Short smokes are one of the things I tend to specialize in. Sometimes the weather is just too cold to want to be outside for more than 30 or 35 minutes. Sometimes it's just too hot...or too humid. To be honest, I have never been a big fan of any cigars that take two or three hours to smoke, though. I rarely have that much time and when I do, I find practically any cigar that lasts that long to be a bit...boring...even the best ones! I'd rather smoke a couple smaller smokes and get a variety of flavors from them...especially when we're dealing with stuff like I'm presenting today.
K.A. Kendall 7-20-4
Dogwalker, 4" x 40 ring gauge / $6, Burns (also available in 5-pack for about $28)
Too hot, too cold...or when you need to take the dog for a walk. This cigar is sized just right to give you just the right amount of smoke time and blended to be memorable. Kurt Kendall uses Nicaraguan, Honduran, Mexican and Columbian fillers, a Costa Rican binder and a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper and it's appropriately finished off with a stubby pig tail...appropriate, because I've taken to calling cigars like this "half lanceros" and everybody knows a Lancero has to have a tail!
Being a half-Lancero, the appearance is nothing more than if you had taken a Lancero and lopped off 3 or 4 inches. The wrapper was oily to the touch and the eye, and it had a nice earthy aroma with a touch of wood. The foot was a rich manurey earthiness with touches of sweeter smells. After cutting, the prelight draw was excellent, featuring flavors of earth and leather.
After lighting up the 7-20-4 Dogwalker, I got natural tobacco and earth on the palate, a full cocoa note and just a touch of pepper spice on the nose. The pepper died down before too long and I was left with a mix of earthy and vegetal flavor notes. There was a nice balancing sweetness, too. The only complaint I had in the first half was that it did tend to burn a little quick and get warmer than I would prefer.
Flavor continued to be nice in the second half, although the Dogwalker got too hot to hold long before I would have put it out normally. I had to set it down for a minute or so at a time during the last half inch of smokable cigar. The price is just a little steep for a cigar of this size, considering that Tatuaje offers similar sized smokes for about $4.50, but this is definitely one to give a try. I found it medium bodied and very short on nicotine strength, but long on flavor.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 3/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
K.A. Kendall 7-20-4
Dogwalker, 4" x 40 ring gauge / $6, Burns (also available in 5-pack for about $28)
Too hot, too cold...or when you need to take the dog for a walk. This cigar is sized just right to give you just the right amount of smoke time and blended to be memorable. Kurt Kendall uses Nicaraguan, Honduran, Mexican and Columbian fillers, a Costa Rican binder and a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper and it's appropriately finished off with a stubby pig tail...appropriate, because I've taken to calling cigars like this "half lanceros" and everybody knows a Lancero has to have a tail!Being a half-Lancero, the appearance is nothing more than if you had taken a Lancero and lopped off 3 or 4 inches. The wrapper was oily to the touch and the eye, and it had a nice earthy aroma with a touch of wood. The foot was a rich manurey earthiness with touches of sweeter smells. After cutting, the prelight draw was excellent, featuring flavors of earth and leather.
After lighting up the 7-20-4 Dogwalker, I got natural tobacco and earth on the palate, a full cocoa note and just a touch of pepper spice on the nose. The pepper died down before too long and I was left with a mix of earthy and vegetal flavor notes. There was a nice balancing sweetness, too. The only complaint I had in the first half was that it did tend to burn a little quick and get warmer than I would prefer.
Flavor continued to be nice in the second half, although the Dogwalker got too hot to hold long before I would have put it out normally. I had to set it down for a minute or so at a time during the last half inch of smokable cigar. The price is just a little steep for a cigar of this size, considering that Tatuaje offers similar sized smokes for about $4.50, but this is definitely one to give a try. I found it medium bodied and very short on nicotine strength, but long on flavor.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 3/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
La Palina El Diario
KB, 4.25" x 40 ring gauge / MSRP $8.75 each or $35 for a 4 pack
Also falling into the "short Lancero" category is this newest member of La Palina's El Diario line...the KB...short for Kill Bill, a reference to Bill Paley, the proprietor of the company. My original exposure to El Diario was in the 60 ring gauge size and I didn't care for it. Then came the smaller Torpedo at about 54 ring gauge and I thought the flavor went up considerably. Will the same be true when the gauge drops to 40? These are composed of Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 fillers, a double Honduran Criollo 98 binder, and a Honduran Corojo 99 Rosado wrapper. La Palina sent me a couple of these for this review.The appearance is pretty much the same as others in this line. This sample had a slightly chewed up spot on the foot, but that happens when cigars are shipped around, so I'm not counting it against it on the rating. The wrapper had a nice earth and cedar smell, while the foot was a stronger earthy note. The cold draw had flavors of earth and cinnamon, with just a touch of pepper and cinnamon.
Light up brought a flood of earthy flavors along with little hints of cocoa powder and black coffee on the palate; the retrohale was mostly just spicy...very spicy, at first anyway. Midway through the first half of the La Palina KB, I found it quite full bodied and very earthy. The spice had died down, but not disappeared and there was a very nice sweet balance to it as well.
The great flavors lasted all the way down to the end of the KB, although it was not the most complex smoke. It is difficult to engineer complexity into one of these diminutive smokes, though, so that's not all that surprising. The price of these is a bit higher than what I would expect to pay for such a small cigar and that's the only thing that really hurts it. It is possible to get a very good full size cigar for the same amount...or even less. So while I do recommend this as the best of the El Diario line, they will not be seen in my own humidor as often as some other sticks in this size.Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Great subject. I like to have cigars like these on hand for the quick smoke breaks. I haven't had these particular vitolas, but I've enjoyed these cigars in the past. I really like the 7-20-4 Coronas. The Jameson Declaration Screaming Eagle & the Room 101 Papi Chulo (Namakubi & San Andres) are some of my favorite quick smokes.
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