Vitola: Corona
Size: 5.5″ x 42 ring gauge
Price $12.99
Purchased from SmallBatchCigar.com
Background
First off a Happy Independence Day to all of you out there! The OneOff brand was launched in 2001 by Andrea Molinari and was only around in its original iteration until 2009 when it was sold to Cuban Crafter’s and was a different blend. Late last year Dion Giolitto purchased the trademark from them and decided he was going to be bringing it back, launching at this year’s show. I do remember smoking the original and the Allegria line that was introduced in 2004 and was very curios ow they compared to what I remembered and how I would like them now. There isn’t much info on them but it can probably be surmised that they are being produced in the same TABSA factory that produces Dion’s other lines. They are rumored to be produced in the original 16 sizes, but there are only 6-7 sizes out now. This was the second one of this cigar I was able to smoke.
Prelight
This cigar looks pretty much exactly like what I remember the original looking like. It has a very simple orangish-red and white band with a peace symbol on it and no writing. The wrapper in a medium-dark brown in color with some darker mottling to it. There was a good amount of oils to the wrapper but I didn’t notice much in the way of tooth. Giving the cigar a squeeze I noticed it was fairly firm with no soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I got the aroma of leather with barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got a good draw with sweetness and hints of spice.
Flavor
It starts off with lots of sweetness with some wood and leather flavors thrown in. The spice didn’t really start until I was about 1/4″ in. The cigar started off at medium-full strength. As I moved into the second third the flavors were similar to the first third; leather and wood with a sweet finish. The spice strength went up and down during this third. The cigar did mellow out in strength a bit during the second third. The final third saw the spice ramp up to where it was in the beginning, the strength correspondingly went up as well. The flavors were of leather, earth and wood with a very sweet finish.
Construction
I didn’t have any draw or burn issues in either of these cigars I smoked.
Value
I know these were pretty expensive when they were originally released, and Dion may be trying to match those prices with the new release but the price seemed a little high to me.
Conclusions
I will be honest that I didn’t particularly care for the OneOff when I tried it many years ago. I was definitely curious how this new cigar would be and what I would think of it now. The one thing I remember from the original release is just a blast of black pepper spice throughout. While this cigar had a lot of spice it wasn’t overpowering like I remember from when it originally came out. I came away from my first experience with this cigar wanting to try it again and see if it was the same, and it was. I definitely enjoyed the cigar and would be curious what the other sizes are like. It wouldn’t be a cigar for those sensitive to nicotine, but most others would be able to enjoy it. It looks like there will be wider release after this year’s IPCPR but you can get your hands on some from SmallBatchCigar.com right now.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8.5/10
