Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Dapper 10th Anniversary is between light and medium brown and has some thick, raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being black and gold and denoting the company. The secondary is black and gold with white borders at the top and bottom and denotes the line. The aroma from the wrapper is a mild mix of cedar and earth, while the foot brings a fuller version of the cedar and earth along with a light mustiness. The pre-light draw brings cedar and a floral soapiness.
Seth: The Dapper 10th Anniversary is finished with a faded brown wrapper that is Natural in coloring. It has a slightly coarse texture and is finished with small veins throughout. It is quite firm, and the wrapper has aromas of barnyard, spices, tobacco and leather. The foot gives off notes of dry spices, meat, leather, hay and earth.
John: The Dapper 10th Anniversary comes packaged in cellophane with a UPC sticker that had the cigar information. It also included an integrated tear strip so the UPC remained intact when opened. There is a primary Dapper band and a secondary 10th Anniversary band. I measured the humidity at 65.4% with a CigarMedics HumidiMeter Pro and weighed the cigar at 20.3 grams. Aromas from the the wrapper were sweet tobacco, bread, fresh wood, with light hay underneath. From the foot, I could pick out richer tobacco notes with earth and faint barnyard.
Jiunn: The Dapper 10th Anniversary has a Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll is even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of intense barnyard followed by cedar.

Dapper 10th Anniversary

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar and light amounts of earth and floral notes. The floral notes are creating a very unique end to each draw. At a half inch in, walnut shell joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar and floral notes with very light earth. At an inch and a quarter, the earth increases a bit and the overall profile is now a bit dry. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with walnut shell and earth a bit behind and some floral notes in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third opens with some warm spices and touches of black pepper. There are some toasted nut qualities present, and it makes me think of toasted hazelnuts. Bits of leather and tobacco are in the background as well, and it is a dryer profile. Hints of dry earth and cocoa on the finish. The cigar is medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with sweet, creamy tobacco and mildly dry wood finishing into the post-draw. As it settles, bread leads the retrohale at light-plus strength while dry wood continues to finish. A light vegetal note emerges on the finish and gradually moves toward the start of the draw as the first third approaches its end.
Jiunn: The first third has a cohesive flavor profile. Flavors of roasted mixed nuts, minerals and a unique Sichuan peppercorn is giving a nice mala type of sensation. Retrohaling all the way through is not possible for me, as the pepper spice is too powerful. However, it does have good flavors and is also clean. The finish shows soft cedar and minerals. Strength is medium-full and body is medium.

Dapper 10th Anniversary

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the walnut shells and earth inch a bit closer to the toasted cedar up front. At three quarters of an inch in, the walnut shell and earth are now even with the toasted cedar up front. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. At an inch and a half in, the earth takes a slight lead in the profile. As the third comes to a close, the earth is just ahead of the walnut shell, with the toasted cedar a bit further behind and the floral notes in the background. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver that dryer flavor profile of warm spices with black pepper. Some toasted hazelnut qualities are present, and it has a finish of dry earth, leather and tobacco. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third begins with sweet bread and tobacco, finishing with mildly dry wood that intensifies through the post-draw. The vegetal note remains present on the finish, mingling with the dry wood. Medium-minus strength baking spices quietly enter the retrohale as the third progresses. Mild tannins join the finish near the halfway point, accompanied by mild chocolate flavors toward the end of the draw.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile diminishes. The profile focuses on minerals and the mala style of spice. The reduction of complexities makes the smoking experience mundane. The finish does lengthen but there is still a lack of complexities. Strength and body remains medium-full and medium, respectively.

Dapper 10th Anniversary

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth, toasted cedar and walnut shell are all back to even at the front of the profile. At a half inch in, the floral notes are no longer detectable. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and some floral notes. At an inch and a quarter, the earth and walnut shells back off a fair amount. As the cigar comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with the earth and walnut shells just ahead of the middle of the profile. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third is right in line with the first and second. Medium body cigar with a dryer flavor profile. Dry earth, spices, pepper, leather, tobacco and toasted hazelnuts. Truly lacking any depth, complexity or transitioning. Not bad, but disappointing.
John: The last third gets going with creamy wood and mildly dry wood to finish, while delayed tannins emerge strongly on the post-draw. Wood remains the primary flavor as the cigar moves towards the midway point. In the bottom half, tannins increase to medium strength, dominating the post-draw. An acidic note also becomes apparent on the finish as it continues.
Jiunn: Final third is the same as the second third such that it’s still the same mixture of minerals and mala peppercorns. The strength is starting to hit a bit more, going straight to my dome. But body remains the same medium.

Dapper 10th Anniversary

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required two touch-ups to keep everything in line. The cigar also went out once, requiring a re-light.
Seth: The burn was off throughout.
John: The burn started out wavy and evened out in the first third. The burn continued straight through the second third. Some waviness returned through the final third.
Jiunn: The burn had issues. Two re-lights due to uneven burn, of what I assume is the ligero not burning in conjunction with the other leaves.

Dapper 10th Anniversary

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit firmer than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: The draw was nice from beginning to end.
John: I measured the draw with the CigarMedics draw machine to 70 inches of water. My subjective take on the draw is that it was 3-1/2 to 4 notches towards the resistant spectrum making it quite snug.
Jiunn: The draw on the other hand though was perfect, having a good balance of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar and light amounts of earth and floral notes. Some walnut shell joined in a bit later. The second third saw the earth and walnut shell move up to the front of the profile to become even with the cedar. Later, the earth took a slight lead in the profile with the walnut shell in between the earth and cedar. The final third saw the floral notes depart and the toasted cedar, earth and walnut shells were all even again. Later, the walnut shell and earth mellowed. The Dapper 10th Anniversary had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around the toasted cedar, earth and walnut shell. The floral notes were a nice addition, but didn’t do enough to elevate the profile. I was interested to see what this offering would do, not only coming from a different factory than all of the brands previous releases, but a different country. All in all, it didn’t deliver on how good some of the previous releases have been or show an exciting offering for an anniversary release, so I don’t see myself returning.
Seth: I have loved the relationship between NACSA and Dapper, so for them to have a 10th Anniversary out of La Isla has made me perplexed and disappointed. The Dapper 10th Anniversary is truly an average cigar all around, and it does not do Dapper any justice. This is not an anniversary blend. It was too Dominican forward, and the Dominican tobacco used was lacking. Not enough strength and complexity. It was a one-dimensional cigar that had a dryer flavor profile throughout. The draw on the cigar was solid, but the burn was off throughout. The wrapper cracked as well, and I think that is due to the wrapper used. I have had similar issues like this with Ecuadorian Corojo. Yes, you could classify this is an average cigar, but with this being an anniversary cigar and the history of Dapper releases, this is subpar. What was Dapper thinking?
John: The Dapper 10th Anniversary delivers a balanced and approachable smoke with sweet, creamy tobacco and wood flavors that evolve gradually. While the first two-thirds offer a pleasant combination of bread, baking spices and mild tannins, the last third introduces more assertive tannins and an acidic finish that slightly detracts from the overall smoothness. Great burn performance but the draw was quite snug and I can’t help but wonder if it impacted the flavor delivery. Overall, this was a good anniversary release that fits well in the Dapper portfolio. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Jiunn: This would be a great cigar if it leveraged off the baseline of flavors a bit more. While I thought the mixture of minerals and mala peppercorn spice was tasty, it needed more. More softer flavors such as sweetness and creaminess would have almost perfected the cigar. But as is, the Dapper 10th Anniversary was just ok and not worthy of the anniversary marker.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.20

Cost/Point

$4.23

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.43

Cost/Point

$4.96

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.37

Cost/Point

$3.46

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$3.79

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Dapper 10th Anniversary