Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Blackbird Flamingo is light brown with some darker marbling and has some lightly raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is black and pink and denotes the company, line and the retailer that the cigar is an exclusive for. The aroma from the wrapper is musty hay, while the foot brings a mellow mix of hay and earth. The pre-light draw is a musty mix of cedar and floral notes along with a mild spiciness on my lips and the tip of my tongue.
Seth: The Blackbird Flamingo is finished with a marbled brown wrapper that is Colorado to Colorado Maduro in coloring. It has some oils present with small to medium sized veins. It is firm throughout and a little rough in texture and appearance. The wrapper has a classic aroma of barnyard, tobacco and sweet spices, while the foot has notes of earth and spices. More tobacco as well.
John: The Blackbird Flamingo came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker with the cigar information which tore as it opened. I weighed the cigar at 9.1 grams and measured the humidity to 63.1% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper include musty tobacco, wood and earth. Out of the foot, I am detecting sweet tobacco and hay.
Jiunn: The Blackbird Flamingo has a Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. The wrapper is evenly colored with good levels of essential oils. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll on the looser end as expected and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of cedar, barnyard and faint white pepper spice.

Blackbird Flamingo

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with lightly charred oak, black pepper and some earth. At three quarters of an inch in, the light char transitions to a medium level toast and a bit of creaminess joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted oak, lightly zingy black pepper and some earth. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, with black pepper in the middle and earth right behind and some creaminess in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: Blackbird Flamingo starts out with a nice, sweet tobacco flavor that is paired with some sweet and pepper spices. There are some earth and hay notes present, with touches of tobacco, mocha and faint cream. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with sweet tobacco, as mild coffee follows and nuts are present on the finish. The retrohale is creamy tobacco with mild tannic wood and spices in the center. As the first third settles in, some faint sweetness comes into the retrohale. Not long after, mild bread is also detectable. By the time the cigar reaches the halfway point, the mild bread in the retrohale is joined by spices on the finish.
Jiunn: The first third shows a flavor profile that’s rough around the edges. Overcast of cedar sharpness and bitterness, black pepper and hay. Retrohaling luckily has zero sharpness and bitterness, with increased black pepper spice and raw cedar. The finish is long but muddled with dry dirt, earthiness and cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Blackbird Flamingo

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the toast level increases a bit. At a half inch in, the earth becomes even with the pepper in the middle of the profile and the creaminess increases a bit as well. The retrohale is now toasted oak, earth and mild black pepper. At an inch and three quarters, the black pepper mellows a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, with earth in the middle of the profile and the black pepper and creaminess a bit behind. The strength remains at medium.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Sweet tobacco notes are present with spices. Mocha, hay, earth and tobacco are present on the end. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: My second third experience starts with creamy wood, a sweet fruit center and a dry wood finish. As the second third settles, the retrohale leads with light-plus spices that are building in intensity. By the halfway point, mild bread has returned to the retrohale. Through the bottom half, wood is driving the post draw.
Jiunn: There’s less sharpness and harshness but the flavors do not meld very well together. The notes of black pepper, cedar and hay tastes siloed. The best part is still the retrohale because it does pull the profile together a bit better. Strength ramps up to medium-full, while body remains medium.

Blackbird Flamingo

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toast level is now pretty heavy and the earth increases a bit. At an inch in, the black pepper increases to become slightly ahead of the earth. The retrohale is now toasted oak, lightly zingy black pepper and earth. At an inch and a half in, a light vegetal bitterness joins the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted oak is up front, with black pepper just ahead of the earth and some creaminess and vegetal bitterness in the back half of the profile. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third delivers some wood, hay, tobacco and spice notes. Faint mocha qualities while still smoking at that medium level. Sweet and pepper spices.
John: Creamy wood at light-plus strength takes the cigar into the last third with tannic wood to finish. The retrohale leads with spices all the way through to the finish. As the cigar progresses, the spices on the retrohale continue to build, reaching medium by the halfway point. Mild bitterness joins the finish in the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third is still the same muddled flavor profile of black pepper, cedar and hay. This in conjunction with the heavier handed nicotine hit creates an unenjoyable experience. Body finishes the same medium.

Blackbird Flamingo

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, but the cigar did go out once in the second third, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: The draw was good from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through each third.
Jiunn: Burn performance was great. Slow and even burn, tight ashes and a cool smoking temperature.

Blackbird Flamingo

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect through the first two thirds and then became a bit tighter than I prefer in the final third.
Seth: Burn was perfect from beginning to end.
John: The draw was at most one notch towards the open spectrum, putting it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was ideal, giving an expected looser draw.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with lightly charred oak, black pepper and some earth. The char mellowed to a medium toast a bit later and some creaminess joined in. The second third saw the toast level increase a bit and the pepper mellowed. The final third saw the toast level become heavy, the pepper increase and some vegetal bitterness join in. The Blackbird Flamingo had a nice start, with a well balanced profile, but dropped a level in the second third as the pepper mellowed and remained that way for the remainder of the cigar. With the charred start, I was a bit worried, but it resolved itself quickly to get into an enjoyable experience. It just couldn’t maintain that level past the first third, so it turns out it’s not a cigar I’d really see myself coming back to.
Seth: I wasn’t crazy about the Blackbird Flamingo. I felt they should have done more with the packaging if using the name Flamingo as well. It was not flamingo like. It was a lacking lancero with not much complexity, depth and balance. No transitioning. The wrapper was not strong enough to take the cigar anywhere, and while the flavor profile was not harsh or offensive, it was not enough. Construction was solid, and I guess you could say the price was approachable, but Blackbird has yet to make a cigar that truly soars.
John: I thought the first third on the Blackbird Flamingo was interesting, with balanced flavor combinations. The second third was still pleasant but lacked many of the flavors from the first third and the dynamic combinations. I found the last third enjoyable, but linear. Overall, the construction was flawless on both the burn and the draw. I have another Blackbird Flamingo that I’m going to try to see how the experience compares to the reviewed cigar. The price point is attractive, and the Lancero format is something I enjoy. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 57 minutes.
Jiunn: Although I love the idea of lanceros (due to smoking more of the wrapper leaf), often times I’m let down by them. In the case of the Blackbird Flamingo, it was a let down as a result of the profile being too rough around the edges and the flavors not melding together enough. I’ll be interested in smoking bigger ring gauges in the hopes of a more rounded flavor experience. But this is definitely a pass for me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.85

Cost/Point

$1.76

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$1.86

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.69

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.79

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Blackbird Flamingo