Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitola: Corona
Factory: Fabrica Oveja Negra
Purchase Link: BLTC Morphine
MORPHINE REVIEW – CALIFORNIA
Summary: The wrapper looks as though a snail slithered around on it a few hours ago. Tons of flavor right away (the smaller ring gauge could be the reason): leather, green and black pepper, and BBQ sauce. Steak and mushrooms, baby! This thing is starting out great.
Most of the BBQ sauce sweetness has dissipated, though the complex, savory flavors remain. The burn line has been flawless and is showing no signs of faltering. Little by little, the complexity is starting to fade into smokiness. Coriander.
Final third is heavy with leather and a dark, slightly bitter cherry. I've noticed a definite strength increase as well.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Thursday Night Football.
Pairing Suggestion: Bourbon.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Fiver.
MORPHINE REVIEW – WISCONSIN
Summary: This cigar brought significant flavors of earth, cereal grain, creaminess, and pepper. There were moderate amounts of leather, spice, cocoa, sweetness, and anise. Occasionally, there were notes of citrus, molasses, and campfire.
The draw was a bit snug, but pleasant. At no point did the burn need any attention at all.
I enjoyed smoking this - it was effortless and tasted good. On the 'cons' side, there weren't many flavor transitions, and it left my mouth dry. I'd happily smoke this cigar again.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like black licorice, I think you'll like this cigar.
Pairing Suggestion: Rum.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Fiver.
MORPHINE REVIEW – OREGON
Summary: This week’s Corona sized stick had a dark, dry, very toothy wrapper. Coffee, cocoa, a little molasses and some faint barnyard scent wafted from the wrapper. It was firmly rolled with a pigtail cap of sorts.
The cold draw was overly snug and just had strong natural tobacco notes.
Coffee, charred oak, salted baking chocolate dominated the start of this cigar. Lots of burned coffee, strong tobacco and pepper spice appeared in the retro-hale. The light gray ash was pretty solid and it featured a sharp, straight burn line.
Later, some hints at molasses showed up along with the charred oak, dark coffee and natural tobacco. The saltiness dropped out of the profile too...which was fine by me. The draw remained snug but maintained good burn performance.
Towards the end, the molasses notes really picked up and a dark bread note, like pumpernickel, also joined in. The final third was truly nice. The saltiness moved from the main palate into the retro-hale but wasn’t unpleasant at all.
The performance in regards to the burn and smoke production was great but the draw was tight from start to finish.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like this then you probably like flavor profiles the likes of Foundation Tabernacle, Liga Privada and many BLTC cigars.
Pairing Suggestion: Pair this with a porter or stout.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Box purchase...even with the draw issues, undoubtedly not every cigar would have that problem.
Participants in this blind review were completely unaware of the cigar they were evaluating until all submissions were received and processed. Each participant was asked to answer a summary paragraph, an if/than statement, a pairing suggestion, and a purchase suggestion. Cigars were provided by Small Batch with only the expectations of candid responses. All pictures, information, and formatting were completed by a Coordinator outside of the reviewing process.
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