Last Fall, I happened upon a great little cigar shop in Gatlinburg, TN by the name of Smokezy.  The owner pointed out a few cigars as I browsed her shelves and I selected an Omar Ortiz.  I smoked it the following week during a Wharf Wednesday and was impressed.  I have since noticed that The Wharf carries these beauties too.  Nice.  I don't need to get in the car and drive to Tennessee to get more of them!  But I digress.  I have since picked up another one of them with intent to review.  How was it this time around?  Let's see....

Construction: The OOO is a very attractive cigar.  A nice hefty chunky robusto with an extremely oily wrapper.  That wrapper is a nice dark chocolate brown with a few veins but nothing really worrisome.

Pre-light Aroma and Draw: Out of the cellophane this beauty really makes the mouth water.  I picked up a sweet chocolate aroma from the wrapper and a very delicious cocoa and leather from the foot.  The draw is a bit tight but I am thinking that the dull cutters I used might have crushed the head a little.

Light and Burn: As usual it was windy as hell in Xenia today....Xenia is synonymous with wind, if you don't know....so I resorted to lighting with a triple flame jet lighter.  Burn is fairly even starting out and never becomes troublesome.  The ash is a nice light gray/white and clings for what seems like an eternity.  I actually flicked it because it was making me nervous.  Can't have that massive ash falling on my copy of Ender's Game, can I?

Tasting: Starting off, the OOO hits with a nice cedar spice and leather.  The first third gives plenty of cedar and leather but it is dominated by a cocoa sweetness that is excellent.  The second third continues the same flavors replacing the leather with a nice earthy flavor but that cocoa still locks everything together.  As the final third progresses, I found cedar spice and black coffee coated with more cocoa.  Something very strange happened as I sat there reading...time stopped.  I puffed.  Expelled a mouth of smoke.  Read.  Turn page.  Puff.  Read.  Turn page.  Puff.  After at least a half an hour I realized that the cigar hadn't burned more than an eighth of an inch in those thirty minutes.  It's like once the cigar got to be two inches long it refused to burn down.  Simply amazing.

Value: At just shy of $6 the Omar Ortiz Original is a fantastically priced treat.  A box of 20 of these beauties will only run you around $60 online!

Final Thoughts: This is the second of Omar's cigars I have had and both impressed me beyond my expectations.  While not insanely complex, they are well made and expertly blended to be consistent.  While I do like a cigar that offers a plethora of flavors (Tatuaje) sometimes a less complex cigar that gives you a few really great flavors from start to finish is just as enjoyable.  While I like Omar's other more well known cigar a bit more....the Warlock, if you are wondering....the Originals Natural is very highly recommended.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan (ligero according to the Omar Ortiz website)

Strength: Medium-Full

Size: 5 x 54

The band in this case is a very simple cap style that protects the foot of the cigar.

You can see the oils glistening on that Nicaraguan Habano wrapper leaf.

Actually the ash was a bit longer before I chickened out and flicked it into the ashtray.