Today I would like to offer the final review of the Amendola Family Cigars Signature Series Cannoli, specifically the Connecticut blend or a Jeffrey Amendola would call it – The White. Introduced in 2021, the Series Cannoli Connecticut sports a beautiful Ecuadorian shade grown Connecticut wrapper and like the Sumatra blend, it is expressed in a single 5.5 x 42 corona vitola and comes packaged in 20 count boxes. MSRP is set at $9.00/cigar.
Like others, Amendola is tight lipped on the blend other that the wrapper, which is Ecuadorian shade grown Connecticut.
For this review I sampled two of the Amendola Family Cigars Signature Series Cannoli Connecticut coronas, which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The first thing you notice about the Amendola Family Cigars Signature Series Cannoli Connecticut is its golden tan, silky smooth wrapper that exhibits just a few veins and a slight oily sheen. It has excellent packing with no discernable soft spots. A well applied triple cap finishes the presentation.
Two bands adorn this cannoli. The primary band uses a white, silver, and black motif. The Amendola Family Cigars logo is presented in the center using silver on a white background. The left side displays the Italian word “Rispetto” (Respect) and the right side “Lealta” (Loyalty). The bottom of the band displays the word “CANNOLI” in silver a black background. There is also a white footer band.
Running the barrel of the Cannoli along the nose, I noted the mildly pungent fermented leaf notes that remined me of a resting pilon of leaf. The foot exudes a delectable array of fruit, cocoa and nut.
Using my double blade Xikar cutter, I cut the cap straight across the shoulder of the cigar and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that offered notes as inviting as the aromas I got off the foot – cream, pepper, spice, nut and cocoa -there is a lot going on here.
I used a lit cedar spill to warm the foot gently to an even orange glow as I drew in the first puffs of sweet floral smoke. Follow along as I burn this cannoli to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Right off first light there is a sweet fruit nectar aroma along with floral notes on the palate
- Natural sweetness quickly adds to the mix along with a delightful creaminess
- Light grey ash builds on top of a medium thick char line
- Cocoa notes round out the early profile and I am intrigued to smoke more
- Caramel notes add to the pleasure
- Ash fell in a solid chunk revealing a centered but flat burn cone
- Mild spice and growing fruit notes develop
- Almond notes enter just after the midway point adding the already pleasant array of flavors
- Dark chocolate notes evolve down thorough the final
- Mild to medium in strength
- Total Smoking Time was an amazing 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
If ever there was a perfect morning cigar to pair with a rich espresso, the Amendola Family Cigars Signature Series Cannoli Connecticut is one to look for. This corona was chocked full of flavor and balanced complexity with natural sweetness, fruit, cream, and cocoa. Additional flavor nuances found their way in through the burn and never was there a bite or harshness to the bend. The burn was clean from foot to nub with only a flat burn cone as the one negative point. This is most certainly worth a box buy and I rate it a solid 96.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flat but Centered Burn Cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Buy a Box; (+1) Positive experience is the same through multiple samples; (+1) Extremely complex in flavor and aroma
