Wrapper: San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitola: 6 x 52 Limited Edition
Purchase Link: Viaje For the Love of the Leaf
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LEAF REVIEW – CALIFORNIA
Summary: Draw is spot on. First few puffs hit me with my favorite cold cereal: Wheaties! Tabasco sauce and banana. It's beginning to develop a chewy mouth feel which I'm not super into. Sherry rounds out this preliminary third where the ash and burn line have performed exceptionally.
The second third is still chewy but has an added cologne note which I can't describe more acutely.
Final third begins with tootsie roll, dark chocolate, and cherry. Leather. I've been a little bored of this stick, but gingerbread takes the forefront to breathe some life into it. Great way to finish.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Average sunsets.
Pairing Suggestion: Jack and coke.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Fiver.
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LEAF – WISCONSIN
Summary: This cigar brought well-balanced, bold flavors. It burned slowly, giving me a long time to enjoy what I found to be an excellent experience.
On the flavor front, I'd generally describe this cigar as starting mocha-like, moving more toward woody flavors, and then going back to the mocha-like core. Specific tasting notes include: mocha, pepper, spice, earth, cocoa (especially on the finish), creaminess, honey, coffee, anise, caramel, abundant umami, sweetness, hickory, and cedar. The flavors went well together throughout the smoke.
Construction-wise, the draw was on the slightly-snug side and the burn gave me zero issues.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like bold harmony, this cigar has you covered.
Pairing Suggestion: Coke.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Box.
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LEAF – OREGON
Summary: This week’s cigar was dark brown and quite oily with very little tooth on the wrapper. Raisin, cocoa and a hint of coffee were the notes I detected from the wrapper and foot. The cold draw was perfect and reminded me of an Almond Joy sprinkled with black pepper... interesting to say the least.
The initial flavors I experienced included charred oak, black pepper spice, and a dark fruit flavor resembling plums. The retro hale included plum, leather, and a large truck load of pepper spice. The cigar produced an immense amount of smoke immediately. The pepper spice on the palate had an extremely long finish.
The middle of the cigar featured leather, black walnut, and a little bit of fresh bread flavor with the mildest of pepper spice. The retro hale was void of the pepper spice and smooth at this point.
The last section of this cigar carried notes of leather, walnut, mild spice and a bit of raisin.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Long poker nights with the fellas.
Pairing Suggestion: Mild bodied porter.
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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