V. Bellatto, Caldwell, & Sears Back Door Bambi: A Review

So I have to thank (I think) Shemp for turning me on to some smaller boutique brands a few months ago. I picked up one of his righteous samplers in the WTS and then went on a bit of a buying spree to explore this realm of the cigar world that was so new to me. This stick was from the first sampler and has been resting around ~63rh since March.

Facts:
2008 Vintage
5 ½” / 46rg
3,500 cigars made
Corojo/Habano/Negrito (The first Negrito grown in the DR)

This cigar came rolled in goldenrod (yeah- I said goldenrod) tissue paper. It was a very well constructed cigar with a somewhat variegated wrapper that was primarily medium brown with wisps of darker tones. The veins were fairly minimal and very petite, there was a good bit of tooth, and a nice, uniform oily sheen. The cap was finished with a very tight pigtail and the cigar itself was rolled extremely firm. I didn’t get a whole lot of scent from the wrapper outside of good ole’ fashioned earthy tobacco leaf. The foot offered just a bit more with hints of leather. I elected to use a punch when the pigtail left only the slightest opening. The draw was firm, but not overly tight and tasted like sweet hay, and I picked up the faintest note of pepper.

First 1/3:
The first several pulls deliver a pretty potent cedar spice right out of the gate. After about a half an inch those notes settled down some and I began picking up on coffee flavors in the retrohale. I can only describe them as being less of the sensation of tasting coffee, and more of walking into a kitchen where a pot was just brewed. The profile was medium and the burn was sharp as a razor.

The Middle:
The coffee faded in the middle of the cigar, while the cedar and its notes of spice stayed consistent. A new, both sweet and savory, taste emerged that remind me of mesquite. As it approached the nub some of the spice subsided and the cedar took on more of an aged wood flavor- maybe something like oak?

The Nub:
A little bit of pepper came out in the beginning of the nub, along with a bitter baker’s chocolate flavor. The profile stayed medium, but became a bit bolder. The tastes stayed along the same lines, but continued to intensify until the spice was strong on my tongue and my lips as the cigar finished out.

Overall: This was an interesting stick that definitely reflected the special selection of leaf and quality construction that went into it. The nicotine level was a little too high for my tastes, giving me a slight buzz, even though I ate a full lunch of gnocchi prior to smoking. I have one more of these and am interested to see how it smokes with a few more months of rest. Rating 8.8/10