Good evening everyone! Camacho Connie Monarca with a RRG&C.
Evening, KC. Just finished up a Herrera Esteli. Excellent burn all the way down, no wrapper issues, and excellent flavors.
Now for something of a smokedown stick. Nica Libre Potencia Churchill, from March '12. The would be "poor man's V."
Love those HEs. Never cared for any of the Nica Libres at all. Never thought the original was anything like a Padron, nor the Potencia even close to a V. Just MHO.
KC, I don't think I have had one of the originals, so no comment there.
I also wouldn't call the Potencia close to a V, though it is presented as such. I think it falls into the same category as the Undercrown, though. The UC was supposed to be the same crop as the LP9s, but swapping in seco in place of ligero, viso in place of seco, and so on. For the Potencia, they just the ligero content, use some less flavorful leaves/lower quality ones, and still give the general impression of what it is imitating (unlike the UC, which was entirely its own smoke, but that's another story).
Anywho, construction on the few Potencia's I've smoke has been excellent. This one has almost no pepper/spice to speak of, just smooth, semi-sweet dark tobacco with cedar accents. No real defined flavors in there--some soft dark chocolate, slightly earthy, but not much. Medium-ish. Thin tasting after the HE.
