The People's Review: Coming back to raise some Cain!

In the immortal words of the original People's Champ (slightly modified): "FINALLY...THE CHAMP HAS COME BACK TO THE B&B BLOG!" Yes indeed after a pretty lengthy hiatus yours truly DC's People's Champ is back to bring you another installment of "The People's Review!" As always this disclaimer:





"The views and opinions expressed in this posting are those of myself and do not necessarily reflect those of the B&B Cigar Club."





Ok now that we got that outta the way let's get right into this! Recently I was gifted this cigar that I decided to review by one of our loyal followers and winner of our first contest, Mr. Keith Hollar (thanks again bro! You can follow Keith on Twitter @Keith1911). The cigar is the venerable Cain F! This cigar was touted as the strongest of the new line created by Sam Leccia, maker of the Nub Cigar (@SamLeccia or @NUBCIGAR on Twitter); an all-ligero cigar that according to Sam went through a triple fermentation process along with some aging to create the ultimate smooth ligero cigar. According to http://www.nubcigar.com/ the Cain F is made up of 32% Esteli Ligero, 25% Condega ligero, and 25% Jalapa ligero all rolled into one very fine looking cigar! Here's the tale of the tape if you will of the Cain F I was about to smoke:

Vitola: Toro 6" x 60

Filler: Nigaraguan Ligero

Binder: Nic Ligero

Wrapper: Nic Habano

Strength: Full

I'm going into smoking this cigar expecting it to be a powerhouse. You can also read a review of the Cain F pre-release by Big Pimpin here: http://bandbcigarclub.blogspot.com/2009/12/mystery-smoke.html. LET'S GET ON WITH THE SHOW!





Pre-Light





In checking out this cigar, it's very packed full of Nicaraguan tobacco (BTW I'm a huge Nic cigar fan) and in inspecting it there are no soft spots to speak of so I don't expect it to tunnel. The cigar is quite veiny but shouldn't pose any issues with the burn. Gave it a snip with my cutter and upon examining the cold draw I get a nice draw with a little bit of resistance. The cigar is giving off flavors of tobacco mixed with coffee & mocha just off the cold draw so let's light it up and see what we get!





The Beginning





This cigar is starting off very nicely with a very reasonable amount of spice on the back of the throat mixed in with a milk chocolate flavor and some coffee notes. There's also some hints of grass mixed in as well (as I've mentioned in past reviews I'm usually not a fan of overly Earthy cigars. Just a little earthiness is doable). As I mentioned, I'm tasting the spice more towards the back of my pallet and throat yet on the retrohale it's a little less noticable. This cigar was touted as a powerhouse cigar and it is not dissapointing as it is very full-bodied starting out and really giving me a nic buzz early yet remaining very smooth (from the triple fermentation process that the blend went thru in its creation)! I'm working with a very good draw with a lot of smoke coming from each puff. I'm continuing to taste a mixture of sweet chocolate, spiciness and earthiness as I'm smoking this Cain. The ash on this cigar is a greyish-white color and is holding pretty solidly with a nice even burn. BTW the nic buzz is getting stronger as I hit the halfway point (good thing I ate before this otherwise I don't know if I will be able to finish this plus it is VERY humid out here!!)





Halfway Point





Hitting the halfway mark of the Cain F and the spice has faded a bit to the background but the milk chocolate is still hanging around (tastes like I just had a Hershey's Kiss). Ok I'm at a point now where the flavors are starting to become difficult to decipher; there seems to be a bit of a burnt flavor mixing in here with the chocolate but the other flavors are a little hard to figure out (they are bad flavors just hard to decipher). The strength has NOT changed at this point...it is STILL very full-bodied and it is hitting me very much with a nic buzz. One thing to point out is that one of my neighbors is playing some classic old school R&B: a little Babyface "Soon as I Get Home" got a brotha grooving as I smoke this cigar! But I digress...I am noticing that a faint spice is evident on my pallet on the finish (I wondered where it went to!). Still very earthy moving forward with a mixture of coffee and burnt tobacco. The construction on this cigar is impeccable as the ash has remained solid with no flaking or no need for touching up the burn! Love it! Also loving this buzz I'm getting from it even with the humidity!



Finish Line



Coming into the finish the milk chocolate flavor is making a comeback mixing in with the notes I experienced from the halfway point. Still not getting the spice I had at the beginning which is something I was expecting at this point in the cigar. The ash is starting to become a little flaky but it looks to be fixing itself; the burn is still fairly even and there is still a lot of smoke! Getting to end it's starting to become a little hot and bitter so I'm letting it die...now it's time for the VERDICT!



VERDICT



This cigar is a definite WIN in my book...any full-bodied cigar smoker would enjoy this cigar! I think with a little more aging more flavors would explode from this blend and this would definitely become an epic win cigar. Anyone who's had a ligero cigar and thought "it's too harsh to enjoy" would love this one because it's ultra smooth!

Thanks for reading and keep enjoying fine quality cigars and let the smoke take you away!

-DC's People's Champ

Smokin' Some Good Cain

Smokin’ Some Good Cain

The Latin jazz on the XM radio in the background and the humidity of a warm post-rain summer night gives the feeling of being on an island beach even though I’m just sitting at home with Big Pimpin’ on the deck. I chose the Cain toro given to me this past weekend at NUB Live by the man himself, Sam Leccia (thanks again buddy). The Cain cigar (toro size) is a sight to behold, unbanded, with impeccable construction and a nice oily sheen that intensifies from the foot to the head. The pre-light draw screams all ligero flavor, but the spicy pepper kick is surprisingly dampened. The first couple of draws are effortless and confirm that this cigar is “straight ligero” as advertised. Subsequent puffs reveal a woody caramel finish that is reminiscent of the “toasted” cracker jacks without the sugary sweetness. The smoke produced on exhaling is bountiful, thick, white, and creamy but the power of the ligero is ever-present. Passing smoke through the sinuses is effortless and buttery with no burn or “heat” characteristic of other ligero powerhouses. The ash is a salt & peppery complexion that’s firm and holds for the first inch and a half to two inches.

Into the second third, the ligero is picking up speed like a roller coaster nearing the crest of the "big drop". The pepper and spice is becoming more prevalent when exhaled through the sinuses and there is a slight spicy tinge on my tongue, yet this cigar remains smooth & velvety. I fully anticipated that this cigar was going to put me down for the count and it probably would have if it were not for the balancing smoothness that makes enjoying the ligero flavor effortless. Sneaky is not an adequate word to describe the effect but this is definitely a "chill out" cigar as opposed to the gut punch experienced from other double ligeros. Mind you, this cigar is "straight" ligero.

I couldn’t stop praising this cigar going into the final third. For someone who loves full-bodied cigars, I was in my world and yet the smoothness reminded me of a mild to medium cigar. As evidenced by the nub left in the ashtray, with a roach I could still enjoy this cigar for another 20 minutes until it burned my lips. Amazingly the cigar stayed cool in the final third and although the flavor intensified once again with more peppery spice, toasted woodiness and leather, the balance of the cigar just made me want to keep coming back for more. I call this cigar the “B-2 Stealth” because you know going in that it’s going to be a strong full-bodied flavor bomber and do a fair share of damage, yet it quietly flies in under the radar undetected and lulls you to sleep all while giving you every bit of the power of the ligero that it contains. Big Pimpin’ can attest that it takes a lot to get me excited when someone says “full-bodied” and I thought I had met my new all-time favorite, for the time being, when Jerry Cruz aka The Great Torpedo from Stogie Review (big up Stogie Review posse) turned me on to the Man O’ War Ruination. Cain provided all of the power and even more of the flavor but the delivery is unparalleled in my opinion. Having had the toro size in the Cain lineup, I would love to do a head-to-head with the Ruination Robusto #2 and the Cain Double Toro size.

In closing, I think any lover of full-bodied, full-flavored cigars owes it to himself/herself to give Cain a try. Look for it in the coming weeks. Until next time…fly straight and fly high.

-Da Byrdman-