Vitola: Pita- 5.5” x 44 ring gauge
- ~$9.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I’ve been waiting to review an Aventador for a very long time. The super-coupe from Lamborghini was introduced to the motoring world in 2011, replacing the Murcielago as the top-line “flagship” model. Differing versions have produced 690 to 740 horsepower and somewhere around 500 pounds of torque, while costing over half a million US dollars. It was named after a legendarily brave fighting bull. Sadly, that’s not the Aventador I’m reviewing today…
The Imperia Aventador came out just a couple months ago from MLB Cigar Ventures, founded by Mike Bellody. The Imperia lines are Mike’s Dominican offerings, with three blends so far coming from the Quesada factory. The Aventador is supposed to be the boldest of the three so far; it uses Dominican and Pennsylvania fillers, a Dominican binder, and an Ecuadorian wrapper. The company’s website describes it thusly:
an incredibly complex cigar, offering many complimentary flavors throughout. Blended to have more spice and pepper than the other Imperia blends…this cigar culminates in a refined strength coupled with a combination of subtle spice and natural, earthy sweetness, creating an effect several folks have described as a medium plus “flavor bomb.”
Before this review sample, I had smoked one other sample of the same vitola. I purchased both of them at Burns Tobacconist. Let’s see how this Aventador handles the curves…
Prelight
The Aventador follows the eagle crest motif established on the Imperia Islero. This time the band is rendered with a white background up top and a dark gray-green background in the lower portion, along with plenty of silver and sparse black in the mix. Not the most colorful of bands, but it does at least look like it belongs with the Islero. The same fault that I found there exists here, though…”Imperia” is in a small thin font that is difficult to read.
The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown, smooth and oily to the touch, and richly earthy to the nose. The foot had additional earthiness, along with cedar and a touch of cocoa powder in the mix.
The cold draw was open, which is a good thing for this size of Imperia…I’ve found in previous samples of Pita vitolas from all Imperia blends that if it’s tight when cold, it’s going to be problematic when lit. The prelight draw had earth and woody notes, but also a peculiar chemical note that I’ve gotten from other Imperias.
Flavor
Once lit, the chemical flavor faded quickly and the Imperia Aventador produced a thick, oily smoke that had a mild sweet chocolate note in the beginning, soon giving way to cedar and earth. The smoke was definitely heavier in body than either original Imperia or Islero releases and it seemed the Pennsylvania Broadleaf definitely gave it a sweeter turn, while the overall profile held onto a strongly Dominican character. Through the first third the Aventador produced creamy, thick, full-bodied smoke with a sweet hint of chocolate overlaying lesser notes of cedar and earth.
The chocolate sweetness continued to build in the second third, with a nice pepper spice counterbalancing and complementing it. Earth and cedar notes had receded to a supporting role. The retrohale was nutty and slightly sweet.
Toward the end, the pepper spice mellowed out a bit and the chocolate sweetness ebbed away a bit, leaving the cigar more earthy than at any previous time. The balance between the dry, somewhat bitter earth and the sweeter chocolate notes was excellent.
Construction
After having some trouble with Pita vitolas in the Islero blend, I was apprehensive about this one, but I shouldn’t have been. The draw was fantastic, the burn line was quite even and the ash was solid up to almost an inch.
Value
This is, I believe, the most expensive of the Imperia lines and I think the experience makes it worth the extra cost.
Conclusions
This is the best of the Imperia line by a good margin and might be my favorite MLB Cigar Ventures product so far…I’ll have to smoke it back-to-back with the Ehrlich Tremont a time or two to make sure which I like better. Regardless of it falling as number one or two from the company, it’s definitely an excellent smoking experience with a full body and pleasing flavor profile from beginning to end; it also has definite “family characteristics” with the other Imperia blends. If you tried the original or Islero blend and found them lacking in something that appeals to you, give this one a go…I think you might just find it makes up for what the others lack. It may just be the Lamborghini of the Imperia line-up.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
