8. Fields of Gold
This was an 8” stick from the Po Boy III sampler. It felt firmly packed but the foot appeared to be partially hollow in the center. There were not any cracks, nor splits in the wrapper, but the cap was pretty shoddily constructed. It was cut very small and barely made it over the curvature of the head. There was one large vein down almost the entire length of the cigar. I punched it and it actually had a very good draw. Some might have considered it to be a little too tight, but I always suggest erring on the side of too tight rather than too loose. The stick gave a faint toasted almond flavor with the cold draw.

Immediately after lighting the cigar I noticed two things. First, there was an acidic taste to the smoke like when a vitamin C tab starts to dissolve on your tongue. Second, the initial several puffs tasted kind of soapy/perfumed, as if the roller had sweat some knockoff gardenia toilette spray on the binder. About halfway through the cigar it began to tunnel briefly which was accompanied by a very rough and acrid taste. This was the only burn issue with the cigar and it managed to correct itself so I wrote it off as any overly moist section. The remainder of the smoke shifted to a medium profile and had a woody tanginess to it. Like putting out your campfire with Countrytime lemonade.

The single best part of the cigar: Was the way it managed to correct itself from a ½” tunnel without me having to help it along.

The single worst part of the cigar: Was the flavor. It wasn’t like vomit aftertaste or anything, but if I got a taste like that from a carnival kissing booth- I’d take my money back from that bearded lady.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-10: 5.8 (ughhhh. The number speaks for itself.)