Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge / $16.59 (purchased at Burns last summer)
I've been looking forward to this review for a long, long time...almost a year, in fact. For those who have joined us more recently, last summer I bought three of these L'esprit de Verite cigars, smoking one within a couple weeks of purchase, the second about two months later and saving the third until now...about one year after purchase...and as the 2009 version of the same project has started hitting the shelves. I thought my first two experiences with the cigar were exquisite and worth the steep price tag, but I have been surprised to hear from quite a few people who thought the 2008 La Verite project just wasn't all that great. I have to respectfully disagree, though...the first two of these I smoked had a rich, sweet natural tobacco flavor that was simply wonderful, despite it not being full bodied or particularly strong. What has a year in my humidor done for it, though? As you read on, I think you will realize that this did not go at all like I expected.
These sticks shipped sans cells, so I kept them in a ziploc bag until time to smoke. The result is they are as immaculate as the day I purchased them...no cracks or dings anywhere. I can't think of a single naked cigar that has survived undamaged that long in my humidor. The leaf is still fairly oily to the eye and to the touch, but the thing that was missing was aroma. I had to hold the cigar right up to my nose to detect anything, whereas the first one I smoked just exuded a rich, wonderful aroma from a foot away. On the wrapper, I got subtle notes of sweet hay. The foot had just a whiff of earth and that was hard to pick out. Cigar smoking being a full-sensory experience (ideally, anyway) it was sad to have the prelight aromas fading so much after a year...it is my opinion that cellophane wrapped cigars do better in this respect, keeping the oils in and closer to the cigar (not to mention the extra protection afforded the wrapper leaves). If I do this experiment again with the 2009 version of the La Verite project, I might just reuse some cello sheaths to keep them in for the several months they will be in my humi. A straight cut yielded a great, easy draw, but the cold flavor was somewhat underwhelming...a mildly sweet natural tobacco flavor and a little bit of spice on the lips. Strictly from a Prelight perspective, the L'esprit de la Verite had definitely lost a bit in the last 12 months. Disappointing, but as always, the real test is how does it taste when lit.
The first go around I drank unsweetened iced tea with this cigar, the second time coffee...this time I went with my traditional review beverage: water. To make at least one thing consistent, though, I used my Xikar EX as my lighting tool. Light up was easy, even with a slight breeze blowing...a credit to this lighter...initial puffs of the La Verite were medium in body with a grassy, sweet natural tobacco on the palate and roasted nuts and chili pepper on the nose. Before long, I was getting peppery notes on both the tongue and nose, which was a bit different from what I had experienced on the first two samples of this I smoked. Might a little more Ligero have sneaked it's way into this stick? Possible I guess.
Reinforcing that notion, the second third saw a pickup in body and a slightly harsh edge to the smoke. I got flavors of earth and pepper spice over the rich natural tobacco that was prevalent in the first two samples of this cigar that I smoked. It's almost like this was an entirely different cigar...and for me, that was not for the best. I was missing the sweet smoothness of the tobacco I had experienced before.
The flavor continued earthy and somewhat bitter in the final third and to me it just seemed all out of balance. There was no sweetness, no smooth creaminess. It's almost like this was Mr. Hyde to the previous cigars' Dr. Jeckyll...which may be a good idea for a future monster cigar, but not at all what I was expecting here. Was it the extra year of age? Almost definitely not...usually cigars get smoother, milder and better balanced as they age. Was it the proverbial "bad stick in the box?" Possibly, but at this price point, bad sticks are not something that should happen. Whatever the case, I have to be honest in my appraisal of the experience, and it just wasn't good for me. If this had been my first stick, I would not have bought two more for this experiment. As it stands, though, I had two "10" sticks and this one which scored a 7. Averaged out, that is still a 9, which is not bad at all, but I was shocked to see this one score so poorly after I scored the other two so well.
I originally smoked this cigar and wrote the above review about a week ago and I am still scratching my head over it, wondering what went wrong. I absolutely loved the first two cigars from this batch, but I just found this one lacking subtlety and richness. I do not think the way I stored it should have caused anything like that as normally long-term aging tends to mellow cigars rather than cause them to get stronger and harsher. The only explanation that makes sense is that it was an example of a roller getting the blend wrong, or at least different from the others.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 5/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10
I've been looking forward to this review for a long, long time...almost a year, in fact. For those who have joined us more recently, last summer I bought three of these L'esprit de Verite cigars, smoking one within a couple weeks of purchase, the second about two months later and saving the third until now...about one year after purchase...and as the 2009 version of the same project has started hitting the shelves. I thought my first two experiences with the cigar were exquisite and worth the steep price tag, but I have been surprised to hear from quite a few people who thought the 2008 La Verite project just wasn't all that great. I have to respectfully disagree, though...the first two of these I smoked had a rich, sweet natural tobacco flavor that was simply wonderful, despite it not being full bodied or particularly strong. What has a year in my humidor done for it, though? As you read on, I think you will realize that this did not go at all like I expected.
These sticks shipped sans cells, so I kept them in a ziploc bag until time to smoke. The result is they are as immaculate as the day I purchased them...no cracks or dings anywhere. I can't think of a single naked cigar that has survived undamaged that long in my humidor. The leaf is still fairly oily to the eye and to the touch, but the thing that was missing was aroma. I had to hold the cigar right up to my nose to detect anything, whereas the first one I smoked just exuded a rich, wonderful aroma from a foot away. On the wrapper, I got subtle notes of sweet hay. The foot had just a whiff of earth and that was hard to pick out. Cigar smoking being a full-sensory experience (ideally, anyway) it was sad to have the prelight aromas fading so much after a year...it is my opinion that cellophane wrapped cigars do better in this respect, keeping the oils in and closer to the cigar (not to mention the extra protection afforded the wrapper leaves). If I do this experiment again with the 2009 version of the La Verite project, I might just reuse some cello sheaths to keep them in for the several months they will be in my humi. A straight cut yielded a great, easy draw, but the cold flavor was somewhat underwhelming...a mildly sweet natural tobacco flavor and a little bit of spice on the lips. Strictly from a Prelight perspective, the L'esprit de la Verite had definitely lost a bit in the last 12 months. Disappointing, but as always, the real test is how does it taste when lit.
The first go around I drank unsweetened iced tea with this cigar, the second time coffee...this time I went with my traditional review beverage: water. To make at least one thing consistent, though, I used my Xikar EX as my lighting tool. Light up was easy, even with a slight breeze blowing...a credit to this lighter...initial puffs of the La Verite were medium in body with a grassy, sweet natural tobacco on the palate and roasted nuts and chili pepper on the nose. Before long, I was getting peppery notes on both the tongue and nose, which was a bit different from what I had experienced on the first two samples of this I smoked. Might a little more Ligero have sneaked it's way into this stick? Possible I guess.
Reinforcing that notion, the second third saw a pickup in body and a slightly harsh edge to the smoke. I got flavors of earth and pepper spice over the rich natural tobacco that was prevalent in the first two samples of this cigar that I smoked. It's almost like this was an entirely different cigar...and for me, that was not for the best. I was missing the sweet smoothness of the tobacco I had experienced before.
The flavor continued earthy and somewhat bitter in the final third and to me it just seemed all out of balance. There was no sweetness, no smooth creaminess. It's almost like this was Mr. Hyde to the previous cigars' Dr. Jeckyll...which may be a good idea for a future monster cigar, but not at all what I was expecting here. Was it the extra year of age? Almost definitely not...usually cigars get smoother, milder and better balanced as they age. Was it the proverbial "bad stick in the box?" Possibly, but at this price point, bad sticks are not something that should happen. Whatever the case, I have to be honest in my appraisal of the experience, and it just wasn't good for me. If this had been my first stick, I would not have bought two more for this experiment. As it stands, though, I had two "10" sticks and this one which scored a 7. Averaged out, that is still a 9, which is not bad at all, but I was shocked to see this one score so poorly after I scored the other two so well. I originally smoked this cigar and wrote the above review about a week ago and I am still scratching my head over it, wondering what went wrong. I absolutely loved the first two cigars from this batch, but I just found this one lacking subtlety and richness. I do not think the way I stored it should have caused anything like that as normally long-term aging tends to mellow cigars rather than cause them to get stronger and harsher. The only explanation that makes sense is that it was an example of a roller getting the blend wrong, or at least different from the others.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 5/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10
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