Olor Rothschild Maduro Review

[Mr.Erskine]

Ah, it was a nice day on Friday. I knew that it would be the last nice day for a while, (as can be seen by Delaware's version of a blizzard. They need to learn how to drive in this stuff.) Because I knew this and I was done with another week, I thought that I would delight myself in one of the cigars that I had been waiting on.

I had decided what I wanted to smoke earlier in the day because I had a smallish stick hanging out in my humi, begging to be tried everytime I opened it. It was dark, and the band was pretty, even though it took me three months to figure out the name on the damned thing. For most of the time leading up to this day, when I would give it a little pressure, I was met with resistance that told me to wait until another day.

I pulled the dark stick out and I rolled it between my fingers, and it was less firm than it had been. A good sign? I squeezed it a couple times, and it gave just enough to entice me to go ahead with it. I kissed my wife and went out onto the front porch.

Olor Rothschild Maduro
Country: Dominican
Wrapper: Maduro
Filler: Unknown
Size: 4 1/2 x 50
Drink: None, Kool-aid when I was done

Upon closer observation of the cigar I realized several things. First, The cigar was not black, but a very dark brown with some lighter brown splotches, not big deal, and they didn't take away from the look of the stick. Second, The wrapper seemed to be very hastily rolled, again no big deal. Third, there was a huge vein running all the way up one side of the cigar. Finally, there were a few places where there seemed to be tears or small holes on the surface of the wrapper, (nothing done by an insect.)

I took out my cutter and clipped the tip. I put it to my tongue and there was a light spiciness to it, but nothing overly special. Taking a sniff revealed a slight licorice scent along with coffee, and a pre-light draw confirmed that with the licorice being the greatest of all the flavors, but the draw did reveal some of the oiliness that the cigar held as well as an underlying note of chocolate.

Despite a breeze the cigar lit well, and it burned quite well, although at the end it had gone a little uneven. The ash was beautifully white, except where the vein ran. Unfortunately, because of the wind, the ash was blown off before I had a chance to see how much it would grow.

Fortunately, for me, the cigar tasted better than it smelled while it was smoking. However, I say that to say that the scent of it changed as I was smoking it. It started earthy with hints of poo. (I'm not making this up. My wife said it, too.) And as I smoked the earthiness remained but the poo gave way to a hint of chocolate. However, it didn't leave me smelling like I had just smoked a pack of cigarettes like the Ashton did.

Don't let my commentary on scent deter you, though. This cigar was exceptionally flavorful. I didn't come with a punch out of the gate. It started was a very bold and robust licorice/coffee flavor , and that was coupled with a very slight oiliness, noticeable, but not offensive. About a third to half way into the stick there was an abrupt pepper/spice, but it didn't last long. The licorice/coffee flavor returned after the small blast of spice, and from the second half to the end it stayed true to those flavors with a strengthening cocoa/chocolate flavor. (This is NOT a flavored cigar!)

The lingering aftertaste was nice. It was chocolately.

Aside from the some of the scents that I got from this cigar, the only real complaint that I maintain is that as it burned hot. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't get it all the way down because it was burning the hell out of my lips and fingers.

I would grade this a B+ or, if I was being kind, an A-. I would recommend this as an everyday or quick smoke. I got the nicotine, or "cigar" buzz, but it wasn't too bad. I smoked it standing up because I didn't feel like sitting in the wind, but I didn't feel like I was being inconvenienced while I was smoking it.