avantgrade purchased this cigar on 2010-01-01.
It has almost three months of additional aging.
A minute of toasting with my 3 flame torch, a few light puffs, and the cigar lit up perfectly. The aroma is definitively cedar, crisp and moderately sharp. I wonder if this potency is due to the tobacco used, or is it inherent to the cedar wrap that once hugged this cigar.
A few minutes later, the burn cools off and settles into a nice and mellow groove, offering up wonderful notes of cedar along the way. The Connecticut shade wrapper makes the experience even more crisp and toasty, playing well with the Dominican fillers that Victor Sinclair uses.
Cedar is nice and strong, but there are flavors of roast nuts popping up here and there. The woodsy combination is very pleasant, and a slight amount of creaminess complements the zestier notes.
The ash is dark gray, with some white lines leaving a trail in between puffs. Plenty of smoke is generated, billowing beautifully from the cigar. It is very dense, appearing almost heavy as it struggles to be carried away with the wind.
The body has not picked up much since it started out in the medium (maybe more towards the mild-medium side).
I have ashed the cigar a few times before getting into the second third, which is likely due to the skinnier gauge of the lonsdale vitola. The flavors of cedar, nuts (which I can start to distinguish as cashews at this point) have picked up, but the complexity of the notes hitting the palate has not changed much.
Still, the cigar is burning cool, with ample smoke and a level of consistency that makes for a great "walking" cigar (I love a nice walk with my wife, and I bring a cigar along on the weekends: this one fit the bill very well. She said that the aroma from the cigar was wonderful, woodsy and gently musty).
Here, the cigar is undeniable in the medium body range, and the flavor intensity rises to its peak. Amongst the notes of cedar, roasted cashew, and the subtle creaminess, espresso nuances can be detected.
The cigar burned very honorably, and its reliable consistency makes it a good find in my book. Granted, connoisseurs will likely look for more complex flavor profiles than this cigar offers. As for having a good "no frills" cigar, this is it.