Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Apostate The Liahona is dark tan and has some wrinkles and raised veins present along with some protruding from the binder. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is well finished. There are two bands, with the primary band being mostly black and gold and carrying the company name. The secondary band is blue and gold and denotes the line. The aroma from the wrapper is musty cedar, hay and earth, while the foot brings a basic mix of wood and earth. The pre-light draw brings a mix of graham cracker and dry cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
John: The Apostate The Liahona comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker with an integrated tear space, allowing it to remain intact when opened. The wrapper is Colorado Claro in color, and the cap is noticeably elongated compared to a typical cap. The cigar is double banded with an Apostate Cigars primary band and a “The Liahona” secondary band. I weighed the cigar at 10.2 grams and measured the humidity at 60.3% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included dry hay, wood and faint sweet tobacco with an almost barrel-aged sweetness. From the foot, I was getting a deeper musty tobacco profile with more of that barrel-like sweetness.

Apostate The Liahona

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, dry earth and some creaminess. At a half inch in, the creaminess becomes pretty integrated with the toasted cedar. At three quarters of an inch in, some black pepper joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, some dry hay joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the creamy toasted cedar is up front, with earth a bit behind, black pepper just behind the middle of the profile and some dry hay in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
John: The first third gets going with a mild, but pleasant, sweet tobacco combination, while mild wood makes up the post draw and lingers between each puff. The mustiness from the pre-light aromas works its way into the center of the retrohale as the first third settles in. I find the profile to be very consistent and balanced through the bottom half of the first third. Through the bottom half, the leading flavor profile is a sweet, musty wood with mildly dry wood defining the post draw as the dryness lingers between each puff.

Apostate The Liahona

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper mellows a bit. At a half inch in, the earth increases a bit. The retrohale is now creamy, toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the dry hay becomes a hay/cardboard combination. As the third comes to a close, the creamy, toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with the black pepper and hay/cardboard combination in the back half of the profile. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
John: The cigar moves into the second third with creamy, mild baking spices and musty wood leading off, while earth and dry wood team up through the finish. As the cigar moves into the bottom half of the second third, the profile is led by creamy, musty bread and wood as the baking spices have largely faded away. At this point, the post draw is entirely defined by dry wood.

Apostate The Liahona

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper picks back up a bit, but recedes again at a quarter inch in. The retrohale remains creamy, toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, the black pepper increases once again and a light vegetal note joins in. As the cigar wraps up, the creamy, toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with the black pepper in the middle of the profile with the hay/cardboard combination and vegetal note in the back half. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
John: Musty wood takes the cigar into the last third with dry wood finishing and some faint tannins beginning to join the post draw. The profile remains largely unchanged as the cigar progresses, with dry wood and musty wood continuing to define the experience while the tannins gradually become more noticeable.

Apostate The Liahona

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
John: The burn was razor straight through the first third. The burn remained straight through the second third. I found the burn wavy at points through the last third, but it never required any intervention.

Apostate The Liahona

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
John: The draw measured 40 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was at most one notch towards the resistant spectrum, which put it in the ideal range between open and resistant.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, dry earth and some creaminess. The creaminess then became pretty integrated with the toasted cedar. Later, some black pepper joined in and then some dry hay. The second third saw the black pepper mellow a bit and then the earth increased a bit. Later, the dry hay became a hay/cardboard combination. The final third saw the pepper fluctuate in fullness and a vegetal note joined in. The construction was absolutely perfect. The Apostate The Liahona sat on the edge of an average versus good flavor profile through the first two thirds as specific draws were better than others, but overall I have to score them as average as they weren’t convincing enough. The final third was solidly average as the vegetal note joined the profile. I really like this unique vitola, but I just needed a little something extra to put those first two thirds over the top. Not a bad introduction to the brand, and I’m interested in checking out some of their other offerings.
John: The Apostate The Liahona delivered a profile built around sweet tobacco, musty wood and restrained earth, with very good balance from the outset. The first third was the most complex portion of the experience, showcasing a pleasant combination of sweetness and musty wood that closely mirrored the aromas from the pre-light inspection. While the profile was enjoyable, it never developed much beyond those core flavors. As the cigar entered the second third, the baking spices quickly faded and the profile became increasingly centered on musty bread, wood and dry wood through the post draw. The final third continued in much the same fashion, adding some light tannins but offering very little additional evolution. Although the flavor profile remained balanced throughout, it lacked the transitions and layered flavor notes needed to elevate the experience beyond an Average rating. I did think the flavor profile did not replicate anything I’ve previously reviewed before. Construction was excellent from start to finish. The burn required no attention despite becoming slightly wavy in the final third, and the draw remained in the ideal range throughout the entire smoking experience. Total smoking time was 1 hours and 23 minutes, much quicker than I would have expected.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.09

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.97

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Apostate The Liahona