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…

Construction/Presentation:

The body (5.5″ x 55 box-press)  was somewhat soft, but pliant. A nice looking cigar with an impressive looking wrapper and good overall construction. The Maduro is almost picth-black with very few veins. Pretty much a perfect draw. I’ve gone though about 20 difference 5 Vegas cigars in the last couple of months and have yet to find a dud in the bunch of the “Fifty-Five” shape.

Performance:

This cigar had a fairly even burn and responded well to touch-ups. This cigar produced a good volume of smoke and held over an inch of solid ash. The Series A had a nice little kick about half-way down the stick, but its not overpowering.

Overture:

The cigar starts out with a toasty flavor, with a hint of spice and pepper. This gives way to a kind of bitter-sweet chocolate taste.

Symphony:

The main body of the smoke is dominated by leathery and nutty flavors. There was also a hint of what I can only describe as “nutmeg” – but that may be a misnomer, it’s just what popped into my head at the time. There is also a faint, almost citrus note. The smoke is very smooth at this point, though the…

Construction/Presentation:

The body (6″ x 52 box-press)  was solid and well made. A nice looking cigar with an impressive looking wrapper and good overall construction. The shape and size is just about perfect actually – fits nicely in the hand and lips. That said, of the 5-pack of Nepalese Warriors I ordered from Cigars International, 2 were so tight as to be barely smokeable.

Performance:

This cigar produced a good volume of smoke – thought not voluminous – and held over two inches of ash well. The burn was somewhat uneven, though, and there was some tunneling in the first half – and it burned fast, for a cigar this size it only took about 40 minutes to finish. This isn’t a cigar which knocks you on your tail with power – if I were to sum it up in a word, that would be: “relaxing.”

Construction/Presentation:

The body (6.0″ x 54)  was somewhat soft and the wrapper felt a little brittle, even after a month in the humidor. Overall a nice looking cigar with an impressive looking wrapper, though.

Performance:

I only ashed the cigar twice – I could have probably gotten away with only once, except I was outside and there was a breeze. This cigar produced a solid billow of smoke which lingered nicely. About mid-way in there was a nice kick, but overall a mild-flavored smoke. There was some tunneling and the burn wasn’t completely even, but nothing bad enough to affect the experience. Nice smooth draw.