Arganese

One of the regulars at my cigar shop claimed this one to be a new up and coming brand. It's the next big thing. And after he pulled it off the shelf and handed it to me, I still bought it against my better judgement.

The Arganese Chairman double wrap, in my opinion, looks like something that would be more appropriately hung on a Christmas tree. I mean, look at it. I get it, there is a combinations of 2 wrappers here. But.....I mean......look at it. I bought this cigar for no reason other than curiosity. But we'll see if it surprises me.

This "double wrapper" is a twisting combination of Brazilian Maduros and Connecticut Shade. The filler and binder are both made of tobacco from the Dominican Republic. The double wrapper only comes in the Churchill size. 7 inch length, 50 ring. Priced at $6.80 a stick.

Putting aside the ridiculous looking candy cane design, at least the wrappers look smooth and free of any imperfections. However, the stick is a little too spongy which might create some problems while smoking.

My first few impressions of this cigar is that it is a pain to light, it burns unevenly at first, and the draw is mediocre at best being on the tight side. I don't get nearly as full of a smoke as I would like either. It's not awful by any means. The cigar is perfectly smokable. The smoking experience is just sort of........eh.

The flavors start out mild. They also seem to change with each puff of the cigar. For the first minute, I'm getting a nice wood taste, then it suddenly gets very bitter, then it's back to wood notes, then aburptly to dark chocolate. The flavors themselves are decent, but the cigar is all over the place with no real transitions. I'm also a little confused as to who decided to pair these two contrasting tastes.

After smoking for a while, things start to settle down. The burn fixes itself and is now nice and even, although the ash does keep falling off rather early. The smoke gets a little thicker and fuller. The tastes also seem to calm down a little. I'm now getting a nice spicy smoke although I would still categorize this cigar as mild, not really the medium bodied they claimed it was. Again, everything is just sort of.............eh.

The smoke ends on a nice spicy and bitter mixture. A stronger nicotine presence also emerges during the last part of the cigar but nothing too overpowering. All in all, other than the ridiculous looking stick itself, this cigar was perfectly average.

Overall rating: 75