Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster is light brown with a little bit of darker marbling. There are some decently raised veins present, the seams are smooth and the caps are very well applied. There are no bands on the cigar. The aroma from the wrapper is a faint mix of wood and banana sweetness while the foot brings powdered banana pudding and Nilla Wafer. The pre-light draw is a light mix of stale cedar and banana sweetness along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
John: The Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster cigars do not have a band, cellophane or UPC sticker. Examining the wrapper, it is tan in appearance and smooth throughout. For aromas, I was getting sweet wood, hay and barnyard. From the foot, there was sweet vanilla cream and a clear natural aroma of banana.

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with slightly stale cedar and a raw black pepper. On random draws, there are light hints of banana. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper loses the rawness. The retrohale is toasted cedar, black pepper and a light, creamy banana note. At an inch in, a bit of the powdered banana pudding mix is in the background. At an inch and a quarter, a dusty earth joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the profile is stale and slightly bitter cedar up front with black pepper and dusty earth a fair bit behind and faint powdered banana pudding in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
John: The first third opened with sweet, creamy vanilla, followed by tobacco and wood and some hints of fruit sweetness to finish. The post draw is defined by dry wood. As the first third settled in, banana was present through the center of the profile. Moving towards the halfway point, a creamy sweetness is present on the retrohale.

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the cedar is now pretty dry. At a half inch in, there’s no banana component remaining in the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and slightly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, the toast level increases and the bitterness takes on a char note. As the third comes to a close, the profile is heavily toasted cedar up front, paired with some charred bitterness and then black pepper and dusty earth a bit behind. The strength bumped up to medium.
John: Baking spices lead off with vanilla cream to follow and tobacco and wood through the post draw. The spices fade as it continues and becomes largely wood forward with hay accents and occasional vanilla sweetness.

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, a light mustiness joins the profile while the bitterness loses the char component. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, dusty earth and light black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper has mellowed. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is heavily toasted cedar with some bitterness up front, dusty earth and mustiness a bit behind and black pepper in the background. The strength remained at medium.
John: Creamy wood gets the last third going with vanilla through the retrohale. A faint banana sweetness is present as it settles in. The post draw is defined by dry wood as it continues. Hay joins the post draw not long after.

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster

Burn

Aaron: The burn line was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any attention. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
John: Two cigars were reviewed, with the first cigar having an uneven burn and requiring a re-light through the first third. The second cigar was fairly straight, and became uneven in the second third, requiring a touch-up. It remained uneven through the rest of the review but did not require any intervention.

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
John: As above, two cigars were reviewed. The first cigar had a draw that was a half to a notch below completely plugged. After some massaging of the cigar, I was able to make it serviceable. The second cigar was also quite resistant, roughly 3-1/2 notches into the resistant spectrum. The second cigar was also dry boxed for 7 days between reviews.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with slightly stale cedar and a raw black pepper. On random draws, there were light hints of banana. A powdered banana pudding and dusty earth joined in a bit later. The second third saw all banana components depart and the bitterness gained a char note. The final third saw the bitterness lose the char note and some mustiness joined in. The Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster didn’t really convey the banana profile past the first third, and when it was present, it was an afterthought. The middle third wasn’t that pleasant, but did come back to average in the final third. This version of the Munchies wasn’t at the same level as the Rocky Road and isn’t something I’d see coming back to.
John: The Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster was pleasant throughout, with the most dynamic flavors coming in the first third. I was hoping for a more intense banana flavor like the intensity from the Munchies Rocky Road. Although this is probably not something I would return to, I appreciate that the flavors are natural and don’t have an artificial sweetness or chemical nature to them. Total smoking time averaged 1 hour and 42 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.30

Cost/Point

$1.89

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$1.80

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Jas Sum Kral Munchies Bananas Foster