Initial Thoughts:
Before smoking it, I'd had the Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press for right about a month. And, with each passing day, the 40th Anniversary looked more and more delicious. Let's dive in.
The Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press is a very interesting-looking cigar. At first glance, the medium-brown wrapper leaf has quite a bit of texture and toothiness to it.
Taking a closer look, I noticed that this “Salomon Press” has an odd shape to it. It's more narrow than it is wide, and the foot and label areas have a larger ring gauge than the middle of the cigar.
On the cold draw, the Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press' torpedo-esque tip had fantastic resistance, and the flavors were of cedar.
However, as soon as I lit the cigar, the torpedo end constricted and I started to notice a tightening draw.
CigarScore:
Brand: Quesada
Line: 40th Anniversary
Size: 6 3/4 x 50/33
Cut: Guillotine
Light: Torch
Price: $16.00 – Luxury Cigar Club
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Smoke Time: 57 minutes
Through the middle of the cigar, the Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press had good construction. After a second cut, the draw was also improved. Also, the burn was mostly even.
However, there was a lot of sour, bitter tar build-up at the smoking end. That's NOT something you want to get on your lips or tongue (cuz it's gross) because it will have a negative impact on the overall smoking experience.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the cigar tar was a cause for concern. Even without the tar messing things up, I didn't love the flavors of the Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press. Additionally, this $16 cigar barely smoked for an hour.
For the most part, this cigar was mostly good. But the parts that weren't good were really not good. So, the Quesada 40th Anniversary Salomon Press earns a CigarScore 3.
