A long, consistent and tasty cigar with deep rooted flavors. For such a big smoke like this Foundation 10 Year Aniversario, it's hard to ask for any more than that. While at times I didn't like the dryness, the flavors upheld the positive experience. Overall, a great cigar that shouldn't be missed.
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.
A great morning cigar to me is one that is not nicotine ridden, and has a plethora of sweet and balancing spice to get the palate dialed in for the day. This cigar is pretty much that for the first couple thirds. Although it did a good job of this on the first two thirds, given how short the cigar is, it really should have done it the entire way through. But even with that said, I'll light this Rojas Breakfast Tacos Connecticut Petit Salomon up with a good pour over any day of the week.
I enjoyed the Angel Cuesta Salomones blend, and I can see myself smoking different vitolas of the line. It is not overly complex, but it had a really enjoyable and easy flavor profile from start to finish. Just a nice level of complexity and flavors for a cigar you can sit back and relax with and take your time.
The Crux Limitada Short Salomone has some good qualities within the opening third, but past that mark, the balance is thrown off and nuance declined. This is my least favorite of the line and will focus on the other vitolas over this one.
The Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder Brimstone is a nice offering in the line, but I don't feel it reaches or goes beyond the previous iterations. The profile is dark and strong, but the dryness just took away from the overall enjoyment. For fans of the brand and the line, it's a definite try, but for my preference, I'll go with one of the previous versions.
The interplay of red pepper spice, nuts, buttered toast and baking spices at various parts of the cigar was enjoyed quite a bit. However, the dryness that took over within the final third was the only miss. Even saying this, I prefer the Crux Epicure Short Salomone over the Robusto because the build ups and transitions are worth it over the dryness.
Diademas are special vitolas, so you better have a good blend when all is said and done. The Bombay Tobak MQBA Diadem may not be the type of cigar that a more seasoned smoker looks for, or one who wants more body and strength, but I found it really enjoyable. A very elegant introductory cigar.
The infamous Hamlet Salomon paired with a 25th year secondary band has a lot of clout. Therefore, coming into the Hamlet 25th Year Salomon, my expectations were high. Overall, the flavor profile was good with black pepper, cedar, rich nuttiness and cedar. But, with such a long smoking commitment, I expected more transitions and complex build-ups in which the cigar fell short.
The price point is fair for this cigar in terms of experience, size and smoking time. If you enjoy cigars on the milder strength side, then this is one definitely worth checking out. Flavors were enjoyable, I would just lean towards a shorter vitola.