The latest drop from the Cigar Clowns has hit the street and it is a bold aged cigar called the 5150. The number is the EMT code for Psychiatric ward. Is for an involuntary 72 hold on a person to put them in a mental facility so they don’t harm themselves or others. A friend of the Cigar Clowns has this tattooed on his head and after years of asking, he said the Clowns can use the design as long as he can name it as he used to work as a EMT paramedic.
The Clowns note that this was an extremely rare cigar with less than 5,000 produced. A little searching and I found that these are essentially sold out, so you may have to find a Clown that may have one to share or trade for. The first thing you notice about this cigar is the cellophane, it is already yellowed, because these have been laying around for quite some time and they finally decided to offer them for sale.
The company is, as always, limited in what they say about the lend or factory and all I could get from them is:
- It uses a Hybrid Nicaraguan maduro/habano wrapper with an undisclosed binder and filler
- It is expressed in single (6 x 58) Gordo vitola
- It has an MSRP of $12.00/cigar
- It is made in Nicaragua
For this review, I sampled two of the Cigar Clowns 5150 Gordos which I received from the Clowns to review on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The 5150 is wrapped in a dark brown oily wrapper that has a medium grit (tooth) to the feel. It is light on veins and solidly packed from head to foot.
A single band adorns the 5150. It uses a sky blue, yellow, and red motif and features an old cigar puffing clown riding a motorcycle. The right side declares it as the “5150” and the left side identifies it as a “Cigar Clowns” product.
The sticker on the bundle is bold, bright, and is the best-looking branding I have seen in some time. If this was a full production cigar it would pop on the shelf.
Running the 5150 along the nose I quickly detected rich chocolate and nut aromas off the foot and naturally sweet tobacco long the barrel. It is quite enticing for sure.
Using my CigarMedics Baller cutter, I opened the cap perfectly and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I felt was more open with restriction that I prefer but may be fine for other. The draw offered continued notes of chocolate and nut along with added pepper and earth notes.
Using my triple flame torch, I warmed the foot gently, bringing it to an even orange glow as I drew in the first nasal whacking shot of white pepper. Follow along as I burn this Clown to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Right off the initial light the nose and throat are whacked with heavy notes of white pepper
- Extreme volume of smoke fills the palate
- A pleasant cocoa aroma wafts off the foot
- Light grey ash forms on top of a wavy thin char line
- Pepper tones down as the pre-light chocolate notes enter the profile
- Cream and nut evolve in the background
- An unexpected umami spice mixes into the profile for a few puffs
- Ash dropped in a nice chunk revealing an off centered burn cone
- Natural sweetness balances out the blend
- Cream continues to sooth the palate
- Strength builds to a solid medium plus
- Mild wave in burn
- Cream becomes more dominant midway
- An added peppery spice reemerges
- Chocolate gets darker near the end of the second third
- Off burn developed that required a touch up
- Earth and Pepper take it down to final
- Medium – Full in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 minutes
Final Analysis
I found the Cigar Clowns 5150 to be one of those cigars that offers flavor and strength over burn. The flavor was pleasant and even in your face peppery spice to start. The cream and natural sweetness that builds in the background balanced out the pepper and made way for the enticing pre-light chocolate and nut notes to come through. I also like the short burst of Umami spice early in the burn. It reaches a medium to full strength by the end of the journey and may be even considered full to some enthusiasts. The burn was just a tad wavy to start but eventually developed an off burn that did require a touch up to get it right. I did notice on both samples, there was a little blead of smoke coming through the wrapper at points, which I am sure contributed to the off burn and uncentered burn cone I experienced. I understand, these are sold but if you can find a friendly Clown to get you one or two, it is worth a try, especially if you like strong big ring gauge cigars. I rate this an 89.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Wave in the beginning; (-1) Off Centered Burn Cone; (-1) Off Burn; (-1) Touch Up Required; (-1) Smoke bleads out of wrapper
