Privada Cigar Club Test Blend
Privada Especial 6.5×50
FCT

Initial puffs were very tasty, and filled with a nice dark semi-sweet chocolate, along with a intensity carrying a good pepper burn.

High hopes were met with a slight leathery and maybe musty subtleness shortly after the initial puffs.

Probably around an inch in, everything starts to drop to a blandness that is still good, but there's no complexity or big chocolate, but still a bit of chocolate.

The body becomes very thin and shallow, giving almost nothing on the retrohales. Though, it seems a bit Cuban-esque. Again, not back, just lacking interesting things.

Somewhere the first ash drops and I notice a slight tunneling. A slight tunneling was also noticed with the 5.25×54, but I chaulk it up to me, and still that cigar performed like a fucking champ. Not sure if it's affecting this one.

Around the 1/2 - 2/3, I begin changing to a quicker than normal pace. Start getting Dr. Pepper like spices along with a Cuban-esqueness (haven't smoked many Cubans, so I'm only going off what I know) - and I'm enjoying it.

Dr. Pepper begins to shift towards a dark-flavor that is...ok.

Beautiful looking cigar.

Judgement:

Good, and not a bad stick at all, especially considering the $4 price-point. It opened up with with big things, and maybe if I'd have kept a fast pace it wouldn't have been so dull there for a while. Definitely would pay $4 again, if these were still around to give it another go. And, really for $4, this was the quality cigar I was expecting, but the 5.25×54 showed me just much these Test Blends can vary.
@dinoa2

I really enjoyed smoking these two PCC/FCt Test Blends. One was amazing and the other was good, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks again!