Holy cow, what a good smoke.  I picked up a box of 10 of these from Thompson Cigar because Cigar Aficianado rated it the #18 on their 2015 best list.  When they came, they were box pressed, which I like.  It fits nice in your hand, and doesn't roll around if you set it down.
My first impression was how nice and oily the wrapper was.  It's a deep chocolate brown, but not quite maduro.  The wrapper was very consistent in color, and had no blemishes on it.  The wrap was tight too.  A very well constructed stogie.
I usually do a punch cut with this size of a cigar.  It holds up well to a punch or a v-cut.  I save the guillotine for figurados.  After toasting the foot, and lighting it, I found it to be a great medium bodied smoke.  It had an awesome aroma, and burned well all the way to the label.  The draw was smooth, and the flavors were deep.  
​I will be buying these again.

Ok, this is my first blog post on cigars so go easy on me.  I've been smoking cigars for over 30 years, so I know a bit about them.   As far as this little gem of a stogie goes, I picked up a box of these about a month ago.  I really dug them, and just recently picked up a few more.  Today, on the way home from work, I smoked one with the windows down in my car and The Rolling Stones on the stereo.  Without providing much suspense, this is an awesome cigar.  I've smoked more than a box of them over the past month or two, and I feel they are very consistent in flavor.  Some cigars I've smoked in the past were a bit inconsistent, even within the box.

  I prefer a fuller bodied cigar, and if you do to, you will like this cigar.  This cigar has a bold flavor, however it's not going to overpower you.  You can smoke this stogie all by itself, but I would pair this with a Cragganmore 12 year neat.  This scotch/cigar pairing goes well because the scotch doesn't over take the cigar with too much peat.  Also this scotch has an very nice complex finish that goes well with the finish of the cigar.


  Enjoy both!