tldr;
I’m doing my best to find an LFD that I truly like. And I’ve smoked several though I’ve only written about two of them – including this post – here. But thus far, I haven’t found one that I love and the Solis, though it showed lots of potential, unfortunately missed the mark for me this time. I say “this time” because based on my experience with just this single stick, I realized that it was probably put on the shelf a little too early. And I also think it needs LOTS of humidor time before smoking.
The Solis is one of those cigars that takes a while to develop. It doesn’t become really tasty until the final third. It’s kind of “meh” for me in the first half, but by the second half, it really starts showing the promise of a great finish. Then the final third hit and I finally got to my happy place. It would be great to get there earlier.
But that has been my experience thus far with LFD cigars. My experiences with them are inconsistent. They either hammer me from the start or take a while to develop. And to be clear, I’m not saying they’re bad. I just haven’t found one that speaks to me – yet. I remain hopeful.
As expected from LFD, the Solis’ construction was flawless. The wrapper was as smooth as can be and the stick had some heft to it. I’ve got to hand it to LFD, they don’t skimp on tobacco. As a result of this great construction, as you can see in the picture to the left, the burn line was razor straight throughout the smoke. It got a little wavy at times, but corrected itself. Total smoking time for me was just over an hour and a half.
As for how it smoked, when I lit it up, I got super excited! It was toasty, nutty, and spicy with a nice, medium body. I was prepared for some very good things to come! But as the first third progressed, that initial brightness faded a bit. The profile turned earthy and vegetal, similar to green bell peppers. It wasn’t offputting, but it wasn’t pleasing either. This was because a hickory-like component was also present and to be honest, the two didn’t mix very well. Near the end of the first third, it became a little leathery. Strength and body had built up to about medium+ near the end of this section which didn’t help as it just intensified the profile. The saving grace was the gorgeous, stack-of-dimes ash.
Into the second third, the profile started to make a change for the better. It’s almost as if the cigar was saying, “Sorry, I was just fucking with you. Here’s what I’m really like.” While the first part of this section carried the flavors from the first third, the strength suddenly changed to medium. Moving into the second third about a half inch, the earthy, vegetal stuff waned. Suddenly, the smoke became lush and creamy. Stone fruit and marzipan made their way into the smoke. The smoke itself got THICK and had a chewy mouthfeel.
Hitting the second half, I was in my happy place. Strength and body stayed at a solid medium. Bittersweet chocolate came out of nowhere and put a smile on my face. The cigar got a little plugged at this point, but it wasn’t anything my PerfecDraw couldn’t fix, so I unplugged it and pulled a big chuck of leaf out! The nuts waned just a bit and a white pepper spice got introduced. I was loving the smoke at this point.
By the final third, it was like there was too much of a good thing in the second third, and the cigar loaded a bit too much. So I did a lighter purge and burned off the shit at the end of the stick, and everything was right. Strength and body picked back up to medium+, which wasn’t bad because it wasn’t accompanied by a kick in nicotine. The bittersweet chocolate remained and the wood component waned just a bit and was replaced with a subtle cinnamon spice – very pleasing. The creaminess kicked WAY up. I loved that. The vegetal quaility came back as well, but it was complementary this time as opposed to being out of place.
When I finished the stick, the owner of the shop who recommended it to me asked how I liked it. I told him, “If I’m being honest, in the balance, overall, it was just an okay stick. But I have to qualify that. I think you might’ve put it on the shelf a little early. And I think this stick could benefit being dry-boxed for a day or two before smoking. Even if your rH is at 65% as it is right now, I think it would be better a few points down.” Both of us like our sticks to be drier.
So, all in all, I liked the stick, and I’m going to get a few more. But I will probably lay them down for a few months before I smoke them and make sure to dry box them prior to lighting them up.
Unco B's Stogie Diary 