Digging the Sound of This Cigar? You Might Also Like...

Partagas "Añejo"

Gran Habano "Corojo #5"

Initial Smoke

Eraser end ignited, and that spicy, old school corojo cigar flavor profile fires up. That bag of salty snack mix and roasted nuts is back, and with it comes some cedar and a medium-sweet finish. The draw is a touch tight, so I snip a tad more off the head, and am rewarded with a mild-medium body and a far better flow.

1st Half

After sending a poker deep into the innards of the blend, flow opens up a touch more, and flavors of fermented hay and soil stream forth to mix with the existing tastes of salty snacks and corojo leaf. There's also a sweet banana pudding taste on the finish, and this tames the whole blend down while adding some creaminess to the concoction. 

Second third flavors offer a shot of island rum funk, and with the tea-like, citrusy tastes of the corojo wrapper increasing, I find myself smiling. This is a pretty fun section in the cigar, and with all that creaminess and lighter smoke textures, the mouthfeel of the blend is a lovely medium medley. Sadly, retrohales don't pick up on much else beyond what the tongue is detecting and a touch more sweet cedar, so complexity continues to be a bit of a lackluster.

2nd Half

Another poke later, and flow is finally hitting the tempo I was wanting from the get-go, and this allows more flavors to form. This time, there's a touch of smoky mesquite, and the salty snack mix grows stronger and spicier. Retrohales amplify these notes all the more, and before long, the creaminess of the smoke finally reaches medium-grade level. The burn remains solid, with only the rogue wave to be found, and the burn rate is acceptable.

Dark grain flavors make the hay-like notes off the Connecticut wrapper taste significantly stronger in the final third, and this forms a whole-grain cracker taste on the tongue. Salty at times, and definitely a bit pithy when it comes to citrus bitterness, the complexity of the blend builds a bit here. With a sweeter, creamier retrohale finishing things out, and a sizable bump in corojo tea tastes up front, I found myself favoring this section over the previous two. 

Parting Puffs

Earthier, but not a complete soil bomb either, the tapered section of the cigar is a pleasant, medium-powered experience. Retrohales remain the top performer, and while the blend definitely is leaning more toward corojo leaf than Connecticut shade by this point, there is still a general doughiness to the cigar flavor profile to offset any pepper spice.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

It's rare for me to need not one, but two prods with the poker to get a cigar flowing right, so this came as a bit of a surprise. When I poked the cigar the second time, a glob of tar came out as well, which I wiped away with a handkerchief. But beyond these two pokes, the cigar burned well, if but a touch hot here and there. The ash was a nice white color and held fast during each third, burn lines were tidy enough not to warrant a correction anywhere, and smoke flow increased as the cigar burned. 

Final Thoughts

Despite its alluring looks and hilarious design cues, I found the Island Jim Barber Pole to be a wee bit underwhelming two-thirds of the time. Even when things started to get interesting in the final third and within parting puffs, I still found myself thinking, "Is that all?"

It wasn't that there was anything out of place or unpleasant. The blend just felt a little too tame, or not nearly as exciting as it appears to the eye. This, however, might be a good thing. Especially for those newer cigar smokers in search of the next smoking sensation, who aren't ready for something intensely corojo-forward like Long Live the King from Caldwell Cigar Co. 

So yes, this cigar does feel like you are wading around in the wave pool for much of the time, instead of hanging ten atop a tsunami of corojo flavors and aromas. But because the cigar is so smooth and clean, you really don't find yourself minding too much. Especially when you've got a boozy tiki drink in hand...

Overall Balance & Repeatability