Construction/Presentation:

The Vintage is a nice looking, quality cigar. Solidly built, there were no soft spots and it featured the classic RyJ band. There were very few veins in the wrapper and a sweet, almost compost-like smell was present upon removing the cellophane cover. The draw wasn’t too loose, a little pull was required but it was not what one would call “tight” either.

Performance:

This cigar had a perfectly even burn, held a couple of inches of ash without problem, and it produced billows of beautiful grey smoke. The Vintage has a nice kick about a third of the way in that sneaks up on you. If you’re used to feeling it your belly first, this one will catch you off guard. Because of the smaller ring size (6″x43) I wasn’t expecting the kick that it had.

Overture:

The smoke starts out with a nice spicy flavor, but also with a earthy sweetness. Very creamy, very nice.

Symphony:

The flavor picks up a little about a third of the way in, the spice starts to come to the fore. Around here is when you start to feel very relaxed and mellow. By the half way point the strength becomes…