Ezra Zion Tantrum Prensado Penqueno

This Ezra Zion Tantrum Prensado Penqueno is another sample provided by Ken from the Ezra Zion Cigar Company which by the way is one of the lines included in the House of Emilio best of the boutiques.  I am pleased the Ezra Zion Cigar Company asked me to review their products and would like to thank them for the opportunity to enjoy their fine cigars.

Quick Details

• Cigar Size: 4.4 x 44
• Origin: Nicaragua
• Wrapper:  Vintage Nicaraguan 99 Corojo Rosado
• Binder: Nicaraguan 98 Criollo
• Filler: 5 to 7 year aged Nicaraguan Ligero

This was another cigar that my preconceived notions nearly had the better of me. I have read a few other reviews on the Ezra Zion Tantrum over that past couple months and they led me to believe that I had a pepper bomb on my hands. If you have read many of my reviews, you know just how much I like pepper and if you are a first time reader, let me share it with you too. I hate pepper! Now I don't mind a bit of pepper but, if it burns my tongue I'm done. So now you understand my apprehension about smoking this cigar. Additionally, I have discovered my palette is spot on with some reviewers, a million miles away from others. With this cigar and review I once again am not following the norm. I'll sum this cigar up right here, then tell you about the rest, but to paraphrase, this cigar was for lack of a better term, simply delicious!

Well anyway back on task here. Overall construction of the Tantrum was superb. Feeling down the body, it was firm, in fact very firm, with no obvious soft areas, the wrapper contained only the finest of veins and was rolled on with nearly invisible seams. Cold aromas from the body and foot were that of toasted tobacco and once the end was clipped the free cold draw had the same flavor notes. Well so far so good, my pepper fears were fading.

I toasted the foot with the first match and then lit it up with the second. The first two draws had a good dose of black pepper and I instantly thought the others may have been right. Well I jumped to that conclusion to soon, that was the end of the pepper for the entire cigar. The most interesting thing about this cigar for me was that I could not pin down a flavor in the first third. Don't get me wrong the cigar was delicious, but I just couldn't come up with a reference other than it was slightly sweet. In the center section a more noticeable flavor mix showed up. I could taste a shifting mix of sugar, brown sugar, earth, oak and burning oak. The light/dark semi flaky ash held until the mid point. The burn was a bit wavy in the first half but never enough to correct it. In the final third the flavor shifting settled down in the final third giving me a tasty full bodied finish of brown sugar mixed with earth.

Overall this was a difficult cigar for me to review due to my preconceived ideas and not being able to discern some of the flavors, but boy was it worth it! I loved this cigar for the strength and the flavor mix. This was the second stick I have reviewed from the Ezra Zion Cigar Company and it too was a winner! My suggestion, give this cigar a try and see what flavors develop for you!

Rated 94.5