Cigar:            Pirate's Gold Toro

Size:             53 x 6.0"

Country:          DR

Wrapper:          Ec

Binder:           Ec

Filler:           DR/Hon/Nic

Flavor Strength:  Full flavored and all ghastly

NicotineStength:  No idea

Date Received:    2004-07-29

Suspected Age:    2.5+ years

Vendor/Price:     Gifted by Mickey, ASC.  Thanks!  There is some confusion out there in the market place between the "old" Honduran version and the "new" Dominican version.  CI has the "old" version for about $1.50 a stick but not in a Toro, so I suspect the one I smoked was the "new" Dominican version. 

Hype:       Master Cigar Blender Rolando Reyes, Jr. and Master Cigar Maker Don Kiki got together to make one of the world's best cigars. Pirate's Gold is the result. Rich and complex in taste, yet smooth. These full bodied maduro cigars have been in the making for years and wholesale cigar maker Tabacalera Esteli in Nicaragua finally released them for your cigar smoking pleasure. The cigars are individually handmade in small batches using skillfully aged Ligero long leaf Binder and Filler Habano tobacco. The cigars are then draped in an extra premium habano tobacco Wrapper by the expert hands of the traditional Torcedores of Tabacalera Esteli. The Habano wrappers have a dark and smooth silky sheen to them and are from Tabacaler Esteli's farms.Rolando Reyes product. The aged tobacco in each cigar has been fermented 6 times before finally being handcrafted into these fine cigars by the Masters at Tabacalera Esteli.

Beverage(s):      Water, Coffee - Oaxacan

Smoke time:       0:20

Date:             2007-01-13

Posted to ASC:    2007-01-13

Overall score:    0.5 / 5.0 (It burned.  It burned straight.  Nice ash)

Sock color:       Yellow

Hat:              ProMech Air, Ketchikan, Alaska

                  http://www.promechair.com/

Overall:    Received this from Mickey in 2004, and while long anticipated, it was truly ghastly.  Never got to the second third.  BITTER.  ACRID.  Vaguely nauseating.  Tried long rests between draws.  Tried fast smoking.  Tried double and triple puffing.  It was always various shades of ghastly, and made me want to wipe my tongue.  This may be the worst cigar I have ever reviewed.  Not recommended at any price.  Lighting up a KDT to cure my wounded psyche. 

Ambience:   Sunroom in the afternoon watching a light fine snow fall.  The PNW has been in the grip of a cold snap for the past week.  My ice-covered hill forced me to work from home and smoke cigars Thursday and Friday of last week.  The snow has persisted on the ground for 5 days, a very rare event for the PNW.  During the day the temp has remained below freezing, and at night it's dropping into the teens.  It's pretty, but getting old. 

Appearance: Very light colored, seemingly thin wrapper with small veining.  Firm with a couple soft spots.  A larger cigar than I usually enjoy.  Short double cap. 

Cut & Prelight:   Sweet aroma.  The cut cap spilled a fine chop of tobacco.  Is this a short filler?  Very open draw with a sweet alfalfa draw flavor. 

First third:      Initially, intensely bitter green nuts.  1/2" still bitter.  Good smoke volume perfect burn.  Nice compact lined, white ash.  I guess it is long filler.  1" still bitter, but the slight acidity of the coffee is cutting it a bit, and I dread finishing the cup and switching to only water.  Very dry finish.  1.5" the coffee is finished, and I am eyeing the stick warily.  With water the stick has moved from dreadful to ghastly.  Abandoned with prejudice (down the garbage disposal).

Second third:     Never got here.

Third third: