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Unlit Impressions

With the faintest touch of tooth popping forth in peach fuzz form, and medium amounts of oil beneath the thumb, the maduro version of The T. seems ripe for the puffing. Cedar and sarsaparilla, along with the lightest kiss of leather along the wrapper, with nary a pinch of coffee or cocoa prime the senses. It's a fetching little leaf too, with its crisp pressing and construction being completely AJF-grade.

The foot smells even better too, as a mixture of potpourri spices swirls with dark, sweet fruits, creating a berry cordial aromatic that is neither spicy nor too dark. Cold draws stay true to the foot's aromatics, with the addition of some dank soil and a scrap or two of suede being the only other advancements. 

Note the thick matte paper bands on this blend when you get a sec. The signatures of all three collaborators encircle the secondary, with the primary band being reserved for those skeleton keys and a slick little Estelí scribble down one side. Pretty snazzy stuff, and shadow box collection-worthy if you ask me. 

Initial Smoke

Spicy and filled with dried fruit, followed by raspberry and almond-encrusted chocolate bars, initial impressions on this stick are impressively potent. Retrohales are also hot and heavy, with plenty of peppercorn spice and cedar shoving about. It is not until a full ten minutes has passed that things calm the hell down and the cigar settles into a rhythm, which is right where it needs to be. 

1st Half

Pork rub really is not something that I taste in cigars all that often, but when it does appear it tends to deliver. Spicy and sweet, savory and salty, with hints of herbal undertones and dried citrus rind, the brief moments spent salivating over this barbeque taste are worth every penny you pay for this little robusto.

Once this flavor fades, the refreshing taste of cinnamon toast in the morning melts upon the tongue, tailed by a touch of that funky raspberry and mixed berry fermented cordial fruitiness, and a shaving of a cedar spill or two toward the end of a medium-length finish. Chocolate can be tasted, but it is just swirling beneath it all, and it is more milk cocoa tasting than bittersweet and dark. 

2nd Half

When chocolate does finally show itself, it is in the company of both coffee and vanilla. Roasted cashews and heavy cream make retrohales a near-religious experience, as their combined milkiness plays off the cedar and mocha notes flawlessly. Overall body feels unexpectedly light in this mid-section, even though you know that likely is not, and part of that has to do with the flavors and strength of the cigar being so silken.

A shot of salt and pepper picks up the pace in the final third and adds an interesting contrast to the dark fruitiness flowing beneath. Cedar has decided to take a more active role in forming the cigar flavor profile at this point, and while it does create a trickle of intense tree resin, it does not misalign the cigar's trajectory. 

Parting Puffs

Meaty and quite dark, the final third's flow into parting puffs pushes at least a few milligrams of nicotine toward my massive melon. Lucky for me the whole mocha milk bar is still open, and it's still serving bowls of roasted cashew halves. This complex mix, and a fair deal of what is leftover from just a dozen minutes prior transforms in this rich leather and coffee concoction, with the aftertaste reminding me a bit of that funk flavor you get off a bold broadleaf blend.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

AJ Fernandez's build quality crushes yet again. Outside of a dropped ash in the first half and the blend burning a little quicker than I would like this smoke combusted without a single major snag. Oh, and what an outstanding draw, with equally impressive smoke formation too might I add. 

Final Thoughts 

Well, that certainly was a three-way I could get in on all over again. Ok, so I do wish that our time together could have lasted a little longer, but hey, it's a robusto. Finishing prematurely happens sometimes when things are just getting good. 

Filthy joking aside, I have to say that I did not find the initial light-up of this blend to be very smooth, and the blend did get a little hot in the final third and had to be babied. I also had some trouble with the strength of the cigar wanting to send me a nicotine sandwich toward the end, which required some pacing on my behalf and a tall glass of water.

Not to worry though, because every other component that makes this triple-sided stogie a success is worth savoring and celebrating. I don't know how many boxes of this blend Robert Caldwell has ferreted away, but I will be requesting a box be sent to me in my next Klaro shipment.

Stogie Specs