Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique. This one has been generously sponsored by our member Beegerply (Byron). The cigar provided for this round is the http://www.cigargeeks.com/cigardb/default.asp?action=showcig&cigar_id=192526">Black Works Studio Hyena Lonsdale. Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) is pleased to announce the release of Hyena: Hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra. Hyena is a Limited Edition that started shipping to select BLK WKS retailers at the beginning of March. "Hyena is a truly unique cigar that is focused on showcasing a perfect balance between Nicaraguan fillers and the Cameroon wrapper. Hyena is an extremely complex and balanced cigar and is a tribute to our many years of living in Africa," said James Brown, creator of BLTC & BLK WKS and owner at Fabrica Oveja Negra. Limited release of 700 boxes.
This cigar was enjoyed with Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout
Pre-Light: 9 Points of 10 Possible
Fairly dry wrapper with pre light smell of light tobacco, musty and slight barnyard. Firm stick with no soft spots, cap is well applied with a nubbed pig tail on the head and a closed foot. Canon seem uniformly well rolled.
Lighting and Burn: 10 Points of 15 Possible
Closed foot took fire well and we were off and rolling in no time. Smoke volume is a little light in my opinion and the draw is a bit snug after the first few puffs, after a little work with the draw tool the draw opens up satisfactorily. Could not let the cigar rest very long as it would extinguish itself and require a relight.
Construction: 25 Points of 30 Possible
Cigar looks well constructed,other than the wrapper is a bit mottled and seams are a fairly prominent it is a pretty good looking stick. After about an inch the draw seems to be tightening up enough that I need to use my draw tool to open it up some.
Flavor and Aroma: 39 Points of 45 Possible
1st half: Cigar begins with a "dry" woody note and some pepper spice, pepper is somewhat intense on retrohale. A very slight bitterness comes in towards end of first 1/2.
2nd half: Smoke still has the woody and spice notes with a bit of cedar smokiness coming into play. Spice on retrohale has calmed down with just a fraction of what it was earlier. Flavor has gotten quite bitter after the 3rd relight due to cigar going out during rests.
Summary
First off, I appreciate being allowed in on this review, had been wanting to give this a try. Total smoke time ended up at just over an hour and 15 minutes, this cigar ended up being just OK for me, I am usually a bigger fan of BWS offerings but this one just didn't do it for me unfortunately, and the 3-4 relights after a short rest didn't help matters much. I plan to give the second one a bit more time to sleep and will revisit in a month or so.
Thanks again for the opportunity to review this stick.