Demonick's Cigar Pages

TimL's Mystery Cigar

• Cigar: TimL's Mystery Stick
• Size: 42 x 5 1/8" (16mm x 127mm) Petite Corona, Mareva
• Country: Cuba
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Flavor Body: Medium-Full
• Nic Stength: Medium-Full
• Date Received: 2006-03-19
• Suspected Age: From 2004
• Vendor/Price: Gifted from TimL, ASC
• Hype:
• Beverage(s): Water, Full Sail Pale Ale
• Smoke time: 1:20
• Date: 2006-04-16
• Posted to ASC: 2006-04-16
• Overall score: 4.8/5.0

• Overall: Outstanding. Evolves from vaguely sweet to creamy sweet toffee and cinnamon and vanilla. Aftertaste started incredibly dry, like the driest of red wines, then moderated over the smoke. Started medium and ended full flavored. Slight nicotine buzz. The last third really shined. Lots of sweet toffee with cinnamon and vanilla. The after lost the dryness. Long sweet, creamy finish. A great cigar.

• Considering the unlit aroma, the flavor profile, and the source, I am guessing Cuban with some years on it. The familiar nub profile makes me think I have tried a lesser brethren. It had the sweet, floral character of a QdO Gran Corona, but was considerably fuller in taste. It had something of the best of the middle of a SLR Series A. I think the red wrapper, the dry after, and the sweet toffee spice should be distintive to a more experienced smoker.

• All that said, I think it may be a Saint Luis Rey PC or a Por Larranaga.

• Ambience: Early evening in the sunroom. Sunset in about an hour. A momentary sun break in the otherwise horizontal rain that has been pelting us for the day. Took a pickup load to the dump - actually it is a "trucklet", a 15 year-old shortbed Nissan. And actually, it was a "transfer station". I miss the old days when you actually went to the dump and threw your shit off the edge. And going out to the dump to shoot rats - that was living!

• Appearance: Light reddish-brown, smooth wrapper with small veins and a short triple cap. Firm along length, moreso toward the head. One tiny water spot near the head.

• Cut & Prelight:Sweet, creamy, floral, barnyard unlit aroma. Cut well yielding a somewhat firm draw with a sweet, dry-grass draw flavor.

• First third: Lit well and generated lots of smoke from the onset. Initially, sweet paper with a touch of pepper. Very dry, somewhat sweet aftertaste. Dryness like chewing on a toothpick, so I guess it is a dry tannic. Like a promise some toffee in the background. The aftertaste is remarkably dry. Black burn front separating the reddish brown wrapper from the darkly lined white, banana shaped ash. Straight burn. I ashed it at 1.5" rather than eventually drop it in my lap or keyboard.

• Second third: The dryness in the aftertaste has abated a bit and the toffee has come into the sweet foreground. No pepper left. Halfway point, sweet toffee, some indeterminate spice, still dry in the after. Yumm.

• Third third: The indeterminate spice has resolved itself. Cinnamon joins the sweet toffee in the smoke. Aftertaste is losing the dryness. Nicotine buzz noticeable. Nearing the nub the flavors intensified quickly, more sweet toffee, more cinnamon, added some vanilla, and a hint of pepper rentered. The nub flavors seem familiar. Nubbed it to 1/2".

The Answer