Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso is light brown and has a network of lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is well finished. The foot is partially covered with excess wrapper that is folded over. The band is white, black and purple, likely a nod to the Baltimore Ravens, and has an image of a castle on the front with the number 919 and the company name. The aroma from the wrapper is faint wood while the partially covered foot brings graham cracker and spice. The pre-light draw brings an airy, dry cedar along with some sweetness.
Seth: The Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso is finished with a silky wrapper that has some tooth and minor veins throughout. It has a simple Colorado coloring and aromas of leather, sweet spices, tobacco and wood. The foot gives off cocoa, earth and tobacco aromas. Faded brown coloring with a band that does not speak to me as a smoker.
John: The Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso comes without cellophane and does not have a UPC sticker. The cigar features a single 919 band and the artisanal complication of a partially closed foot. I weighed the cigar at 13.2 grams and measured the humidity with the CigarMedics Humidimeter Pro at 58.6%. Aromas from the wrapper included barnyard, hay and wood, while from the partially closed foot I was only able to pick out sweet tobacco and hay.
Jiunn: The Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso has a smooth Colorado Claro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head has a nicely wrapped torpedo head. Pre-light aromas tell of cheesy funk and gym socks.

Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, a mixture of black pepper and baking spice along with some earth. At a quarter inch in, the pepper/spice combination increases a bit. At a half inch in, a light creaminess joins the profile. The retrohale is creamy, toasted cedar with light amounts of black pepper and earth. At an inch in, the baking spice departs from the profile and the black pepper increases a bit more. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the black pepper with some earth and creaminess in the back half of the profile. The pepper is showing a long, dull finish. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with faint cocoa notes that are paired with some earth and tobacco. Faint wood and hay notes are present with some minor spices on the finish. Herbal quality present as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third kicks things off with sweet tobacco, wood and mild spices as the opening combination, while dry wood and spices team up on the finish. As the first third settles in, a medium strength tannic wood moves into the post draw. There’s some prune-like tobacco sweetness on the retrohale that mixes with dry, tannic wood. Mild baking spices also move into the retrohale as the cigar progresses to the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third’s flavor profile provides barnyard funk, meatiness, cedar and dried nuts. The retrohale amps up the dried nuts and introduces balanced dried red pepper spices. The finish is clean, but short with cedar wood. Strength and body is medium.

Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the creaminess departs and the overall profile is now a bit dry. At a half inch in, the earth increases a bit. The retrohale is now an even mix of toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. At an inch in, the earth increases a bit more and the pepper decreases a bit so they are now even. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is a bit ahead of the earth and black pepper. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Faint cocoa with some earth, tobacco, wood and hay notes. Bits of spices present on the finish with some herbal qualities. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third begins with creamy, medium strength spicy wood and tannins, as dry tannic wood continues to define the finish. The profile remains fairly consistent towards the bottom half of the second third, with a general dryness at the center of the profile.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile shows the same great barnyard funk and meatiness combination with a good surrounding cast of cedar and dried nuts. The finish seems to drag on a bit longer. Strength and body remains medium.

Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth becomes even with the toasted cedar up front. The pepper is still showing a long, dull finish. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with light black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with the black pepper a bit behind. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third is in line with the first and second. No change.
John: Bitter hay and wood take the cigar into the final third. The profile remains consistent with bitter, dry hay carrying the cigar through to the end.
Jiunn: The final third shows a reduction of flavors. At this point, it’s mainly about cedar and generic toasted nuts. No off-putting notes but nothing to really be hyped about. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout. The ash held on to the middle of the cigar, and then again until the end.
Seth: The burn was average throughout.
John: The burn was relatively straight through the entire review process.
Jiunn: The only gripe about the burn was a complete re-light within the second third. All else showed no issues.

Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was good from start to finish.
John: I measured the draw at 32 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be at most one notch towards the open spectrum, which puts it in the ideal range for a perfect draw.
Jiunn: Draw was great, showing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, a mixture of black pepper and baking spice along with some earth. A light creaminess joined a bit later. At an inch in, the baking spice departed and the pepper increased a bit. The second third saw the creaminess depart and the profile became a bit dry. The earth increased as the third went along. The final third saw the earth become even with the toasted cedar up front. Construction was absolutely perfect. The Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. The profile was a fairly common one and didn’t present anything exciting. A profile like this is readily available, so nothing here that makes me want to come back to this specific cigar.
Seth: I was not impressed with the Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso. I hated the vitola and the flavors were lacking and one dimensional from beginning to end. There was a lot of smoke produced, which I enjoyed, but not enough going on with the cigar. The burn and draw were decent, but that can only get you so far. This is harsh, but the cigar looked cheap. I feel like the Belicoso is a tough vitola to do well. It’s like a double corona. Part of the secret is that you need a great wrapper, a nice tapering, and a good level of resistance on the draw with complex flavors. That did not happen with this cigar.
John: The Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso opened with an enjoyable combination of sweet tobacco, wood and mild spices, showing good balance early on. Unfortunately, the profile became increasingly dry and tannic as the cigar progressed, with the final third dominated by bitter hay and wood. Excellent construction with an amazing burn and draw helped offset the declining flavor experience somewhat. My total smoking time was 1 hour and 29 minutes.
Jiunn: This Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso is another winner created at Rojas. The combination of barnyard funk and meatiness was a delight and wins my palate 10 out of 10 times. Fans of Noel Rojas blends as well as appreciating balanced flavors should definitely check this out.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.15

Cost/Point

$2.14

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.62

Cost/Point

$1.66

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Stolen Throne Castle 919 Belicoso