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Old 11-01-2010, 07:53 PM   #1
jb
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Kansas
Posts: 8,058
CAO La Traviata Divino

I've been wanting to smoke one of these for a while to see what all the hype was about. Grabbed this Divino which measures in at a 5 x 50 size. Headed for my smoking chair to see what was all the fuss.

Prelight, this was a heavy, solid cigar. It was beyond firm, it felt hard as a lead pipe and weighed about the same. The wrapper was a beautiful shade of dark natural. A few subdued veins were noted visibly, but the wrapper felt totally smooth. It cut easily and evenly. The prelight draw was tight. No real prelight flavors were noted due to the tight draw.

It took to the blue flame well and lit quickly. Very little smoke was produced, and on taking the first puff I felt it had a lot to do with the draw. It was tight, but not unsmokable. It was at the far end of the spectrum from loose to tight but still smokable. Initial flavors were virtually undetectable.

In the first third, the flavors did not begin to appear until about an inch into the cigar. The first flavor I noted was a straightforward Nicaraguan toasted tobacco. Actually, it was not the most pleasant and this coming from a regular smoker of Nics. It almost seemed to me that it was maybe not a real top of the line Nicaraguan tobacco. The cigar still produced very little smoke. The ash however, was awesome. It hung on solidly and fell with a thunk into the ashtray when I finally knocked it off at the two inch mark.

In the middle third things switched to a dry, woody smoke. I also started to get hints of papery Dominican which eventually bloomed into the overwhelming taste for the middle third. The construction stayed flawless, and the draw remained the same.

In the final third all the flavor virtually disappeared. I smoked it to the band, but the last third was flat and boring. All and all this was disappointing. After reading the reviews I was expecting this cigar to rate as good as many other brands I enjoy. It did not. Many have said this is the best cigar in the $4 to $5 per cigar sweet spot. I disagree. I can find Oliva lanceros in this price range, as well as a few Fuente products, Pepins, and many others. Also, at this price range, we get into being able to consider cigars from another island. I don't consider this to be the "value cigar" price range. In this price range I am not looking for a "value" I am looking for a damn fine cigar. Today I was let down.

85/100
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