LP T52 Review

7/31/2014

Cigar: Liga Privada T52
Size: Belicoso, 6.0”x52
MSRP: $15.10
Strength: Full
Wrapper: Sun Grown Habano
Origin: Nicaragua

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Prelight: The T52 has a gorgeous, dark chocolate brown wrapper with very minimal veins. The chocolaty aroma is breathtaking, and the whole cigar has no soft spots and is extremely uniform. You could use this thing to shoot billiards. After a snip, the draw is easy – honestly, a little too easy for my preference.

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1/3: Man oh man, the retrohale burns with pepper! And the smoke output is more than impressive. I can’t imagine smoking this in a lounge. The pepper quickly fades and cocoa comes to the fore-front, dragging along a bit of cedar and hints of dried fruit. It’s delicious! The burn isn’t razor sharp but does the job and corrects itself frequently.

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2/3: The ash drops and I realize I’m into the second third. The dried fruit is still prevalent, as well as the cedar. There is a creaminess now and I realize that this cigar seems lighter than the No. 9. As a taste reminiscent of dusty oak comes into play I become enveloped in cigar heaven. There is hints of cardamom and other baking spices, earth, wood, cream, lots of floral tastes and at one point I even pick up fruit candy…damn it, what’s the brand?

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3/3: There is still a lovely floral, chocolaty oak taste going into the final third, but that is short lived as a salty, meaty taste I remember from the UF-13 appears. Why Jonathon? Why? It was going so well for me. Again, it’s not a bad taste, just odd. Pepper comes back as well and a strong mint, too. (Not like a menthol, but it’s like I smoking dried mint leaves.) The mint fades as quickly as it appeared and the nub – although still a little salty – returns to the beautiful floral, chocolaty oak I was enjoying before.

Overall: The second third of this cigar is bliss! The first third is great, and the final third is underwhelming. Match all that with near-flawless construction, this is a pretty dang good cigar. At least it’s not as HTF as some other Ligas, but it is still difficult to track down for some, and then the price demanded by it is a bit rough. Fortunately, if you keep your eyes out, you can find them around the $10 mark, and at that price they are worth a shot. I think that my palate (and what I want in a cigar) just doesn’t match Jonathon Drew’s.