Wrapper: Undisclosed
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Purchase Link: Bandolero
BANDOLERO REVIEW – CALIFORNIA
Summary: The ring gauge on this puppy is a little out of my comfort zone. I'm getting a dirty chocolate and hay. The ash is pretty flaky but still holds on decently. There is a subtle herb note that slips in here and there, but otherwise this cigar is starting to bore me. I've had to touch up the burn a few times already.
Beginning the second third, to my astonishment, the burn has greatly improved. Flavor wise, this stick still isn't touching me in the right places. I'm only halfway through and I'm beginning to feel like I'm being forced to watch all of The Hobbit films back to back.
Final third. Nothing to see here. Move along.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Not changing your shirt after getting a haircut.
Pairing Suggestion: Absinthe.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Single.
BANDOLERO REVIEW – WISCONSIN
Summary: This cigar is larger than I'd typically pick for myself. It's not the length that I'd tend to avoid, but the girth.
Flavor-wise, it performed pretty well. It tasted of chocolate, leather, raisin, spice, sweetness, earth, cinnamon, clove, and creaminess. There was a lot of breadiness too. At a lot of times, smoking this cigar reminded me of eating brownies. I do love me some brownies. The flavors didn't change a lot throughout the length of the cigar, which is a bit of a turn-off for the large vitola. It's a long smoke to not change a lot. It was smooth.
The construction didn't give me much to complain about. The draw and burn were both quite good.
Aside from it being a big cigar whose flavors didn't change much, I couldn't find a single other real flaw.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Brownies.
Pairing Suggestion: A whole pot of coffee - it'll last a while.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Even though it's not my favorite size, I'd grab a fiver. If there was a smaller size, I'd be very interested to try it.
BANDOLERO REVIEW – OREGON
Summary: This week’s cigar was simply enormous. I’m guessing 6x60...at least. It had a nice looking wrapper and was firmly rolled. A perfect cold draw revealed flavors of bread, dry hay and coffee.
Initially, oak, dry leaves, lemon zest and a hint of spices built a solid flavor profile. The retro-hale experience featured floral notes, a nice creaminess and a bit of pepper spice as well. Within the first two inches I discovered a small tunnel causing the cigar to burn very erratically on one side. Not surprisingly, smoke production waned and the flavors did as well. I decided to apply a much needed, large burn correction.
Towards the middle it felt like the cigar was always on the verge of going out. It took a serious amount of puffing to produce smoke at all. Wood, coffee and a small amount of spice continued to make up the profile. Go ahead and mark down another large burn correction as well.
Entering the final portion of the cigar it finally went out. With some new heat applied, coffee, cedar, red pepper, bread and a hint at floral notes reappeared.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like this, then you probably like sitting on the back porch with a can of butane handy.
Pairing Suggestion: Pair this with a nice hoppy IPA or a sweet rum.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Single stick.
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.
Leave your comment