Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the Avowed The Vow 11.25 is a marbled light brown with a network of raised veins. The seams are smooth and the head well finished. The band is dark green, white and gold and carries the name of the line on the sides. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of oak and earth, while the foot brings very musty cedar, bread, earth and some spice. The pre-light draw brings musty cedar, bread and some earth, along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.

Avowed The Vow 11.25

First Third

The cigar begins with toasted cedar, a unique mustiness and some chalkiness and earth. At a half inch in, the unique mustiness and chalkiness are working together. The retrohale is toasted cedar, unique mustiness and some earth. At an inch and a quarter, the earth increases a bit while the chalkiness becomes fairly light. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the unique mustiness that carries light chalkiness with earth in the middle of the profile. The strength was mild-medium.

Avowed The Vow 11.25

Second Third

As the second third begins, the earth increases a bit more. The retrohale is now an even mix of the toasted cedar, lightly chalky, unique mustiness and the earth. At an inch in, a mild black pepper joins the profile. At an inch and a quarter, the earth mellows a fair amount. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the unique mustiness that carries light chalkiness with earth and black pepper in the background. The strength remained mild-medium.

Avowed The Vow 11.25

Final Third

As the final third begins, the earth increases back to the middle of the profile. At a half inch in, the earth increases a bit more to become even with the mustiness. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with light mustiness. At an inch in, a vegetal note joins the profile. At an inch and a quarter, the earth increases to become even with the toasted cedar up front and the black pepper increases a bit as well. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with the slightly chalky, unique mustiness a bit behind. The black pepper is just behind the middle of the profile with a vegetal note in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly below medium.

Avowed The Vow 11.25

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy throughout, but never needed any correction. The ash held on through each third.

Avowed The Vow 11.25

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar began with toasted cedar, a unique mustiness and some chalkiness and earth. Early on, the chalkiness became integrated with the mustiness. Later, the earth increased a bit. The second third saw the earth increase some more. Later, a mild black pepper joined in and the earth mellowed a fair amount. The final third saw the earth increase throughout until it was even with the cedar up front. Later, a vegetal note joined the profile and the black pepper increased a bit. The Avowed The Vow 11.25 had a nice start, with a good combination of flavors that really showcased the unique mustiness. It took a step down in the second third as the earth moved up and down and remained average for the remainder of the cigar. This cigar was a bit of a step up over the 7.05 I reviewed previously, but I still don’t see it as a profile that did enough to come back to with any real frequency.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.85

Cost/Point

$3.42

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Avowed The Vow 11.25