Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Filler: Dominican Criollo ‘98
Price: $6.00
Xhale Lounge in Philadelphia asked me for my opinion on this cigar. For about $6.00, you can’t go wrong with this full bodied beauty. The owner suggested me this cigar after seeing a few of my reviews and hearing what kind of cigars I prefer. So I agreed to write up this cigar.
The maduro wrapper is dark chocolate brown, with a nice oily look to it. There were a few veins throughout the wrapper, but nothing major at all. The stick is very heavy and solid. The cap was a nice, long, pigtail. Once I look the pigtail off, I unwound it to find out how long it was. It is easily three inches long unwound. The cigar also gives off a nice sweet aroma.
If you are a fan of spice, you will love the start of this cigar. The spice is very strong for the first few puffs. Shortly after the light, the spice dulls down and gives way to a very nice wood note. The wood is very prominent for the first inch until a leathery flavor comes into play. After a couple inches, the woody notes pick up quite a bit but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what wood note it was. I was sure that it was not cedar. I was leaning towards maybe a hickory flavor or a mahogany flavor, but I was not positive.
Right before the half way point some chocolate undertones formed. The chocolate flavor was a great compliment to the strong wood notes that were still there. Just shy of the start of the final third of the cigar some bitter notes formed. It was right around this point where the spice died down quite a bit more, but there was still a good amount remaining on the palate.
The finish was great. There was a perfect balance of spice and wood. The leather flavor came back again with the notes of earth and wood. The undertones were still bitter and sweet leading me to smoke this cigar down to my fingers.
The ash on this cigar was a darker shade of gray and very strong, holding on towards the halfway point. The draw and burn were flawless. The smoke was plentiful and thick. The aroma had quite a good amount of spice to it, but it wasn’t harsh by any means.
If you are a fan of full-bodied cigars, I highly suggest finding this one. If you are in the Philadelphia area, I know they have quite a few left as Xhale Lounge. The flavor is exceptional in this cigar and all the characteristics are good. And for the price, you can’t go wrong. I give this one an 8.25 out of 10.
Enjoy,
Zack the Stogie Man
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