I am so retardedly excited about this cigar that I almost don’t want to review it. I’m such a DPG fanboy lately that I can’t even really explain it. I’ve got a few My Fathers in the humidor that I haven’t had the gall to torch up, but tonight… tonight is the night I’mma try this bad boy.

The appearance of the cigar is amazing. The wrapper is smooth and light with veins that are seen but not felt. The double stickers are elaborate gold, salmon, and red. This is a 2011 cigar, but the labels look old, and they look old without the impression that they are trying to look old. The construction is perfect, I can detect no soft spots or bumps. The triple cap is expertly applied and equally impressive.

It’s a lightly aromatic stick unlit. It’s not pungent or offensive to the nostrils, but a light balanced banyardish scent. I’d be content just sitting on the couch all night sniffing this thing. Actually, I’ve been doing it for about 15 minutes.

As much as I hate to do it, I snip off a bit of the cap. It feels wrong, but… can’t take them with you.

The prelit draw is dry, sweet, and cedary.  Time to light it up.

The initial few draws are peppery. Less extreme than I expected, and the smoke is also very dry, something that’s new to me. It dries out my tongue and mouth almost instantly. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet, but it’s interesting nonetheless. About a 1/4 inch in, the pepper subsides and turns into a sweet and toasty cedar. That drying effect also went away. It’s really cedary with hints of coffee and caramel. So far the draw is perfect. Just enough resistance, just enough air. There’s a slightly bittersweet taste that is clinging to my lips and the front of my teeth. It’s not ultra bitter, or unpleasant, or even good.. just interesting. Exhaling through the nose is spicy and makes my eyes a bit watery, but then leaves a cool, slightly refreshing sensation in my sinuses. Halfway into the first third I’m getting dominant cedar, with hints of pepper, dark chocolate, and black coffee. This is interesting because these are woody, spicy, and bittersweet flavors without any noticeable cream. I would expect cedar, coffee, chocolate, and cream.. instead of cream, this brings spice.

The ash is of average strength, and snow white, with flecks beginning to fake off about at about 3/4 inch in. The burn isn’t entirely straight, but is not tunneling or canoeing, nor does it give me the impression that it will in the future. Now I am getting very, very strong cedar, and it’s glorious. That initial dryness in the first few draws hasn’t returned in anyway. Now the smoke is cool and satisfying with a nice refreshing aftertaste.

I actually do run into some burn issues entering the 2nd third. Got some canoeing and tunneling right around the same time that needed to be corrected. I just noticed that the burn on this stick is incredibly slow. I’ve just watched a full length movie (Red State, 88 minutes, recommended) and I haven’t even reached the halfway mark yet. The smoke is sufficient, but not overly abundant, and so far, after 88 minutes of smoking the room doesn’t feel heavy or inundated with smoke like it sometimes gets. Could be my Csonka Air Purifier working unusually hard, but that’s always on and still, the percieved level of smoke in the air is minimal. Just a note. This makes the $20 price seem more reasonable to me.

Around the halfway point I can taste the spice picking up, leaving a light on the inhale and the growing steadily in the aftertaste. That’s a nice effect, not sure how Jaime pulled it off. I’m also starting to wonder how it’s possible for this cigar to burn so slowly and last so long. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can’t seem to keep the fucking wrapper lit anymore. That’s disappointing. I keep my humidors at 65% too, so I doubt it’s an overhydration thing. The flavor at this point seems to stay spicy with the cedar taking a backseat. I am having serious issues keeping this lit though and it’s starting to piss me off, so I’ve started taking unnaturally hard draws to keep it lit. Hopefully I won’t have to do this long because it may ruin the experience of the rest of the cigar. Already I’ve been paying more attention to the burn than the flavor, and that’s not good. So far though, it’s not a problem, even with the harder draw the smoke remains cool, crisp, smooth, and tasty. Impressive. Not a hint of bitterness.

Entering the final third some of the sweetness returns and I’m settling into a nice nicotine buzz. Maybe the stick got stronger, or maybe it’s from the harder draws. Either way, it’s nice.This is a medium-full body smoke, not excessively strong or potent, and it’s got an accumulative kick to it. The way it should be.

Around the 2nd half of the final third, some bitterness picks up. It’s amazing it took this long. I still get sweet cedar and pepper, but the stick is nearing the end of it’s life. Not bad considering it’s been a tasty smoke for over 2.5 hours now. I could probably draw it out till 3 hours, but I’m not going to.

Overall.. excellent smoke. Excellent smoke. I had some severe annoying burn issues, which seems to happen to me fairly frequently, but I got a real lot out of that stick. I don’t know if I’d pay $20 for more of them, but I certainly wouldn’t say no. I’m glad I smoked it and I look forward to the other My Fathers that I’ve got in the humidor… special occasion smokes.