avantgrade purchased this cigar on 2010-01-01.
It has 7 months of additional aging.
I bought a box of these Erin Go Bragh cigarillos towards the end of last year. They are the perfect smoke when my cigarette-smoking buddies come over, allowing me to join them for 10 minutes without sacrificing a bigger stick.
The cigarillo lit up very easily and did not have any problems keeping the burn until the pinch of my fingertips. The mixture of Dominican fillers along with the Connecticut shade wrapper creates big cigar flavor in a small package. Slight white spiciness intertwines with earthy notes, which are almost a little grassy. Very pleasant so far.
It’s hard to separate the cigar into thirds, as it is only a ten minute smoke, tops. As the burn went beyond the initial light zone, the spicy and earthy flavors intensified a little bit, and the body rose from mild to medium-mild in strength. The body stayed consistently in that realm until the end of the smoke.
The draw is fairly easy, and the tobacco produces a very dense (almost heavy in appearance) cloud of creamy smoke, something you would not quickly associate with a tiny cigarillo.
Earth and white pepper spice are introduced to notes of almond and pine nuts. The latter take away the slightly grassy taste that was apparent upon first light. These flavors held on until the end, not changing much in complexity, but growing in intensity.
The same flavor profile maintains for the remainder of the cigar since the second 1/3.
This cigarillo holds its ground very well compared to larger smokes. It does not offer the complexity or the depth of flavors one would find in a larger vitola, but it is a good short smoke. The last puff finished in another rich cloud of smoke, easily outlasting my buddies cigarette as it lingered in the calm night air.
For what it’s worth, this cigarillo is a fantastic little smoke.