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Old 09-08-2006, 11:20 AM   #1
Black Plague
Herf Meister
 
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 7,650
Vegueros Especial No. 1

Vegueros
Especial No. 1
7 1/2 x 38 Laguito No. 1 (FD OSSU - Francisco Donatién, 09/1998)


Prelight: A long, slender panetela wrapped in a semi-glossed, coffee-and-cream-colored colorado leaf and terminating in a small, bunched topknot. No raised veins, perfectly rounded, with a few swathes of dark oil across one side. I also happen to be particularly drawn to this brand's novel style of band, with its simple lines and eye-pleasing green, black, and white colors with a stylized tobacco leaf and gold trim. Cut very evenly across. Prelight draws gave the strong flavor of sweet, straight tobacco.

Beverage: Café au lait made with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee.

Flavor: Very sweet, creamy tobacco flavor wrapped up in sweet, citrus-tinged lemongrass, dusted in white pepper, and covered in tea-soaked red pepper flesh. A light cocoa taste was discernable with some hints of leather. The tobacco taste was mild and very clean and crisp on the palate. An inch in, the profile was a delicate balance of tea, mild grass, leather, and the beginnings of spice. The grassiness grew increasingly stronger, the cocoa evolving into dashes of sweet dark chocolate shavings. The aroma was intoxicatingly grassy and spicy, just like the smoke. Sugar-dusted tobacco, fresh grass, and mild black peppercorns. The flavor evoked a picture in one's head of Cohíba having a cousin out in the country. By two-thirds, the pepperiness was stronger. Still incredibly grassy, with a very rustic woody and musky element to it, nuances of chocolate, sugary hard candy (like your grandmother probably always had out in a crystal dish on the coffee table), a clean, crisp finish, green bell peppers, and a pinch of Spanish cedar. A very unique and exotic medley of flavors. This cigar was very, very mild but surprizingly flavorful.

Construction: Burned straight as an arrow the entire time. The ash did tend to fall early, but the ash itself was solid and not the least bit flaky with a chalky gray cast to it. The draw was perfect, just the right amount of give and resistance.

Summary: This cigar has the distinction of being the only cigar made entirely in Pinar del Río province, from the growing of the tobacco, to its curing and aging, to its rolling in the local provincial factories, most famous of them being Francisco Donatién, where this sample came from. Probably THE mildest Habano made, of all the various brands and vitolas I've tried over the last few years. I understand why these aren't so popular, but I think theirs is an undeserved reputation. I'm sure many are turned off by the mildness. I usually have no probably smoking a mild cigar after dinner, but doing so with a Vegueros will only result in a bland, tasteless smoke. But when enjoyed in the morning, you end up experiecing all the delicate, complex flavors this brand has to offer. No doubt another reason these have largely been ignored is the regrettable vogue for larger ring gauges and against smaller ring gauges and probably the fact that prior to 2002 or so, I'm sure many connoisseurs probably ended up with plugged cigars. I was fortunate enough to have a very well-rolled box with no plugs and also a lot of age to it. I would recommend these as a wonderful morning or lunchtime smoke, really a very well-kept secret among Habanos. And yes, to those of you who may have gotten Vegueros from me, these are from the same box!
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