First off, that I'm writing this at all---nothing has budged me from a steady diet of Kendal Kentucky, Kendal Dark, and Dark Flake for a decade---is ridiculous.
That there was any chance in Hell that I might like something lighter in flavor and body was somewhere between zero and none. I like muscular cigars, Kurdish coffee, and deadly hot sauce.
I did end up giving it a go, though, because I knew how long and insanely hard Greg Pease worked on it, and thought NOT doing so could be viewed as disrespectful, somehow (I'm seriously Old School about stuff like that).
And now, at this very second as I type, gigantic B-52-sized pigs are flying in formation over every square mile of the Earth's surface... because, no shit, I-am-absolutely-not-joking, it is GOOD.
I mean G O O D good. Absolutely unreal. The overall essence is faintly-but-distinctly Graham cracker-y, with a vanilla thread running through it, and everything else is pure, clean, no-nonsense tobacco flavor.
I am stunned. It is absolutely lovely. Perfectly balanced. Burns effortlessly. Easy to light, zero prep. Just fill and go. It's as if my all-time favorite Kendal Kentucky was dialed back by half and set into a picture frame of Graham cracker and vanilla.
Damn.
Oh yeah. No stickiness whatsoever, so outward indication of any kind that it has been flavor enhanced.
I've run out of words. I'm literally just sitting here shaking my head. I knew Greg was one of the top blenders in the world, I had no idea he was a genius effing magician.
This is crazy.
That there was any chance in Hell that I might like something lighter in flavor and body was somewhere between zero and none. I like muscular cigars, Kurdish coffee, and deadly hot sauce.
I did end up giving it a go, though, because I knew how long and insanely hard Greg Pease worked on it, and thought NOT doing so could be viewed as disrespectful, somehow (I'm seriously Old School about stuff like that).
And now, at this very second as I type, gigantic B-52-sized pigs are flying in formation over every square mile of the Earth's surface... because, no shit, I-am-absolutely-not-joking, it is GOOD.
I mean G O O D good. Absolutely unreal. The overall essence is faintly-but-distinctly Graham cracker-y, with a vanilla thread running through it, and everything else is pure, clean, no-nonsense tobacco flavor.
I am stunned. It is absolutely lovely. Perfectly balanced. Burns effortlessly. Easy to light, zero prep. Just fill and go. It's as if my all-time favorite Kendal Kentucky was dialed back by half and set into a picture frame of Graham cracker and vanilla.
Damn.
Oh yeah. No stickiness whatsoever, so outward indication of any kind that it has been flavor enhanced.
I've run out of words. I'm literally just sitting here shaking my head. I knew Greg was one of the top blenders in the world, I had no idea he was a genius effing magician.
This is crazy.
