Stillwell Star English No. 27 review by Don José
Hey team, Don José here back with another review.
Today we have the
Stillwell Star English No. 27
by DT&T
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.
You may have seen my announcement about these making their way to NZ and now that they are here, I will be reviewing each one!
Now these sticks are not your usual cigar. They are mixed blends of Cigar and Pipe tobacco... While pipe tobacco has been used in cigars many times before... we have not seen it produce anything of interest.. Steve says this is due to the approach and quality of tobaccos used.
"StillWell Star is the world’s first luxury pipe tobacco cigar. [it] is a totally different approach.
All of the cigar and pipe tobaccos used are amongst the finest available, no expenses spared. Each of the pipe tobacco recipes is meticulously crafted in small batches by Reeves utilising only the best tobaccos and techniques. And each of the cigar ligas was carefully tailored by Saka to specifically showcase and enhance the nuances that each of the pipe blends add to the cigar.
The end result is a truly mesmerising smoking experience. Four unique cigars each with its own personality, deftly blended to afford the smoker the nuances of the flavours and aromas of the pipe blends, yet working in concert with the black cigar tobaccos. Balance, measured, refined and elegant are all hallmarks of StillWell Star."
Details:
Brand: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
Size: 6x52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian habano
Binder: San Andres Negro Cultivo Tonto
Filler: Burley, Latakia, Turkish
"A quintessential mix of Burley and Turkish leaf with a generous portion of Cypriot Latakia pressed cake paired with Nicaraguan cigar tobaccos. Rich and decadent while not being overpowering, this is a Latakia-Lover’s puro worthy of being smoked in an English Manor House beside the fire."
Ok, so now let's talk a little about the wrapper
Habano cigar wrapper is a leaf grown from a Cuban seed, hence the word “Habano” or “Havano,” referring to Cuba's capitol. Habano tobacco wrapper is darker in colour, has a much spicier flavour, a richer aroma, and has been grown in Nicaragua's Jalapa Valley and Estelí since the 1990's.
More important than the pronunciation are the reasons we like Habano cigar wrappers. Mainly we like the Habano wrapper’s flavour. It’s spicy, rich and the colour is generally dark. Chocolate is commonly tasted in Habano wrappers. And the Habano cigar wrapper is going on many of your favourite cigars.
let's get into the review.
So, I realise that these 4 reviews are going to be a little unusual in the fact that between all 4 sticks the only change is the Tripa or filler. i.e the Wrapper and binder is uniform and the pipe tobaccos used gets swapped out for each one. This means that the first half of each review is going to be exactly the same... Therefore I'll try and add some info here about each one about the uniqueness of that particular stick.
For the English No. 27, it speaks to blended pipe tobacco. The mix of Burley, Turkish & Latakia is a blend commonly found in a vanity of pipe tobaccos. the wording would suggest that the Cyprus Latakia is the dominant leaf in the mix.
Obv, Cyprus Latakia can be smoked on It's own but is generally used as a blending tobacco. It is great for adding a smoky kick to the blend.
The name 'English' is interesting as a typical English Mixture has as it's base Virginias, Turkish, Latakia, and possibly a bit of Perique. Other tobaccos, such as Burley and Black Cavendish, have found their way in the "modern" English mixtures too.
The word "English" however is also used to describe tobaccos that contain no additives. (For example, in the USA, this word is used to describe an additive-free tobacco, regardless of the ingredient tobaccos or the type of blend, so in this case, I think that is the driver for the name rather than the blend as unless I'm missing something, this blend does not contain Virginias.
Construction
And once again... no issues here.
Burn & Draw Slightly tighter draw but a better burn than the no.1 or no.32 however it did have more time in the humidor post travel so that may be playing a part in that too.
Flavour & Complexity Pre light this cigar has a strong smell of tobacco and old socks. It instantly reminded me of old english pipe tobacco thats for sure. The cold draw is strong and... well, uncomfortable... but in a good way. that is to say it has a traditional tobacco sense about it.
Once lit, wood is the first dominant flavour, followed by leather, cloves, natural tobacco and slight hint of mint. The flavour is strong, noticeably stronger than the body but doesn't change much throughout.
Strength Mid strength throughout, around 60%
Enjoyment / Journey This cigar was interesting... again, it was great as they have all been, but this one has an element thats hard to describe, it is the gap between strength of flavour and boldness of tobacco that is not... unusual, and made it very interesting. Apart from that however It's a little too consistent, in that It's 'what you see is what you get' from start to finish.
Overall Another great offering, so far the weakest of the group in my opinion but still a solid scoring cigar. I do love just how vastly different each has been so far, and I've saved the navy for last... the one that stood out to me as the pick of the bunch from the beginning! so I'm excited to see what that holds.
I rate this cigar 89 points.
A look at the numbers.
Construction -- 10/10
Burn -- 9/10
Draw -- 9/10
Flavour -- 9/10
Complexity -- 7/10
First 1/3 -- 9/10
Second 1/3 -- 9/10
Third 1/3 -- 9/10
Journey -- 8/10
Value -- 10/10
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