Initial Smoke 

Garden variety kitchen spice notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove are the first taste to be detected. Balanced by a bit of brown sugar sweetness and a touch of salt and pepper, the first few minutes of the Meadowlark are indeed mellow and memorable. Black and white pepper heat tingle on the nose as well as the tongue, and the further you pull, the more all of the soil notes start to sing. 

1st Half

Arapiraca flavors are quick to make their mark in the first half, with a meaty umami taste transcending the typical leather note one finds in the tobacco varietal. It is still very earthy, though, and in a dank rainforest floor sense of the word. This results in some residual funk lingering on the medium-length finish, which matches up to the equally medium body and cigar flavor profile intensity levels.

Retrohales resulting in a smooth, slightly sweet, earthen spiced concoction upstairs, and malted barley and dry cedar doing the boogie-woogie downstairs, the house really starts to rock right around the start of the second third. Meanwhile, deep down in the basement, brown sugar jungle beats thump out a tempo atop an earthen sub-floor. Time to break out the headdress and get to "chiefing." Dad jokes... I know...

2nd Half

Unquestionably smoother than any other section in the stick, that sweet spot right in the center of this cigar holds a special spot in the whole cigar flavor profile experience. As brown sugar melds with vanilla beans, those meaty earth notes die back a bit, allowing the malts to mix with the recent addition of Brazil nuts. Back on retrohale, the return of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove all combine to add a whole other level of complexity to an already outstanding central section. This combo only lasts for about a dozen minutes or so. But for those brief few moments, everything around you suddenly doesn't matter anymore, and all seems right in the world for once.

As the exquisite center section shifts into the final third, tangy cedar notes, light roast coffee with cream, and a clean, simple vanilla bean secondary note roll across the taste buds. It's a simple, well-formed, and completely approachable blend of flavors and aromatics that is only hindered by the sheer glory that came just a few minutes before.

Parting Puffs

Attempting to make its way to medium-full in flavor, but still falling a bit short in strength and body, the closure to this blend starts off with a lot of promise, but quickly bungles the whole kit and caboodle. Spicier and more savory in a roasted meat form, but also dry and resinous as well, things get rather hot on the tongue in regard to taste. As the Brazil nuts begin to burn, scorched tobacco char tastes for, and the whole cigar explodes in a fireball of physical heat intensity. So much for a smooth letdown at the end...

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

I did find that both cigars that I smoked proved to be outstanding in regard to construction, burn, ash formation, and color, as well as in regard to the draw produced via a V-Cut from my Overland Pro Torch Lighter. So Blackbird seems to have its production game on lock with this one for sure.

Final Thoughts

During those 12–15 minutes right in the middle of this cigar, as well as the sample stick I torched the night before, I was on cloud nine. Meadowlark has all of the key players in place and executes one hell of a hypnotizing, medium-powered arapiraca smoking experience in those brief moments, and is really what this blend is all about. Nothing against the first half or what follows shortly thereafter, for they too were quite good. But damn... that midway point really rocks.

Strangely enough, I found much of the blend to be a bit too mellow at times, though. It seemed like it was holding back, as if it were too timid to really lay on the flavors for fear of upping the strength and body of the blend too much. This is interesting because I encountered a similar sense of reservation in the Dias de Gloria Brazil from AJ Fernandez earlier this year, which also targets that medium-powered Brazilian cigar flavor profile. I also found myself disliking much of Meadowlark's parting puffs, and found that both cigars were quick to overheat in the final third and beyond. 

But, would I smoke one again tonight if I had the chance? You bet your ass I would. This is a really smooth smoke that has the ability to be paired with a whole bunch of beverage options due to the refined nature of the first 85% of the blend. Which kind of makes me wonder if we should start referring to this cigar as the "Mellowlark" instead...