God of Fire Aniversario 2016 Review
Up for review today is the God of Fire Aniversario 2016 from Prometheus Cigars. After four years of aging in the box, this cigar is vintage and I’m curious to see how it performs.
Blend Specifics
- Cigar Reviewed: God of Fire Aniversario 2016
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown
- Binder: Dominican Republic
- Filler: Dominican Republic
- Size: 5 1/2 x 60
Appearance & Construction
The God of Fire Aniversario 2016 is a stout and strong looking cigar. The gold, black and white bands put a strong foot forward and frame the artistic depiction of Promethius (being attacked by an Eagle in retribution for him stealing fire from the gods) at the center.
After clipping with a straight cut, the draw shows itself to be fairly restrictive, probably an 8.5/10 in terms of amount of restrictiveness. Hopefully that opens up a bit as the tapered end of the cigar burns. The outer wrapper leaf has a strong aroma of leather, black pepper, and dried meats.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
Given the name of this cigar, I was expecting a lot more strength out of the gate. Instead, the God of Fire Aniversario 2016 opens with full bodied but mild strength smoke. It’s maybe the first time I’ve ever encountered that combo. Another way to put it would be that the God of Fire opens like a cigar that’s been aging a long time–it’s got a strong character but it’s been mellowed way out. The smoke doesn’t make a huge impression on the palate, with some faint wood and leather notes that sit on top of a subtler dark chocolate note. The retrohale is almost non-existent. It’s the aroma of the smoke that makes a bigger statement, with hints of baking spices, caramel, mushrooms, and something akin to dusty attic (that’s the age coming in to play).
Construction wise, the cigar opens well. Within the first half an inch the tapered end of the cigar has burned and the draw definitely opens up to a more comfortable level. Overall in the first third, there’s definitely a lot of finesse and elegance to the smoke, as well as some enjoyable flavor. But it is possible for tobacco to mellow out too much which is what I’m afraid could be happening here.
As the God of Fire burns into the second third, the strength does increase a bit, bringing it up about a third of the way between mild and medium. The flavor the smoke is divided almost evenly between bitter notes of raw cocoa and earth, and sweeter notes of cream and floral. There’s also some spice that hits the tip of the tongue and lingers, and it seems to come on stronger the more quickly I puff so I do my best to minimize that. Overall though, not much to speak of in terms of flavor, which is a shame to say.
At halfway, the burn strays a bit, requiring a significant touch up to correct. And worse, the smoke production which was excellent at first begins to dwindle, forcing me to choose between puffing faster to generate smoke or puff slower to keep the smoke cool.
Just when I’m about to give up on the God of Fire Aniversario 2016 at about halfway through, the strength of flavor finally ramps up enough to start to get a sense of what the cigar is about. Except, it isn’t good. Though the smoke is mostly characterized by gentle and sweet notes of bread, cream, and baking spices, there’s also an aggressively bitter and sometimes downright sour fermented note that throws the experience off. Thankfully, the spice finally begins to hit the retrohale, adding some additional dimension to the experience.
Unfortunately, that’s about where the good news ends. Poor smoke production issues continue to dog the cigar in the final third, and the flavors become overly bitter and unenjoyable. I’m not a glutton for punishment so I toss the cigar well before finishing it.
Conclusion
The Promethius God of Fire Aniversario 2016 is a great cigar that somehow found a way to be terrible. Yes, it had smoothness in spades and some enjoyable moments at the beginning, but it never delivered any of the strength that would make its better moments stand out.
But what really killed the experience was the combo of the large ring gauge and poor smoke production. Having to puff repeatedly on a 48 corona size to get smoke is one thing. Puffing on a large ring gauge cigar over and over to produce smoke takes all of the relaxation out of the experience, overheats the smoke and warps otherwise pleasant flavors into monsters.
Ultimately the only thought I have finishing this review is “I want the hour and a half I invested in this cigar back.”