Let's get this started...
First up,
@Bondo 440 smacked me with a nice Partagas Black Lable Tubo (my first tubo, btw). Thanks brother!
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Next, my takes:
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... and my puts:
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So, that brings us to the blind dog rocket. I choose door #5:
Pre-light - This one caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door. She was simply tantalizing with a brunette wrapper that just oozed milk chocolatey goodness... like the hot chick you eye in a bar, but just know she probably has an STD. Against my better judgement, I choose to partake.
Her double cap was poorly executed, like the bad hair-piece that your grandmother would wear, but you don't have the heart to tell her. She was short and thin, around 5x50 and firm to the caress. She smelled of rich tobacco and hay; some long veins (varicose perhaps) were visible under her dress and I assume she was packed with long filler. I gently removed her cap with a straight cut and found the pre-light draw to be perfect.
1/3 - It was clear that this girl knew how to part as soon as we got into the sac! The first blast of pepper was nearly the strength and flavor of a shot of mace to the face. Don Pepin Garcia would cringe at this poorly executed attempt to copy his signature pepper blast. Flavors of strong pepper, tobacco, coffee, and hay overwhelm the senses and leave an unpleasant peppery after taste on the pallet. She's producing ample smoke, but she's burning unevenly right out of the gate. She's definitely full flavor, but the pepper finally begins to subside towards the end of the first 3rd.
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2/3 - As I push deeper into her loins, her flavors begin to settle down and soon subside. The firecracker pepper has faded while her burn, draw, and smoke are nearly perfect (the burn has corrected itself at this point). The deeper I go, an incredibly unpleasant and bitter after taste begins to develop and couldn't be any worse than sucking on a greasy coin. If it weren't for the spirit of the dog rocket review, I'd have pulled out and relegated this one to the ashtray. Notes of tar, metal, tobacco, earth, and coffee are persistent, but the bitter after taste is terrible and overwhelms the whole experience. It's become a medium cigar at best.
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3/3- As I move deeper into the final 3rd, the metallic flavors have overwhelmed all others. Notes of tar, iron oxide, copper, zinc, and a trace of maybe mercury are dancing on my pallet like elephants parading on a glass ceiling. Strength has settled in at a solid medium, but the metallic after taste is basically burning my tongue, possibly hydrochloric acid. My sinuses cannot handle retrohaling and I firmly believe doing so would be a death sentence on this lady. Overall the final 3rd was horrible, let me say it again-HORRIBLE-the worst cigar I've ever had horrible. I've smoked Roly's better than this turd.
Nub - Towards the nub, the flavors begin to change for the better and become almost yard gar grade, almost. The burn starts to get wonky again and I believe the sun is setting on my expedition into the world of dog rockets. Make no mistake, the after taste is still terrible and it's about time to put this one out to pasture.
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Final thoughts - Run far, far far away from these. The only positives for this poor thing was her appearance and draw, but it was all downhill from there. Her flavor profile was a complete train wreck. I'd imagine sucking on a used crack pipe would have been a more pleasant experience.
- 1. Appearance and construction (10 Points)
- 2. Flavor (5 Points)
- 3. Smoking characteristics (18 Points)
- 4. Overall experience (15 Points)
Overall score - 48
So, where's this package heading next?