Man O' War Ruination

The Man O’ War Ruination is a line of cigars blended by AJ Fernandez and rolled in his factory Tabacalera Fernandez in Esteli, Nicaragua. The Ruination is made up of mostly ligero tobacco which gives it the full-bodied flavours that many cigar smokers love. Did I love the Man O’ War Ruination? Read on to find out:

CIGAR INFORMATION
Vitola/Size: Robusto No. 2 (6″ x 60)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Unknown
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran Cuban-seed Ligero
Price: A single will run you about $9 to $11 online.

PRE-SMOKE
Appearance: Each Man O’ War Ruination comes individually wrapped in cellophane, and comes with two cigar bands. The primary cigar band is the same as the bands on the regular Man O’ War line, and the secondary band is a black, gold and red foot band with the letters M, O, and W printed on it. You may notice in my pictures that the Man O’ War Ruination that I smoked doesn’t have the secondary foot band. This is because Cigar.com was originally shipping the 6″ x 60 (Robust No. 2) size without the secondary band; they are now shipping them with both bands.
Wrapper Colour: Dark brown, velvety wrapper, with a touch of oiliness to it.
Feel: This massive stick is jam packed with tobacco and is very solid with no soft spots.
Scent of wrapper: Hay with a bit of sweetness.
Scent of foot: Chicken coop.
Flavour on Draw: Mossy with a bit of spice on the tongue.

SMOKE
Resting Smoke: The resting smoke of the Man O’ War Ruination has a very nice sweet chocolate aroma.
Taste – initial 3rd: This cigar started out with a bang, and I picked up on a number of nice flavours including coffee, cedar, cocoa, and a touch of citrus spice on the finish. The retro-hale produced a very enjoyable mild spice through the sinuses.
Taste – middle 3rd: The flavours in the middle third of the Ruination were quite similar to those of the first third with coffee, dark chocolate and cedar being the most prominent. I also picked up on a light leather taste every now and then with some nice spice on the finish. When retro-haling the smoke I got a blast of blast of strong black pepper.
Taste – final 3rd: Although the flavours have become noticeably “heavier”, the major flavours of coffee, dark chocolate and cedar remain in the final third. I didn’t pick up on the light leather flavour, but the spicy finish was still there. Again, the retro-hale produced some strong black pepper that made my eyes tear up a little.
Strength: I would definitely class this cigar as a full-bodied stick from start to finish.
Feeling: The Man O’ War Ruination produces lots of thick, creamy smoke.
Heat on Fingers and in Mouth: None.
Draw: The draw was a little on the loose side, which is quite understandable given the massive ring gauge.
Finish: Medium.
Construction: The Ruination is a very well constructed cigar with a couple of medium sized veins running the length of it. The burn line was shaky at times, but for the most part it self corrected. The ash was flaky, but quite solid and lasted for about 1 1/2″ before I decided to tap it off.
Other aspects: I clipped this cigar with my Palio guillotine cutter and lit it with my Ronson Jet Lite.
Libation: None.

FINAL VERDICT
Like It: Very much!
Buy It Again: Definitely!
Recommend It: Yes. If you like full-bodied, full-flavoured cigars then you can’t go wrong with the Man O’ War Ruination.

Some pics of the experience: