ACID Blondie Cigar Review

Food: none

Beverage: none

Cutter type: Single Blade Generic

Lighter: Cigar Match (low sulfur head)

Appearance: A short cigar, with a prominent "ACID" band, as well as a secondary "Blondie" band to identify the smoke. The band(s) might be a litle much for such a small cigar, but the Connecticut wrapper is beautiful, golden and creamy in appearance.

Presence of veins: A few medium-sized veins running from head to foot, with some smaller veins present sparsely through

Humidity: 67%

Cigar draw: Slightly tight

Cigar feel: Medium

Oily or dry: Dry

Ease/quality cut: The head of the cigar snipped very easily, leaving a perfect cut line and good draw.

Pre-light flavour: Clove is first and foremost to hit the palate. The aftertaste is a natural sweetness from the Connecticut wrapper, ampl

Country of origin: Nicaragua

Origin of wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut)

Origin of binder: Nicaragua

Origin of filler: Nicaragua

    

Initial Light

The cigar (or the ACID, as I should probably be calling it) lit up very easily, immediately producing a huge amount of flavor. The smoke is rich and full of herbal notes. It is hard to identify all of the flavors, but the core is definitely clove, delivered in a nice, smooth, and creamy fashion, likely the work of the golden Connecticut wrapper. The body is mild, further complementing the bevy of herbal flavors, making them enjoyable and not overpowering (which would be easy to do, considering the 140+ herbs that Drew states (no pun) he uses).

First 1/3:

For a short cigar, this one burn fairly slow, allowing me to savor the entire 1/3 for all that it delivers. Here, the flavors are those of clove and tea, with some notes of honey and cream. Again, the cream might be coming from the wrapper, but something was done right with the infusion process.

The ash is very dark, probably some of the darkest that I have seen. It is of deep gray color, with an occasional white stripe in between puff lines. The body is still mild, and the smoke is cool and flavorful. In between puffs, the cigar lets off a wisp of smoke on its own, and why I liked that part, I don't really know, it just seemed pretty cool.

Second 1/3:

During the second third of the cigar, the flavor profile begins to evolve. The mild body sways into the mild-medium range, and further on maybe all the way into medium territory. This cigar really has a Jekyll and Hyde personality. I was not expecting this change (I like to read up on what I will smoke before I do, but this one just happened...), but it certainly added to the enjoyment.

Core tobacco notes become much more evident than the infusion-added flavors, and it is a huge plus for the complexity score of this cigar.

Final 1/3:

Clove has not disappeared at this point, but upon retrohale, I experience some hazelnut and vanilla nuances, more characteristic of natural tobacco. The tobacco core and the herbal infusion complement each other very well, and the profile transformation that happened in the middle of the cigar allows the smoker to experience both aspects individually.

The smoke heats up a little bit towards the end, but nothing that is out of the ordinary, especially for a petite corona. Rich plumes of white smoke did not stop from start to finish, and the burn remained true throughout.