binder covering Cameroon seco, Nicaraguan seco, and Brazilian mata fina fillers. Naked, this is a mildly spicy and sweet cigar, with the retrohale giving much more firmness to the spice. These are about 12 days old (yours are all closer to 18-20 days old, as of 11/29) and still carry some moisture and physical softness, but the draw was, actually, quite good.

[Stewmuse]

without knowing better, I would NOT have said this was the same cigar as the naked one. This one was wrapped with an Ecuador shade wrapper that was labeled as seco on the website from where I purchased it. The spice that was prevalent throughout the first was almost completely absent, even on the retrohale, and this stick exhibited an anise flavor from the start, and that flavor ebbed and rose throughout its length. It was, however, still quite good and would be a great morning cigar.

[Stewmuse]

The second wrapper I tried was the Habano 2000, and believe this is Dominican grown. Since I started using this wrapper about a year ago, I've only found a couple blends that I liked with it. This combination was better. The spice returned from the naked stick, but somewhat muted, and there is a bit of grassiness to the cigar now. I'm getting a lot of the flavor at the front of the mouth's roof, and gets just a bit hot on the back half. The lingering aftertaste I've gotten since putting this cigar down is quite pleasant. I would smoke this again, but I won't make a new "line."

[Stewmuse]

Wow, this was a really good combination, and another surprise to me as I've mostly not enjoyed this wrapper to date, either. This Corojo wrapper brought out an earthy sweetness with just a hint of spice on the retrohale. Very enjoyable and it might be a keeper for the "upcoming blends" file.

[Stewmuse]

Well, perhaps this was one too many. Couldn't bring myself to give this one more than about 10 minutes. It was just too... heavy. Whether it was the build-up of the other 4 cigars or maybe because it came after the really pleasant Corojo wrapper, but this one didn't do it. It is also the first cigar I've smoked with the maduro wrapper I got in last month. I hope that the other two dozen or so maduro-wrapped cigars I've done fare better.

Okay gents, it's your turn!

[kurtdesign1]

After much deliberation on this entire process I'm thinking that there might be an ideal way to do this tasting. Roll 2 "naked" sticks, 4 wrapped sticks and 4 small puritos with only wrapper leaf. The naked & wrapped sticks could be the same ring but the wrapped ones much shorter. Think Tres Petit Corona versus a Corona. (4-3/8 versus 5-5/8). Smoke one naked continuously, smoke a wrapped cigar & wrapper continuously. On next day do the same with 2 other wrapped cigars & wrappers. You could try all 4 at once but as Mike said, it might be a bit daunting.

This all being thrown out there, I'm looking forward to the tasting. i've done something very similar to this with Behikes in the past and enjoyed the hell out of it. This one should be just as fun!

[IWinchester]

The Ecuador shade wrapper has a wonderful flavor of sugar and grass, but makes the overall cigar very harsh. This could be a winner after a long rest. I did pick up some nice baking spice in the retrohale, but again the overall smoke is really aggressive in the mouth. I'd still say roll some more of these and put them down for a few months, Mike, and it might be something special, similar to your Nicaraguan blend I've loved in the past.

[Stewmuse]

How are we coming along, men?

[Zedman05]

I smoked the first in the line last night as I have not had much time lately for any cigars.
The Habano 2000.
Will write up a short report soon. I was mightily impressed, I must say.


Cigar F^iend

[IWinchester]

My version with the Habano 2000 was also very nice! Thus far it has been the most cohesive blend. Not too strong, and with a good amount of flavor. Smooth smoke and pleasant little tickle through the nose.