Wrapper: Habano Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitola: Robusto Extra
Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.
Purchase Link: Crowned Heads Four Kicks Maduro
Four Kicks Maduro Review - California
Summary: This is one beautiful cigar. There is a sleek sheen to it and the seams are chastity-belt-tight. Pepper and Sweethearts. Maybe I’m just impatient but I feel as though I’ve stepped into a charcoal grey lambo and put the keys in the ignition, but the engine just won’t turn over. Hopefully this flavor-plateau is short lived. A glimmer of chestnut.
Into the second third, the pepper notes are growing stronger. I’m picking up some dill which is keeping things interesting (but just barely).
I make a subtle touch-up and enter the final third. The ash has held on nicely throughout. The draw is getting hot but I’m holding out for something miraculous that will save this stick. Chasing shadows, I am.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: Unsuccessful high-fives
Pairing Suggestion: Spiked coffee milkshake
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Single
Four Kicks Maduro Review - Wisconsin
Summary: This cigar did alright in the flavor department, but the burn was a mess.
I got lots of earth, pepper, and hay from it. Those flavors were joined by leather, chocolate, a creamy undertone, molasses, peanut, and a growing amount of sweetness. It ended with bitter dark chocolate. The flavors were okay in the first half, and good in the second half.
But I had to touch it up several times and entirely relight it twice. It just wouldn't stay lit.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you have a sweet torch lighter you wish you could use more, have I got an opportunity for you!
Pairing Suggestion: Bourbon
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: I'd go with a single. If these burn issues were abnormal for the cigar, perhaps a fiver.
Four Kicks Maduro Review - Oregon
Summary: Oily and toothy would be a great visual description for this cigar. It is a mottled brown color and matches the construction appearance I would equate to a quality made stick. The wrapper of the cigar smells of rich mahogany and leather bound books...well, leather anyway but I’m sure even Ron Burgundy would approve. Cocoa and a mild spice are also hidden in the nose of the cigar. Often, the foot of the cigar offers simply milder versions of what I smell on the wrapper but this one has a rich spiciness to it and a hint of what I’m going to call lavender. The cold draw tastes like brownie mix and dry hay. Ok, enough of that, let's burn it down.
Through the first half of the cigar I notice molasses, bitter coffee and dry, dark wood notes dominating the undertones. In almost overbearing fashion, there is a mix of black pepper and wasabi-like heat just blasting away at my palate and sinuses. Transitions are evident in almost every flavor finding the molasses becoming a muted caramel and the wasabi heat disappearing leaving black pepper to carry the load. The dry wood flavor moves more towards wet oak and the bitterness associated with the coffee note increases as well.
In the last half of the cigar the profile is becoming a bit too “woody” for my liking and the bitterness jumps yet another notch. This distortion in the profile is pretty overpowering and if there are any other transitions occurring, they are simply buried.
The burn line of the cigar remained nearly perfect all the way through and I never gave a thought to maintenance even once. The ash didn’t even fall off until I was well past the first third of the cigar.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like this cigar you probably like chillin in a hammock doing a little day drinking.
Pairing Suggestion: I’d pair this with a creamy coffee drink in the a.m. or a chocolate porter later in the day.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Even though the end of this cigar didn’t necessarily threaten to score on LeBron, I’d still say fiver for this one.
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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