Cigar Reviewed: Brick House Maduro

Smoked at: Carolinas

Brick House Maduro. Perhaps the strongest tasting cigar I've ever had. The cold draw told me it was going to be a mighty dark experience. Somewhere I read this was ranked as a 2022 top "Sweet" cigar, but I tasted nothing sweet at all. It started off with a blast of very dark chocolate, but quickly morphed into coffee grounds. Not fresh roasted grounds. Left over percolator grounds. There's quite a bit of dark spice, especially black pepper, and more than a little charcoal. And I got an occasional note of used motor oil as well. I looked for some natural Maduro sweetness but found none. I almost thought I tasted some sugarless black licorice (does anyone remember Sen-Sen?). I can't say I hated it, but it was too dark for my usual taste. My biggest disappointment with this cigar was the light pack. It was soft and burned really fast. I smoked it until it was just a quarter inch from the attractive four color double band, and when I removed the band, the wrapper unraveled. Fighting that with the collapsing cylinder, I just gave up. Taste is a matter of preference, but a soft, unraveling cigar is an entirely different kind of problem. I'm glad I tried it, but I wouldn't buy it again.