5  Vegas Limitada 2011

Size: 6.2 x 52 ( Belicoso )

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano

Binder and Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras

Price: Unknown

I wanted to like this cigar--I really did.  I tried my hardest.  I really liked the 5 Vegas Limitada 2005, 2006, and 2007 varietals.  I was underwhelmed with Limitada 2008 maduro when I reviewed it in 2010, but I rescued one from the Lost Sticks Tray in 2014 that had aged into a very rich, pungent, slightly spicy smoke.  

The Limitada 2011 however just doesn't have much going for it.  It sports a dark warm brown wrapper with a lot of veins.  I smoked the 4th cigar from a 5-pack last night, paired with Auchentoshan 12-Year single malt scotch, while reading Web of the City by Harlan Ellison.  The scotch was good, the cigar bland, and the book disappointing. 

At first light, I was greeted with a slightly sweet taste--almost like toffee--with subtle but pleasant spice.  I would have wanted an Habano wrapper to provide a little more kick, to be honest, but this was promising.  Unfortunately, this quickly faded within just a few minutes and the cigar settled into a medium bodied profile highlighted by the faint taste of burnt almonds.  Not bad, but very nondescript and kind of bland.  The cigar burned  slowly and coolly for nearly two hours, but it had a tendency to go out and needed two relights. Upon each relight, the cigar seemed to gain body and strength, but it lost its nutty flavors in favor of something more generic and woodsy.  By the second half, it was hard to tell this from your average run-of-the-mill bundle cigar. 

This experience has been repeated four times now.  This is not what I expect from a Limitada.