Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon is medium tan and has some thick veins and some fine veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered ends are both well finished. There are two bands, both with a pink, gold and black color combination. The primary denotes the brand while the secondary denotes the retailer the cigar is an exclusive for. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of hay and earth while the foot opening is too small to detect anything other than the wrapper aroma. The pre-light draw is a mix of cedar and light floral notes along with a mild spice on my lips.
John: The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon came in cellophane and did not have a UPC sticker. There is a Southern Draw primary band along with a Casa de Montecristo Exclusive secondary band. I weighed the cigar at 17.9 grams and measured the humidity to 66.0% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper include bread, wood and fresh earth. As the cigar is a Salomon shape, there is a very small portion of exposed foot not wide enough to pick out anything distinct.
Jiunn: The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon has a quality, even, golden brown Colorado Claro wrapper shade. The bunch and roll of the beautifully shaped salomon is spot on. Pre-light aromas consist of sharper cedar, hay and a hint of barnyard.

Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, a mix of cinnamon forward baking spice and black pepper, along with some mild earth and creaminess. At a half inch in, the creaminess picks up a bit. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and light creaminess. At an inch and a quarter, the baking spice/black pepper combo has mellowed significantly. At an inch and a half in, the earth increases a fair amount. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with the earth a bit behind, creaminess in the middle of the profile and the baking spice/black pepper combo in the back half of the profile. The strength was right at medium.
John: My first third begins with flavors of earthy tobacco at light-plus strength, with sweet wood in the center. The retrohale consists of creamy spices and wood with the same notes plus a mild dryness on the finish and post draw. As the cigar settles in, the sweetness intensifies at the shoulder of the cigar, with the spices now settling in just under medium-minus strength. Roughly 13 minutes in, bread has joined the retrohale. Earth and wood combine on the finish. As the first third continues to evolve, there is also mild chocolate detectable on the retrohale. Through the bottom half of the first third, tannins have joined the post draw.
Jiunn: The first third creates an easy going flavor profile of cedar, buttered toast, hay and semi-sweet cream. Retrohaling gives a nice spicier cedar. The finish is short with aged cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the baking spice departs and the black pepper picks back up and moves ahead of the creaminess. At a half inch in, some hay joins the profile at the same level of the earth. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and light creaminess and black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the earth has now become even with the toasted cedar up front. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with the hay and black pepper a bit behind and some creaminess in the back half of the profile. The strength remains at medium.
John: Creamy earth and spices carry the cigar into the second third at medium strength, with spices and dry wood making up the post draw. Sweet wood leads off the profile with tannic dry wood in the center as the second third settles in. Some bread notes break into the retrohale as the cigar approaches the halfway point. Chocolate leads the retrohale with tannic wood in the center for the bottom half of the second third.
Jiunn: The second third creates more flavor boldness especially in butter and spice. This pairs better with the more robust retrohales. The finish is lengthened with the same aged cedar. Strength and body continues to be medium.

Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, a light wood bitterness joins the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth, hay and light creaminess and black pepper. At an inch in, the toast level increases a bit. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with hay and black pepper a bit behind and some creaminess and wood bitterness in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
John: Creamy, tannic wood greets me in the last third, with a finish of the same components. Some dryness is present on the palate and it increases in intensity as the last third progresses. Some bitterness is detectable at medium strength by the halfway point, but after a few puffs it fades away.
Jiunn: The final third is less complex with decreases in cream and sweetness. The profile focuses more on sharper cedar both in terms of the mouth draws and finish. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
John: The burn was relatively straight in the first third. In the second third, some unevenness developed at the halfway point. In the last third, a small strip of wrapper was not combusting, but it corrected itself.
Jiunn: Burn performance was great. I didn’t have to touch my lighter after the initial light. Cool burning temperature, even burn and solid ashes.

Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
John: As is often the case with perfecto cigars, the draw was quite resistant to start, roughly 3-1/2 to 4 notches into the resistant spectrum. Once the burn line reached the shoulder, the cigar opened to one notch towards the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw had no issues, giving the best balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, a mix of cinnamon forward baking spice and black pepper, along with some mild earth and creaminess. The baking spice/black pepper mellowed a fair amount a bit later and the earth increased. The second third saw the baking spice depart and the pepper increase. Some hay also joined in. The earth then moved up to even with the toasted cedar up front. The final third saw a light wood bitterness join in. The construction was absolutely perfect. The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon had an average flavor profile throughout. The first inch or so was pretty nice, but it faded back after that and was unexciting the rest of the way. Some of the previous vitolas of this line perform much better and I wouldn’t see myself coming back to this particular vitola. It is a cool size with a nice price point though.
John: The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon provided some complex and engaging flavor combinations in the first third. The second third was still pleasant and enjoyable, as some of the complexity faded away. In the last third, the cigar was fairly linear in delivery. The draw and burn both scored amazing with no issues. I’m a fan of the Rose of Sharon line from Southern Draw, and I think the price point for a cigar this size is attractive. With that said, I don’t think this is the best vitola for the blend, but I might smoke it again if I was looking for a longer cigar session. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 42 minutes.
Jiunn: Interestingly enough, I find the flavor profile of this Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon to be quite similar to the Desert Rose with its velvety and buttery nature. It’s interesting because they are obviously entirely different shapes but hey, the palate tastes what it tastes. You can’t go wrong with these. Just make sure you give yourself 2.5 hours to kick back and enjoy.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.12

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.00

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.79

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Salomon