Interestingly enough, I find the flavor profile of this Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon to be quite similar to the Desert Rose with its velvety and buttery nature. It's interesting because they are obviously entirely different shapes but hey, the palate tastes what it tastes. You can't go wrong with these. Just make sure you give yourself 2.5 hours to kick back and enjoy.
The Southern Draw Decennium started out with some interesting and medium-full bodied flavor combinations through the first third. As the cigar progressed, the flavor profile remained pleasant and consistently over the medium mark, but it wasn't as engaging for me as the start. It's difficult to determine whether the draw performance impacted the overall flavor performance, but I think I'd want to revisit the cigar to see if a Decennium with a good draw imparted more complex flavors for the final two thirds.
The Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder The Ascension started well in the first third with rich and detailed flavors. This fell off in the second third as the flavors weren't as dynamic and maintained this level the rest of the way. The cigar just lost steam as it went along, which was a bummer as the profile from the first third had a nice, full body. I don't see this rendition as a step up and would likely go back to the original vitolas in the line before I came back to this one.
The Southern Draw Manzanita Toro started out promising in the first third with a dessert like flavor experience. The profile changed significantly moving into the second and last thirds, losing my attention through the review. I find almost everything from Southern Draw to be enjoyable for my palate, so I think I will return to the Manzanita in a few months to see if it evolves over time.
The Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder Brimstone Un Presidente is one of the better large format cigars that I've ever reviewed. Even though large format cigars aren't usually my preferred format, the flavors here are interesting enough to keep me engaged for the first two thirds, but not so intense that my palate was burned out from the intensity.
The Southern Draw Firethorn Augusta was overall an enjoyable cigar, with the tannins in the last third serving as a distraction from an otherwise balanced profile. Construction was good, with one re-light required during the review, and a perfect draw. Like almost everything from Southern Draw, I would smoke another Firethorn Augusta if I saw it on the shelf.
The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Desert Rose Lonsdale was an enjoyable cigar that showed most of its complexity through the first and second thirds. I enjoyed the Lonsdale format, but I think the natural comparison that will be made is with the original Belicoso release in 2019.
I do think the Southern Draw Private Blend Corojo No. 4 Robusto was a good cigar. There is plenty of black pepper spice and heat with trailing sweetness and creaminess (less in the final third). The blend worked well and as such, I overall thought it was in the good category.
The price point is quite attractive for this line and for those that find they like this, could be something they smoke often. For the Southern Draw 300 Hands Connecticut Coloniales, it's probably not something I'd be in a hurry to revisit, but like I mentioned, it's intrigued me enough to see if a different vitola provides more of what I'm looking for.
The Southern Draw Kudzu Lustrum started like a wild horse out of the barn, with flavor intensity that didn't seem like it was going to settle down. But it did settle down and became balanced and nuanced. Overall, I found the experience to be enjoyable, and I would be happy to smoke another Kudzu Lustrum in the future.