Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a very dark brown with a bit of marbling. The seams are tight and you can see them as the leaf appears to be a tad darker right at the edges. There are a couple of medium sized veins and then a decent network of finer ones. The cap is very nicely applied. The aroma from the wrapper is a faint barnyard and the foot gives a nice sweet tobacco. The pre-light draw brings a fair amount of pepper to the lips and tongue. Retrohaling on the pre-light brings a chocolate covered cherry aroma.

Pre-light Experience

The Quesada Keg Edition 2016 Lonsdale is border-lining a jet black, hearty and rustic presentation. The cigar feels well rolled being firm and having no soft spots present. The head is finished off with a well adhered double cap. Upon nosing the wrapper, notes of barnyard, damp earth and cedar. Nosing the foot provides a plethora of black pepper and rum soaked raisins. Cold draw gives namely cedar, black pepper and slight ripe stone fruit.

First Third

Upon lighting, I get a nice mix of wood and pepper that is initially drying to my mouth, but after a few draws, these two flavors really meld together and become oily, coating my mouth. About a half inch in, the pepper really backs off and the oily woodiness remains. The amount of smoke that I am pulling in from each draw is really something to behold. The retrohale is very mild and slightly creamy. Nearing the inch mark, some pepper joins in on the retrohale while the wood flavor is slightly drying again in the mouth. As I pass the one inch mark, a bit of mustiness is found in the mouth and on the retrohale. The flavor moves to a slightly spicy cedar with the retrohale remaining musty and creamy with a little bit of grassy sweetness. Nearing the end of the third, the mustiness disappears and the cedar is now present on the retrohale as well. The strength of this third was a fair bit below medium.

First Third

After the initial handful of draws, the Pennsylvania broadleaf wastes no time showing its true colors. Thick and hearty flavors of chalky dark chocolate, palate engulfing oily black pepper spice and oak. Through retrohaling, the oily black pepper spice is intensified as well as flavors of oak and bread. Roughly an inch and a half in, a subtle creamy sweetness is detected, playing off the rich spiciness of the oily black pepper spice quite well. Within the extent of the first third, both body and strength is at a medium full.

Second Third

This third starts out with a bit of mineral flavor which lingers on the tongue. The retrohale is now a clearly defined oak. The large volume of smoke produced on each draw is continuing. The mineral flavor has subsided and oak is dominating the flavor and retrohale. In the middle of the third, the mineral flavor returns and mixes in with the oak. Right past the halfway point, a nice sweetness comes in to mix with the oak and is also present on the retrohale. Nearing the end of the third, the sweetness fades away and the mineral return while the oak is becoming a bit charred. The strength remains slightly below medium.

Second Third

Sweet and spicy is the story of the second third. Still rich and hearty notes of oily black pepper spice, chalky dark chocolate, oak and slight creamy sweetness surrounding those notes. At this point, the strength is making my head go into a slight spin. I guess they don’t call this stuff Pennsylvania broadleaf for nothing! Within the extent of the second third, body continues to be at a medium full while strength is kicked up to a solid full.

Final Third

This third opens up with a fair amount of mineral flavor with the continuation of the charred oak. The char is also present on the retrohale. The mineral flavor seems to morph into a bit of bitterness at times which takes away from the enjoyment of the flavors. The bitterness thankfully goes away and the oakiness comes back with a little bit of mustiness on the retrohale. The strength in this continued the trend of just below medium.

Final Third

The start of the last third mimics the second third. Rich and hearty notes of oily black pepper spice, oak, chalky dark chocolate and surrounding slight creamy sweetness. But towards the latter half of the third, the spice dissipates, giving the profile namely a chalky dark chocolate and oak. Within the extent of the last third, body continues to be at a medium full while strength is taken a notch lower back to a medium full (like the first third).

Burn

The burn stayed fairly straight. There were a few times where the cigar seemed to be going out, but a few quick draws would get things back on track. This may have heated up the cigar a bit in some sections which negatively effected the flavor, but nothing too significant.

Burn

The cigar proved to be a bit of a difficult burner. Inconsistent flowery ash, half inch ashes and wonky burn throughout the entire cigar. But most importantly, the cigar never required a re-light and burned cool the entire smoking experience.

Draw

The draw was very good, right around where I like it. The amount of smoke on each draw was significant which allowed for the flavor to be easily discernible. It seemed that the longer the ash was then a lesser amount of smoke was produced, so I tended to ash a bit more to keep the high level of smoke production.

Overall

The pre-light draw and early oily flavors gave me high hopes for how the cigar would play out. Things didn’t continue at that level, but were still sufficient. The cigar seemed to fade out the longer it smoked, so things were better early on. The strength level would lend it to most smokers being able to enjoy this. It’s probably not a cigar I would reach for again, but something definitely worth a try.

Draw

Draw was very good. A tad loose for my liking but given especially a lonsdale format, looser draw is way better than a tight draw.

Overall

Overall, a well executed Pennsylvania broadleaf cigar. As expected, this cigar provided plenty of rustic, rich and hearty notes of sweet and spicy. Although this type of flavor profile is typically not within my flavor wheelhouse, I must give it proper respect for the good execution of this type of style.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.40

Cost/Point

$1.10

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.60

Cost/Point

$0.90

Scoring System