Wow! In short, this cigar was an amazing smoke, rich and bold, and I’m sure experienced cigar smokers will enjoy it. Maybe first-time cigar smokers should try some lighter sticks at first. Having said that… I’m predominantly a pipe smoker and new to cigars. This cigar is the first one I tried. Some of my pipe tobaccos are pretty strong, so I figured I could handle this cigar. But the start of this stick tasted REALLY strong/full to me, which is why I feel that smokers with no experience with strong blends (pipe or cigars) should start off with something lighter. If I had never smoked strong pipe tobacco before, this cigar would have totally turned me off, but only in the first 1/3 of the stick. The 2nd third and beyond was less “kick you in the face”, and turned out to be a delicious and beautiful smoke. I really enjoyed it!! Pretty complex flavor, very rich and nicely balanced. For me it’s a home run. I’m definitely going to pick up some more of these. One critique I have is the burn was a little wonky but not hard to manage, I don’t know if a wonky burn means the construction is not the best, but whatever the case this cigar was so fantastic that no minor critique disqualifies it from my wanting to buy it again.