StogieBoys SB Classic Belicoso (6.5x52)

                                                 

This is one of the two sticks that came in this month with my Big Sexy Smokers Club membership. I ws pretty stocked when I opened the package and saw a cigar band I had never seen before. I'm always excited to try new sticks and especially the ones that are new to the market and not just new to me. So who, might you ask, would StogieBoys choose to blend their signature house brand? Well, these are blended by master blender Jose Dominguez. Jose is responsible for the incredibly tasty and wallet friendly Victor Sinclair brand. He also has his own brand known as the Jose Dominguez Signature Series, which I have reviewed one of here in the past. He has factories in the Dominican Republic and produces some very fine cigars.

Now to the part that you want to know about the most, how does it smoke. I removed the cellophane from the cigar and found the body to offer notes of hay and sweet field grass, while the foot offered notes of hay and molasses. The Conecticut wrapper houses a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and filler leaves. The wrapper has a beautiful light brown, oily shine with visible yet smooth veins. The body of the cigar is a bit on the spongy side so I expect a nice easy draw but there are no soft spots or imperfections. I clipped the cap with my trusty V cutter and did find an easy draw with notes of molasses. I toasted the foot and began my journey.

The initial third opens with toasted nut flavors by the bucket load. It is off to a very smooth start with only a touch of spice on the retrohale. The finish is toasty but does leave a bit of black pepper tingle in the back of the throat. At about half of an inch into the burn the toasted nut was joined by notes of coffee and an unidentified sweetness. The finish has taken a caramel-like tone and the smoke has become very creamy. As I progress through the first third, the flavors are developing nicely. The toasted nut flavors have moved aside a bit to allow the coffee notes to take the spotlight.

As I begin the second third the coffee notes gain a touch more depth and are still being supported by the toasted nut notes in the background. There are very faint notes of cinnamon that keep coming and going. They are infrequent and faint but still detectable. There are also some caramel notes popping in every once in awhile. Somewhere around the halfway point of the burn, the cinnamon notes become more defined and more frequent. They remind me somewhat of the "red hots" candy hearts and even seem to have a touch of sweetness to them.

The final third didn't see a whole lot of change, but I've got no complaints. This has been one very tasty and oh so smooth cigar. The coffee notes held the foreground, pretty much, since they joined the profile but were nicely supported by the other flavors. 

Final Thoughts? StogieBoys has hit a homerun with this stick. It started out, for me, medium in body and held at that point consistantly throughout the burn. Construction was top notch. The ash held firm to over an inch each time before falling. I made no burn corrections or relights while smoking this stick. The SB Classic is an incredibly smooth and flavorful cigar that would be perfect for a beginner or a seasoned smoker. It would not only be a perfect morning smoke with a cup of coffee, but a great any time smoke as well. I thought it might be a quick burner being a touch loose on the roll but it took about an hour from clip to nub to smoke. 

You can find these only at StogieBoys (stogieboys.com/sb-classic) and are priced at around 3 bucks per stick. I can see me grabbing a box of these to fill the humidor I received with the Big Sexy Smokers Club.