Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, American
Vitola: Torpedo 6 ¼ x 52
Purchase Link: La Barba Ricochet Mexi-Sol
RICOCHET MEXI-SOL REVIEW – CALIFORNIA
Summary: I cut as little as possible off of this belicoso but the draw is still surprisingly on the loose end. Bitter coffee at first light. Half an inch in, it goes out; not a good first impression. Unripe melon. Cinnamon raisin bread presents a glimmer of hope. Burn touch-up on one side.
The second third isn't doing anything for me. At all.
Good news in the final third! The bitterness begins to fade so I'm not tasting much. Still an improvement, I guess. Finishes off with burnt, plain pizza dough.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Folgers.
Pairing Suggestion: Cuba Libre.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Single.
RICOCHET MEXI-SOL REVIEW – WISCONSIN
Summary: This cigar brings flavors of earth, oak, chocolate, hay, and black pepper. Along the way, red pepper joins in occasionally with a bang. It’s like when you’re eating something with crushed red pepper flakes on it, and you get a big ol’ bite full of them and really know they’re there.
The second half changes it up, bringing focus to coffee and cinnamon notes. There’s a graham cracker-like flavor there too, but without the usual graham cracker sweetness.
On the construction side, the burn needed several corrections and got quite uneven at times.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Putting crushed red pepper flakes on everything.
Pairing Suggestion: Bourbon.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Single.
RICOCHET MEXI-SOL REVIEW – OREGON
Summary: This light brown colored, oily,torpedo shaped cigar has a little barnyard sent to it. When I was a young boy, I had a grandfather that made homemade beeswax candles. This cigar also smells a lot like the stacks of beeswax that my grandfather kept in the basement. The cold draw just tastes like dry grass with some very light hints at honey.
Fresh cut oak, dark fruit and whatever spice is in Dr. Pepper... that’s our start. Also, mild floral notes surrounded with white pepper spice in the retro hale smoke. Further on I’m tasting the addition of leather and a small amount of tart cherry as well.
Midway and this cigar is turning Jekyll and Hyde on me. There are moments where the flavors from the first third are even more distinct, leading into puffs of flatness. Additionally, construction and burn in the first third were perfect but now I’m needing burn corrections and the smoke is dwindling. Part of this may be my selection of a straight cut. I can already tell you if I could do it over, I’d choose a deep-v cut for this stick. I think it needs room to breathe more.
Last part of this stick is actually improving a notch with returning notes of tart cherry, oak, mild tobacco and a nice pepper spice rounding things out. Sadly, smoke production just gradually declined from the middle to the end.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Leftovers with the in-laws.
Pairing Suggestion: A sweet coffee in the morning... a sweet rum at night.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Fiver.
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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