Humidor English John

I can't believe I paid for this nasty little cigar, ten minutes in and I binned it. This small corona from Panama comes in at just over 4" and at first inspection looks good. The feel is nice and springy and indeed it lit easily and burned perfectly. The wrapper was a light brown with a slight sheen to it and has a clean tobacco smell. Being quite small I cut it rather than punching it and the cold draw was dry and slightly earthy. Once lit it was peppery and had a slight tar like taste to it. It reminded me a lot of the RyJ purito and I don't like those either. I ended up having a mint to get rid of the taste, one to avoid.

This little cigar from the Dominican Republic actually costs more than a Quorum Robusto but thank goodness mine was free because I won't be buying any that's for sure. It is hand and machine made and measures 10cm with a diameter of 1.34. The wrapper is Connecticut Shade and the best thing about it. It has a delicious chocolate smell and the cold draw is similarly chocolaty. It lit very easily and from the start all I got was tobacco, it produced loads of smoke and tasted like a big cigarette. It burned very tidily and the end always kept a healthy glow but this was not what I took up cigars for. Strangely enough the exhaled smoke had a quite pleasant fruitiness to it but that was where it ended. It got peppery and rough after the first third so I abandoned it and had to have a mint to clear my mouth of the cigarette taste. Reckon on getting about thirty minutes worth if you want to try one but why would you bother if you could have a Quorum?

This is a really nice looking cigar measuring in at just under six inches with a ring gauge of 54. It looks identical to the Cohiba pictured on their match box if you have one, a lovely milk chocolate wrapper, smooth and nicely packed with no looseness. The wrapper has no definite scent, its just pleasant to the nose. I punched this one and I don't know if my cutter is blunt but it loosened off the whole cap leaving the wrapper lose at the end resulting eventually in a soggy bottom. The draw was very free and the pre-lit draw was a definite chocolate taste with a very slight hint of chilli, good things seemed imminent! It took two matches to light and the initial draw was slightly peppery but that soon settled down to a mild and slightly bland flavour with a lot of smoke. I was surprised to see the ash drop at half an inch when I put it down but it burning very evenly. As it went on the smoke became more aromatic and a taste of leather developed but it never seemed to have a lot of identity which was such a pity. This was a very slow burning cigar and after an hour it was still only a third of the way through but disaster was afoot. I noticed that the wrapper had become loose and before I know it I had the whole thing in my hand. I carried on smoking it naked but when it went out on me I just couldn't be bothered any more and left it. Such a disappointment as I was even thinking of getting a box of these if it had been as good as it was sold. The box does look nice does it not. I realise that the poor construction could have been a one off but the experience didn't make it worth repeating to find out.