I’m smoking an Asylum Nyctophilia TAA cigar from Tampa Humidor. This is an amazing smoke for $5.50! Supposedly this “all maduro” cigar sports a Mexican San Andres maduro wrapper, with all maduro Nicaraguan binder and fillers (otherwise unspecified). I’ve smoked a half dozen of these now, the experience is pretty consistent.

On the wrapper and foot I sense rich organic dirt, manure, barn yard, and a little floral perfume. The wrapper is dark oscuro-chocolate in color, mostly smooth, a few veins, and a little oily. It looks beautiful. Well packed there aren’t any soft spots. Straight cut, perfect draw.

First flavors include some white pepper, and dark earths, cedar, burnt sugar, and some warm spice. Coffee and semi-sweet chocolate notes go in and out. Burn stays near perfect, the draw is just right, and there is lots of creamy smoke. In the second third there is a little more pepper, sometimes spearment, leather, and burning wood like the sweet smells of a home fire place. In the last third I sense something like wintergreen (flowers?), more pepper (but never too much), less sweetness, chocolate disappears, and something like heavily roasted vegetables. Lots of flavor layers here changing throughout the cigar. Even at the last half inch there was both sweetness and other flavors. The cigar never seems to go beyond the medium side of medium-full in nicotine strength. Really, this is a very well balanced cigar.

I haven’t tried one of these early in the day with coffee, but I suspect it would be a good pairing. I’ve paired these with a number of rums. The pictures show Gosling’s Black Seal, but both Mocambo 20 and Pampero Anniversario R. E. are better with this stick.

I understand that these are something of a special release for 2015 only, but there are still boxes of these to be found. If you like really rich darkly flavored cigars, you will enjoy this one.