REVIEW: CI Legends Series - Blue (MATASA)

[CigarHoss]

I love a good, cheap smoke. I have been buying some of the CI Legends series for a few months now and the past couple of weeks have won some of their 15 cigar samplers. These samplers can usually be had for around $20-$28 and include the Blue, Green, White, Orange, and Red labels. I will attempt to review each. I've never tried the Purple or the Black labels, but hopefully that'll change soon.

Anyhow. I really wanted to like this cigar. I vaguely recall the last time I smoked one of these a few weeks ago from the first sampler. It was nothing to write home about and fortunately, at the time, I had to put it down and I simply forgot to pick it back up and smoke it again.

To me, bad cigars are difficult to review. A lot of what follows is more of an expression of my disappointment rather than an objective review...just so you know.

It's of similar size to all of the Legends. A little over 5 1/2 inches in length and about 54-56 ring gauge. The wrapper was a pretty Equadorian and from what I've read, the binder (as well as the filler) is Dominican.

The wrapper was fairly gnarly, but I don't expect perfection from these cigars. The appearance and color was fairly nice. The cap was placed on there in a very amateurish way, but I really don't mind that either. The label, as God-awful gaudy as a cigar label can come, did prove to be very, very easily removed. I wish some other manufacturers would take note and use less adhesive...but I digress.

I lit this puppy with my triple flame torch. I toasted the end and took the time to appreciate (HA) the initial aroma. My goal here was to find some "saving graces" and something to like, as compared to my last experience with the Blue label.

I swear, I wish I could find something to like about this cigar. It didn't smell nice, it tasted terrible, it burned very unevenly. The taste was very bland...but not Romeo and Julieta bland...this possessed an interesting acrid blandness. I know that is somewhat oxymoronic in description, but to me, it had a very bland taste and a somewhat bitter aftertaste. As hard as I worked to finish this cigar, I threw it out the window at the halfway point. Given my penchant for cheap cigars, I know that there are going to be winners and losers, but truly, it is rare for me to pull my team off the court before the end of the game.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood. Maybe my palatte wasn't neutral (I had had a Moon Pie about 30 minutes earlier). Maybe it was just a bad cigar of the bunch. I was sorely disappointed, though, and I can assure you I will not smoke the rest of these.

This is certainly the worst of the 5 in the sample. The others are good...and a couple are absolutely terrific. I will provide ruminations on the others soon.

[craigchilds]

I've really enjoyed the Legends White Label cigars, which I believe are made by Comacho. I got a bundle of 20 off CBid for $28. In fact, truth be told, I like the Legends White Label more than the "name brand" Comacho Churchills.

I've never tried the Blue label. In fact, I don't know that I've had anything from the MATASA factory, except for JR Alts. (A lot of people don't like JR Alternatives, citing construction problems, but they are usually my cheap cigar of choice. The JR Alts to Excalibur and the JR Cuban Alts to Montecristo are both pretty good.)

[CigarHoss]

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the Whites. I, too, enjoy them more than the Camacho Churchills.

I have a White that I will smoke tonight, actually.