Pre-light Experience

The Powstanie Wojtek is a near Perfecto as it has an open foot and is wrapped as a barber pole with a light brown wrapper the most visible and medium brown the least. There is a network of lightly raised veins present and the head is well finished. The band is the traditional design for the brand with white above red along with some silver accents and the company logo in black. The aroma from the wrapper is a full mix of stone fruit sweetness and barnyard funk. The foot brings a mellower offering of wood and light stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw brings a mix of stone fruit sweetness and hay.

Pre-light Experience

The Powstanie Wojtek has a Perfecto shape with a barber pole style wrapper that uses a chocolate brown and lighter tan wrapper combination. The band has the Powstanie P logo with a white on top of red background, with silver accents. Nosing the wrapper, there is a fairly powerful barnyard aroma. In the foot, there is light cedar and baking spices.

Pre-light Experience

The Powstanie Wojtek has a unique mix match of barber pole style-like Ecuadorian Habano and Mexican San Andrés. The look and feel is nice as there is a uniformed give, well pressed veins, tight seams and sharp tapered torpedo style head. Nosing the wrapper gives aggressive white pepper and pungent cedar. Nosing the foot gives a spicy and sweet mixture of cedar and roasted nuts. Cold draw tells plums, cedar and hay.

First Third

The cigar begins with a full profile of dark wood along with a light black pepper. At a quarter inch in, a light mustiness joins the profile while the wood is more defined as oak now. At three quarters of an inch in, the oak has gained a light char. The retrohale is wood with a light floral note. As the third comes to a close, the profile is lightly charred oak with some mustiness behind it and a faint black pepper. The strength is slightly below medium.

First Third

The first third opens with mouth coating cedar and leather, finishing with mild cinnamon that carries into the post draw. Sweetness joins the front of the draw. Mild baking spices intensify to medium on the retrohale, and sit on the middle of my tongue. The finish is quite clean, despite the number of flavors present. As the cigar settles, sweet creaminess with hints of cocoa add to the profile. The sweetness and cinnamon move to the front of my tongue, with chocolate and cedar adding to the retrohale. Sweetness eventually joins the post draw. Sour citrus at the end of each draw by the 20 minute mark. In the bottom half of the first, the cedar takes on a drying aspect.

First Third

A very unique flavor profile. The first thing I notice is an oily and somewhat tongue numbing reminiscent of Sichuan peppercorns. The profile is also dark with copious amount of roasted black coffee, cedar and naturally sweet roasted nuttiness. Retrohaling is fierce with a nose stinging black pepper spice. But reaching a bit further, there’s also the same natural sweet roasted nuttiness. The finish is very earthy with a gritty dirt component and cedar. Strength is medium-full and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the char has picked up slightly. At a quarter inch in, some slightly dry earth joins the profile. At three quarters of an inch in, the profile is charred oak and slightly dry earth while the black pepper has gone away. The retrohale carries slightly charred oak and a light floral note. As the third comes to a close, the mustiness has become even with the charred oak while the slightly dry earth is close behind. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Second Third

Sour citrus and dry cedar move from the post draw to the end of each draw, almost into the middle. Creaminess is present on the retrohale. Medium to medium plus sour cedar eventually settles into the middle. As the cigar settles in, sweetness joins with the sour cedar, and gains some bread and baking spice complexity as the cigar progresses. Several minutes into the second third, the dryness from the previous third drops off.

Second Third

There’s inconsistencies within the second third. The main reason is due to the tunneling of the cigar such that the wrapper refused to burn, requiring a full re-light and a touch-up. But when the cigar burns in a cohesive manner, the profile is still the same numbing coming off Sichuan peppercorns, roasted black coffee, cedar and natural sweet roasted nuttiness. Strength and body remains medium plus and medium, respectively.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the charred oak, mustiness and slightly dry earth are all at an equal level. The retrohale is now just a musty oak. The cigar maintains all of the favors on an equal footing through the end. The strength in this third maintained itself at medium.

Final Third

Citrus and cedar still drive the profile moving into the last third. Sweet bread has taken up residence in the middle. Each draw finishes in citrus that carries into the post draw. As the last third settles in, earthy cedar moves into the middle, with baking spices to finish. Eventually the earth joins the post draw.

Final Third

The last third’s flavor profile becomes muddled. The only consistent note is the oily numbing aspect. The other notes of roasted black coffee, cedar and sweet roasted nuts all become jumbled. Strength and body finishes medium-full and medium.

Burn

The burn line was slightly wavy but never needed any attention. The ash held on to the halfway point and then again until the cigar was done.

Burn

The burn was wavy resulting in a mild canoe. A touch-up was required in the second third, and another one in the middle third. The cigar went out in the last third requiring a re-light. The cigar had ashes up to 2 inches which refused multiple attempts to knock it off.

Burn

The burn could use quite a bit of help. Two re-lights, two touch-ups and a hot burn within the final third. Unfortunately, this affected the flavors of the cigar.

Draw

The draw was a bit snug and a second cut opened things up in the second third but it tightened back up through the final third.

Overall

The cigar began with dark wood and light black pepper. Some mustiness joined in as the wood became more defined as oak and gained some char. Some slightly dry earth joined in and this profile maintained itself through the rest of the cigar. The draw was a bit snug and burn was very good. Strength was right around medium the whole way. The Powstanie Wojtek had a pretty simple flavor profile with not much transition, but even so, it did it well. It’s pretty nice when you can find a cigar that has a flavor identity that it sticks to and is pleasurable. While the price is a bit high for a cigar of this size, it provided a longer than expected smoking time, so it does provide value with the flavor delivery and smoking length. I’d be happy to smoke more of these and would have no problem recommending that others give this a try.

Draw

The draw was roughly 2 notches into the resistant spectrum, which would fall into the good category.

Overall

The Powstanie Wojtek was an enjoyable cigar with balanced and nuanced flavors through the first and second thirds. The strength was just above medium with the flavor/body hitting medium-full at several points throughout. I enjoyed the smoking experience, and the Perfecto shape and barber pole added a great style to the cigar. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Draw

The draw on the other hand was absolutely perfect.

Overall

This is a rare occasion in which the construction (burn) of the cigar influenced the overall flavor profile and outcome. Sans burn issues, I believe the cigar would have given a more consistently good flavor profile of oily tongue numbing Sichuan peppercorns, roasted black coffee, cedar and naturally sweet roasted nuttiness. Even with the burn issues, I would enjoy the Powstanie Wojtek again as the core package was a solid one, and the shorter smoking time fit the bill perfectly.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.42

Cost/Point

$1.87

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.32

Cost/Point

$1.90

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.05

Cost/Point

$1.98

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Powstanie Wojtek