You’ve read his reviews here on Fine Tobacco NYC or heard him describe tasting notes on our Perfect Pairings events. Now hear Fine Tobacco NYC contributor Kevin Sun talk about the Zino Platinum Crown Series Limited Edition 2020 with the guys at The Straight Cut, one of the more entertaining cigar podcasts available online.
You can listen to the podcast on Spotify by clicking here.
Caldwell Cigars Lost & Found series are what Robert Caldwell calls blends he’s “Found” and re-banded for one off releases. I’ve found that some are truly unique smokes, not just in their packaging but in their flavor profiles as well. Conversely, some Lost & Found cigars likely wouldn’t be missed by me if they stayed “lost”. In either case, what makes these releases special is that proceeds from each Lost & Found project goes to different charities to help those in need. With Plume—blind reviewed today—proceeds help raise money for inner-city education.
The Caldwell Lost & Found Plume Robusto has a veiny rustic dark wrapper. The roll is firm and the tobacco to the touch indicates it has well organized filler leaves throughout. The foot smells of cedar with very little else coming through.
With a Xikar scissor I take a delicate slice to the cigar and proceed to take a dry draw. The first few puffs of the cold draw give off cedar and wood notes in unremarkable fashion. My Xikar EX single flame toasts the wrapper where the first full draw summons pencil lead, earth and some sweetness to start. Where the pencil lead ends some almond flavors take shape in addition to oak and some leather. The smoke production is full and the profile at medium. A retrohale sends some white pepper and dank hay through the nostrils. Some sweetness on the finish returns along with graphite notes lingering on the tongue.
The Caldwell Lost & Found Plume seems to burn at a fast rate despite actually smoking at a leisurely pace. At the second third, leather and oak dominate with an overwhelming volume of smoke. The burn line wavers a bit as I take another slow draw, with wood and a buttery finish. There is also a bit of espresso in between the oaky profile that, while short lived, is pleasing to the palate. An additional retrohale yields earth, cedar and pencil lead notes. The body continues to be medium in length with the flavors coming through similar to the beginning of the smoke.
As the cigar works its way to its final third, pretzel and a bready profile develop with a smoky characteristic. The breadlike qualities continue in addition to a creamier mouthfeel that seems to tone down the strength of the cigar. Secondary flavors emerge with some cocoa coming through that lead to a charry finish. Towards its end there is some bitterness in additional puffs while the wood flavors became muddled in between. As I take a last draw, cedar is present with a short lackluster finish. A not too terribly complex robusto.
I applaud the charitable nature of the Caldwell Lost & Found Plume Robusto. In terms of the flavor profile, as with many Lost & Found Releases that I’ve smoked, this blend becomes one of those examples that if a blend wasn’t great to begin with, age usually won’t do a whole lot to change it. The Plume robusto started off with pencil lead, wood and some pepper and then never deviated much from those flavors. With the exception of the charry finish on the last third, the cigar wasn’t displeasing, just uninspiring.
If you have a charitable nature, give this a try as you’ll be helping a good cause and the cigar will be easy to smoke. If you are looking for a better example of what Caldwell and the Lost & Found series can deliver, I suggest looking at other blends.
Perdomo has been in the cigar industry for decades and with this release the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Sun Grown the latest offering is a box pressed cigar with a sun grown wrapper. It is a Nicaraguan puro, but what makes this cigar special is that its wrapper leaf has been aged for ten mouths in bourbon barrels. Barrel aging can add flavors from the spirit the barrel once housed and with bourbon barrels there can be a discernible sweetness added to the cigar. Smoking blind I could only see that the cigar was a large 60 ring gauge cigar with a box press. I have stated before that I find larger gauge smokes uncomfortable to smoke, but I was pleasantly surprised with not only the flavor characteristics but this cigar’s overall smoking experience.
This cigar has a beautiful milk chocolate box pressed wrapper. The cigar is smooth to the touch with few veins and when I squeeze it there is a fullness of tobacco with no soft spots to be found. It’s quite a large cigar, although the box press makes it appear slightly less sizeable.
With my Xikar scissors I clip a fine straight cut. The dry draw is chocolatey and woody with a nice sweetness to it. Switching to my Lamborghini torch, I toast the Perdomo Sun Grown and the first puffs are spicy, earthy with full flavored tobacco. The flavors linger a bit in the mouth followed by a creaminess that develops with roasted coffee notes. The retrohale produces chocolate and cedar in the sinus and as it’s released some black pepper comes through. The burn line is wavy but it does not seem to affect the smoke production or the flavors at all.
The cigar develops midway with almonds and milk chocolate on a long sweet finish. At this point the ash is long and firm which attests to the well crafted roll and tobacco blend. That milk chocolate note morphs into cocoa powder and nuts with hints of café au lait. The profile is medium bodied giving a sophistication to the flavors.
Giving another retrohale, oak and hay dominate with a wood finish that spends some time on the palate. The box press gives a nice draw to the cigar which allows a lot of flavors to easily come through.
As the cigar reached its last third it becomes slightly bitter with a shorter finish. There are some fruits, predominately raspberries, along with a nuttiness that comes on strong then quickly fades. Celery notes and a vegetal component linger on the mouthfeel which is off-putting and the cigar begins to burn a bit hot. Then it settles back in with barnyard and fruits interplaying with less complexities, though still pleasant.
As I give the cigar the last few puffs, the chocolate returns with cedar and finishes on a long and pleasing note. A most enjoyable cigar.
Perdomo has had a long history in the cigar business with many lines and manufacturers. Some cigars have smoked well while others have been lacking, but Perdomo has remained a vibrant constant in the business. The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Sun Grown delivered chocolate, almonds along with a creaminess that was ever present throughout the medium bodied smoke. Not being a fan of larger gauge cigars I found the box press to be more comfortable in the mouth and the excellent draw let the blend shine in this vitola. If you enjoy thicker cigars or even if don’t you should pick up this smoke. You will be pleasantly surprised with what Perdomo has created here.
Ever since my first encounter with them at their launch event at The Carnegie Club back in March 2019, I’ve always had Viva La Vida from Artesano del Tobacco stocked in my humidor. Since then, I have gone through countless boxes in different vitolas, including their follow-up launches of the Jester, lounge exclusives, and club exclusive.
In April of 2020, Billy and Gus Fakih released a line paying homage to the first 500 cigar lounges and patrons whom they believed are the core supporters of the Viva La Vida cigar, the Club 500. I had the good luck of unknowingly blind reviewing this cigar. Read on.
The dark Oscuro wrapper gives off a red hue under the sunlight. The box-pressed cigar feels heavy and sturdy as I’m squeezing it between my fingers. My fingers become oily from holding onto the cigar for an extended amount of time. I see two minor veins, but it doesn’t hurt the construction. The box-press has leveled all sides evenly. Visually, this cigar is stunning; it reminds me of a chocolate bar.
The wrapper gives off a nutty and vanilla scent. At the foot, the cigar delivers a mixture of apricot, hay, and pepper spice. I shave off the cap and take a cold draw. The flavors are a little muted; a hint of sweetness, dark leather, and cayenne pepper murmur at me. Slowly toasting the foot, a swirl of white smoke spirals around my head, giving off a scent of warm baking spices as they pass by my nose.
An abundance of velvety smoke glides past my palate as I puff on the cigar and drown myself in flavors of roasted peanut shell, barnyard, light leather, tree bark, vanilla, and cayenne pepper spice. I proceed to retrohale the next puff and taste citrus fruits, hay, vanilla, and a sizzling sensation of warm baking spice, only to disappear the second it exits my nose.
Half-way past the first third, the cigar becomes a chocolate bomb: creamy and sweet milk chocolate with light leather and a taste reminding me of a summer breeze. As the flavor disperses, red pepper spice lingers behind, playing punching bag with my uvula. A stream of warm smoke rushes through my nasal path, carrying vanilla, sunflower seeds, barnyard hay, and baking spice.
The flavors continue to enrich themselves as I reach the second third. The sweet and creamy milk chocolate intensifies along with roasted peanut, straw hay, and paprika spice with a citrus aftertaste. Retrohale is very saporous: I taste light leather, dry apricot, roasted peanut, and cinnamon spice. At this point, I feel like I am smoking a cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate.
As if the cigar knows what I was thinking, the flavor profile adjusts itself one last time for the big finale. Right before the sweet and creamy flavor overwhelm my taste buds, honey roasted peanut, hay, and cinnamon spice became the dominant flavors. I thought I was smoking an entirely different cigar. A great ending.
Billy and Gus hit another home run with the Viva La Vida Club 500. The construction was near perfection. The smoke was complex and well balanced with every shift in the flavor profile. I can’t wait to see what Artesano Del Tobacco has in store for us in the future.
In its 10th release in the limited edition series based off of the Chinese Year of the Zodiac, Davidoff created an appropriately sized Year of the Ox cigar for 2021. This cigar is a six inch by sixty ring gauge smoke, fitting the profile of an Ox and falling in line with the continued demand for thick gauge cigars. I’ve personally not been a fan of these sizes. They rarely feel comfortable smoking and generally they don’t generate the abundance of flavors needed to justify the time and effort required for such a large cigar. So needless to say, I wasn’t particularly excited to smoke this blind.
Let’s get to the blind review.
This thick cigar has several veins running alongside its chocolate hued wrapper. As I give it a squeeze it’s not too firm nor is it under filled. Smelling the foot of this cigar I pick up all spice, cedar and earth notes.
I can see I’m going to need a blade that can handle this gordo so I pick up my Xikar Wooly Mammoth cutter which seems fitting for the size of the stick. I give it a swift slice and take off an appropriate amount from the head. The cold draw delivers a combo of vanilla sweetness and café au lait creaminess. With this large gauge I grab my Lamborghini torch and begin toasting the foot trying to ensure I’m getting an even burn across it.
My first puff has salt and sweet with a tingling on my lips from the wrapper. Another draw yields burnt crème brûlée notes with a toasty finish. I take a retrohale that delivers red fruits and nuts while the smoke blowing out my sinus has a cedary finish. Thus far the cigar is in a solid medium range and despite its size is not that uncomfortable to smoke.
At midway through the cigar, the ash is long and white. The draw is excellent, and with another puff cereal, bread and a charry note lingers on the finish. Another retrohale hits me with nutmeg, cinnamon and earthiness in a medium bodied core of strength. The smoke is beginning to waft intensely and I take a puff out rather than in which seems to quell this. With a steady draw I pick up a honeyed sweetness which is in contrast to the forest floor I’m now getting a touch of. There’s a slight medium to full body that is starting to resonate on my palate which I was not getting previously. Despite this being a large cigar it has been burning at a slightly faster pace than I anticipated, and I’m smoking at a normal pace.
In the final third, I get a lot of toast along with almonds and a long woody finish. The burn line has been pretty straight and the ash rather firm throughout. The retrohale I take is giving flavors of oats, wood and hay that surround my palate momentarily as I release the smoke. Another draw brings a bit of cocoa swathed in wood and earth creating a unique profile. With a final puff there’s wood, nuts, toast and coffee delivering a medium salty finish. A tasty gordo for sure.
Having bucked the trend of smoking these large gauge cigars I will say there are some that can change your opinion. This is a fine example of such a turnaround. The Davidoff Year of the Ox demonstrates that a thick size can be used to add more of a variety of filler tobaccos simply by having the room to do so. The smoke had a harmonious balance of salt, sweet, toast and nuts without overwhelming each other. I did wish the flavors where a little more pronounced and savory as that would’ve really made this cigar stellar.
When I found out this cigar was Davidoff, I was surprised there wasn’t more of the the typical earthy, mushroom and truffle notes associated with the types of Olor tobacco they are known to use. This is the best reason of all to smoke blind if you are reviewing a cigar as it eliminates those pre-conceived notions and leaves you open to a new experience.
The Davidoff Year of the Ox is a cigar that even with a large price tag justifies purchasing one or a box. If you like smokes in this size, you’ll be quite pleased and if not this may change your mind.