Quesada Q d’etat Howitzer
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012I picked up the Howitzer at St. Pete Cigar a couple of weeks ago. I am a fan of most Sag Imports products, so I had to try this one.
The Howitzer is the second installment of the Quesada Q d’etat line. These cigars are limited to 1,000 ten count boxes. This line is intended to create awareness of increased government regulation and taxation on cigars. Tobacco regulations are especially appealing to the lazy parent. Such regulations are often aimed at this demographic. It’s easier to let the government do parenting for them.
Anyway… Each box comes with a CRA registration form. They claim to fight against such regulation.
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder & Filler: Dominican
Size: 6 x 60
Price: $9.50
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper had a toothy, rugged appearance, with some good sized veins here and there. It had a nice smell of cedar, earthiness, and barnyard. The smell of the foot was hard to pin down, but I did detect a little tingly spice. The cigar was pretty evenly packed, and bounced back when squeezed. The draw was perfect, with only slight resistance. The pre-light flavor was mild and cedary.
The burn required a few minor corrections, and the ash held for almost two inches.
Flavor:
The first third had a dominant woody flavor, followed by a floral and earthy notes. Retrohaling revealed a smooth, mild spice. The smoke feel was dry, but didn’t leave me parched.
During the second third, the floral flavor increased in strength. Like before, when passing smoke through the nose, there was a smooth spice. A bitter sweet note was noticed in the background.
The last third had an even combination of wood and coffee. Next up was an easy, tingly spice mixed with floral notes. It was good, but saying more would be redundant.
Conclusion:
This was a good medium to full bodied cigar. The flavors were pretty straight forward, and construction was almost flawless. Flavor delivery was refined and enjoyable, but this was no wow cigar. I could see myself smoking this from time to time, but I wouldn’t put a lot of effort in seeking it out. If you run across the Howitzer, I think it is worth trying.
