OUCH, the Man of War Puro Authentico

KICKED MY A55.  Ouch.  Everything was going along fine, but near the end I began to smoke the cigar a little fast, trying to wrap it up so I could take a picture of the end of the cigar.  More on the effects of that idea later.

This was another cigar given to me by Neens.  At times people get these non-cuban cigars into my hands either because they feel sorry for me for not wanting to try new NC cigars, or they just want to hear what I think of them and are just being generous.  I never try to encourage this behavior, but I try not to fuss too much when it happens.  Thanks again, Neens.



The cigar opened up with no-holds-barred flavor, super-rich and potent tobacco flavor, laced with hints of vanilla and maple sugar, spicy tastes of possible Nicaraguan tobacco I am guessing.  The smoke was so thick and rich you could swirl your tongue around and feel it.  Rich coffee taste and peppery, sweet spice roll in and out of the subsequent puffs I make on the cigar.  The corona size makes for a triple threat for me, FREE stick, great taste, perfect size.  I loved the cigar outside for an inch or two, and then got just too torn up by mosquitoes to smoke anymore.  I brought my Golden Monkey Ale and cigar inside and smoked a rare stick inside.  Another reason why I was rushing a little.  A lesser cigar like the recent DaVinci, TOSSED.  I am not going to smoke a cigar inside in the middle of summer.  But I couldn't put this down.  Puff after puff of great flavor and NOT super-strong by any means.  Until you rush it I guess.

Suddenly I got a rush of cold sweat on my brow, a little bit of a queasy feeling in my gut.  I was watching Song of Bernadette for some reason and I didn't want to stop, but I took a quick shower and went to bed early.  I had no interest in finishing this one to the nub.  Yikes, talk about good and bad all at the same time.   I will rank it, a rarity for a NC cigar for me, I just don't know how to rate em.  They all kind of taste the same to me, and that's not a fair way to think of them.  But this cigar is a real treat, 90 points.

DaVinci something or other (Economico) and a Old Hickory hefeweizen

These DaVinci tubed cigars were 1/3 priced at JR one month sometime in the recent past, and I picked up a few boxes for the troops.  I have forgotten the name of them, but they are a perfect lonsdale size, smell delicious and feel great in the hand.  The taste is similar to most low-end Nicaraguan puros, the burn was excellent and the cigar went well with the North Carolina Hefeweizen I drank with it.  Picked it up in Boone, it was not expensive and it was pretty good.  Not much to hop around about, but neither was the cigar.  It had notes of burnt sugar, dark chocolate and tobacco, a medium to full draw and a razor straight burn.  But those flavors sound like it was a great cigar, but not so much really.  It was good, and I would smoke it again, but there is no time to smoke these cigars when I have havanas to get through.  Good but not great, flavors without being flavorful.  All in all, it was worth smoking again, but I probably won't, although I have another.