Bolivar Fuerte maduro

[jchamb]

Tom Bateman sent me a nice box of smokes that were new to me, and this one caught my eye. As I recall, these were provided as a sampler packet, and the cigars won't be released until later this year. I liked the Bolivar Fuerte Cuban Coronas which I got last year, and still have a few left - so I was looking forward to trying this new maduro offering.
The cigar was about 5 1/2 x 50 ring (somewhere between a robusto and a toro), and I was wondering if the larger ring sizes in the BFs were as flavorful as the corona size (yes).
They have a very nice dark oily wrapper, with a rock hard construction, but a very easy draw. The burn was straight throughout with a pretty dark gray ash and a ton of smoke.
This cigar started with a TON of spice and flavor, and reminded me of the Ult Cab 50s at first (of which I've smoked about 3 boxes). The extreme spice hit lasted about an inch, and then the cigar settled down to produce a medium bodied, flavorful smoke. As it burned along I noticed two things - the wrapper became very dark, shiny, and oily (Love those Villazon maduros - nobody does it better!), and the cigar gained strength as it burned.
The last 1 1/5 inch was a heavy bodied, strong smoke which had that typical Villazon flavor profile. It had no hints of cocoa or sweetness that I could tell - just a lot of pure ligero tobacco flavor.
I think age will help these settle down a bit, although I didn't really notice any harsh notes (like last year's first offerings of the BF's had).
All in all, a pretty good, strong, heady cigar. If you like Villazon cigars (especially maduro), you'll like these. I don't know if I'd buy a box of these or not, as I have so many other favorites that I prefer more (like the Ults, Cabs and ERDMs), but it is a very tasty, full bodied cigar that's worth a try.