Wrapper: Mexican San Andres

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican Corojo, Domican Double Ligero, Dominican Habano

Vitola: Robusto (5 x 52)

Purchase Link: Caldwell Blind Man’s Bluff This is Trouble

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF THIS IS TROUBLE REVIEW – CALIFORNIA

Summary: Wrinkles on the wrapper like the hands of Kris Kringle.  Lighting up, heavy smoke pours out as if to give me shelter from the California climate.  Leather and semi-sweet chocolate cake.  The burnline is uneven but alluring in its imperfection (like how the grainy quality of film makes spaghetti westerns beautiful).  For as dark and rich as the flavors are, this cigar is remarkably well balanced.

The flavor profile remains consistent at the halfway point with maybe a tinge of nuttiness and berry jam sweetness on the retro hale.  Pretzel at the finish.  I know it's only tobacco rolled, but I like it.

If You Like That, You Might Like This: That post-pushups pump.

Pairing Suggestion: Rum.

Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Box.

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF THIS IS TROUBLE REVIEW – WISCONSIN

Summary: This cigar brought flavors of chocolate, earth, espresso, oak, peanut, and cream. It didn't bring a huge list of flavor notes, but every note it brought was right on point.

The draw was on the tighter side, though it didn't cause any problems. It burned very nicely throughout. Construction game, like flavor game, was on point.

If You Like That, You Might Like This: Heavy flavor profiles that don't max out the pepper and spice.

Pairing Suggestion: Coffee.

Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Box.

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF THIS IS TROUBLE REVIEW – OREGON

Summary: This dark little Robusto has a slightly squared off cap is very light in the hand.  A little pressure on the wrapper reveals some relatively soft spots in the roll so hopefully that doesn’t cause issues with the burn. 

The cold draw is wide open and carries hints of caramel sweetness but is mostly just dry hay and a hint of vanilla.  Adding some heat and we have a legit mix of dark bread notes, black pepper, charred wood, black coffee, and earth.  I’m tasting a bit of mineral finish on the palate too.  The retro hale is warm…wasabi warm.  Wow.

This week’s stick is still belching smoke and has a relatively clean and solid ash.  The profile has leveled out a little bit moving into the middle section.  I’m still finding some caramel sweetness mixed with the mineral note and some baking spices.  Overall, the flavors are still very dark, very bold, and very forward in the profile, offering a quick finish.  

Finish line in sight and things haven’t changed much.  The flavors are bold but smooth, lofting this cigar into the medium to high strength market.  There’s zero harshness.  The profile still carries a good pepper blast and it blends well with the final notes of coffee, dark bread, earth and grilled meat.

If You Like That, You Might Like This: Cigars with heavier profiles.

Pairing Suggestion: Black coffee with a splash of amaretto.

Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: 5-pack.

Participants in this blind review were completely unaware of the cigar they were evaluating until all submissions were received and processed. Each participant was asked to answer a summary paragraph, an if/than statement, a pairing suggestion, and a purchase suggestion. Cigars were provided by Small Batch with only the expectations of candid responses. All pictures, information, and formatting were completed by a Coordinator outside of the reviewing process. 

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