This cigar was enjoyed with Water
Pre-Light: 10 Points of 10 Possible
Cigar was presented in a beautiful cedar coffin that had the pixel stitching designs on it. The wrapper selected was a smooth, milk chocolate color, again perfectly picked out. Triple cap applied nicely & cut clean with a straight cut. Stick had a little give but rebounded & was bunched well. Felt good holding it, nice big cigar. The band also had the pixel stitching designs that were related to the cigar backstory, very nice touch.
Lighting and Burn: 14 Points of 15 Possible
Cigar burned great just a 1 point deduction for a touch up, but it was windy & cigar performed well for the conditions. Ash still held on in inches & was flaky. Very nice grey & dark grey colors. Wasn't razor sharp line, but again burned well & provided plenty of ample smoke.
Construction: 28 Points of 30 Possible
The cigar was really put together well. You could tell they took time to select the perfect wrapper & it was bunched well. Only the one touch up was required. Cigar smoked basically flawlessly, great smoke with little effort, no tunneling or running, again wasn't razor clean but it burned even, the filler, binder & wrapper were great compliments. Triple cap was applied well, cut clean & didn't flag at all, which is a pet-peeve of mine. Cigar was very well constructed.
Flavor and Aroma: 42 Points of 45 Possible
Cigar took me on a nice journey. First 3rd I was picking up some lemongrass & cherry notes, it was very nice & smooth. It transitioned to anise & baked bread in the second 3rd with a little more meat in the strength. It faded a bit again in the final 3rd where I was mostly picking up sweet tobacco & sweet cedar notes, mild to medium strength & profile. It really was a nicely selected, nicely rolled complex cigar, I prefer a bit stronger profile, but this worked well for this cigar, what it provided was great flavors that complemented each other well & burned great. Retrohale provided those fruity flavors I was picking up in the first 3rd. Long cigar, Churchill, but it transitioned nice & never had to overly pull on cigar to get ample smoke & flavor, also cigar never got hot & I typically smoke pretty fast, I'm a big draw guy, so I burned this down in just over an hour, I'd imagine it's typically a 1.5-2 hour stick, again never got hot on me & I really enjoyed it throughout.
Summary
Thanks again to Casdagli Cigars & Cigar Geeks for the opportunity to smoke this cigar, it really was a treat. It has opened my eyes to more of the Casdagli lines as I've only previously smoked the Daughters of the Wind Ponies, which I really enjoy as well. The back story on this cigar involving the pixel stitch art & being a POW during the war really pulled you into this stick as well & made it even more enjoyable day dreaming about all the work that went into creating this cigar. The artwork, the cedar coffins, the perfect selection of wrapper, etc. Truly a nice journey when you are able to get the full experience. Thanks again for the opportunity to review the cigar it really was a treat, and I went and looked it up after I smoked it (didn't want it to affect my review) but I see this is an ultra limited edition cigar as well. Definitely one of those "special occasion" cigars you'd bury in the humidor. Again I prefer a more full bodied experience but I'm not going to discount what this cigar was to me, an incredible mild-medium journey with unique flavors that were rich & complex. Thank you again I truly enjoyed this cigar down to the nub.
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