Southern Draw Rose of Sharon – Dozen Roses Solomon – Casa de Montecristo Exclusive

This week I take look at the Casa de Montecristo Exclusive – Sourther Draw Rose of a Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon.

The Good Stuff:

Souther Draw recently announced that they would be adding a new size to the Rose of Sharon portfolio, the Solomon. The Solomon will only be available for purchase at Casa de Montecristo stores. The new 7 x 58 figurado format cigar shares the same blend as the other cigars in the Rose of Sharon portfolio: Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Produced at the Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars factory in Nicaragua the Rose of Sharon Solomon will come in boxes of 12 running $12.17 per cigar. You can purchase yours and find more information about the cigar here. Big thanks to the Casa de Montecristo team for sending a few of these our way for review!

• Size: 7 x 58
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $12.17

Prelight:

The Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon is a very big, hefty cigar. The wrapper is very consistently light brown in color with a yellow tint to it. The wrapper itself feels very thin and brittle so I don’t put too much force on it while I’m handing it. The wrapper’s texture is very smooth with a decent amount of oil. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself and shows almost no signs of veining. The almost-closed figuarado-style foot bulbs out before tapering up to the cigar’s pointy, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the pink Rose of Sharon band we’ve seen before only with an additional secondary band with the “Casa de Montecristo Exclusive” branding on the front.

The wrapper on the Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon gives off mostly nutty/cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar has a bit more earthiness and tobacco mixed in. The cold draw produces lots of herbal and earthy notes of soft spice and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon starts out with a nice little black pepper zing that caught me off guard. Once the pepper faded I am greeted with a whole mess of strong cedar and vanilla flavors over herbal tea, natural tobacco, and spice. The draw is absolutely brilliant as very little puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, gray smoke which hangs around for quite some time before dissipating while the cigar releases only minor amounts of stationary smoke while it rest in my ashtray. the burn line is a little wonky at first as is the case with most figurados when they first light up, but it’s already correcting itself as it leaves behind a trail of tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for a little over a half an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon and the flavor profile has really taken off at this point. The vanilla and cedar still lead the charge, now there is a great muskiness that has crept in to accompany the herbal tea with notes of honey, cashew and spice. This is a very enjoyable flavor profile. The retrohale helps bring that spice to the front of the taste. I close out the second third with nothing in the nicotine department.

Finish:

The Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses Solomon begins to slow its pace a bit in the final third allowing me to really soak up the rich cashew and cedar flavors. The vanilla is still present and the spice has increased. Overall this is a very enjoyable profile with lots of fine touches. The cigar took me an hour and forty five minutes to smoke down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no sap, and no extended heat. I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar which says a lot for the format. I close out with almost nothin in terms of nicotine.

Overview:

I was a big fan of the Southern Draw Rose of Sharon when it first dropped and it’s a blend that I find myself always going back to so knowing that a new store exclusive was heading our way Brough much excitement. I’m happy to say that the store exclusive Casa de Montecristo Dozen Roses Solomon did not disappoint, nor did I expect it to. the flavors were complex, pronounced, and yet the body was mild enough to really just sit back and enjoy the hell out of the experience. This is a great cigar for a seasoned smoker looking for a more nuanced experience and for the novice smoker who is looking into a cigar that is on another level without breaking the bank.