Henry vs. Steve Review: Tampa Sweetheart #4

[palm55]

PRELUDE:

This feeble attempt at a cigar review was made possible by the unexpected gift of 5 TS #4 Maduros and 5 TS #500 Maduros, compliments of a crazed BOTL who goes by "catfishm2", wish the expressed wish that Henry and I BOTH enjoy them.

Well... Here goes!

I'm Steve, the handsome, middle-aged one... He's Henry, a butt-ugly, crotchety old fart.

The occasion was a visit to Henry's place last evening, sitting on the porch. Henry's doctors told to refrain from drinking or smoking cigars, which made his participation in this review all the more delightful for him (sticking it to the doctors as they had stuck it to him the previous week in the hospital)!

My drink, a Beck's Dark... Henrys', a well-iced JB Black.

CONSTRUCTION AND PRE-BURN:

(ME) At 5-1/2 X 43, it's cerainly a compact little bugger! I know it's supposed to have been rolled by Fuente "apprentices," but the wrapper is nicely bound, and it looks like a nice stick!

(HENRY) "Wrapper tastes pretty good! Kind of like a 'tobacco-jerky' taste, with some spice and some meat! But let's see what happens when we fire'em up... Not so sure those Fuente Kids know how to roll a good one!"

LIGHT, BURN & DRAW:

(ME) This cigar clips perfectly. The draw is perfect, and the burn is self-correcting. It seems that Fuente's apprentices take their craft very seriously!

(HENRY) "I like this one... Don't have to mess with it a lot... I like a cigar you don't have to mess with!"

BODY & FLAVOR:

(ME) I'd put it in the mild-medium body area. The wrapper is consistently flavorful on the lips, though NOT in the expected "coffee-chocolate" Maduro way... There's sort of a "sweet-spice" flavor in both the wrapper and the filler that lingers in the aftertaste, which is quite pleasant! And the beer seems to compliment the aftertaste! It's one-dimensional... But I like the dimension!

(HENRY) "(BURP)... You know, this ain't a bad little girl!! I like how that spice doesn't get in the way of the tobacco... And they 'gotta be using some decent leaves... I'd know it otherwise."

OVERALL:

(ME) This is a "different" kind of maduro. The flavor and aftertaste are excellent! For a value stick, this one goes on my hit list!!!

(HENRY) "Used to be, when the Cubans were legal, we could find cigars like this for about 25 cents a pop... Times have changed... You got any more of these little things!?"

POST-SCRIPT:

In the interest of objectivity (right!), I smoked one of the TS #500s (4-1/2 X 50) this afternoon, and found the burn and flavor to be consistent with the #4. I left a few more with Henry later today. He smiled, stuffed two into his humi, the third into his tackle box, waved, and walked down to the lake.

Sometimes, smaller, shorter, simpler pleasures are the best pleasures... THANKS, catfish!!

(As usual, my/our opinions are purely subjective)

[catfishm2]

Excellent review Steve. Glad to hear you both liked them. The fact that both of you enjoyed them says a lot about this brand I think. And I get the feeling that Henry would have made his displeasure known if he hadn't approved.. . Thanks to both of you again for the gift of the draw tools. Having a handcrafted set of tools such as these is very special to me.

[stitch45]

Best Review I've read in a long time!! I've been wanting to try some Tampa sweethearts ...
This Henry fellow sounds like a good ol' boy I'd like to sit down with and share a bourbon, a smoke, and a life's worth of stories with.
Doctors don't know squat about Livin'.

[G-Man]

Very nice review. I read that with a smile on my face the whole time.....I had this picture in my mind how that went....

I like the Tampa Sweetheart Maduro's for a nice everyday type smoke. One of those smokes that you enjoy, but if you get interupted you aren't messing up a $10 cigar in the process.