BRAND: Sosa

TYPE: Pyramid

LENGTH/RING GAUGE: 6.5 x 54

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Sumatra

BINDER AND FILLER: Dominican

DATE OF PURCHASE: 8/19/2006

DATE OF RATING: 9/9/2007

TIME IN HUMIDOR (months): 12.9

LOOK AND FEEL: 90

FLAVOR AND AROMA: 90

BURN: 90

OVERALL SCORE: 90.0

URL: http://www.sosacigars.com/

STORAGE CONDITIONS: These cigars have been aging in their original box, sans cello, and kept in my Aristocrat humidor. The mini-climate in the humidor has been maintained at 69-70%RH and 73-75°F.

I use my Paliò cutter to trim an adequate portion of this generous cap and take a pre-light draw. The flavor of cocoa and spice are ever present with the firm draw. Lighter in hand, I am now ready to settle in for the experience.

This cigar begins with mild-medium flavors of cocoa and spice. The spiciness begins as a short blast, and then settles down, slowly building again until the finish. Through the halfway point, a mild nuttiness is sensed on the palate, but goes away too soon, drifting back into the cocoa/spice combination. Into the last third, the flavors deepen into flavors of coffee, with a hint of cinnamon, finishing with a medium-full bodied spicy undertone.

The burn during this review has been much improved. It had a nice firm, but brittle gray ash. Some cracking was evident as well as a touch of feathering, but otherwise held is shape fairly well. The burn was even throughout the experience with no blistering or scalloping along the burn-line.

This continues to be one of my favorite cigars. As I continue to gauge their progress through random sampling, I sense the tobacco flavors are opening up and displaying new nuances. We’ll review/rate this one again after three months.

~Blake