Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the Protocol The Law is dark brown with a couple of lightly raised veins along with a fine toothiness. The seams are slightly raised, the foot is covered with folded over excess wrapper and the head is well finished with a short, twisted stump. The band has silhouettes of cowboy lawmen in front of a sunset. The aroma from the wrapper is creamy cocoa with a mild spice. The covered foot brigs the same but has some added sweetness. The pre-light draw brings stewed fruit and cedar along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with a combination of cocoa, dark earth and baking spice. At a quarter inch in, the cocoa fades away as a toasted oak takes its place. At three quarters of an inch in, a light cocoa powder rejoins. The retrohale is toasted oak and dark earth. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted oak and dark earth even up front with some baking spice in the middle and light cocoa powder in the background. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, a light mustiness joins the profile. At three quarters of an inch in, the baking spice has become very mellow. The retrohale is musty, toasted oak and dark earth. At an inch and a quarter, the musty oak has become heavily toasted and the cocoa powder has dropped out. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.

Final Third

The final third is a continuation of the second. The retrohale is now musty, toasted oak and dry earth. The cigar wraps up with the musty, heavily toasted oak, dark earth and mild baking spice. The strength in this third remained at slightly above medium.

Burn

The burn struggled in the first third as it didn’t want to stay lit and I had to keep taking frequent draws to keep it burning. There were also two re-lights and two touch-ups needed.

Draw

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

Overall

The cigar had a nice combination of flavors through the first third, but became average by the second third as it wasn’t as complex. The burn issues were a detriment and the re-lights probably didn’t help the flavor profile. The Protocol The Law was pretty on par with the brands single store releases as it shows a nice profile to begin and then falls back to average. I might revisit this to see if a better constructed version has a better showing, but it’s not high on my list to do so.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.45

Cost/Point

$1.74

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Protocol The Law