How could a cigar made for Metallica be so easy?

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This is just a quick post of my take on the Drew Estate Blackened Cigar. I received the Toro Vitola as part of the Great Smoke 2023 package. I was real excited to get a sample and saved this cigar for just over six months before lighting up.

The cigar has two bands on it. The band near the cap of the cigar is a simple black and white thin strip that has the Blackened name on it. The foot band is much larger and black and gold with the “Maduro to the Core” slogan. The color difference between the two bands was not aesthetically pleasing and my thought is the foot band should be switched to match. Maduro to the Core had me looking forward to flavor, lots and lots of flavor.

Cigar was well constructed and burned well. The draw was not constricted but I can’t say smoke production was great. The tobacco used in the blend just wasn’t producing the amount of smoke I’ve come to expect from DE products. That promise of Maduro flavor, well, that never quite showed up either.

I found that my sample of the Blackened M81 “Maduro to the Core” was just a bad cover band and never brought the fuel or the fire, not what I desired! There was nothing in the smoke, on the palate, in the finish or the retro… this cigar left me hanging with some serious Maduro “blue balls.” I was really expecting a kick ass cigar and instead the Blackened was smooth and inoffensive in everyway. No flavor, no pepper, nothing!

I will try this blend one more time just to rule out a bad cigar but with six months in my care, I am pretty sure I did nothing to have caused this.