I’ve been meaning to replace the nut on my FeatherFoot guitar. I have just been putting it off for awhile for fear that I wouldn’t have a chance to finish when I started. However, I finally went ahead and got some String Joy strings I’ve been wanting to try and while I’m changing strings, I might as well make and install the new bone nut.
I grabbed an Apostate Cigars The Liahona to smoke while I worked on this job. This is the last of the three initial blends from Apostate that I need to review. I have been very impressed with the previous two blends I smoked from Apostate, so I have some high expectations of this cigar.
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera Palma
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade
Binder: Mexican San Andres
Filler: Dominican Republic, Paraguay
Vitola: 6 ¼ x 45 Pyramide
Price: $12.00 MSRP
Release Date: November 2021
Company Website: www.apostatecigars.com
As always, I really like the bands on Apostate’s cigars. I really like the blue secondary band on this one. The wrapper is a little rough with some veins and wrinkles. The unique size is worth noting for this. The cigar doesn’t offer much on the nose. The cold draw has some creamy earth, but is also very faint. First light brings medium-full bodied smoke with medium flavors of some classic Connecticut grassy notes, but there’s a bit more earth and some toast in there. The first half inch burns quite quickly, but in that time the toast, along with some creamy leather, have taken the forefront with the earth and grassiness in the back. The retrohale has tons of citrus and vanilla with some pepper bite. The ash dropped right at the end of the first third. The performance has been perfect. The second third starts out with cream and toast. The leather has backed off and nearly all the grassiness is gone. Hitting halfway there is some grassiness working back in and there is some nuttiness in place of the cream. The burn has slowed down quite a bit by halfway. Near the first band there is some toasted vanilla and citrus showing up in the draw. The grassiness is gone again. The body and flavor have both also come up to full. The final third is rolling along still with great performance. The draw shows some grassiness again along with some toast, a little earth, and maybe some sweet pepper. Coming to a close at an hour and 24 minutes - wow, I thought it’d be a 50 minute burner based on the start - the performance has remained flawless. The draw flavors are about the same with a bit more pepper, but the finish has taken on the slightly bitter grassiness common in Connecticut shade cigars and added a savory wood component to it that really lingers and makes my mouth water a bit. The retrohale shows some of the savory wood along with some pepper. This was a nice way to close out the experience.
Overall Experience
Overall I think this is another banger from Apostate. They’re 3 for 3 in my book. This cigar is really a different take, to me, on a Connecticut shade cigar. Oftentimes a non-traditional Connecticut is just bold and peppery to me, in an attempt to be blatantly “not mild”. The Liahona took some of the traditional Connecticut grassiness, bitterness, and creamy notes and had them playing second fiddle to more robust flavors of earth, toast, and pepper. There were also some moments of citrus and vanilla that really brought another dimension to the blend. I’d highly recommend giving this cigar a try, and I’ll definitely be grabbing more.
I got these cigars via a proxy from a friend who got them through Beehive Cigars. You can reach out to Beehive Cigars or you can reach out to Apostate Cigars for retailer information.
Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or visit my website www.guitarsandcigarsfarm.com.