Review: Jerry's Mystery Cigar

[Herf N Turf]

Some of you will recall Jerry (veteranvmb) asking for some of us to review a couple of handrolled sticks he's been smoking from a local tobacconist. He was kind enough to send me two to try. Her're my impressions of the first.

Brand: Jerry’s Mystery Gar
Counrty of Origin: No clue
Vitola: Churchill
Construction: Excellent
Burn: excellent:
Draw: Light-Med
Body: Med-Full
Strength: Mild
Flavor: Confused
Paired with: Peet’s House Blend, black.







Prelight:

Appearance is good. Looks like a very competent roll with a matte, natural wrapper and a good cap. Wrapper is toothy with mild veining. Only three full wraps for a Churchill; pretty impressive.

Initially, the nose on this stick smells of infused tobacco. A definite odor of cherry syrup, leather and citrus essence (orange peel). After clipping, the prelight draw is easy to medium; very nice.



Light and initial impressions:

Took to the torch like a champ; no time at all to get a nice even ember on the foot. Starting out, the cherry and citrus are rather overwhelming; very thick and heavy on the tongue. Excellent volume of smoke. I would call the body full with mild-medium strength. Ash is medium/dark gray, reminiscent of Nicaraguan tobacco. The ash shows nice, tight striations, no flaking, indicative of a quality roll of very thin filler leaf.

The burn stayed good on this smoke and every construction element continued to impress me. However, while the roller may be extremely proficient, he clearly lacks blending skill. Throughout the entire smoke, my palate was continuously confused and bothered. I’m sticking to my guns that this stick is flavored somehow, just don’t ask me how. At the halfway mark, the cherry gave out a little, in favor of spicy leather and orange peels. Finish was a bit on the astringent side.

Approaching the final third, nearly all of the flavored elements had dissipated, in favor of tobacco, leather and spice with the finish improving significantly. It actually turned into a pretty decent smoke, but I wouldn’t want to fight through another first 2/3 to get to it. Shockingly, a gentle purge revealed some hints of creaminess, which was much welcomed. I say, “shockingly”, since I rarely get hints of cream so far back on a stick.



This cigar is bipolar. The first part of it was just nasty, but the last part was frankly quite good.

Those who like Acids and other flavored cigars may find this appealing. Personally, I prefer unadulterated tobacco flavors, so this is not for me. If you like both flavored and unflavored cigars, you’ll get a goodly portion of both in this cigar.

First 2/3: Sucks
Final 1/3: Don’t suck

[Cigary]

I have smoked this cigar as well and I let mine sit a good week before smoking it,,,I still have the other one that I will smoke this weekend to see if there is any change in the overall character of the cigar. From what I gather this is a Dominican Blend of tobacco where there is not specific information as to how they get the "flavor" that is dominant in this cigar. They do blend nicaraguan,Honduran and Ecuadorian tobacco with their Dominican Tobacco as well.

When I did my review I likened it to the taste of "Red Man Chewing Tobacco" when I was a a big time chewer of this leaf in the day. I guess the taste you are getting is more of a cherry flavor and now that I think about it more the citrus is there pretty much in the background of this cigar. I am not an infused cigar person at all but this particular cigar pleased me and took me back to the days of my chewing tobacco and I enjoyed it. This cigar is not for everyone obviously but if you like this kind of flavor in your tobacco ( esp. you guys who still chew tobacco,,this is a good one to have in reserve when you are looking for a different kind of cigar )

Good review and great photos,,,I am so lazy when it comes to taking pictures but I should start at some point because I know I enjoy them when others post them up. Thanks Don!

[Herf N Turf]

Thanks, Gary.

I too have dug my hand into a pouch or two of Redman and I must say, youre analogy isn't far off the mark. However, rather than the molasses taste to Redman, this was definitely cherry. Weird.

Like you, I let mine sit until today, giving them ample time to relax and settle down to 65%. The burn was absolutely fantastic, as was the draw.

I still have the second example. I nosed it several times and interestingly, I'm only getting the cherry thing to about half way back from the foot. Makes me wonder if theyre not dipped, or something.

[commonsenseman]

Good review don.

I also smoked my first one of these. Didn't have a chance to write a review for that one, but I will for the second. I was not impressed with the construction on mine, it was quite toothy & rough on the wrapper, also the draw was quite a bit too hard (possibly a humidity issue, I didn't let it rest very long.) I did enjoy the flavor on mine, it seemed sweet but not too sweet, kinda fruity like you described, but not overpowering. I did not get all the way through it though because of the draw issue.

I look forward to trying the second one, since it's now had a while to settle. Review pending.

[Cigary]

I told Jerry that I wanted to try some more of these and some others that this place sells. Reading the website they have is interesting,,,they have quite a few different cigars available that interest me. I am dryboxing the last cigar and will smoke it tomorrow. I noticed the same thing Jeff,,,,it doesn't have the same pungent aroma it did when it arrived,,,,about half way down as you said. The draw on the first one was really good,,,lots of smoke and it was toothy with some veins as was said but the overall construction was very good. It is definitely a different kind of cigar and smoke,,,,you'll either really like it or not.

[Herf N Turf]

Thanks, Jeff. Mine were clearly wet when they got here, so that's why Ive let them sit until now. The two best things about mine were the draw and the visible construction quality. My wrapper only had one pronounced vein but wasn't much.

[veteranvmb]

[QUOTE=Herf N Turf;2692705]Some of you will recall Jerry (veteranvmb) asking for some of us to review a couple of handrolled sticks he's been smoking from a local tobacconist. He was kind enough to send me two to try. Her're my impressions of the first.

Thanks for the review. I think you see why I was and is confused about them.
While they do sell infused and dipped, these cigars were not of that variety.
I forget who got the belisco,s but on those they said they were dominican puros.
The others were mixed. But I was there today again, and they swear that there is no flavoring except for those that state it.
However, I find myself being drawn to them for some reason. I found another one there today, that they market under the bad republica. I smelled it, and almost fainted, it smells so sweet.
I asked the roller in the store about it, and he referred to another roller, and he said only tobacco.
I guess I am lucky to have such a store nearby in which to play around with.
I think next week, when I am there I am going to buy some of the infused ones. They have cherry, rum, vanilla. They look so good, but you can definatley tell they are infused as oppossed to these mystery ones.

Much regards Jerry

[madurolover]

I received the torps and am planning on smoking one tomorrow. They did have a pungent "chewing tobacco" smell when they arrived but that has all but disappeared.