Introductions and My First Cigar Review Of Bobalu’s Oscuro
Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste……
My apologies to the Rolling Stones. I am not that great of a singer.
Well, I am a man, as for the last two, wealth, nope, not wealthy, and as for having taste, that is all up to interpretation.
I just want to thank the good folks over at Bobalu for giving me this opportunity to join their family here in their blogosphere. So, let me introduce myself. I am Joe Shanty, a resident of northern NY, way up near the Canadian border, eh? I like long warm summer nights, walks on the beach, peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, and cigars. No, I don’t like cigars, I love them.
I am fairly new to this blogging, and writing cigar reviews and whatnot, but to give you an idea of who I am, I keep my posts real, simple, truthful, and with any hope, if you have an odd sense or humor like me, entertaining. I am a simple man, I say that because I like to keep things simple, others may say I am simple because I lack intellectual abilities of even a third grader. C’est la vie.
I am just a working class stiff, with a wife and 3 daughters, a dog that barks too much and neighbors that annoy the hell out of me. In that, my reviews and writings are born. I am not one of the pretentious type of reviewer that comes up with stuff like ” the smoke, it was chewy, like a meaty hunk of medium rare lamb chop, slathered in herb butter and slow roasted over a pit of flaming$100 bills….” yeah, that stuff annoys me so I don’t do that. What I do bring to the table are down to Earth discussions, real stuff, I hope to bring some humor, start conversations that make you think, and also provide knowledge and information that too will make you think and learn. After all, you can never stop learning. Let the games begin!
Tonight, now that the day is pretty well over, I am stuck at work ( I work the night shift) and it has finally stopped raining, time to take a break and light up a fine cylindrical shaped piece of tobacco heaven known simply as, a cigar. Tonight’s selection is from Bobalu cigar company, the Oscuro with the pretty purple band. Sitting outside in my little break area, the mp3 set on random, so it’s playing everything from Marilyn Manson to 60’s country, I start looking this cigar over. The wrapper is a deep dark oily Connecticut broadleaf, the sniff test giving off the smell of barn, and a flowery scent. At least that’s what I got out of it. From the Bobalu website, the Oscuro is described as not for the novice smoker, it is strong. Groovy. I like a cigar that can give me a kick in the pants. Also on the site, it is described as having a Oscuro binder, and filled with aged Dominican piloto, Dominican Olor, Nicaraguan Lijero and Honduran Criollo 98, sounds like an interesting combination, and I am willing to give it a try. I whip out my V cutter, snip snip and give it the dry draw test. A good solid draw, not overly tight. Taste-wise, I got a sweetness, woody hints and a flowery almost fruity flavor. Time to get all pryro and light er up.
The flavors I got from this cigar are unlike any I have had before, a very different experience for me. I get wood, flowers, fruit, chocolate, a hint of nuttiness, an almost wine like nuance thrown in there too, I have to say I have never had one like this before, nor am I complaining. It wasn’t until about the halfway point that there was a hint of leather and earth that came in under the radar. The ash was a nice solid white ash, and I managed to smoke it without ashing myself. As far as the burn, no issues at all, no touch ups were needed, no construction issues, everything stayed together, smoked well and was very enjoyable, unlike some I have had in the past. This is a full strength cigar, on the stronger side of medium, definitely not for a novice smoker unless they want to fall over. Overall, an interesting experience, and not in a bad blind date kind of way. I enjoyed the different flavors I had never gotten out of a cigar before, and it had a good strength, not too strong (for me anyway) and not too mild. I would definitely give this cigar another try. In fact I know I will, I ordered some, and you should too.
Well, that’s my first post here at Bobalu, I hope you all liked it, and I am always open to ideas, suggestions, and criticism. Until next time, smoke something and like it. If you don’t like it, like it anyway.
~Joe The Bearded Bastard Shanty~
