You just wish there was a little more there at the beginning and the end for the La Palina KB Series Part Three to reach a higher level. I like the increase of strength and body from the first to second third, I thought the flavors were really jamming with that transition as well, but La Palina got too greedy and the final third was too much. The strength and body became too much and knocked the flavors out of the equation.
I enjoyed the SP1014 Love n’ Passion 740. I thought this was a really nice Dominican blend that showed strength, body and flavors that you typically don't get in all Dominican blends. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea, but those who get behind it will really enjoy it. It is a cigar for a serious cigar smoker in my opinion. A lancero crafted for seasoned smokers who truly appreciate Lanceros. I appreciate that.
I really enjoyed the Room101 Namakubi Ranfla. I thought Booth did a great job of capturing what the Namakubi was, while at the same time delivering the quality that you get with the new Room101 blends out of Tabacalera William Ventura. It smoked like any good Room101 blend has for 11 years. Packaging is just amazing as well.
The Illusione Jeremy Piven Collection PIV Robusto was a nice cigar, and it is a cigar I would come back to down the road. Really solid medium offering with good flavors. The core flavor profile had a nice level of complexity which kept the cigar entertaining throughout each third. There was not too much transitioning, but it wasn’t needed. The earth, cocoa, cream, spice and nut flavors were lovely.
The Buenaventura BV554 Limited Edition 2021 was the first cigar that I have smoked in 2022 that is truly complete. Good from beginning to end. The flavors were not overly complex, but they were enjoyable from start to finish. The coffee, cocoa and licorice notes were fantastic, and they were balanced out with some earth and spice notes. Really nice cigar.
This was an enjoyable cigar, and while not overly complex, it did have a bit of transitioning throughout. In some ways, the simplest aspects of the Curivari Selección Privada Lancero made it so enjoyable. With the cigar being just a little bit larger than your standard lancero, it seemed less fragile and more of a lancero you could smoke throughout the day while handling other items.
I went into my first Adventura The Royal Return Queen’s Pearls Lancero with high expectations. This is a very good cigar and a great lancero. Each third was great and there was transitioning from first to final third. The cigar started strong and finished strong. With a nice body and strength level, I could smoke this lancero all the time. Of course, it is limited.
The Warped El Oso Blanco Papa was an average cigar that had a decent start, but terrible follow-up in the second and final third. Not a terrible release for Warped though given where they've been the past couple years. The cigar itself was beautiful, but it just had that average to below average quality for cigars that come out of El Titan. The price was high too for the product delivered as well.
I found the Aging Room Rare Collection Scherzo to be a one-dimensional offering that delivered this dry and not your classic Nicaraguan flavor profile. It really showed some Honduran qualities in some ways, and not the Honduran qualities I enjoy. The strength and body diminishing in the second and final third helped, but only because the flavor profile would have not been enjoyable with additional strength.
I was disappointed with the Ferio Tego Generoso. The cigar showed some transitioning throughout each third, but overall, there was a lack of complexity and depth. I thought the cigar had a finish that was slightly off, and it had me trying to identify a flavor that I did not like. Looking at the blend, it came off as something new and different, but it failed to deliver something enjoyable.
