Age before beauty.

What makes a great cigar? This issue has been debated I suspect since the first cigar was rolled.
As a cigar reviewer I make subjective decisions about what appeals to me when I sit down and rate a smoke.
Some of the basic concepts are straightforward.  Cigar construction, appearance, how the blend holds throughout the smoke. Three different folks can smoke the same cigar and come up with different thoughts in every aspect of the totality of the smoke.
The reason I mention this is a new cigar is more of a challenge. There is no track record so the first impression is very important. If you have a good experience more than likely the review will be better. So a reviewer needs to make careful considerations in describing what he smoked. Ideally, the cigar in question needs to be aged properly, and perhaps smoked again.
I was fortunate to review a sample of a new blend for me from Cigars City, an online cigar dealer. Their website is cigarscity.com. As always who or how I received the cigar does not influence my take on what I think about the cigar.

Brand/Name of Cigar : Lavida Habana / LH Premium Colorado 

Size: 6 x 60
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Filler: Nicaragua, Peru and Brazil
Shape: Gordo
Price: Single $ 8.24

When and where smoked: 2/21/16, Lone Wolf Cigar Lounge, West Los Angeles, Ca

Appearance/ Construction:

 Densely packed and oily to the touch. Very classy looking smoke, like the red and black band. Several small veins were evident but would not consider this a flaw. No soft spots. This looks like a big smoke and looking forward to a long ride.



Smoking Characteristics:

First third got immediate hits of orange which I did not expect, a pleasant surprise. Burn was even, medium body. As I smoked further hints of mint? chocolate? Not sure exactly. Whatever it was, very subtle, not overpowering. Smooth draw, no harshness, plenty of grey smoke and ash.

Two thirds into the smoke , some tunneling occurred yet did not find this a distraction or an impact on the blend. However, am waiting for an additional pop of spice and this is not happening. Was thinking the smoke would crank up a bit.


Conclusion/ Overall Impression:

The flavor profile never really took off. I did not get any more complexity which was somewhat of a come down. Overall this was a good smoke but not a powerful one. I thought it would be more of a kick ass cigar.  This is not necessarily a bad thing for those cigar dudes who like a pleasant but not overpowering blend. 

My overall rating of this cigar:

Appearance/ Construction: 4 out of 5
Smoking Characteristics: 3 out of 5
Conclusion/ Overall Impression; 3.5 out of 5

Will try this cigar again down the road. I think another couple of months in the humidor will give it a more hearty blend.

Keep smoking