Torpedo, 6.5" x 52 ring gauge, approx. $10
Dave Said:
Dave Said:
After perfecting the regular Man O War line and introducing the more-powerful Ruination, Abdel (A.J.) Fernandez set his sights to producing a milder cigar that could still proudly wear the Man O War label. That stick was released early in 2010 with the Virtue name. Available only through Cigars International and Cigar.com, the Man O War Virtue is composed of Nicaraguan filler and binder-including "just the right amount of ligero to give it a light punch." It is finished off with an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper.
This was a lovely shade wrapper with very light veining and practically no blemishes or flaws. Despite its online-only status, it looks as good as practically any luxury B&M-only stick. The aroma from the body was pure "mild cigar"-hay, cream, natural tobacco; the foot had a richer compost aroma with hints of chocolate. The wrapper felt slightly oily; the cap was not the nicest-finished for a torpedo that I have ever seen. On a nice, smooth cold draw, I got flavors of hay and cream along with just a touch of sweetness and an afterthought of spice.
The soft flame of my Xikar EX gently lit the foot of the Virtue and I got some initial flavors that fell right in line with what I experienced pre-light: hay, cream, a little honey. There was just a tiny edge to it as well, like it was building up to a peppery burn. The retrohale delivered on that thought. As I often do with a milder, morning cigar, I paired this with some 8 O'Clock brand coffee, French Roast, sweetener, no cream. The rest of the first third was about a slight increase in spiciness that started earlier. At this point, while good, the Virtue was not really doing a lot to impress me-most of the flavors were somewhat muted and the creaminess of the Shade wrapper fought too much with the spice and earthiness of the Nicaraguan filler.
The second third continued to be a struggle between the milder and more medium-bodied forces in the cigar. Creaminess and a slight sweetness of the wrapper just did not work that well with the spicy, earthy filler. This marriage of flavors is not impossible, as I have previously seen it work in the Oliva and Camacho Connecticuts as well as CAO's Gold Vintage, but this just did not rise up to the same level. On the plus side, construction was excellent; I got a perfect draw, quite even burn line, and ash that held on for an inch or more.
The last third finally featured a winning combination-the hay and sweet creaminess melding very well with the spicier undertones. Unfortunately it came far too late to rescue what was overall a rather disappointing cigar. Disappointing not because it was bad-it wasn't-but because I feel it failed to deliver on the promise of A.J. Fernandez's Man O War brand that is so good in its other iterations. While I enjoyed this cigar, the Virtue just did not hold a candle to the other 3 mild-to-medium Connecticut-wrapped cigars I mentioned earlier-all of which are available at a lower price. Not bad, but I had expected much more.
Body: 4/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 5/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10
This was a lovely shade wrapper with very light veining and practically no blemishes or flaws. Despite its online-only status, it looks as good as practically any luxury B&M-only stick. The aroma from the body was pure "mild cigar"-hay, cream, natural tobacco; the foot had a richer compost aroma with hints of chocolate. The wrapper felt slightly oily; the cap was not the nicest-finished for a torpedo that I have ever seen. On a nice, smooth cold draw, I got flavors of hay and cream along with just a touch of sweetness and an afterthought of spice.
The soft flame of my Xikar EX gently lit the foot of the Virtue and I got some initial flavors that fell right in line with what I experienced pre-light: hay, cream, a little honey. There was just a tiny edge to it as well, like it was building up to a peppery burn. The retrohale delivered on that thought. As I often do with a milder, morning cigar, I paired this with some 8 O'Clock brand coffee, French Roast, sweetener, no cream. The rest of the first third was about a slight increase in spiciness that started earlier. At this point, while good, the Virtue was not really doing a lot to impress me-most of the flavors were somewhat muted and the creaminess of the Shade wrapper fought too much with the spice and earthiness of the Nicaraguan filler.
The second third continued to be a struggle between the milder and more medium-bodied forces in the cigar. Creaminess and a slight sweetness of the wrapper just did not work that well with the spicy, earthy filler. This marriage of flavors is not impossible, as I have previously seen it work in the Oliva and Camacho Connecticuts as well as CAO's Gold Vintage, but this just did not rise up to the same level. On the plus side, construction was excellent; I got a perfect draw, quite even burn line, and ash that held on for an inch or more.
The last third finally featured a winning combination-the hay and sweet creaminess melding very well with the spicier undertones. Unfortunately it came far too late to rescue what was overall a rather disappointing cigar. Disappointing not because it was bad-it wasn't-but because I feel it failed to deliver on the promise of A.J. Fernandez's Man O War brand that is so good in its other iterations. While I enjoyed this cigar, the Virtue just did not hold a candle to the other 3 mild-to-medium Connecticut-wrapped cigars I mentioned earlier-all of which are available at a lower price. Not bad, but I had expected much more.
Body: 4/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 5/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10
Keith Said:
My experience with this cigar was slightly different than Dave's. On first inspection of the cigar the golden brown wrapper had a slight greenish hue with a couple green spots. There was also a small patch about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. I did notice a little bit of sponginess when feeling along the length of the cigar. I did get the same notes on giving the wrapper and foot a smell that Dave did. After cutting it I was rewarded with a free draw but without much taste.
After lighting it up I immediately noticed a spiciness on the retrohale with some creaminess on the tongue. If it keeps this up it'll be a good cigar to have in the morning with some coffee. As the cigar progressed through the first third the cigar started to get a bit of harshness. Sort of like the cigar wasn't blended too well, or maybe not fermented well enough. After about 1.5" the taste died down considerably where there was only a tobacco or woody taste. The ash was grayish white and stayed on for about 1.5". The burn line was slightly wavy but not too bad.
Into the second third not much changed. There wasn't much flavor, just some creamy and woody notes. Kind of boring.
The final third was just about the same as the second third. The flavor got slightly more intense but not much.
Although I've been very impressed with Abdel's other creations (Man O' War, Man O' War Ruination, Diesel) I can't say the same thing about the Virtue. It really didn't do much for me. It was pretty well constructed but the lack of flavor didn't keep me interested. I would much rather smoke an Oliva Connecticut or a Camacho Connecticut at a significantly lower (at MSRP) price. It seems to me that he's got the full bodied stuff figured out, and now just needs to figure out the mild-medium bodied cigars. My so-so experience with this cigar would definitely not stop me from trying any new cigars that Abdel comes out with.
Body: 4/10
Strength: 4/10
Complexity: 4/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 2.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 5.5/10
My experience with this cigar was slightly different than Dave's. On first inspection of the cigar the golden brown wrapper had a slight greenish hue with a couple green spots. There was also a small patch about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. I did notice a little bit of sponginess when feeling along the length of the cigar. I did get the same notes on giving the wrapper and foot a smell that Dave did. After cutting it I was rewarded with a free draw but without much taste.
After lighting it up I immediately noticed a spiciness on the retrohale with some creaminess on the tongue. If it keeps this up it'll be a good cigar to have in the morning with some coffee. As the cigar progressed through the first third the cigar started to get a bit of harshness. Sort of like the cigar wasn't blended too well, or maybe not fermented well enough. After about 1.5" the taste died down considerably where there was only a tobacco or woody taste. The ash was grayish white and stayed on for about 1.5". The burn line was slightly wavy but not too bad.
Into the second third not much changed. There wasn't much flavor, just some creamy and woody notes. Kind of boring.
The final third was just about the same as the second third. The flavor got slightly more intense but not much.
Although I've been very impressed with Abdel's other creations (Man O' War, Man O' War Ruination, Diesel) I can't say the same thing about the Virtue. It really didn't do much for me. It was pretty well constructed but the lack of flavor didn't keep me interested. I would much rather smoke an Oliva Connecticut or a Camacho Connecticut at a significantly lower (at MSRP) price. It seems to me that he's got the full bodied stuff figured out, and now just needs to figure out the mild-medium bodied cigars. My so-so experience with this cigar would definitely not stop me from trying any new cigars that Abdel comes out with.
Body: 4/10
Strength: 4/10
Complexity: 4/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 2.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 5.5/10
Agree, disagree, or have your own thoughts you would like to share on this cigar? Please leave a comment and speak your mind!
0 comments:
Post a Comment