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Pre-light Experience

The wrapper color is between light and medium brown and has a lighter color surrounding the veins which gives it a bit of a turtle shell effect. All of the veins visible are very fine and you can see the seam lines based on the wrapper color pattern, but they are rolled very smooth. The head appears to be finished off with two well applied caps. There are two bands, the primary carrying the standard Byron logo and the secondary being black and gold and denoting Reserva 5 Anos. The aroma from the wrapper is a very sweet, dry hay note while the foot gives a mix of sweet hay and leather with a finish that reminds me of cereal such as Cheerios. The pre-light draw is a very smooth and creamy leather.

First Third

The cigar begins with a very smooth and mild wood note. The retrohale has a slight black pepper to it that is also smooth, but makes you take notice. At a quarter inch in, the wood note begins to get a bit fuller and a little nuttiness is becoming present. At three quarters of an inch a bready note joins in to mix with the wood and nuttiness. The mix of flavors are all within a fairly mild profile, but it works well together since the strength level is also low. At an inch and a quarter, the bread note gains some toastiness and a buttery note joins the profile while the wood and nuttiness continue on. As the third comes to a close, the profile continues with the complex mix of wood, toasty bread, butter and nuttiness. The strength in this third was mild-medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the complex profile continues and the retrohale gains some of the toasted bread and butter notes. At three quarters of an inch in, some of the complexity drops out of the profile as it is now wood and toasty bread, but the butter and nuttiness have left. At an inch and a quarter, the profile is now just a slightly toasty wood with a bit of cream. The retrohale carries the same toasty wood note. As the third comes to a close, the primarily woody profile continues with a slight bit of toastiness in the background. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, wood is up front and some char joins the profile along with a slight wood bitterness in the background. At a half inch in, the cigar warms up a bit which enhances the toasty note and the bitterness becomes more even with the wood. At an inch in, the heat mellows and the bitterness drops some as the wood remains up front with some char. This is how the cigar finishes out. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Burn

The burn was slightly wavy at times but always kept up with itself. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.

Draw

The draw was slightly snug, but didn’t really bother me much and I never felt like it effected the flavor.

Overall

The first third was very complex and nuanced and smoking too fast would cause you to miss it. At the halfway mark, things began to drop back a bit and moved into a primarily woody profile. Performance was great and strength was right around medium the entire way. Even though price doesn’t factor into our score, it’s worth noting that this carries a hefty price tag and probably isn’t something people would smoke a lot of. This would be more of a special occasion smoke and in that regard, the cigar doesn’t disappoint. If you reach for this cigar, make sure it’s something you can dedicate the time to uninterrupted as it deserves your full attention to get all of the flavors it presents. I would gladly smoke more of these when the opportunity presents itself.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

7.00

Cost/Point

$4.28

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Byron Siglo XX Londinenses