Warped Private Blend Pre-Light

The Warped Private Blend cigar is the brain child of the owner and blender of Warped Cigars, Kyle Gellis. According to Kyle’s website, the Private Blend are handmade in Little Havana, Miami and are aged in foil wrapped bundles for a minimum of 90 days.

While writing my review, I decided I would send Kyle a little note to see if I could get a little more information about the blend of this cigar and how he came up with it. Being the stand up guy that he is, Kyle immediately messaged me back with this reply:

I came up with the Private Blend because I was looking for something for me to smoke around the factory that was stronger then Anubis and could give me a little nic kick. I wanted it to have alot of spice but also some sweetness to it which the Ecuadorian wrapper provided, which was extremely flavorful. I used Jalapa and Condega filler and a Condega binder.

Kyle was even generous enough to donate a sampler of Warped Cigars to Stogie Life, so we could hold a contest for our readers. So, read on to find out how you could win your very own sampler of Warped Cigars:

CIGAR INFORMATION
Vitola/Size: Corona Gorda (5 5/8″ x 46)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: The Corona Gorda vitola comes in a sampler of four other Warped Cigars for $25.00.

PRE-SMOKE
Appearance: The Warped Private Blend comes with a very simple, yet quite attractive jet black band with the word “Warped” and a crest of an eagle (or falcon) printed on it in lime green. The words “Little Havana” are printed in white underneath the crest, and when the band is peeled from the cigar, the words “Private Blend” and a date are revealed.
Wrapper Colour: Oily, dark brown wrapper.
Feel: There are a couple of soft spots; one near the band and another closer to the head of the cigar.
Scent of wrapper: Sweet hay.
Scent of foot: Mossy.
Flavour on Draw: Nothing distinguishable

SMOKE
Resting Smoke: The smoke of the Warped Private Blend has a lovely aroma of sweet milk chocolate.
Taste – initial 3rd: The main flavours in the initial third of this cigar are that of coffee and toasted nuts, but there’s also some other sweet flavour on the finish that’s so faint that I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The retro-hale gave me a blast of pepper through the siunses.
Taste – middle 3rd: The coffee and toasted nut flavours from the initial third remains in the middle third of the cigar, and the faint sweet flavour on the finish has been replaced by a nice leathery taste. The retro-hale continues to treat my sinuses to some strong black pepper.
Taste – final 3rd: The flavour profile of the final third of the Private Blend remains very consistent with that of the first two-thirds. The coffee and nutty flavours are still there, although they have become heavier and more pronounced. The leather on the finish remains, and so does the strong black pepper through the sinuses.
Strength: This cigar is definitely in the medium-full bodied range for the first two-thirds of the stick, but in the final third the flavours kick it up to a sold full.
Feeling: Although each puff produced a fair amount of smoke, it still felt very light and barely noticeable in the mouth.
Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: I was smoking at a moderate rate and the cigar did warm up a bit near the end. If you are a fast smoker, I could see this stick getting quite hot in the final third.
Draw: A tad looser than I like, which could explain why it warmed up a bit on me near the end.
Finish: Medium in length.
Construction: The Warped Private Blend was nicely constructed. There was a small patch near the band, but it was barely noticeable and didn’t affect the smoking of the cigar in any way. The burn line was a little wonky for the first inch or so, but it self-corrected and straightened up quite nicely for the remainder of the cigar. The light gray ash was fairly solid, but at times it was a little flaky.
Other aspects: I used my Z-Plus zippo insert to light the cigar and my Xikar guillotine cutter to clip the head.
Libation: Good ol’ H2O.

FINAL VERDICT
Like It: Yes.
Buy It Again: Most likely.
Recommend It: Yes. Although the Warped Private Blend isn’t overly complex, it has some very nice flavours and for about $5 a stick you can’t go wrong.

Some pics of the experience:

CONTEST: To win a sampler of Warped Cigars, simply leave a comment below. Be sure to include your email address in the space provided, so we can get in contact with you if you win. The contest will run for one week and close on Thursday September 3rd at 4:00PM EST. Good luck!