Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the God of Fire Aniversario 56 is medium brown with some slightly raised veins along with a network of smooth veins that carry a slightly darker color to them. The seams are slightly raised while the tapered head is very well finished. The cigar has three bands, with the primary carrying the traditional God of Fire design but with a black, gold and white color combination. The secondary band carries the same color combination and denotes Aniversario and 2017. The foot band is a black ribbon. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and sweet hay while the foot brings a sweet cedar. The pre-light draw brings a musty, aged cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with musty, aged cedar up front and black pepper a bit behind. The retrohale is musty, aged cedar with a very mild black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the aged cedar gains a bit of toast while the black pepper mellows a bit but does gain a long finish. The third wraps up with musty and toasted aged cedar and light black pepper. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the black pepper picks back up to be right behind the musty and toasted aged cedar. The retrohale is very similar, just a slightly mellower black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the mustiness has increased a fair amount. As the third comes to a close, the profile is becoming slightly dry. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the toast level becomes a bit heavier. At a half inch in, the black pepper becomes very light. The retrohale is now just musty and toasted cedar. At an inch in, the black pepper picks back up a bit. The cigar wraps up with a fair amount of mustiness, toasted cedar and some black pepper in the background. The strength in this third remained at medium.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy at times, but always self corrected. The ash held on through each third.

Draw

The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

The cigar had a nice start with a good balance of flavors. By the second third, the balance got a bit out of whack and maintained that level the rest of the way. Overall, the God of Fire Aniversario 56 was a pleasant experience along with very good construction. While I could see coming back to this cigar from time to time, the high price point puts a bit of a damper on that. Releases like this are fun to experience, but as is the case here, show that they are ones that are usually worth it once, but not on a regularly recurring basis.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$4.33

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: God of Fire Aniversario 56