Sosa Sungrown Belicoso (6x54)

I received the new Cigars International catalog and flipped through it one afternoon after work. I noticed a familiar favorite brand but a unrecognized stick. This particular stick was advertised as low as 1.50 a stick for the robusto size. I put it on my list to try and went about my work week as usual. While running the rounds at work, my cell phone buzzed with an email notification from Cigars International. It was to inform me that their weekly deal was a bundle of sosa sungrown in the belicoso or churchill size for the same price that the robusto is usually offered for. Well that sealed the deal and I placed my order for the belicoso and waited in anticipation. As I have said before, I have never had a bad cigar with the Sosa name on the band. When these arrived a couple of days later I opened the box and was greeted with the smell of cocoa. They had the most wonderful chocolaty aroma when I opened the cellophane holding the bundle together. I almost forgot they were cigars and not candy bars, but caught myself before taking a bite. The only information offered on the Cigars international site is that these were maduro wrapped with a Dominican and Honduran long filler. I have smoked about 5 of these and so the time for a formal review is at hand. The dark oily wrapper was smooth and shiny with minimal veins and fantastic construction. The smell radiating from the body was cocoa but had mellowed a bit after about a week in the humidor. The aroma at the foot was also of cocoa and rich tobacco. I straight cut the pointy cap with scissors and pre light draw was perfect with a hint of cocoa and earth. Upon lighting the initial flavors that make themselves known are of cocoa and earth with a nice mild sweetness from the maduro wrapper. Burn through the first third was excellent with no corrections needed and produced a tight salt-and-pepper ash. Going into the second third the cocoa notes mellowed a bit and notes of cedar and spice joined in with the earthy tones of the rich tobacco with a hint of leather starting to shine through. The ash was still holding through the second third. the ash finally fell after the start of the final third. In the final third the leather tone came to the front as the cocoa faded to more of a light coffee with a faint pepper tone. The burn did get a bit erratic before the final third but corrected itself without any help from the torch. It maintained a consistent medium body through the entire cigar and produced ample amounts of smoke even at rest. I have to be honest, I didn't expect this to be such a complex or well constructed cigar for the price despite being a sosa cigar. I will absolutely be purchasing more of these as part of my normal rotation and look forward to trying the other sizes as well. A homerun from Sosa Cigars and Cigars International. Get more information about Sosa Cigars on twitter at www.twitter.com/sosacigars and at their website www.antilliancigars.com and Cigars International at www.cigarsinternational.com. The link to this particular cigar can be found HERE. With a price point of $1.50-$2.00 per stick at the time of this review, this is a super bargain on a tasty smoke!

 

 

The ash had just fallen.

Surprised at the ash strength