esencia blind review

[renton20]

I was lucky enough to receive a couple of these sticks through the blind review offer which popped up at the beginning of June. Well there was a conference call last night which I caught the last couple of minutes of, just enough to find out what the cigar was. Sorry about the lack of pics, I ended up smoking this cigar, the belicoso, while running errands. So without further ado, here is my blind review.

To begin I enjoyed this cigar immensely. It started off with somewhat of a sweet nuttiness through the nose which lasted to one degree or another throughout the entire cigar. After the first couple of puffs the cigar began to get a little bit harsh, drying out my mouth a little bit. After the first inch this harshness went away completely, leaving in its place a subtle sweetness. At his point the best word to describe the flavors would be refined. There was a sweet nutty, toasty base which was very balanced. The flavors were completely different, but this refined quality reminded me of a padron 64.

There were some burn issues, but as I was smoking this in my car, I cannot attribute that to poor construction but more likely the wind. The draw was perfect all of the way through.

The second third had the same base flavors with a rising intensity. There was more than enough going on to keep me interested. There were also some flavors going on here that I could not identify and that is driving me crazy. I would love to read the other reviews to possibly figure this out.

The final third did not disappoint. The base continued to the end with other flavors popping up
as well. The main one which I was able to pinpoint was that of dark chocolate. The flavors kept building and building and when I put the nub down with about an inch left I did not want to see this end.

It could be that I felt it more because this was my first cigar of the day, but nicotine wise I would put this solidly on the full side of medium.

Hope this is helpful for you guys, I would definitely recommend checking this cigar out.

[yayson]

I put my review over here at the official release post.

Sorry to have missed you on the call last night, did you pop in and listen or say hello? If you said hi I completely missed it man.

Good smokes yes? Yes!

[hurricane6]

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/private...m&pmid=1098201
This was my take on it.

[Mr. Ed]

[SIZE=3]Here's my take fellas. I missed out on the call on Thursday as well, but these cigars were great to review![/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Review # 1(Smoked on 6/14)

Initial Impressions: No measuring done here, but I’m going to guess it was a corona sized cigar. It had a very impressive natural wrapper that was smooth and had a nice light oily sheen. It had some veins, but no noticeable blemishes. Very nice pre-light aroma of tobacco. Drank Harp Lager with this smoke (went very well together) [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Smoking: The draw on this cigar was excellent and I got a great volume of smoke from start to finish with no plugs, a big plus. The wrapper was applied very well, no splitting, no cracking no issues whatsoever. The burn on this smoke was extremely even throughout and no touch-ups with the lighter were needed. The burn was also nice, slow, and controlled; it burned cool and did not become hot until the very end. The ash throughout the entire smoke was a marbled medium grey and appeared firm. The only issue construction-wise with this smoke was that the ash kept falling off every ¾ of an inch or so by itself, which was somewhat inconvenient.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Taste: The cigar had a very straight forward medium-full taste, closer to the full side. The cigar remained very smooth the whole way through and never became harsh. For the first part of the cigar the taste had a spicy character and I detected some “woody” hints here. The finish here was spicy and short, staying on the palate for a very short time. After two ashings, somewhere about 2 inches into this smoke the taste had a very light hint of coffee and the spiciness vanished. The finish became a sort of dull sweetness and stayed on the palate longer. The further I smoked the taste became deeper and fuller and a little more complex, there was still a hint of coffee, and the finish remained full and somewhat sweet. I also began to notice some saltiness to the taste as well. The cigar continued to taste very smooth and full all the way down to the nub. The aroma on this cigar was very full and nice. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Conclusion: A very delightful and straightforward smoke where the tobacco was very smooth and blended quite nicely. I liked that even though the smoke was closer to the full side it never became harsh. My pet peeve and only real complaint was the flakiness of the ash, which was a bit of a downside. The taste was also a bit muddled and somewhat one-dimensional. On the whole a very smooth smoke that wasn’t overly complex and was very solid. At this point I would probably smoke this cigar again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Grade: 8.75/10, B+ on the Mr. Ed scale[/SIZE]


[SIZE=3]Review # 2 (Smoked on 6/20)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Initial Impressions: This cigar had the same sort of wrapper that was again very smooth with no blemishes. Based on the two smokes, I would say that they appeared very consistent and almost identical. Still retained a very nice pre-light aroma of tobacco. I decided to pair this smoke with the Harp Lager once again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Smoking: Here I immediately noticed that the ash behaved much better this time around. It was still the same marbled medium grey color, but stayed on for over an inch until I ashed it myself. The burn was again very slow, cool, and controlled no overheating issues. However, this time around the burn had some issues and was a little uneven at points and required some minor touching up to be done. On the whole, however, the burn was fairly even. The wrapper behaved well here as well, no cracking or splitting. The draw was superb again and afforded a generous volume of smoke with every puff from beginning to end. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Taste: This cigar had a more defined full body and again was very smooth for most of the smoke. Unlike the other smoke it turned somewhat harsh in the last 1/3 of the smoke. [/SIZE][SIZE=3]The cigar started out with the same spiciness here, the finish at first was mildly spicy and had some “woody” hints, but stayed on the palate a lot longer this time. After about 1-1.5 inches in the cigar really came into its own and became very enjoyable. It afforded a very strong coffee-like taste and aroma that was not as subtle as last time and was very pronounced, a big plus. The finish became deep and full and retained the coffee-like character to it, plus it also continued to have a hint of spiciness, unlike the first smoke, all the way throughout, which was a big plus. As I continued to smoke the cigar retained the coffee-like taste and very pleasant finish, the taste here wasn’t nearly as muddled and offered some subtle complexities. At bout 1.5 inches left in the cigar it started to become a little harsh, and the coffee-like taste began to dissipate somewhat. The finish remained deep and full. The aroma was again very pleasant to smell for this cigar[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Conclusion: The coffee-like flavor this time around was much more pronounced and enjoyable, I really, really, enjoyed the taste of this cigar, it really brought a smile to my face and made me happy J. A very smooth smoke for the most part. The only problems were some burn issues and some harshness to the end, which was not present the first time. After this smoke, I would definitely recommend having it in a rotation for some solid construction and taste. On the whole this cigar presented a very pleasant smoking experience. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Grade: 9.5/10, A on the Mr. Ed scale. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Final Comments: The two cigars were very enjoyable and the coffee-like taste in these was superb (especially the second time around). The construction on the two was on par and created only some minor inconvenience and trouble. I really enjoyed rating these two cigars. Again, thank you very much. - Mr. Ed[/SIZE]

[tedrodgerscpa]

I'm double posting my review from the blind taste test here....

Sorry to have missed you on the conference call. A good time was had, and I'm really looking forward to this release



Here's my official review.

I received this torpedo, weighing in at 5.5 X 50~52 and a beautiful rosado wrapper... It had nice oils to it, and a VERY STRONG tobacco smell when I first opened the well-packaged envelope. My wife said 'phew, that smells!' almost right away when I opened the baggie.





The smell had a very strong fermented tobacco smell to it, almost as if there was some maduro leaves hiding somewhere in the blend... the wrapper was distinctly reddish brown, although the pictures give it more of a brown appearance.

A little flap across the top of the top of the torpedo reminded me a bit of a JFR torp I smoked some time ago...



The foot had a few stems poking out, but nothing to be overly concerned about



Outside lighting gave it a much more reddish appearance, which closely matches how this stick looks in person



A predraw light again gives off the distinct flavor of a maduro stick, and a nice warm spice seems apparent in this stick even before lighting. If I were to smoke this cigar in the dark, I'd bet it would be a maduro 10 times out of 10!

It seems to jump to life rather quickly and emits a thick, rich smoke. The burn is flawless and the draw is fantastic



The spice level in the first inch or so reminds me of a green Opus X, and I'm hoping this stick is not similarly priced.

The first third made me think only one thing... "Darn, I really wanna know what this is so that I can add it to my regular rotation"

Around the second third, the intense spice mellows out a bit and the taste profile becomes more leathery. The cigar has a welcome complexity to it.



The ash holds on for quite a long time, and alternates between dark and light colors. The ash doesn't give much of a hint for the stick's nationality (neither distinctly Nicaraguan white nor Cuban dark).

The finish seems to go a bit bitter at the end, so I would not consider this stick particularly nub-worthy, although the first two thirds were quite welcomed.



Final judgment...

This stick would be a fantastic every day smoke for fans of fuller bodied smokes. I think it could earn up to a $8 price tag USD, but certainly not an uber-premium smoke. The construction and draw were flawless, which helped out my impressions quite a bit. If this was a bundled stick, I'd be floored!

The bitterness may have been attributed to the torpedo shape, which is not one of my go-to vitolas... If the bitterness was due to the saturation of smoke towards the end, I'd gladly reach for one of these sticks in a toro or churchill and let it go with inch and a half left.

Overall, an enjoyable smoke. I did have the opportunity to smoke two, and would pull out my wallet for the opportunity to try one again! The first one was smoked right off the truck, and the second with about a week and a half rest on it. I generally keep my humi at 60~62%, and the stick burned great (not too hot) out of this environment!

Thanks for the opportunity to approach this stick blindly, and I certainly hope to find out what in the heck I just smoked!

[Kaisersozei]

I, too, was fortunate enough to sample these. I received two of the robusto size. As I related in the conference call with Mark Aub, my review was impacted by the youth of the cigar--with a little more time to rest, the second half of the smoke would have improved tremendously, as would my score.

Overall, I'm anxiously awaiting the full release of this line.

(I have pictures somewhere and will post again once I find them.)

Gerard



Vitola: ~4 3/4 x 48/50

Appearance
Elegant, perfectly cylindrical robusto, smooth, silky wrapper with 1 or 2 minor veins. 9/10

Construction
Tightly packed with tobacco, lit easily and provided a razor sharp burn throughout the smoke. Wonderful draw supplied tons of smoke with a nice aroma. Only ashed twice. Ash developed an interesting black color on one side, light gray on the other. Cigar developed some soft spots after 30 minutes and then turned spongy at about where the band would be. 7/10

Flavor
Prelight aroma was of cedar & chocolate. First third was smooth with a complexity of spice, sweetness and woody flavor that was very pleasant. Long, slightly creamy finish, but predominantly cedar & spice. A mainly tobacco flavor emerged in the second third, with some floral notes and an undercurrent of cream. The cigar lost all flavor except tobacco in the final third and got heavily tarry. Still had a cedar finish, though, but I struggled through the end of the cigar, hoping that the nice complexity of the first half would return. Unfortunately, it did not. Interestingly, the cigar left only a very light aftertaste that faded completely within an hour of completing the smoke. 6/10

Overall
Medium/full body, full strength that snuck up on me at midstick. Even after a heavy meal, I had to slow it way down. Although I finished both cigars, the nicotine was too much for me and created an unpleasant smoking experience. I much preferred the first half of the stick. 6/10

I’m curious to know more about this cigar. Thank you for allowing me to participate in this blind review.

[Emjaysmash]

Anyone know how much its going to be?

[tedrodgerscpa]

According to the Esencia conference call (available to the blind reviewers), the target price range is

"$6 to $10"

I'm hoping the Belicoso tops the mark at $10, and the PC and robusto come in closer to the $6 range.

Bottom line, the prices have not been set yet according to B.O.T.L., the maker of the cigar

[tedrodgerscpa]

Here's the 'Esencia' announcement.

Click for link