Ave Maria Lionheart Review

Details:
Wrapper: Ecuadorian-grown Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Size: 5.5X55 Lionheart (Robusto Grande)
Cost: $6 (Off cbid)

Prelight:(10) This cigar looks awesome! The color, the wrapper, the cap, the band. Did I mention the wrapper? It is flawless. Perfectly rolled. Firm top to bottom. The smell is of rich tobacco and honey. The prelight draw is open and also has a nice sweetness to it marked with a touch of spice. This cigar certainly looks the part if the part in fact calls for a kick ass manly looking cigar. 10/10

Flavor & Aroma:
(15) 1st 3rd: This beauty starts off medium in body with a nice easy going flavor complimented by a tiny touch of honey sweetness as it coats the palate. It is pretty spicy through the nose for the first few minutes but it does mellow out after about 15 minutes. The finish is long with a nice mild spice. The smoke is pretty smooth with a nice light easy going aroma with some cedar and pepper although the actual spiciness of it has toned down quite a bit.  13/15
(15) 2nd 3rd: The core has mellowed in spiciness and intensity but picked up with body and smoothness. It was a nice transition that carried over the semi-sweetness with it which really makes this such a pleasure to smoke. The core isn’t particularly overpowering with any one flavor but rather it is simply a light leathery flavor of very high quality tobacco. It is very refined and balanced. 14/15
(15) Final 3rd: The smooth ride continues all the way to the end. It has remained sort of a medium/full body for the most part. The The aroma remains pleasant with cedar and I get a little honeysuckle from time to time. There never was much complexity but the rich refined flavors of good quality tobacco were more than evident throughout. The finish did start getting a little feisty towards the nub. Looking back, the midway point was definitely the sweetspot on this cigar although it was very good all in all.  13/15

Construction & Burn:

(10) 1st 3rd: Perfect. Nice hearty white ash.

(10) 2nd 3rd: This cigar sits amongst the best cigars I have ever had the pleasure of smoking with regards to draw and burn performance. Stellar. 10/10

(10) Final 3rd: I was a little disappointed by the mild cracking and splitting I experienced as I moved through the final 3rd. This never happened on the Robustos I smoked and they were kept in the same conditions as this one. Probably a fluke but worth noting for future reference when I get around to smoking another one of these. Nevertheless, the draw, burn and volume remained sublime. 9/10

Thoughts:(15) After smoking 2 of the Crusaders (Robustos) over the past week in anticipation of the upcoming Lionheart review, I am glad I waited to review this size over the Robusto Size. This cigar just had more all around in the flavor and body department. Not that the others were bad at all and I enjoyed them very much but I think this size suits this cigar perfectly and really gives the smoker all it has to offer. It really was awesome! I was pretty disappointed by the splitting wrapper but other than that this was a very positive experience and one that I definitely look forward to again in the future. 13/15

Final: 92