Last night me and fellow Blogger (and founder of Cut The Cap) Eray Galip took a much deserved after work trip to the hidden gem that is the cigar terrace at 10 Manchester Street.
After a couple of starter drinks in Covent Garden we made the 20 minute walk to Manchester street, just off Marylebone, to be greeted by a very well mannered, polite and helpful concierge, who helped us to the next room where the waiter of the cigar terrace welcomed us in. We picked our table and rested our weary legs.
I ordered a Montecristo Grand Edmundo which was not in stock until the next Tuesday and after a short browse through the humidor cabinet I picked the Punch Serie D’Oro No. 1. A first smoke for me and a far cry from my favoured marca, Montecristo and Partagas.
The waiter cut the cigar with my preferred apparatus, double guillotine cutter and started to toast my cigar perfectly.
First draw was a surprise for me. A spicy, peppery, yet mild flavour and one, despite not being my preference, that gave me great joy to taste. I was like a child who just received his first transformer toy. A car and a robot all in one. Spicy, yet perfectly to my taste.
The cigar is well constructed. A consistency throughout and unlike a fellow bloggers first try of this cigar I did find the texture to my liking. An oily wrapper that was consistent throughout, no patches, no leopard effect.
You get to the mid-section and the flavour doesn’t blow you away with a massive change or burst of flavour. The mild spice and black pepper favour keeps flowing. I was told to expect a sweet mid with this cigar but I guess I was happy this was not the case. I think it would have spoilt my new-found appreciation for the mild spicy cigar.
The ash stayed on till just past the mid way point Which was a sign of how well the cigar was constructed.
Towards the end the flavour started to die down as expected and despite having exhausted all smokability from the cigar I kept pushing for one last burst of flavour.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable cigar. Definitely one for the casual/newcomer, but still with something to teach us regulars. I wouldn’t call it my go-to cigar but I also wouldn’t write it off and considering my bias towards the vanilla/chocolatey/coffee flavours I could see this getting a great review from somebody more inclined to the peppery/spicy flavour.