'April Fools' 90x9 review by Don José
Hey team, Don José here back with another review.
Today we have the
April Fools 90x9
by Asylum Cigars
If this is your first time here, my reviews rate each cigar on 10 factors and each factor gets a rating out of 10 giving me an overall out of 100. The 10 factors are: Construction, Draw, Burn, Flavour, 1/3 overall, 2/3 overall, 3/3 overall, Journey (how well it flows), Complexity & Value for money.
The story of the Asylum Nine 9x90 goes back to earlier this year when the company put an April Fool’s joke on social media saying it was releasing a 9x90 cigar. This soon led to many retailers requesting the cigar! CLE Cigar Company, the parent company of Asylum decided to green light the project and turn the April’s Fool joke into reality.
Christian Eiroa and Tom Lazuka, the masterminds behind Asylum cigars, released the Asylum Nine Limited Edition April Fool’s Day cigar as part of their ninth anniversary line up. Each stick is placed in a wooden coffin & due to it's rather extraordinary size, the Asylum Nine Limited Edition April Fool’s Day cigar is only sold as singles with a total quantity produced being very limited, only 2,200 cigars.
Details:
Brand: Asylum Cigars
Size: 9x90
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras
So we know it is a Honduras puro... but not a great deal more. The wrapper is maduro, smooth and it has a great fragrance, at a guess I'll say it's a Corojo wrapper, given its appearance and the location of origin.
let's get into the review.
First thoughts
It's big.. I know I smoked a Woody which is about 3 of these... but where the woody was a clear gimmick this has a lot more of a production line cigar feel to it... and that almost makes it seem bigger haha.
It is a very awesome looking offering, both the cigar and the coffins presentation are top quality. There is a strong cedar smell on opening and the wrapper looks thick and premium. Due to it's size I presumed multiple wrapper leafs, but I can not for the life of me see a join.
Now... the first challenge is cutting it. it's 90g so thats nearly 1.5 inches across... I have straight cutters, but the biggest only cuts a 70g. I have a V cutter that will manage a 70g at a push.. I have some scissor cutters, but they don't do a great job on larger sticks. and a few options of plunge cutters, but the biggest of them is 10mm hole.
I considered a few punches but in the end opted for a freehand cut with the cigar knife as I wanted to ensure maximum draw on a stick this big.
Construction
Fantastic construction! Quite amazing really given its size. I'm actually giving this an 11/10 for the first time ever just to explain how well it's made
Burn & Draw Burn and Draw were always going to be the biggest challenge for a cigar of this size... but surprisingly this smoked very well! You can't hold it in your mouth, its a struggle enough to hold it anyway haha so getting a good draw seal is... uncomfortable, but there is no difficulty getting smoke from this thing that is for sure.
Burn wise, its hard to judge... sure it was a bit all over the show, but I've seen plenty of 50g cigars burn a lot worse than this did, and I think that says a heap. I had no re-lites and only needed to touch it up once during the first third due to the difficulty in lighting it evenly to begin with.
Flavour & Complexity Pre light this cigar has a strong smell of cedar and leather. and the cold draw is well, pretty plain. Once lit however things really take shape. Flavours of leather, spice, cocao blended together with a nice creaminess. There is a nice progression to the complexity with hints of caramel and even berry floating in and out.
Strength Mid strength, around 60% in general with a slight kick in the last 3rd.
Enjoyment / Journey Well, who can complain about 4+hrs of cigars? It's not often I would find myself with the time to sit and smoke something like this (hence the tradition of doing these reviews at this time of year) but it is a great way to spend an afternoon. The only real loss of points in this area is the size, which I'm reluctant to punish the score on because well... the size is the point of this cigar right?
Overall Overall a pretty bloody impressive offering that Asylum have pulled off here. The first third is a little hard, not for lack of draw but just getting use to how to smoke this thing, but the 2nd and 3rd thirds are awesome, good flavours and a surprisingly great 'smokability' that earn this stick what I think is a outstanding score for a cigar of this size.
I rate this cigar 88 points.
Now you can't actually but the 9x90 here (currently at least) but there are a few of the Asylum Nine line available including the 7x70 which is just a tad more manageable haha.
A look at the numbers.
Construction -- 11/10
Burn -- 8/10
Draw -- 9/10
Flavour -- 9/10
Complexity -- 8/10
First 1/3 -- 7/10
Second 1/3 -- 9/10
Third 1/3 -- 9/10
Journey -- 8/10
Value -- 10/10
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