Vitola: Box-pressed Toro- 6” x 54 ring gauge
- MSRP $10
- Samples provided by General Cigar
Background
Diesel’s latest release was announced in mid-March 2019. Hair of the Dog was developed by Justin Andrews (the Diesel brand manager) and AJ Fernandez; it was crafted to be medium-to-full in body with notes of earth and pepper. Andrews said it was made to “have just the right amount of kick. It’s not an overly powerful cigar, yet it really delivers on flavor.”
Hair of the Dog is a one-size-only limited edition, packed in rustic wooden boxes of 10 cigars. 5,000 boxes were made, so a total of 50,000 sticks…which honestly should make them available for a while. It is made of Nicaraguan Habano fillers, an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.
General sent me a 5-pack of Hair of the Dog for review. This review is based on the 4th one I’ve smoked.
Prelight
I love the packaging on this release…well, as a consumer and designers, I love the packaging…as someone who works as a cigar retailer, I kind of hate it. The box lid has deep engraving of the Diesel and Hair of the Dog logos in it. The inside of the box has the look of an old-fashioned traveling medicine show poster. Someone around this article, I have posted the photo that General provided showing the inside of the box lid and it’s just really cool…although that 5 long by 2 wide configuration is why I hate the packaging as a retailer. It’s so wide, it will take up a massive amount of space on any shelf, while making the medicine show poster sideways. There’s just no great way of displaying this box of cigars.
The General-provided photo also shows the cigars being darker than they actually are. From personal experience, they are maybe just a hair over medium-brown…a sort of peanut butter color. The band was colorful and reflects the other design pieces well. The wrapper leaf of the cigar was smooth and moderately oily to the touch, while having a nice sweet grassy aroma. The foot of the stick had notes of earth and coffee and cocoa powder.
The prelight draw was very good. Cold flavors were of cedar and hay mostly, with just a touch of nuttiness.
Flavor
The Hair of the Dog started off with strong cedar flavor and lesser sweet hay notes. There was a little bell pepper in there and a red pepper heat near the finish of each puff. The retrohale had roasted peanuts and cedar and more red pepper. As the first third progressed onward, I got plenty of woody and nutty notes, backed up by a mild sweetness and grassiness. Pepper spice was in the mix, but substantially downplayed after the fiery start.
The second third continued woody and nutty, although some Nicaraguan earthiness stated to play in the mix, along with just a twinge of the metallic note I sometimes get from Ecuadorian Sumatra.
The metallic note was fleeting and didn’t return in the final third. Instead I got more of the cedar, with more minor notes of nuttiness and earth. Pepper spice provided a slight burn on the palate still.
Construction
All samples I have had of the Diesel Hair of the Dog had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
The Diesel lines have traditionally been value-priced. This one retails at $10 (or more in most markets due to varying tobacco taxes). Although I liked this cigar, I found its price tag hard to accept when I could buy a Whiskey Row—a cigar I like more—for less.
Conclusions
Diesel’s Hair of the Dog is marketed as a “complement” to the Whiskey Row from last year. In that context it was a little disappointing. While it was a good cigar, it didn’t display as much complexity as I would like and definitely did not justify the price tag to me. Others may disagree, but I just couldn’t find anything to love in this blend.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
