Dram Cask No. 4

This year there have been a lot of cigars released that are alcohol related. The list is long with Asylum Dragons Milk, Camacho American Barrel Aged, Perdomo Special Craft and Caleanoch from Hammer & Sickle to name a few.

Earlier this year Dram released 4 cigars that were blended to pair with specific types of Scotch and today we look at Cask No.4 which is meant to be enjoyed with a scotch that is described as Woody/Smokey, while the cigar is described as rich and intense while medium-full in strength.

Cigar Review: Dram Cask No. 4
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Fillers: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium-Full
Source: Dram Cigars

The Look: A typical gritty looking Connecticut Broadleaf adorns the Dram No. 4 cigar that is porously rolled with some significant veins. Visually the cigar won’t win any beauty contests but we’ve smoked enough cigars to note this rarely matters on a premium cigar. The band of white, blue, and gold gives the wrapper type on top, and what to cigar is meant to be paired for on bottom.

The Notes: The cold draw of the cigar offers up notes rich chocolate with a subtle spice in the background. Perhaps because I read it in the description but there is a smokey element as well although faint. The foot of the cigar has some red pepper to the nose.

Once the cigar is lit there are notes of smoked wood, and some subtle pepper notes with a hint of earth. The flavors are pretty much straight forward and all of equal intensity.

In the second third the cigar remains straight forward with notes of smoked wood, subtle pepper and earth.

The last third continues down the same path as the first two third though the earthy components are slightly muted.

The Burn: The cigar served up a tight draw, but it wasn’t to the point where it was troublesome, I was however aware of it. The cigar had a thin combustion line with an ash that held for half the cigar. It remained lit from start to finish.

The Finish: I can see how this would pair well with a scotch that was smokey and woody, however as a stand alone cigar it lacked the complexity or changes that I seek, especially in this price range. The question is how do I rate this cigar since I can see it pairing well which the scotch it was designed for even thought it didn’t keep me interested. I guess I will score it somewhere in the middle as reflected below.

Score: 87
Price: $11.00