avantgrade purchased this cigar on 2011-03-06.
It has 9 months of additional aging.
The cigar took a little bit of toasting to burn right, and continued to maintain a solid burn line until about half way through the smoke (more on that later).
There is a plethora of flavors entering the stage, but none are very strong and are much more mellowed out compared to other ACIDs (like the Deep Dish). The smoke is a little thin for my liking, but very aromatic nonetheless. Previously felt flavors of tea are now complimented with mint, and a white pepper tingle on the finish.
The ash hold itself up respectfully enough. However, towards the second half of the first 1/3, I began to notice some splitting of the wrapper.
The trusty triple-flame torch aided with getting things back on track, and I continued to enjoy mild-bodied cedar notes that have now overtaken the tea. I also am noticing some clove and other baking spices (cinnamon and a little nutmeg).
The flavor profile does not evolve much past this point. I can once again feel the tea flavors, which mend very nicely with the more earthy tone produced by the Nicaraguan fillers. The spice is also quite pleasant and unobtrusive, allowing the cigar to easily approach the palate instead of bombarding it (I would assume that is what Drew attempted to create here).
The wrapper began to crack a bit towards the end. I believe that the tightly attached band could be the culprit in the this case, especially given the typically-fragile Connecticut wrapper.
All in all, though, the flavor profile maintained fairly constant until I set the cigar down. The body never strayed bast mild-medium, but that is expected of most ACID cigars.
It is worth a shot to get one of these, whether you like ACIDs or not.