Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a lighter brown that has veins with a light tan shade to them. The seams are easily visible due to the vein color and some color variations in the wrapper. The seams though are smooth. The 109 style head is adorned with very neatly applied caps. There are two bands on the cigar, the Crux Limitada band, which is black, silver and white and a secondary band that says IPCPR 2016 which is primarily blue. The aroma from the wrapper is a light leather and hay. The foot aroma is of sweet hay. The pre-light draw is leather with a bit of sweet hay in the background.

Pre-light Experience

The Crux Limitada Show Exclusive 2016 has a Colorado claro wrapper shade. The wrapper looks nice with a semi-oily sheen. Given the pinch test, the cigar feels well rolled and bunched as I felt no soft spots and a uniformed give. The unique box pressed and tapered head is finished off with a thick quadruple cap. Pre-light wrapper aromas provide pungent, fresh barnyard and quality cedar. Foot aromas tell nose tingling dry white pepper, dry roasted nuttiness and cedar. Cold draw tells dry white pepper, aged cedar, salt on the lips and bread.

First Third

Initial draws bring a very full and slightly sweet cedar. The retrohale has a decent white pepper zing to it. There is also a slight spice present on my lips. A quarter inch in, some creaminess joins in with the cedar. Also, the pepper on the retrohale settles down some and the same full cedar from the mouth flavor comes through on the retrohale. At a half inch in, the cedar and cream really mix well together. There is also a slight creamy spiciness on the finish. At the inch mark, the cream and cedar remain, but the creamy spiciness I was getting earlier morphs into a mellow, slightly sweet pepper like a bell pepper. The retrohale has lost all of its pepper and is a straight oak. Nearing the end of the third, the cream dials back and the cedar becomes a bit drying. The bell pepper that was present earlier has now changed to a slight black pepper. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

First Third

The first third, from first draw, shows great structure and complexities. Immediately, a plethora of dry roasted nuttiness paired with cedar and slick and oily mouthfeel. In addition, hay, bread and tongue coating black pepper spice. Through the nose, sharp black pepper, sharp cedar and dry nuts. The finish consists of balanced notes of dry nuts, bread, tongue coating black pepper and cinnamon. Body throughout the entire first third is a solid medium. Strength started out medium and by the end of the first third, escalates to a medium full.

Second Third

As this third begins, some cream comes back to mix with the cedar. A quarter inch in, the cream fades a bit with the cedar up front. The retrohale is a mix of cedar and pepper. At a half inch, the pepper on the retrohale changes to the same bell pepper note that I was getting in the first third in the mouth flavor. Three quarters of an inch in, a vegetal note joins the cedar and cream. At an inch and a quarter, the vegetal note and cream goes away and the cedar transitions to a slightly charred oak. As the third comes to a close, the char leaves the oak while a little pepper joins in on the finish. The strength in this third is medium-full.

Second Third

The second third continues its stride of being medium in body and medium full in strength. The cedar becomes sharper and more prominent bread notes. The bread is matched with a tasty medium light bodied sweet cream. In conjunction to the sharper cedar and bread, cinnamon is realized on the draws, creating a slick oiliness sitting on the tip of my tongue. New flavor of slight vegetal notes enters the profile, working especially well with the spice and wood characteristics. Through the retrohale, sharp black pepper, cedar and dry nuts. The finish coats the tongue with cinnamon, dry nuts and bread.

Final Third

This third begins with a slightly young oak flavor with a slightly bitter finish. The retrohale is regular oak. A quarter inch in, the oak loses the young profile and a fair amount of cream joins in. A half inch in, the oak on the retrohale gains a bit of sweetness. At an inch in, some mintiness joins the oak and cream. On the retrohale, the sweetness has left the oak. An inch and a quarter in, a little bitterness joins in with the combination of oak, cream and mintiness. The retrohale also gains some cream. This is how the cigar finishes. The strength in this third was medium-full.

Final Third

In the last third, the black pepper dies down considerably, allowing the cinnamon, medium light sweet cream, bread and dry nuts to move to the forefront. Through the nose, still sharp black pepper, cedar, dry nuts and bread. The finish lingers with a tongue coating cinnamon, dry nuts and bread. Body and strength continues to be medium and medium full, respectively.

Burn

The was some waviness in the first third, but after that it just had a slight wave here or there. The ash held on in nice inch and a half segments.

Burn

Overall, burn was very good. Total smoking time came in at a great 1 hour and 40 minutes. The burn line although slightly wavy, always allowed the various leaves to burn in sync. Ash held on strong, averaging 1.5 inch increments.

Draw

Just a slight cut on the 109 head provided the perfect draw.

Overall

I feel like the term “full flavor” gets thrown around a little too much. To me, there is just a minority cigars that live up to this expectation and this cigar is one of them. When I experience full flavor, it is a level of flavor that really jumps out at you. The flavors in this cigar just pop. The nuanced flavors of bell pepper and some other vegetal notes were great additions as well. Combine that with fantastic performance and this cigar is a real winner and I highly recommend that you seek them out. Since just a few select Crux retailers that bought enough to earn these cigars have them, you may have to do some searching, but the reward will be well worth the search. Due to the strength level and nuanced flavors, this probably fits a more advanced smoker.

Draw

The draw was average. The singular example I smoked had too loose of a draw. This never heated the cigar to the point where I tasted unfavorable notes, but I had to purposely slow down my draws in an effort to yield as much smoking time as I could (because the flavors were great).

Overall

An absolute delight from first draw all the way down to the nub. The cigar showed great structure and building complexities. The flavors worked in harmony and were just down right tasty. Even though the cigar is only available to select and limited retailers, it is well worth your time to blind buy at least a fiver, personally for me, a box.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

8.20

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

7.93

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System