Welcome back!  We hope you will enjoy our third Blind Eye Cigar review.

With each review, we will post some information from the video in a TL;DW (Too Long; Didn’t Watch) write-up.  This way, you don’t have to take notes!

Panel: Jeremy (me), Gene, and Carter

Cigar: Zino Classic No. 8 (Churchill)

Manufacturer: Davidoff

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut

Binder: Honduran

Filler: Dominican(some info lists Dominican; others just Honduran) and Honduran

Price: $8.00

Smoke Time: 1 hr 20 min

Other Notes: Paired with water, lit with a triple flame torch, cigar not revealed until the end of the review.

Appearance and Construction

Chris King, the owner of CK’s Cigar Shop, agreed to sponsor some of our blind reviews.  He also provides hosting for this site (thank you sir!)  He selected this cigar without telling us what it was.  Well, he did emphasize the fact that they were NOT A. Fuentes, which is what we were all guessing at first.  If you don’t know Chris, he is a big fan of Fuente!

The Zino Classic No. 8 comes in black tubos and has a burgundy band with the Zino name written in gold, cursive letters inside of an oval.  All 3 cigars were in excellent shape.  They had a slightly veiny claro wrapper and a somewhat soft feel when squeezed.  The cut was clean with minimal loose tobacco and each of us were able to light them up easily.

All 3 cigars had a great draw; almost perfect!  The cigars produced a lot of flavorful smoke, but did burn a little fast.  Carter’s cigar actually had a bit of a run in the burn during the first inch that required some touching up to correct.  This could have been from burning the wrapper with the triple-flame torch.  Gene and I had no issues at all.  The burn was mostly even throughout the cigar.  Gene did have to relight his cigar once towards the end of it.

The ash was somewhat loose and flaky, but did hold on for an inch or more at a time.  I did have some fall off once, but it usually held on until I knocked it off. Once Carter was able to correct the run on his cigar, the ash held up nicely.

Flavor

Much like the previous reviews, we all got about the same flavors during the smoke.  The first third had prominent grass and wood notes, with a mild pepper in the first half-inch and a hint of floral.  As we got into the second-third, Carter noted some earth and cream with an increase in the floral notes.  Gene and I thought the same plus toast.

As we approached the final third, I started to get a mild pepper again and the occasional butter and salt flavor.  The wood also increased in prominence, almost neutralizing the grass from earlier.  Gene did notice a slight bitterness and char flavor at the very end, but was not overbearing.  We all smoked the Zino Classic No.8 to the nub.

All three of us enjoyed this cigar a lot.  It had a balance of flavors that developed nicely throughout the cigar.  It was slightly above medium in complexity and very smooth.  We all thought this would be a great daytime cigar or nighttime for someone who prefers milder cigars.  I could see this going very well with a cup of coffee in the morning.

Strength/Body

For most of the cigar, I would say the strength stayed on the mild side of medium.  However, it does increase in the final third to a solid medium with  medium-full body.  Due to the abundance of smoke, it coats the mouth with lots of enjoyable flavor and has a rather long finish.

Recommendation

All three of us recommend trying this cigar. While it is not something any of us would normally smoke after dinner (which is when the review took place), it stood up well and had enough flavor to satisfy our palates.  It is definitely a great daytime cigar and a good one to recommend to someone who is just starting out.  It has enough flavor to be interesting to the experienced smoker, yet not overwhelming for the developing palate of a beginner.

The only downside (could be upside for some) is that it burns rather fast.  This is a churchill, but we were all finished within 1hr 20 minutes.  If you are looking for a 2 hr cigar, this is not it. However, if you don’t like spending hours smoking a cigar, it will fit the bill.

I found some of these online around $9-$10, but Chris sells them for $8 ea, which is a great price.  If you do want to try it and need to locate a retailer, look no further!  Contact info for Chris (CK’s Cigar Shop):

Did Anyone Guess What It Was?

No!  We looked through his humidor cabinet for clues, but missed the Zinos.  Of course, they were in tubos in the box, so we probably still wouldn’t have seen them.

Chris did ask us how much we though a cigar like this would cost, and I did guess $8.

Here are some pics from the review.

Order yours at www.ckcigarshop.com

Zino Classic No. 8

Good till the end!