Quesada Oktoberfest 2012
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012Where have I been?! I took a week off of blogging. Not to worry, this site won’t suffer the same fate as my Twitter account. One thing worth mentioning is, winners for the cigar giveaway will be drawn soon, and I’ll post the winners. Otherwise, things will be business as usual. On to the review!
The Quesada Oktoberfest was one of my favorite cigars of 2011. Being limited in production, I still managed to keep some in my humidor for most of the year. The 2012 release has some new sizes, one of them being the Das Boot. When Ed got his shipment from Sag Imports, I immediately stocked up. So, with water, not beer, let’s see how the 2012 Oktoberfest treated me.
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder & Filler: Dominican
Size: Das Boot 6 x 52
Price: Around $8.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper glistened with oil, and simply looked great. I can only describe the scent of the wrapper as cedar, some sweet spices, and a hint of barnyard. The foot basically had an earthy, woody odor. The cigar was solidly packed, with some minor soft spots here and there. The pre-light draw had some resistance, but fell within my comfort zone. The cold draw tasted woody and earthy, with a hint of sweet spice.
Flavor:
The first started off with a dominant woody flavor. Retrohaling revealed a fairly easy pepper. It wasn’t the burn your face kind, and reminded me of cayenne pepper. Up next was a mild bitterness that you’d associate with black coffee. Again, it was nothing I’d call “In your face,” but there were no subtleties either.
The second third didn’t have any significant changes in flavor. Spice may have developed a little more zing, but everything pretty much remained status quo. One thing worth noting is the smoke feel. It was dry and crisp.
The last third had a slight reduction in peppery spice. In addition to wood, pepper, and coffee notes, there was a sweet component. I can only compare it a tingly cinnamon. Simple, but good.
Conclusion:
This was a damn good full bodied cigar. The Oktoberfest proves that flavor delivery is really what counts, not necessarily complexities. While many people insist that this cigar must be smoked with Oktoberfest beer, I have yet to try the combination. So if you are like me and don’t drink, I have seen no reduction in enjoyment as a result. Try these while you can!
PS – I reviewed the Bavarian last year, which was similar to this size. See how they compare.