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Blind #117 John Hay Pennsylvania Maduro
Reviews Views Date of last review
12 5037 Tue March 4, 2008
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Recommended By Average Price Average Rating
58% of reviewers None indicated 5.6



Description: #117 John Hay Pennsylvania Maduro
Grand Corona Diplomat
Ring Gauge: 6 x 46
Wrapper: Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, USA
Binder: Pennsylvania, USA
Filler: Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania, USA

For more info check out: http://www.johnhaycigars.com/products.htm


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tobacmon

Senior Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 5962
Review Date: Tue July 3, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? No | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 4 

 
Pros: Pre lght taste
Cons: Couldn't keep lit

Review Date: Monday July 3,2007 Would you recommend this to someone? NO | Price you paid? In US$: | Rating: 4

#117



Pre-smoke
Scent of Wrapper: Spicy
Scent at Foot: Just like the wrapper
Wrapper: Oily, Lots of Veins
Feel: Firm
Tongue: Peppery, Earthy and Tingly
Flavor on Draw: Peppery, Earthy

Smoke
Taste: Peppery
Flavor Changes: Not really
Strength: Full
Scent of Smoke: Did not like
Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: None
Draw: Very Tight
Finish: Could Not
Other Aspects of the Cigar Smoking Experience: Bad experience, looked bad and taste bad—My guess Very inexpensive cigar.
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Maduro_Scotty

Active Member

Registered: June 2007
Location: Sutton
Posts: 277
Review Date: Wed July 11, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? No | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 4 

 
Pros: Scent of smoke, wrapper construction
Cons: Draw, overly strong burnt after taste flavor

The wrapper is black with spots of brown and appears very gnarled and bumpy. It feels coarse, with a fairly large vein running down the entire length of the cigar. The scent of the wrapper was a cross between horse and earthy. I detected a strong presence of liquorice upon giving it an unlit draw. Upon touching the freshly cut end with my tongue, I noticed a definite tingle. The feel of the cigar was quite firm, no "give" to speak of.

This cigar featured a half-plugged draw that made the smoking experience problematic. The wrapper was well-constructed and I didn't have any unravelling or other problems like that. Flavor wise, this cigar starts out with strong liquorice and fungal notes. I would also describe it as being a cross between vegetables and dirt. the scent of the smoke was very pleasant, it reminded me a lot of the aroma of whiskey. The only change in flavor occured with the after taste, which was of a hearty-charcoal flavor. This cigar left a strong burnt presence in the mouth. It is a medium bodied cigar.
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Ron

Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Harrisonburg
Posts: 119
Review Date: Mon July 16, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Reminded me of an old ISOM Bolivar I smoked many moons ago...good smoke.
Cons: A bit sharp or bitter in the beginning, ring gauge is smaller than I like probably a 48.

I really enjoyed this one.
  • Scent of Wrapper: Slight Honey Suckle
  • Scent at Foot: Same as wrapper
  • Wrapper: Dark, looked good except for the long main vein from the cap down to about 2/3 of the way down.
  • Feel: Soft but consistent, in other words not squishy in spots just soft throughout.
  • Tongue/Flavor of Draw: Not much noticed
  • Taste:
    • 1st 3rd - Oakey taste and rather sharp.
    • 2/3 - bitter but good coffee flavor
    • Last 3rd - strong roasted butterscotch taste.
  • Strength: Medium to full body - changed to full @ the last third.
  • Feeling: Good, makes me think it would be a good after dinner/big meal smoke.
  • Scent of Smoke: Likely too strong unless you are a cigar smoker and enjoy them.
  • Heat of Fingers and in Mouth: It was a finger burner but only because I didn't want to put it down. No problem with mouth heat.
  • Draw: A good deliberate draw 85% of the time, a little hard the other 15%.
  • Finish: Enjoyable quick, fairly dry finish.
  • Other: The ash was not well colored, gray/black/white molting; however, it held tight for the first 1.25" and I knocked it off which I often do to keep it off of my shirt, but I think it would have held longer if left alone. Also I got a lot of good looking and smelling smoke out of it.
This may be a cheapie but I throughly enjoyed it. If it were a 50-52 gauge I would definitely add it to my "go to" smoke list. It would also be on that list if the price were less than $4/stick...but that remains to be seen.

Because of the inconsistent draw and big veined wrapper I would guess this is not a very high end smoke. However, I love the taste as it was full and had that little bitter taste that I enjoy.

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Ron
B&B Tobacco | TheDoyle.net | DiabetesTalkFest.com | Calvary Chapel Staunton
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genettim

Military

Registered: May 2007
Location: Fort Hood
Posts: 303
Review Date: Thu July 19, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: flavor, consistent burn
Cons: tight draw, shoddily constructed cap

PRE-SMOKE

Scent of Wrapper: Floral notes, hint of honey perhaps, almost a rose petal undertone
Scent at Foot: Similar to the wrapper, but with a bit of earthiness and cedar
Appearance of Wrapper: Rather Veiny, dark chocolate in color, uneven cap with a protruding ridge
Feel: Generally firm, feeling almost like it once had soft corners as if the cigar wanted to be box-pressed but never quite got set
Tongue: Tingly sensation, indistinguishable herbal flavor
Flavor on Draw: Floral taste leaning towards hints of melon

SMOKE

Taste: Herbal and grassy at the start, developing later into the oaky-floral flavors first noted on the wrapper scent, finally sweetening to a honey undertone towards the end
Strength: Mild to medium throughout
Feeling: Pleasant smoke at the end of a long day in Iraq. Experienced feelings of satisfaction, calm, and peacefulness
Scent of Smoke: Floral, lilac with hints of vanilla bean
Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: Became hot in the mouth about two thirds through, fingers soon after
Draw: Tight until about halfway through it opened more
Finish: Sweet with cedary hints, very subtle coffee notes

FINAL RATING: Five - I would have prefered a larger ring size, and the wrapper was rather rough, not to mention the cap issue. Burned very evenly, any minor issues there self-corrected quickly. Overall a pleasant smoke, not overly complex but no bad flavors. I'd smoke one again. Let me know when the mystery is revealed, I'll probably order a few more of these.

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"Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." --John F. Kennedy
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SandPiper

Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Central FL Gulf Coast
Posts: 169
Review Date: Fri July 20, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? No | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 4 

 
Pros: Very even burn and consistent flavor
Cons: Tight draw, slight harshness at midpoint

Pre-smoke

Scent of Wrapper: sort of a musty, stored hay scent

Scent at Foot: hay; slight hint of pepper spice

Appearance/Wrapper: Very coarse and veiny wrapper with lots of grain; incredibly uniform in color, which was a deep chocolate brown. The wrapper was very thin

Feel: Very consistently firm, with one very small soft spot near the head.

Tongue: Slightly spicy; earthy

Flavor on Draw: similar to the scent of the wrapper; a musty haylike flavor

Smoke
Taste/Flavor: Despite its color, I got very little of the “creaminess” I’ve come to associate with maduros. The cigar seemed a little young, as if it would benefit from more aging…just a little rough around the edges flavorwise. It reminded me of the Flor de Oliva maduro cigars. It did mellow at the 1” mark (the flavor didn’t really change, it just softened up, becoming more sedate). At the 3” mark, it became slightly bitter, bordering on harsh. It also then began to cause a little nose burn.

Strength: Medium

Feeling: N/A

Scent of Smoke: Roasted coffee

Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: Some noticeable heat at the finger, but not in the mouth

Draw: The draw was a good bit tighter than I normally prefer. This was a con for me personally.

Finish: Medium in length; cereal or roasted nuts in flavor

Other Aspects of the Cigar Smoking Experience: Overall, I was not super impressed with this one (but, to each his own), but it wasn’t an unpleasant experience. The harshness at the midpoint was a little offputting, as was the tight draw. However, the flavor (although mild) was otherwise decent. The burn was near perfect. I could bring myself to recommend this, if I knew the draw was not a common problem, and the price was right. I would also be interested in aging a couple of these and trying them in a year or so.

Final Rating: 4.0

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Kip
Somewhere Southeast of Disorder (Central FL)
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havanitascigars

Very Active Member

Registered: April 2007
Location: mission viejo, ca
Posts: 643
Review Date: Sat July 21, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: good construction, tasty
Cons: tight draw at first

PRE-SMOKE

Scent of Wrapper: licorice
Scent at Foot: cedar, slightly nutty, grassy
Appearance of Wrapper: Rough Maduro. some veins
Feel: Firm, semi-boxed press
Tongue: herbal, licorice, chocolate
Flavor on Draw: chocolate and tobacco

SMOKE

Taste: Rather grassy at first, but the chocolate flavor came in as I smoked further, eventually developing into a mocha flavor.
Strength: medium
Scent of Smoke: light charcoal, hints of beans
Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: nothing irregular
Draw: first half inch was tight, but it opened up nicely
Finish: coffee and chocolate with a hint of cedar

Perhaps it was just the setting, but I really liked this cigar. I had a traditional daiquiri made with Zacapa on the rocks, the blues playing in the background, it was a beautiful night and it was quiet. The tight draw in the beginning was a distraction and I did have to touch up a couple of times. I had no burning on the tongue until about the last third of the stick. The best part is my wife could sit next to me when I finished without complaining of the tobacco smell and I woke up the next morning without a dead rat taste in my mouth.

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"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I am all out of bubble gum."
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earnold25

Active Member

Registered: April 2007
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 379
Review Date: Tue July 24, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? No | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: Decent "typical" maduro flavors
Cons: Unsmokeable after 1/2 way. Ammonia flavor of terribleness

Pre-smoke

Scent of Wrapper: I only smelled an earthy smell...kinda like dirty.

Scent at Foot: A bit more barnyardy. Maybe a bit like a mushroom

Appearance: A few big veins. Consistent brown color.

Wrapper: This is one ugly wrapper Its consistent in color...a dark brown, but had quite a few thick veins and the cap was on the verge of fallign off.

Feel: A bit firm to the touch. Also a bit dry, even though it was in the humidor for about 3 weeks now.

Tongue: It made my tongue tingle, but I couldn't discern any flavor.

Flavor on Draw: And this is a bit weird, but raisins! Don't ask me how I even why, but it was the most prominent flavor I picked up.

Smoke

Taste: Initial puffs were kinda bitter. Eventually could taste a burnt coffee bean flavor, along with a hint of unsweetened dark chocolate. It stayed with the same flavor profile, although more muted until the half way point, at which the great ammonia flavor kicked in, and ruined the smoke.

Flavor Changes: 1/2 it became unsmokeable

Strength: medium to full bodied

Feeling: made my tongue tingle throughout, made me want to scrape it off at the halfway point.

Scent of Smoke: wasn't unpleasant, but i was outside, and didn't smell it too much

Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: didn't get too hot

Draw: a bit too firm for me. i had to really suck to get a good volume of smoke

Finish: very long finish. actually way too long. i'm writing this review over 12 hours later and i still taste it.

Other Aspects of the Cigar Smoking Experience:
a. the burn of this cigar was kinda crappy. it was very uneven and the filler burned faster than the binder/ wrapper. Had to purge / relight like 3 times.
b. the ash was flaky and fell off at random times
c. the cigar seems a bit young, and aging might make it a bit better.



Final Rating: 4.6 - The cigar was ok. A bit bland in the flavor department, but at least i tasted the typical maduro flavors i like (although they weren't as sweet or distinct as I prefer.) I could smoke this while doing some chore and it'd be ok. This is probably a value smoke.
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Scarecrow

New Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Phoenix (AZ)
Posts: 26
Review Date: Thu July 26, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: Dark Chocolate Color
Cons: Loose draw and unrolled towards the end

Scent of Wrapper: Strong Coffee like smell
Scent at Foot: Stronger nutty coffee smell
Appearance: Dark Chocolate Color
Wrapper: Very Very veiny and rough to the feel, after the cut, couple of leafs popped thru that had to be picked out by hand
Feel: A little spongy but was bearable
Tongue: Tingly feeling
Flavor on Draw: Nutty coffee taste

Taste: Coffe like taste for the most part
Strength: Medium
Feeling: A little tired and wornout...made me relax
Scent of Smoke: Nutty
Heat on Fingers and Mouth: Yes about 1/2 thru that lasted till the very end
Draw: Very loose
Finish: Nice smooth nutty/coffe flavor

------------------------------
ex. Check out NUbCigar.com
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McFortner

Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Stockbridge, GA
Posts: 443
Review Date: Mon August 13, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 6 

 
Pros: Color
Cons: Needs to age

A dark maduro wrapper, but with some vein issues. Can tell by the feel it is a sandwich or short filler. It smelled a little green with some harsh notes at the foot.

Once lit, it was a mild cigar with a little harshness. The taste mellowed out as it smoked, so I would say some aging is in order. The ash is mostly light with a few dark specks mixed in, but loose and indicates it is not a long filler cigar. The draw was good however, and it held up pretty well. Slightly uneven burning but nothing to worry about.

I smoked it down to about 1 inch. Dissecting the but shows it is a mixed filler, predominately short filler. For me it is not a bad thing, since it should be in my lower price range. However, some don't like short fillers and this would be a big negative for them.

Overall, a decent cigar. Not something for a evening of adult beverages and cigars, but good for poker night. Just give them some time to age first.

------------------------------
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
(An Eastern Orthodox prayer. I need all the help I can get right now....)
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prophetic_joe

Very Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Cherokee
Posts: 520
Review Date: Wed August 22, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? No | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: Flavors weren't bad
Cons: Hardly any flavor through most of it, very shoddy to look at.

Pre_Smoke

Scent of wrapper: Sweet, a bit of a barn like smell too

Scent of foot: More sweet smelling tobacco

Appearance: Dark maduro wrapper, lots of veins, ugly as sin

Feel: no sponginess for me, nice firm cigar


Tongue: Nothing impressive enough to note

Taste on draw: Just sweet tobacco

Smoke:

Taste: A little bitterness at first but only for the first few puffs, Flavor changed to a decent sweet maduro flavor with just a touch of something else however the flavors were to mild to pick out anything specific.

Flavor Changes: No real strong flavors present, about two thirds in it got a little bitter at this point however i was so bored with this cigar I put it out.

Strength: Mild

Feeling: Bored

Scent of smoke: smoke was light and non-offensive to my nose.

Heat on fingers and mouth: Halfway through it became really spongy and a bit warm to the touch.

Draw: not bad didn't produce a whole lot of smoke though

Finish: Short hardly any flavor at all

Other aspects: I was really disappointed in this cigar even though it was a better smoke than I was predicting based on the look of it. Ugly sucker but it started out pretty decent the main problem was that it was just boring, there was nothing exciting about this cigar at all. Not a terrible cigar but there are just too many other good cigars out there to waste time with this one.
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kass

Very Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: South Korea
Posts: 836
Review Date: Sat November 3, 2007 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: great burn and draw, nice flavours
Cons: cap was a bit ugly

Presmoke
scent of wrapper: sweet, hay
scent at foot: hay
Appearance: a couple big veins. the cap is rough looking. dark wrapper.
Feel: nice and firm
tongue: a bit spicy
flavour on draw: sweet, woody
Smoke
Taste: off the first couple draws woody and peppery, then some light coffee flavours joined in and eventually took over. at 2 inches left, some nutty flavours emerged. With an inch left some bittersweet chocolate was detected.
strength: mild-medium
heat: no heat
Draw: great draw
finish: woody and chocolaty
final rating
7
This was a nice smoke. It just didnt have that extra to make it great.
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SMOKEING HANDSOME DUDE

Very Active Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: HOUSTON
Posts: 685
Review Date: Tue March 4, 2008 Would you recommend this to someone? Yes | Price you paid? In US$: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: For me it was the rough shape
Cons: hard draw a little plugged

The wrapper had a creamy smell to it, like coffee with cream and sugar. Their were veins in the cigar. The feel was spongy and had a real creamy taste before lighting against my palet. I like the way this cigar tasted. Started off creamy and then turned in my opinion to a coffee taste. The only thing I did not like about this cigar was the draw. It was kind of hard to draw on. This cigar kind of reminded me of the Backwoods smoke brand. Rough in shape and texture but tasted wonderful. I would recomed this cigar, but the mfg should work on getting a better draw.

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SMOKE NAKED!!
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