406 Cigars

Over at the Half Ashed forums we have a little “cigar pass” going on. Each person involved sends two unbanded cigars to another person in the “Blind Review Pass.” For the next few weeks I’ll be posting (with permission) those blind reviews. If you have never smoked a cigar blind, or unbanded, I would highly recommend it. Get some friends together and trade cigars with the bands removed, or have your wife take some bands off a few sticks in the bottom of your humidor. You’ll be surprised at how much a band can affect your perception of a cigar.

Today’s review is Kenhorne21. This is the first (and hardest) of two cigars that I sent to my fellow forum friend.

It was a box press torpedo I’m guessing 6 x 50/52 range

Dry draw was a little earthy and some subtle sweetness

Lit her up and had some background flavors of cocoa sweetness and some earth that was drying on the front of my pallete, also some red pepper through the retrohale. I immediately was thinking there must be some Honduran in this thing, but that changed about halfway through. Initially I thought Honduran and Nicaraguan filler with a habano wrapper. But the sweetness came and stayed halfway through and the pepper subsided through the retro hale. The second half was better than the first and the drying of the pallete subsided as well. Hmmm, now I was thinking maybe a Sumatra wrapper with nica filler. Ugh. But the cigar finished well and I’m not totally sure I can nail the exact stick but I definately think it was predominately Nicaraguan. Wrapper was either Sumatra or habano. I would lean Sumatra. I have definately not had this cigar

The burn needed some touch ups and the mascara line was on the thicker side so I would guess not a lot of aged tobacco. I haven’t smoked hardly any box press torpedoes other than padrons.

Thank you Ian. I’m a little puzzled and don’t have an exact guess.

The Reveal
Nice review!! You nailed the Nicaraguan aspect, and I also find the smoke a bit drying. Funny thing, I smoked the same cigar this week an posted it in the CotD thread! This was the harder of the two, a good smoke from a small company. That was the Córdoba and Morales Family Reserve. Nica binder and filler, Ecuador wrapper.