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Vartan House Blend
- Cigar Reviews - PuffingCigars.com
Submitted by Anthony on July 14, 2010
About a week ago I was up in the Scottsdale area and decided to stop
into one of my favorite B&M shops, Ambassador Fine Cigars. While
perusing the cavernous humidor looking for the new Davidoff Puro D'oro,
one of the friendly, well manicured, Ambassador employees struck up a
conversation with me. As we discussed cigars, I mentioned that I was a
writer for Puffing Cigars and he decided to give me one of their house
blends to try.
The cigar that was given to me is entitled the Vartan and it shares the
namesake of the stores proprietor and legend Vartan Seferian. As the
story goes it is a blend designed by Vartan himself and then produced by
the Davidoff family. The Vartan's exterior is a smooth
Connecticut-Habano hybrid wrapper grown in the ever popular Connecticut
growing fields of Ecuador. Both the binder and filler are comprised of
Dominican tobaccos, and fill out the cigar nicely without any noticeable
soft spots.
Construction: As mentioned above the cigar has a smooth texture too it,
and has a solid construction value, in that it does not have any soft
spots. I do have to mention for full disclosure sake, that mine had
some unraveling issues towards the cap and foot of the cigar.
Thankfully, they were not major issues and could be smoked through
without too much difficulty.
Draw: The draw was solid and allowed for some slight resistance in the
inhalation. I cut my cap minimally and was able to achieve an excellent
draw, which goes to show the fine construction of this cigar.
Burn: The Vartan Blend burns smoothly throughout, and I was pleased to
not have to touch it up at all. Even with the wrapper issue, I was able
to let it naturally burn through the unraveled parts without correcting
the burn path, which was nice. The ash was tight striated grey ash and
would remain firmly on the end of the cigar until one was ready to doff
it off into the ashtray.
Flavor: The Vartan Blend smokes like a Davidoff to me in the fact of its
simplicity of flavor. Most Davidoff's tend to pick one creamy flavor
note and stick to it from start to finish, so does the Vartan blend. It
starts off with a little hint of bitterness and then builds into a
strong leather tone for the rest of the smoke. It is pleasant and
creamy from start to finish, but rarely deviates from the leather notes.
At one point I detected an earthy tone, but it was fleeting.
Final Verdict: As of print this cigar is only available at the
Ambassador store and their online website. The Vartan blend is a fine
consistent cigar that reflects the Ambassador name well. It is easy to
see how this blend was produced by the Davidoff house because it tends
to be consistent in both construction and taste. While the price point
for the robusto is around $14 and probably a bit steep for the average
consumer, it does serve as a fine example of a premium smoke. If you
are looking for a complex cigar this would probably not be the stick for
you, but if you are looking for a creamy mellow luxurious smoke, then
the Vartan Blend is a fine cigar to enjoy on a lazy summer afternoon.
Cigar Reviews. Cigar News. Cigar Lifestyle & Culture
From: A. Papazian
- Cigar Reviews - PuffingCigars.com
Submitted by Anthony on July 14, 2010
About a week ago I was up in the Scottsdale area and decided to stop
into one of my favorite B&M shops, Ambassador Fine Cigars. While
perusing the cavernous humidor looking for the new Davidoff Puro D'oro,
one of the friendly, well manicured, Ambassador employees struck up a
conversation with me. As we discussed cigars, I mentioned that I was a
writer for Puffing Cigars and he decided to give me one of their house
blends to try.
The cigar that was given to me is entitled the Vartan and it shares the
namesake of the stores proprietor and legend Vartan Seferian. As the
story goes it is a blend designed by Vartan himself and then produced by
the Davidoff family. The Vartan's exterior is a smooth
Connecticut-Habano hybrid wrapper grown in the ever popular Connecticut
growing fields of Ecuador. Both the binder and filler are comprised of
Dominican tobaccos, and fill out the cigar nicely without any noticeable
soft spots.
Construction: As mentioned above the cigar has a smooth texture too it,
and has a solid construction value, in that it does not have any soft
spots. I do have to mention for full disclosure sake, that mine had
some unraveling issues towards the cap and foot of the cigar.
Thankfully, they were not major issues and could be smoked through
without too much difficulty.
Draw: The draw was solid and allowed for some slight resistance in the
inhalation. I cut my cap minimally and was able to achieve an excellent
draw, which goes to show the fine construction of this cigar.
Burn: The Vartan Blend burns smoothly throughout, and I was pleased to
not have to touch it up at all. Even with the wrapper issue, I was able
to let it naturally burn through the unraveled parts without correcting
the burn path, which was nice. The ash was tight striated grey ash and
would remain firmly on the end of the cigar until one was ready to doff
it off into the ashtray.
Flavor: The Vartan Blend smokes like a Davidoff to me in the fact of its
simplicity of flavor. Most Davidoff's tend to pick one creamy flavor
note and stick to it from start to finish, so does the Vartan blend. It
starts off with a little hint of bitterness and then builds into a
strong leather tone for the rest of the smoke. It is pleasant and
creamy from start to finish, but rarely deviates from the leather notes.
At one point I detected an earthy tone, but it was fleeting.
Final Verdict: As of print this cigar is only available at the
Ambassador store and their online website. The Vartan blend is a fine
consistent cigar that reflects the Ambassador name well. It is easy to
see how this blend was produced by the Davidoff house because it tends
to be consistent in both construction and taste. While the price point
for the robusto is around $14 and probably a bit steep for the average
consumer, it does serve as a fine example of a premium smoke. If you
are looking for a complex cigar this would probably not be the stick for
you, but if you are looking for a creamy mellow luxurious smoke, then
the Vartan Blend is a fine cigar to enjoy on a lazy summer afternoon.
Cigar Reviews. Cigar News. Cigar Lifestyle & Culture
From: A. Papazian