Sosa Vintage Natural Wavell (5x50)

It is no secret that Sosa Cigars is one of my personal favorite brands. I still have a few sticks stashed in the humidor from my trip to Sosa Family Cigars that I picked up while vacationing in Disney World. One of the few sticks they offer that I have yet to review is the Vintage line. The Vintage doesn't really look much different from the  Sosa Classic, it has the same band with the addition of a "vintage" labeled band below it. The Vintage is comprised of dark Connecticut wrapper that houses a blend of Dominican Ligero that is aged 8 years. The chocolaty brown wrapper has minimal veining and is oily to the touch with no imperfections that I can find. It is firm and tightly rolled with no soft spots. The body offers only a light scent of cocoa and the foot offered the same notes of cocoa with hints of earth. I clipped the double cap with my Xikar MTX and found an absolutely perfect cold draw with the taste of sweet molasses. A quick toasting of the foot with the single flame torch and I was ready to get the smoke started. The initial third opened up with rich notes of coca and coffee with a few subtle notes of hay floating in the background. There is a nice bit of spice to the retrohale and the finish is long and nutty with a touch of sweetness. About an inch into the burn the spice on the retrohale calms a bit and everything becomes super smooth and mellow. As I start the second third the cocoa and coffee are joined by a nutty pecan and a few notes of leather pop in on occasion. Going into the final third the cocoa fades into the background as the leather notes gain some depth. The spice on retrohale picks back up in the final third as some woody notes make themselves known in the background. As the finish takes on a silky nutty caramel tone the flavors are really popping. To say this was a smooth and well balanced cigar would be an understatement. It maintained medium body throughout the burn, which required no corrections. The ash held to over an inch at a time and was a nice salt and pepper gray color. No surprise, another great stick from Sosa Cigars. I picked this one up at their shop but have seen them online a few times. Arby has let me know that these are only available at their shops in Florida and online at cigarsinternational.com. The price point is 6.50-8.50 per stick and well worth giving a try. You can find more information on Sosa Cigars at www.sosacigars.com and find them on twitter at http://twitter.com/sosacigars