Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Warfighter Redacted is light brown and carries some thick, but lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is meant to look like a burned piece of paper that has details about the cigar with certain portions redacted. The aroma from the wrapper is a musty and cedar forward barnyard, while the foot brings cedar and construction paper. The pre-light draw is an airy, paper bag note.
John: The Warfighter Redacted comes in cellophane and does not feature a UPC sticker. It has a single large band with “Warfighter” branding and the blend information partially obscured in blackout style. The cigar weighed 14.9 grams, and I measured the humidity at 64.6% with the Cigar Medics Humidimeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included tobacco and dry wood, while the foot offered largely sweet tobacco, wood and hay.

Warfighter Redacted

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, earth, black pepper and some effervescent minerality. At a quarter inch in, the effervescent minerality has departed and some light mustiness has joined in. The retrohale is just toasted cedar and earth. At an inch and a quarter, the toast level and earth both increase a bit. At an inch and a half in, a construction paper note joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with black pepper and construction paper in the middle of the profile and some mustiness in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
John: The first third begins with sweet tobacco and wood combining as nuttiness and wood team up on the finish, with the wood lingering on the post draw. Sweet and musty tobacco joins as the first third continues, finishing again with wood.

Warfighter Redacted

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the mustiness increases a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and some construction paper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. At an inch and a quarter, the construction paper increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with construction paper a bit further behind. The black pepper and mustiness are in the back half. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
John: The second third opens with sweet tobacco carrying the profile as mildly dry wood makes up the finish. As the cigar progresses toward the halfway point, creamy sweet tobacco leads off, with mildly dry wood providing an accent. The post draw continues to be defined by mildly dry wood.

Warfighter Redacted

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the mustiness increases a bit while the black pepper mellows a bit. At a half inch in, a light vegetal note joins the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and construction paper with a bit of creaminess and mustiness. At an inch in, the toast level becomes pretty heavy. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted cedar is a bit ahead of the earth, with construction paper a bit further behind. Black pepper, mustiness and a vegetal note were all in the back half of the profile. The strength bumped up to medium.
John: The final third is initially defined by sweet and creamy musty tobacco combining with wood. By the halfway point, light-plus strength hay joins the post draw. Hay then takes over the lead through the bottom half, bringing with it an increasing dryness on the palate.

Warfighter Redacted

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any attention. The ash held on in one inch increments.
John: The burn was razor straight throughout the entire smoking experience.

Warfighter Redacted

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
John: I measured the draw at 40 inches of water with the Cigar Medics Draw Tester. Subjectively, it was perfectly in the middle between open and resistant.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, earth, black pepper and some effervescent minerality. The minerality departed fairly quickly and some mustiness joined in. Later, the toast level and earth both increased a bit and a construction paper note joined in. The second third saw the mustiness increase a bit and the black pepper mellowed. Later, the construction paper increased. The final third saw the mustiness increase a bit more and the pepper decreased a bit more. A vegetal note joined in a bit later and the toast level became pretty heavy. The Warfighter Redacted had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around toasted cedar, earth and construction paper. The supporting notes of black pepper, mustiness and vegetal notes didn’t do anything to really elevate the profile. Overall, just an average experience and not something I’d really see myself coming back to. As it’s an event cigar, something cool to experience since it’s not readily available, but nothing to chase down.
John: The Warfighter Redacted delivered a consistent profile throughout, with sweet tobacco and wood defining much of the experience. The introduction of nuttiness, hay and musty tobacco offered some variety, but the profile lacked the complexity or transitions to push it beyond average. Construction was excellent with flawless burn and ideal draw, but the flavor performance ultimately defined the cigar. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 58 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Warfighter Redacted