Back by Popular Demand: Tobias' Po' Boy Masochist Extravaganza

[Tobias Lutz]

5. Ron Mexico

I should preface by saying that I really wanted this one to be decent. For all the crap this cigar takes- being the butt of so many jokes, I hoped it would be a diamond in the rough. That said, I think I was still objective.

This was one of the 7” churchills from the Po Boy II. It was firmly packed and the foot appeared full. There were some wrinkles and veins in the wrapper but nothing too bad. There was a ¾” crack from the head down the length of the cigar which proved to be inconsequential. It smelled pretty tasty out of the drybox compared to some of the others I’ve smoked so far. I punched it and the cold draw was pretty tight but I didn’t taste anything repulsive. It burned true all the way down with zero touch-ups.

The cigar started off with just a basic mild tobacco flavor, nothing notable. There was zero sweetness and at some points the flavor actually bordered on astringent, but it was never so bad as to make me want to put it out. Toward the middle it developed a tangy (not twangy mind you) profile that at once tasted interesting and cheap. Like a bottle of Bud Light Lime. The cigar really began to fail taste wise when I got further down and it started to give hints of gasoline in the retrohale. This was just downright unpleasant.

Single best part of the cigar: Was the construction. I’ve had $5-6 dollar smokes that weren’t rolled this well.

Single worst part of the cigar: The petrol taste in the ending parts of the stick was simply gross.

An overall rating on a scale of 1-10: 7.0 (Yes, the last flavor profile was bad, but this stick was made much better than I expected any of the Po Boys to be.)

[Tobias Lutz]

15. Don Brotto Seleccion Privada

This was from the Po Boy III selection and in turn was an 8” Churchill that is not available for individual purchase. The light wrapper had a couple small wrinkles and minimal veins. It was filled well and had a bountiful foot. There was no visible damage, but the cap did split some when I punch it. The cold draw was incredibly tight. Too tight to smoke, so I used a toothpick to improve the draw a little before lighting.

My first observation was the lack of smoke associated with this stick. It just didn’t produce much, and what it did offer was extremely mild. After an inch or so we got going and the flavors also became more interesting. The first was something similar to pine shavings (like you would put in a hamster’s cage). This began to give way to a more floral taste that wasn’t overwhelming and was pretty pleasant. Along the way I also noticed that the ash hung very tight to this cigar. Even sticking it out the window at 75mph wasn’t enough to knock it off until it was over an inch long. Close to halfway through the stick the smoke really began to pick up and the cigar ended quite nicely.

The single best part of the cigar: Was the flavor. It was pretty mild, but stayed interesting.
The single worst part of the cigar: The tight draw and how long it took to really get the smoke going.
Overall rating on a scale of 1-10: 8/10 (If the fill had been less tight this could have gone as high as an 8.5)