Liga Privada No. 9 Cigar Review
Here I sit in the backyard smoking this Liga Privada No. 9 Parejo Oscuro wandering whether or not this is still legal. This isn’t some idle curiosity either because I think the guy in the police helicopter circling above might be able to see me. If this review is short you now know why.
This cigar looks wonderful. The Connecticut wrapper, grown domestically (who says we don’t create things anymore?), looks wonderful. No blemishes and it has a uniformly warm brown color to it. A web of small veins wraps its way around the cigar but that does not give me any cause for concern.
In the past I reviewed the Liga Privada No. 52 and I absolutely loved it. But it’s a different cigar as this one. The 52 is spicier while the 9 is not. Both are good though, but how good is the Liga Privada No. 9?
Cigar Stats
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Brazil
Filler: Honduras & Dominican Republic
Price: $12.00/Single | $290.00/Box of 24
John Muir Torch!
It starts out well enough. Earthiness is the core to a pretty lively flavor spectrum. And the flavors don’t just come in and sit down like the phlegm on that commercial. The flavor here is hopping around and keeping you interested. My only complaint thus far is that it feels like this cigar is holding some flavor back during this third.
The second third improves on the first in terms of flavor. Bigger flavor along the lines of earth, sweet coco, leather and some other variations of flavor along those lines. Really, this is an excellent cigar if you like those flavors. It’s an excellent cigar even if you don’t normally love those flavors even.
The final third brings on a slightly different flavor profile with the earthiness taking on a more dusty feel to it. The main flavors that I went over in the last paragraph are pretty much the same during this third. Even though I do not get a lot of evolution in the flavor profile from start to end there is a good deal of complexity in the flavors.
I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar even though my tastes tilt more towards spiciness. It’s a medium-full bodied cigar with a great draw and burn. This is a good cigar to treat yourself to from time to time.
91 points
Liga Privada T52 Cigar Review
I’m trying to remember if I have heard anything bad about this cigar. Honestly, nothing comes storming to the forefront of my memory at this moment telling me that somebody doesn’t like this cigar. I’ve had a couple of these and, well, you will just have to wait to see what I think.
The Liga Privada T52 Belicoso is a wonderfully crafted quasi-torpedo (the head is rounded instead of coming to a point as is the case with most torpedos). Dark and oily are the best descriptors for this Connecticut grown Habano wrapper. I can detect no soft or hard spots on the cigar. I could ramble on about the back story regarding the wrapper for this cigar but, to cut a long story short, it’s special and grown the right way.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Brazil
Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
Price: $11.00/Single | $240.00/Box of 24
Bradbury Flame!
The first third is an example of restrained greatness. Creamy chocolate is bracketed by a soft and somewhat sweet spice and some cream (the actual flavor and not just the smoking characteristic). What is most impressive about this cigar in the early goings is that the flavors mix together so well with some complexity.
The penultimate third has pretty much the same flavors just in a different mixture. That creaminess has increased and so has the chocolate flavor, more like coco now. The spice has dissipated somewhat.
Spice has almost completely disappeared in the final third. That’s fine because the other flavors are still very enjoyable on their own. Speaking of those other flavors, there are some changes of note. Mainly, the chocolate has morphed into something that I can only describe as hot chocolate.
In order to conceptualize the totality of the flavors in this cigar takes a little imagination. What I have outlined above are the basic flavors. This cigar’s flavor profile goes much further than that. Overlapping all those flavors is a grittiness that increases the enjoyment of all those flavors. Furthermore, each individual flavor takes on a chameleon-like liveliness that you don’t find in many cigars.
Suffice it to say this is an extremely enjoyable cigar. Full bodied with an excellent draw and a decent burn. It excites and intrigues from the first puff to the very end, where I burned my fingers a couple of times trying to get just one more taste.
94 points
Liga Privada No. 9 Cigar Rights of America Special Edition
I was getting ready to watch the final episode of Oz the other night and I realized that I needed to make it a special occasion and, as I am wont to do, my mind quickly drifted to cigars. As I walked to my humidor I got to thinking about the cigar sampler I bought from Cigar Rights of America: Padron, Rocky, CAO and all the others. Once I got to my humidor there was this cigar that was gently resting at the top of the pile that was begging to be smoked.
But then my mind raced back to the other cigars from this cigar maker and how they are all infused with flavor. It didn’t take long to recall my horrible experience with the Acid Kuba Kuba – how it was sickeningly sweet and how I swore to myself never to smoke one of those cigars again. But this cigar is different.
The Liga Privada line isn’t infused with anything. So I picked it up, slid it out of its cellophane wrapping and took a look.
It’s a beautiful cigar – one of the cigars from the special Cigar Rights of America sampler, in fact. The jet black, oscuro wrapper, is just dripping with oils. Upon further inspection I can feel that it is nicely packed but I see a number of veins marring the cigar’s look. I smell it and, to my mild consternation, it smells sweet. Not sickeningly sweet like the Acid KK but sweet nonetheless.
Fighting my reservations I take the Liga Privada No. 9 and sit down to watch the final episode of one of the greatest television series I have ever seen.
The cigar is cut. My nose keeps on screaming “It’s sweet!” but the prelight draw says otherwise. It’s earthy and there may even be a hint of cocoa. My hopes are lifted.
I take out my lighter and put the flame to this cigar right after I hit the play button on my laptop (I do have to smoke outside after all). The draw is good and….
On the retrohale there is a noticeable sweetness that is a lot lighter than the Kuba Kuba but also reminds me of it. And then, as if God himself decided to save this cigar, the sweetness gracefully falls into a supporting role. Hopefully, my expectations for this cigar won’t be shived by a major return of this sweetness.
Earth and cocoa quickly take over on the flavor front. It’s a nice, full bodied cigar in the beginning with lots of promise. Hopefully the Oz finale works out as well as this cigar is shaping up.
Doing a little research I find that this is the same length as the Liga Privada No. 9 Parejo, six inches. Don’t know whether or not it has the same ring gauge but I am guessing that since the length is the same that it is similar to what that cigar offers. CRA claims that the cigars in their sampler are special blends but I have no idea how special they are. Whatever the case, it starts out great.
Full bodied with a great draw and an even burn; so the fundamentals are good. And, while everyone is singing like stool pigeons on Oz this special Liga Privada No. 9 is also singing along with great flavors.
Chocolate and a small amount of spice start to come through about an inch-and-a-half of the way through. Nice additions both. Furthermore, shortly before reaching the halfway point that chocolate flavor becomes one of the leading flavors, perhaps the leading one.
Oddly enough, the strength of the cigar is subsiding the longer I smoke it. Usually, it is the other way around but this one is now medium-full bodied. Still an above average, flavorful cigar.
Besides a weak ash this Liga Privada No. 9′s flavors aren’t the most evocative ever but they are well above average. The finale of Oz is better.
At the commencement of the final third of the Liga Privada No. 9 a salty meatiness starts to emerge. And it’s good. It adds to the overall complexity of the cigar and the meaty flavor is a plus on its own.
This cigar is not as complex a tapestry as Oz is but the LP has it’s moments. Upon reflection, it was a pretty good match for the series finale. Oz didn’t leave me asking for more, it was one of the better finales I have ever seen. This cigar didn’t leave me begging for much more either.
