Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5.5” x 50 ring gauge
MSRP: $7
Cigars provided by Ventura Cigar Co.
Background
Today I’ll be taking a look at one of the more recent releases from Ventura Cigar Co., the PSyko Seven. They contacted me and asked me if I’d be interested in smoking it and reviewing it. Never one to turn down trying something new I of course agreed. This cigar is comprised of seven different types of tobacco, and they are all listed on the band of the cigar (novel idea!). They are hybrid from the Dominican Republic, Sumatra from Mexico, ligero from Nicaragua, Pelo de Oro viso from Pero, Holancha seco from Honduras, another hybrid from the Dominican Republic, and Pennsylvania ligero from the US. I don’t know which tobaccos comprise the different parts of the cigar however. The cigar are made in the Dominican Republic and come in three other sizes, a 6.25″x48 toro, a 4″x58 Gordito, and a 6″x60 Gordo. I was able to smoke one previous to the review cigar.
Prelight
The first thing I notice is the HUGE band, even bigger than some others I’ve seen. The outer band is modeled to look like a prescription pad except it is a detailed list of the tobaccos included in the cigar. There is a smaller second band peaking out from being the main band that is much more normal in size. The wrapper is a even medium peanut brown in color. There was a slight amount of oils to the wrapper with only a faint amount of tooth. When I gave the cigar a squeeze I couldn’t find any soft spots and there was a slight amount of give. Putting my nose to the wrapper I detected the aroma of hay with some barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping and taking a cold draw on it I got a good draw with a slight cinnamon sweetness.
Flavors
The cigar starts off with flavors of cinnamon, cream, nuts and leather. The spice started to build to a nice red pepper spice on the tongue and retrohale after about a half an inch. As I progressed into the first third I started to get a slight copper taste as well as a sweetness on the finish. The cigar started off in the upper end of medium range. As I moved into the second third the spice had definitely toned down but not got completely away. The flavors changed to earth, wood and coffee. As I got into the final third the flavors were a lot of tobacco with hints of mushroom (a la Davidoff) with a slight sweetness on the finish. The cigar never got out of the upper end of medium.
Construction
The draw was just about perfect the entire way through. The burn line was a little wavy to start, but it evened itself out by the second third. The wavy burn line was probably caused by the winds gusting while I was smoking it.
Value
A $7 robusto is pretty much always good in my book.
Conclusion
I enjoyed this cigar a lot more than the Project 805, it was simply more enjoyable. It isn’t something that I would seek out though. It just doesn’t have enough to keep me engaged. If I’m remembering correctly I enjoyed this one more than the first PSyKo I smoked and there was a space of a couple months (I forgot about the cigar in my humidor) between smoking. So with a little more age on them they might be even more enjoyable.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
Nice review Keith I have seen other reviews of this stick and I found yours to be very similar, although I’m not a fan of the Band, seems to showy for me, I wouldn’t let that stop me from a good cigar I will have to pick one of these up and give it a try.