Pre-light Experience

The All Saints Dedicación Berkey has a pretty distinct rectangle press with a wrapper that is dark brown and perfectly smooth even though the veins are visible. The seams are smooth but visible due to wrapper color variation while the head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. There are two bands, both carrying a white, navy blue and gold color combination. The primary carries the brand name and logo while the secondary band carries the line name. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of earth and cocoa powder while the foot brings wood and light black pepper. The pre-light draw is a very light and airy cedar.

Pre-light Experience

The All Saints Dedicación Berkey is finished with a lovely press and it is firm throughout. It is smooth and oily in texture and there are medium sized veins throughout. It has a lovely milk chocolate colored wrapper and I am getting aromas of rich earth, cocoa and spices.

Pre-light Experience

The first thing that stands out about the All Saints Dedicación Berkey is the fairly firm box press. The cigar is also double banded and has aromas of fresh wood, mild baking spices and mustiness. I was able to detect mild, sweet tobacco in the foot, along with some hay.

Pre-light Experience

The All Saints Dedicación Berkey sports a Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. The soft box pressed construction looks and feels good. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head finished off with a deep multi-layered wrap. Aromas from the nose tell star anise, cedar and hay. Aromas from the foot tell a big hit of red pepper spice and cedar. Cold draw reveals rich baking spices and cedar.

First Third

The cigar begins with wood and mustiness along with some light bitterness. At a quarter inch in, the bitterness is gone and a mild black pepper has joined in. At three quarters of an inch in, the wood, mustiness and black pepper are all even while some cocoa powder becomes present in the background. The retrohale is musty wood. As the third comes to a close, the wood is more defined as cedar and remains even with the mustiness and black pepper while the cocoa powder is now very light. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

First Third

The first third opens up with some lovely chocolate notes. There are some wood, cream and spice notes present as well, but the chocolate is dominant and quite enjoyable. It has this natural sweetness to it from the tobacco which is really working out well with the cigar. With that is a medium strength and body level that pairs perfectly with the flavors.

First Third

Sweet wood and hay opens the first puffs of the first third. A delayed cocoa comes into the retrohale, with dry cedar finishing each draw. A mild, green vegetal center quietly moves into the retrohale by the 12 minute mark. Moving towards the halfway point, baking spices join, and then climb in strength reaching medium levels. In the bottom half, some tannins join, and then creaminess on the retrohale.

First Third

The first third starts off with a cocoa baseline with baking spices and cedar to follow. With just about an inch in, the cigar picks up heat and spice, intensifying the baking spice note and lessening the cocoa flavor. Strength is almost medium plus, body medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cedar gains a bit of char. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper is very light and the cocoa powder has departed. The profile is a bit dry. At three quarters of an inch in, some bitterness rejoins the profile. The retrohale is charred cedar and mustiness. The third wraps up with the charred cedar, mustiness and light bitterness. The strength in this third remained at slightly above medium.

Second Third

The second third shows some transitioning from the first third and while the chocolate flavor profile is still present, I am getting more rich earth, strong spices and wood notes. The cigar remains at a medium level in strength and body, and this is a flavor focused cigar.

Second Third

The retrohale moving into the second third is a creamy chocolate with baking spices and cedar to finish the draw. Some earth comes through the retrohale a few minutes in. No other evolution here until the bottom half where earth joins the post draw.

Second Third

The second third transitions to a profile that is very earth forward, with notes of minerals, baking spices and dry dirt. This is most noticed on the finish, where the dry dirt and minerals linger on for minutes on end. Strength moves to a consistent medium plus, while the body maintains medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the draws start with charred cedar and mustiness, but then there is a wave of concentrated black pepper and bitterness. The retrohale is now charred cedar, mustiness and light bitterness. The cigar finished out with the same charred cedar, mustiness and concentrated black pepper with bitterness profile. Strength remained at slightly above medium.

Final Third

The final third is nearly identical to that of the second third and delivers a flavor profile that is focused on rich earth, warm spices and chocolate. There are some woody and tobacco qualities on the finish, and there is a smoky and peppery quality present as well. Like before, the cigar is medium in strength and body.

Final Third

An earthy retrohale takes the Dedicación Berkey into the last third. Some wood carves out a place in the center of the profile. I didn’t pick up on any other flavor changes through the rest of the review.

Final Third

Nothing new to write about for the final third. It’s still the same earth forward cigar with minerals, baking spices and dry dirt engulfing the palate. Strength and body finishes medium plus and medium, respectively.

Burn

The burn line was razor sharp the entire way and the ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

The burn was very good from start to finish. One point where it got wavy, but no touch-up required.

Burn

The burn was quite flawless, with no attention required. The ash held on well, dropping at one inch increments.

Burn

Aside from a couple quick touch-ups to get the burn line back on track, the burn performance was great. Solid ashes, cool burn and ample smoke production.

Draw

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

Overall

The cigar began with wood and mustiness along with some light bitterness. The bitterness left fairly quickly and was replaced by black pepper. Some cocoa powder joined in a bit later and the wood became more defined as cedar. The second third saw the cedar gain some char and the cocoa departed. Some light bitterness also rejoined. The final third saw the black pepper become quite concentrated and paired up with the bitterness. Construction was perfect and strength was slightly above medium the whole way. The All Saints Dedicación Berkey started at an average enjoyment level as the combination of flavors weren’t really in balance. The second and final thirds just degraded from there as char and bitterness joined and the final third was pretty off-putting. It’s a bit of a bummer when I have a subpar experience when first trying a brand, and I had really hoped for a better outcome. I’m really interested in seeing how the cigar fares for the others, but I don’t see myself coming back to this one.

Draw

The draw was a little loose for my liking, but overall no problem.

Overall

This was a solid cigar for All Saints. It had a nice flavor profile from beginning to end, great chocolate notes throughout, and it had a nice body and strength level. You can tell this is a blend out of TAVICUSA, and what is funny is that if you put a Rocky Patel label on this cigar and it was marketed as a new Rocky Patel release, I believe it would do really well. I think the All Saints Dedicación Berkey is better than a lot of stuff coming out of TAVICUSA for Rocky, and I hope the blend does well for the company. The price makes this cigar very approachable, but getting consumers to go to the brand is the tricky part. It’s always funny when I see a cigar company make a really good cigar for another company and not keep it for themselves.

Draw

Initially, I found the draw to be fairly resistant, roughly 3 to 3-1/2 notches. As the review progressed, the draw opened up and settled at roughly 2-1/2 notches resistant.

Overall

The All Saints Dedicación Berkey was a pleasant smoking experience, but didn’t have much depth to the flavor profile until the second third. In terms of representing Mexican San Andres, there are other cigars that I would reach for first, but I would smoke this cigar again if I had some in my humidor. Construction was excellent, with some resistance to the draw. Total smoking time was a brisk 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Draw

The draw was perfect, giving the ideal resistance and air flow.

Overall

I’m always excited to try a new company’s line of cigars, hoping that it’ll be worth it and perhaps the surprise of the year. The All Saints Dedicación Berkey proved to be an average tasting experience for what Mexican San Andres can offer. The profile was heavily geared towards earthiness in minerals, baking spices and dry dirt. It needed more than this to make it a good cigar. Sweetness and fruit tones would have pushed the envelop much further. While this didn’t hit the mark for me, I am still curious what other lines down the road will bring.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.33

Cost/Point

$2.19

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.70

Cost/Point

$1.66

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$1.64

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$1.58

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: All Saints Dedicación Berkey