ApaxAZ Cigar #4
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4/21/2012
Today the heat broke triple digits signaling the end of spring and start of summer, so I waited for the sun to go down before starting. To go with tonights cigar I'll be sipping a double of Shieldaig 18 along with some Perrier.
Pre-light
This cigar is 5.5" long and has a ring guage around 44. This cigar has a natural velvety wrapper with small veins. Triple capped, the cigars construction seems very good and has a slight spongy feel to it with no soft spots. The foot has a mild scent of sweet tobacco and grass.
The pre-light draw seems slightly tight, but okay to smoke. The draw reveals only subtle sweet tobacco and hay flavors.
1st Third
As I lit the cigar, I found the draw to be absolutely perfect. Once it started to settle, it was very smooth but somewhat flavorless. The aroma wafting from the end was very pleasant. For about the first half inch the cigar was extremely mild and hard to really pick out any real flavors. A little further in (around the time of the picture) I started to get a faint leather like flavor on some draws, while others were more of a sweet creamy flavor. I also keep noticing the aroma of the smoke and it just smells fantastic. The ash finally dropped after about 1 inch and at this point I started to really like how things were unfolding. The smoke developed into more of a medium body and had a sweet flavor somewhere in between caramel and vanilla. Although not quite the same, it reminded me of the Por Larranaga. The burn was pretty good with some minor tunneling.
2nd Third
It took me about 25 minutes to progress to the 2nd third. So far the Perrier has been an excellent pallet cleanser, which is good because this cigar has been delicious. I also found that the scotch paired well. The cigar was so good I had to will myself to pace it. I continued to get a mainly sweet cream and vanilla flavor, as well as some other flavor mixed in that I couldn't quite place. I want to say it was like toast, but not really sure. Have I mentioned how good this has been so far? Even the smoke from the end smells sweet and delicious. The cigar has been tunneling slightly and I had to relight once, but overall the burn has been very straight and the ash consistently breaking off on it's own after about an inch. The flavor is medium bodied and the strength is mild, which is good because I don't smoke for the nicotine.
Final Third
At around the 55 minute mark I had about a third to go and began to feel a little sad as I realized the end was nearing. The smoke was more medium to medium full in body and the flavor was still very sweet, but more of a creamy caramel flavor instead of vanilla. I also detected hints of leather, and some red pepper bite near the end. The deeper I got, the more it reminded me an opus x, only sweeter, smoother and not quite as strong. I really like the opus line and this was like a refined version with more complexity. The strength increased a little, which is to be expected this deep into a cigar, but still only in the medium range. I had to pick up the pace a little to keep the cigar from tunneling and going out, otherwise the burn continued to be very good.
With a little less than an inch left, the tingling from the heat was was my cue to finally call it quits.
Conclusion
Indeed, this cigar was life changing for me. My experience is limited with plenty of stuff I still haven't tried in my short 10 months of experience, but as of right now this was the best cigar I've ever had Because of this, it gets a perfect score. This will be the cigar by which everything else will be measured until something else can top it. It started out a little bland, but quickly developed into a complex, interesting and delicious experience through the entire length of the cigar. Although I was sad when it ended, I went inside with a feeling of immense satisfaction. Thank you, Dan, for providing me the opportunity to experience it. I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you. I'm really looking forward to #5.
Score: 10/10
Total smoke time: 90 minutes