This cigar was enjoyed with White Wine
Pre-Light: 16 Points of 10 Possible
First off I noticed that A.F. uses the same band for a lot of their cigars. The Don Carlos was no exception in that its band is the same as the Hemingways and the Flor Fina 8-5-8 and others as well. For their higher end cigars I would have thought they might make the bands a little different, or at least put the cigar name on the band to tell them apart.
This cigar looked great. A smooth wrapper and a tight roll gave this cigar the appearance of some great handy work. As with it's brother Hemingway, the D.C. wrapper was not oily at all and somewhat dry. No flaws were present and the cap and foot were both solidly built. This stick was very full and tightly rolled, and left me nervous that it might have a tight draw.
The best part of the pre-light was by far the aroma; very fruity, like a bouquet of dried fruit. I would say predominantly raisins and figs. An awesome scent of rich tobacco left this stick exuding deliciousness.
The cap cut well and the cold draw was slightly tight and produced a nice herbal taste. I prefer a cigar to have a little more give to the touch, and this one, similair to the Hemingway, was very hard. Though properly humidified, one might wonder why it is so hard.
I took 2 points off for hardness, one point off for a slightly tight cold draw, and 1 point for lack of enthusiasm in band design.
Lighting and Burn: 12 Points of 15 Possible
This cigar had an exceptional burn. It was razor sharp for the full length of the stick. It lit well and did not require any touch-ups throughout.
The ash was salt and pepper looking, but closer to white on the wrapper layer. Though very solid, to the point of being like concrete, and holding for almost 2 inches, I feel this characteristic was due to the extremely tight roll and, unfortunately, the tight roll left me with a tight draw.
I was forever wanting for more volume of smoke. It was a bit frustrating for most of the smoke, like a tease, and this did not change until the last quarter, but that was a little too late for me. This little stick lasted about 70 minutes.
I deducted 3 points for lack of smoke volume.
Construction: 25 Points of 30 Possible
The draw severely challenged this cigar for me. It was definitely too tight, and no amount of massage and coddling would help. It was not plugged at all, it was just rolled too tight.
The cap and the wrapper held together very well, and all other aspects of construction were near perfect; no bits of tobacco came out of the head during smoking, no splitting or tearing were present and definitely no soft spots to be found.
I deducted 5 points for the tight draw.
Flavor and Aroma: 24 Points of 45 Possible
1st Third:
The fruity pre-light aroma had me excited, but it did not seem to come through once lit. I am not sure if this was because of the lack of smoke due to the tight draw, or just the flavor profile itself. What did come through was nice; more herbal than fruity, mild, and quite smooth. No bitterness or harshness was present. I would have liked more in the first third, but what was there was good.
2nd Third:
Though a little sweetness and and a touch of cream came through, the second third was pretty much the same as the first third. Again, I liked it, but I blame the tight draw on the mild flavor profile. This cigar seemed to want to give more but it just couldn't.
Final Third:
There was little change going into the final third and then with one quarter of the smoke left it started opening up to a full draw. I was excited at the volume of smoke now being produced and was ready for the tastes to wow me. I was sadly let down. The last quarter was very bitter and slightly harsh. I am sure this was due to the tars not burning off evenly throughout the smoke and collecting near the head. Once the draw opened up, it just burned them off all at once. I kept smoking and was able to detect some nice deep leather notes coming through. A poor finish for a this caliber of cigar.
I deducted 8 points for the lacking taste profile due to the poor draw and 3 more points for the bitter tar bomb at the end, also due to the poor draw.
Summary
I don't feel good posting this review in that I don't think the brand got a fair shake due to the tight roll and poor draw on this one stick. Unless the other reviews have the same issues, then I suppose I just had a bad one.
I happen to have another one as back up and will smoke it out of respect for the AF brand name. I will post the review in our regular review section.
Even if a cigar falls apart on me, it's the taste that really makes it or breaks it. This cigar was hard to define. The taste was good, but just lacking the smoke and strength needed to fill out the profile. The ending bitterness did not help either.
This was truely a dissapointing cigar for me and normally I would consider deducting a few more points in that a small cigar that can retail for around $8 should really be better than the one I experienced, but I didn't, and will give this cigar another chance to redeem itself.
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(11 Review(s))