Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Stoic Equanimity Moderation is between light and medium brown with some marbling and has some decently raised veins present. The seams are slightly raised in some areas and the head is well finished. There are two bands, both in a dark green, aqua and gold color combination. The primary denotes the company and has the medallion representing the vitola colored in gold, while the secondary denotes the line. The aroma from the wrapper is a musty mix of cedar and earth, while the foot brings cedar and breadiness. The pre-light draw brings a very musty cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Stoic Equanimity Moderation is a decent looking corona gorda. The wrapper has a nice Colorado coloring, and it has this dark marbled reddish-brown hue. There are medium sized veins present throughout. It is oily to the touch, and the cigar is firm throughout. There are aromas of warm spices, leather, barnyard and tobacco.
John: The Stoic Equanimity Moderation comes in cellophane and features a QR-code style UPC, which may originate from the retailer. The cigar is adorned with a primary Stoic band and a secondary Equanimity band, with a JPBRRM band revealed underneath once the main band is removed. I weighed the cigar at 12.8 grams and measured the humidity at 65.8% with the Humidimeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included mossy wood and sweet tobacco. From the foot, I was picking up a combination of bread and tobacco along with some wood.
Jiunn: The Stoic Equanimity Moderation has a great looking wrapper. Colorado with visible oil content. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give abundant floral jasmine tea and lingering aged cedar.

Stoic Equanimity Moderation

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with musty, toasted cedar, black pepper and some earth. At a quarter inch in, the earth picks up a bit. At a half inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is musty, toasted cedar and earth with some very mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the musty, toasted cedar is up front, with earth in the middle of the profile and the black pepper a bit further behind. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third begins with warm baking spice notes that are paired with coffee and cinnamon. Leather and earth notes are present as well with some tobacco and mineral qualities on the finish. I would classify the cigar as medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with a combination of tobacco and herbs, followed by mildly dry and tannic wood on the finish. Light plus strength spices come through the post draw after a short delay. Bread and sweet tobacco join up on the retrohale, with mild wood and earth closing things out. As the first third continues, the bread note takes the lead. Approaching the halfway point of the first third, the earth on the post draw increases to medium minus strength, adding some additional weight to the profile without overwhelming it.
Jiunn: The first third gives equal parts sour citrus and natural sweetness and creaminess off roasted mixed nuts. Retrohaling gives a surprising amount of dried red pepper spice as there is no evidence of spice on mouth draws. The finish is clean with lingering cedar wood and mild tannins. Strength and body is medium.

Stoic Equanimity Moderation

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth increases a bit as the mustiness mellows a bit. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar, earth and light chalkiness. At an inch in, the black pepper has become very mellow. At an inch and a half in, a minty vegetal note joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the musty, toasted cedar is up front, with the earth a bit behind. The minty vegetal note is just behind the middle of the profile with black pepper in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver those coffee and cinnamon notes. Leather and earth qualities are present with some tobacco and roasted peanut qualities. Notes of minerals are present on the finish. Like before, the cigar is medium in strength and body.
John: The second third kicks off with creamy bread, followed by medium minus baking spices that finish and linger into the post draw between each puff. The herbal notes in the center of the profile begin to fall back in intensity, settling at light strength as the second third progresses. Earth comes to define the post draw, with baking spices now acting more as an accent at roughly one step down in strength. As the cigar reaches the bottom half of the second third, wood joins the bread at the lead of each draw, bringing a bit more structure and dryness to the profile.
Jiunn: Burn issues plague the second third, which I think is causing the flavor experience. Two complete re-lights giving the flavors an overcast of ashy and burnt notes with sour citrus. At this point, no more sweetness and creaminess off the roasted nuts. Strength and body is still medium.

Stoic Equanimity Moderation

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the minty vegetal note moves up to the middle of the profile. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar, the minty vegetal note and some earth. At an inch in, the minty vegetal note really ramps up and moves between the musty, toasted cedar and earth. As the cigar wraps up, the musty, toasted cedar is up front, with minty vegetal note right behind, earth a bit further back and some black pepper in the background. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The final third is fairly in line with the second. Earth and tobacco notes present with some coffee and cinnamon qualities. Baking spice notes are present again with mineral qualities. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood takes the cigar into the final third, with bread acting as a supporting accent flavor while earth defines the post draw. As the last third settles in, bread pushes the wood more toward the center of the profile, while tannic wood joins the finish. By the halfway point of the final third, some mild bitterness moves into the post draw, detracting slightly from the balance established earlier.
Jiunn: Same story as the second third. The final third suffers another complete re-light. Flavor wise, still the same overcast of ashy and burnt characters with citrus sourness. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Stoic Equanimity Moderation

Burn

Aaron: Through the first half of the cigar, I struggled with getting enough smoke production on the draws. The cigar was burning, but just not delivering enough smoke unless frequent draws were taken. At about the midway point, the cigar kept going out and multiple re-lights were required. Things settled down in the final third.
Seth: The burn was decent throughout the cigar.
John: The burn was straight through the first third but began to stall in the bottom half, eventually going out. After a re-light, the burn was uneven in the second third but managed to self-correct. The burn showed some waviness at times through the last third.
Jiunn: Three re-lights (two within the second third and one within the final third) was the major culprit. I believe this did impact the intended flavor delivery, making the cigar taste ashy and burnt.

Stoic Equanimity Moderation

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was good from beginning to end.
John: I measured the draw at 43 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be right in the ideal zone between open and resistant.
Jiunn: Draw performance however was great, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with musty, toasted cedar, black pepper and some earth. The earth then picked up a bit as the pepper mellowed. The second third saw the earth increase some more and the mustiness mellowed a bit. Then, the black pepper became very mellow. Later, a minty vegetal note joined in. The final third saw the minty vegetal note increase and then ramped up to just behind the cedar up front. The burn was a real issue for the Stoic Equanimity Moderation as it had low smoke production early on and then a series of re-lights. I’m hoping the others had better construction and can report on the true flavor of the cigar. My experience will likely be an outlier as the poor construction had a dramatic effect on flavor I’m sure. I’ll wait to see what the other experienced, but I’ll likely try another vitola.
Seth: The Stoic Equanimity Moderation was a good cigar. It had a nice core flavor profile that was present throughout the experience. There was some minor transitioning throughout the cigar, and it has a nice body and strength level. The wrapper was not too overpowering with the size, and I appreciate that the cigar was not overpowering with the wrapper. Moderation is not my favorite vitola in the line, but it’s one of the better corona gorda smokes I have had recently.
John: The Stoic Equanimity Moderation delivered a largely satisfying experience that leaned into balance and restraint rather than bolder complexity. From the outset, the cigar presented a grounded profile built around bread, tobacco and restrained herbal accents, and while it never reached particularly high peaks, it maintained a steady and enjoyable rhythm through much of the smoking experience. The first and second thirds were clearly the strongest portions, with the interplay between bread, baking spices and earth feeling cohesive and well-paced. The gradual dialing back of the herbal notes allowed the profile to settle into something more approachable and consistent, and the draw performance helped keep each puff engaging and effortless. The final third, while not bad by any means, showed some fatigue as tannins and mild bitterness crept in, and the need for a re-light prevented the cigar from finishing as cleanly as it began. Even so, the cigar never became harsh or unpleasant, and it remained smokable through to the end. Ultimately, this Stoic Equanimity Moderation is a cigar that succeeds by staying within itself. It offers a thoughtful, composed experience that aligns well with its name. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Jiunn: I’m frustrated at this Stoic Equanimity Moderation because of the burn issues. I believe the burn did majorly impact the intended flavors, which is why I didn’t get the right smoking experience. I look forward to my teammate’s experience and also would like to pick up a couple more to see if the burn is a recurring issue.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.90

Cost/Point

$2.55

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.32

Cost/Point

$1.98

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.62

Cost/Point

$1.89

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$2.23

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Stoic Equanimity Moderation