Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Stoic Moderation is a dirty light brown and has some decently raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is black, pale blue and gold and denotes the brand. The aroma from the wrapper is a musty mix of earth and wood, while the foot brings a mix of cedar and sweet pastry bread. The pre-light draw is an aged and musty cedar with pastry bread and some dry earth, along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Stoic Moderation is a decent-looking cigar with a band that really helps the Colorado wrapper pop. It has a rustic brown coloring with touches of deep red. Medium sized veins are present throughout, and the cigar is oily in hand. It is firm to touch with aromas of tobacco, herbs, barnyard and sweet spices.
John: The Stoic Moderation comes in cellophane, featuring a QR code but no UPC. The cigar carries a single Stoic band, and upon removing it, a thin white band underneath is revealed, printed with the text “PQOJYJ.” I weighed the cigar at 13.0 grams and measured the humidity at 64.0% using the CigarMedics HumidiMeter Pro. From the wrapper, I picked up aromas of musty wood and mild earth. Out of the foot, I detected sweet tobacco with a faint raisin sweetness beneath.
Jiunn: The Stoic Moderation has a gorgeous lighter side of Colorado Red wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of ample barnyard and star jasmine followed by cedar.

Stoic Moderation

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with mildly toasted cedar, earth and an interesting musty component that I can’t quite pinpoint yet. At a quarter inch in, some black pepper joins the profile. At a half inch in, the unidentified mustiness now carries a bit of sweetness to it. The retrohale is a smooth mix of toasted cedar, the unique mustiness and some dry earth. At an inch in, a mild chalkiness appears on random draws. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with the unique and slightly sweet mustiness a bit behind. The earth is in the middle of the profile with black pepper just behind along with moments of chalkiness. The strength is slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts with a floral and herbal quality. Seasoned wood notes are present along with some tobacco, nuts and hay. It has a finish of sweet and red pepper spices. Dryer side of the spectrum, but a balanced blend. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with a combination of mild dry wood and light bread, followed by sweet tobacco on the finish. The retrohale carries a bready and herbal quality at light to light-plus strength, with mild baking spices developing through the center as it settles in. The post draw is defined by faint dry wood and earth, which continues as grassy and vegetal notes enter the finish at light-plus strength. By the halfway point of the third, sweetness at the front of the profile has increased to medium strength.
Jiunn: The first third has a fine line between nuance and complex to meek in flavors. Light pencil shaving like minerals, cedar and leather tannins come off mouth draws. Retrohaling is the best part, providing amplified minerals, subtle tart cherries and spicy cedar. The finish is incredibly clean with layered aged cedar and leather tannins. Strength and body is medium.

Stoic Moderation

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the sweet mustiness becomes even with the toasted cedar up front and there are hints of wood bitterness the shows up from time to time. At a half inch in, the mellow chalkiness is now a consistent component of the profile and some meatiness becomes present. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, unique mustiness and some dry earth. At an inch in, the toast level increases and the cedar once again has a slight lead over the musty component. At an inch and a quarter, the meatiness increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is a bit ahead of the mustiness, with earth in the middle of the profile and the black pepper, chalkiness, wood bitterness and meatiness in the back half. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver that floral and herbal flavor profile with stronger red pepper and spice notes. Seasoned wood, nuts, hay and tobacco are still present. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third opens with creamy sweetness and baking spices, with wood and baking spices combining on the finish. The retrohale maintains an herbal, bready note with dry wood to finish. The profile holds steady as the cigar reaches the halfway mark. In the bottom half, creamy herbal tobacco leads off, while mild earth and dry wood carry through to the finish.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor intensity is drastically dialed up. However, the mixture of heavier pencil lead minerality, bitter cedar and leather tannins don’t work well with each other. This is especially evident on the finish, which is no longer layered but cakes the palate. Strength and body remain medium.

Stoic Moderation

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the mustiness no longer carries any unique components to it. At a quarter inch in, the toast level increases a bit more. At a half inch in, the earth and mustiness swap places and the wood bitterness increases. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, dry earth and mustiness. At an inch in, the wood bitterness increases a bit. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth a bit behind and the mustiness and wood bitterness in the middle of the profile and some black pepper, meatiness and chalkiness in the back half. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third delivers tobacco, wood, hay, floral and herbal spices. It is fairly in line with the first and second third and remains balanced. Finish of toasted nuts. Slightly dry, but medium in strength and body.
John: The final third opens with creamy herbal and earth notes, while mildly dry wood defines the post draw. As the cigar progresses, the wood takes on some sharpness, and bitterness begins to build on the finish. After a few purges, the bitterness fades, returning the profile to creamy herbal notes with a sharp wood finish.
Jiunn: The final third’s flavor profile is very similar to the second third. Pencil lead minerality leads the pact with bitter cedar and leather tannins following close behind. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Stoic Moderation

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, but in the middle of the cigar, the burn stalled and a re-light was required. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn was good from beginning to end. Not perfect, but solid.
John: Although the burn began slightly uneven, it quickly corrected itself and remained straight throughout the rest of the review.
Jiunn: Perfect construction providing an even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperatures.

Stoic Moderation

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was perfect throughout.
John: Measured at 50 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, the draw was at most one notch toward the resistant side, making it ideal.
Jiunn: Perfect draw as well, providing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with mildly toasted cedar, earth and an interesting musty component. Some black pepper joined in pretty quickly. Later, a mild chalkiness joined in. The second third saw the mustiness become even with the cedar up front and some wood bitterness joined in. Later, some meatiness joined the profile. The toast level then increased and the cedar once again had a lead in the profile. The final third saw the mustiness lose its uniqueness. The toast level increased a bit more and the wood bitterness increased while the earth and mustiness swapped places. The Stoic Moderation had a nice flavor profile through the first two thirds, with the unique mustiness and a plethora of other flavor components. It took a step down in the final third as the mustiness lost its uniqueness and was a bit more cedar and earth driven. I’d be up for coming back to this cigar and also interested in trying the other vitolas in the line to see what they deliver.
Seth: The Stoic Moderation was a decent cigar, but it lacked some overall complexity and depth throughout. I am not sure if there was too much Ecuadorian Habano in the blend, or it was the entire Dominican filler blend, but the cigar was missing components to take it to the next level. Great size, but there needed to be more body and strength to take this cigar to the next level. I would be interested in smoking this cigar in another vitola to compare.
John: The Stoic Moderation offered a well-constructed experience with a consistently straight burn and a nearly perfect draw. Flavor-wise, the first third was the highlight, showing sweet tobacco, bread and subtle spice with a pleasant herbal retrohale. However, the second and final thirds became more restrained and less dynamic, occasionally introducing bitterness and sharp wood. While the cigar never lost its composure, the flavor progression didn’t reach the same heights as the opening. Overall, a technically sound cigar with moments of intrigue, best suited for those who enjoy delicate herbal profiles with light sweetness. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Jiunn: This Stoic Moderation didn’t hit for me. The onslaught of minerals mixed with bitter cedar and leather tannins tasted unbalanced and especially when the bitterness spiked (second and final third), it was distasteful. What’s interesting is our team had the Wisdom (7*48) at this year’s PCA and it didn’t taste like this. It had much more balance and nuance, which is very Kelner like. So with that said, the Moderation isn’t for me, and I look forward to trying out the other sizes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.72

Cost/Point

$1.59

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$1.92

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.75

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.86

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Stoic Moderation