Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal is medium brown with some darker line and some raised veins. The seams are smooth and the head is finished off with a tightly wound pigtail. There is a taper from about the midpoint of the cigar down to the foot, which I don’t think is by design. The band is orange with a teal-colored phone booth and denotes the brand name and color. The aroma from the wrapper is wood and earth while the foot brings cedar and faint earth. The pre-light draw is a very airy cedar and earth combination along with a mild spice on my lips.
Seth: Is it too much to ask for a better band? Do you know how much better this cigar would look if it had a better band? The colorings are awful against a classic Colorado colored wrapper. Medium veins throughout, the cigar has a fine, gritty texture. Nice firmness, great vitola. Aroma of leather, barnyard, tobacco, wood and earth. Spices as well. Damn band!
John: The J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker with the cigar info which tore when opened. Flipping the cellophane open, the cigar logo is also present on the back. For artisanal complications, the cigar has a twisted pigtail cap. I weighed the cigar at 14.1 grams and measured the humidity at 61.9% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet grape, fresh wood and clover. Out of the foot, I was also getting the same grape, along with hay and wood.

J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, astringent wood bitterness and some light earth. At a half inch in, the astringent wood bitterness departs and the toasted cedar transitions to toasted oak. The retrohale is also toasted oak and light earth. At an inch in, some mustiness joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, with earth just behind the middle and some light mustiness in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with a nice dry flavor profile. There are some cocoa flavors present, and it helps against some of the dry earth and wood notes. Bits of oak and leather. Lots of barnyard qualities. Warm spices present with the cigar as well. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with tobacco, earth and then an earth and leather combination to finish. The retrohale is creamy tobacco, wood in the center and then a wood and leather team up through the finish. As the first third settles in, the retrohale takes on some light plus strength spices and a dry wood in the center. A mild bread joins the retrohale and mixes with the wood as the cigar continues to develop. By the halfway point, bread is leading off the draw and blends into the center of the profile.

J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third, a light spray paint/metallic flavor becomes present. At a half inch, in, the spray paint component departs but a faint metallic note remains. The retrohale is now toasted oak, earth and a light black pepper. At an inch and a half in, some black pepper joins the back half of the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front with earth in the middle and some black pepper, mustiness and metallic notes in the back half. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first. Bits of cocoa and faint richness of earth with some oak, barnyard, leather, tobacco and warm spice notes. Again, still smoking at a level around medium-full. Solid cigar. Love this vitola.
John: Bread and wood take the cigar into the second third with sweet wood in the center and into the finish. Tannic wood joins the finish as well once the second third has settled in. Medium strength spices come into the retrohale as the cigar is approaching the halfway point. In the bottom half, the profile is wood forward with a tannic wood on the finish.

J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, a light mintiness joins the profile. The retrohale remains toasted oak, earth and a light black pepper. At an inch in, the mintiness transitions to a menthol note as the metallic note has departed. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted oak is up front, with earth and the menthol note in the middle and some black pepper and mustiness in the background. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The final third delivers a flavor profile of oak, leather, tobacco, barnyard and coffee notes. There are some mineral spice qualities on the finish, and it is smoking around that medium-full level. It has lost some of that enjoyable cocoa powder profile.
John: Bread and wood start the last third with a mildly dry and tannic wood on the finish. Tannic wood on the post draw moves up to medium strength as the last third settles in. By the halfway point, the tannic wood is back down to light plus with the overall profile being wood driven.

J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required a touch-up at one point to keep things in line. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Good burn throughout.
John: The burn had a wavy start to it, threatening to stall at times and eventually formed a canoe, requiring a touch-up. The cigar canoed into the second third, requiring a second touch-up. The burn continued to be uneven through the second third and the last third but did not require intervention.

J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Nice draw from start to finish.
John: The draw was well into the resistant spectrum at roughly 3-1/2 to 4 notches resistant. That puts the cigar in the average scoring category for a draw.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, astringent wood bitterness and some light earth. The wood bitterness departed a half inch in and the cedar transitioned to oak. Some mustiness joined a bit later. The second third saw a spray paint/metallic note join in, with the spray paint portion departing pretty quickly. Some black pepper then joined a bit later. The final third saw a mintiness join in that later transitioned to a menthol note. The J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal had an average flavor profile throughout, but had some not so great moments with the astringency and spray paint. I’m not sure what to make of this cigar, but it’s not something I’d come back to. I’ll have to check out some other lines from the brand.
Seth: This J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal is a good bundle cigar, and I am interested in trying the other offerings. I am sure there will be some that are not as great, but this was good. A nice Mexican offering as well. I loved the vitola offering. You don’t get too many Lonsdales, and the ones you do get tend to be put together by individuals who truly love the vitola and want to make a good cigar. Solid flavor profile.
John: The J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal started out promising in the first third, with tobacco, leather and earth notes along with some spices that developed. The profile became largely wood forward through the second and last thirds which I didn’t’ find engaging. The burn required two touch-ups to correct and the draw was pretty resistant. I didn’t find a lot here that would make me want to return to this particular release. The construction issues aside, I found the profile pretty one dimensional for the last half of the smoking experience. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$2.63

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$2.45

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.45

Cost/Point

$2.68

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: J. London Telephone Booth Series Teal