Hendrik Kelner Factory Second Robusto
We wondered...with a smirk...if using these cigars as blind reviews would be fair to our dedicated panel of reviewers.
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 We wondered...with a smirk...if using these cigars as blind reviews would be fair to our dedicated panel of reviewers. The cigars look pretty good, and obvious flaws were hard to find. Read on, and after a brief introduction, we'll let you know what the chosen few thought of this cigar. It's interesting to note that we used 3 guest reviewers, and two "staff" members for this test. All the guests, and one of the staff members were not aware of what this cigar was. Hendrik Kelner produces these cigars at his Tabacos Dominicanos, or Tabadom, factories in the Dominican Republic. These same factories produce Davidoff and Avo cigars. The Kelner-label cigars were previously not exported and were only available in the Dominican Republic. They have some minor flaws, as do all seconds, but are far less expensive the Avos or Davidoffs. We won't hold you in suspense very long, it seems our panel of savvy reviewers was just that, savvy. Nobody mistook this cigar for a Habano, nobody raved about it coming from the Padrons or Fuente's, but along the same line, nobody spewed venom in its direction either. The reviews were all eerily similar, an incredibly average cigar that if priced right could find its way into the humidor as a "guest smoke". A good looking robusto, with as we said earlier, no distinct flaws. We expected some from a "second", and are pleasantly surprised with what we saw. "The cigar felt consistent in it's entire length. The cap was OK and the pre-light draw was just about right. The light-up was easy and the cigar burned pretty evenly all the way down, though it did seem to burn a bit fast. The ash did hang on for over an inch before it fell off and was firm and even a bit crunchy with a whitish-gray color. There was no spice in the initial stages of the smoke, not much taste. We noticed a light, earthy and musty taste at the beginning." "The taste of leather and wood with some earthiness was there and was also consistent throughout the smoke. But the bitter taste and harshness were almost overwhelming." Nothing overwhelming here folks. If you are a big fan of Avo or Davidoff, this may be a good, inexpensive cigar for you to keep around. Outside of those qualifications, in the world of seconds, you can find some similar cigars out there for around the same price. We'll finish up by using some of the quotes our reviewers ended their analysis with. "Both of us rated this cigar as "incredibly average." Nothing in it excited us, nothing in it really upset us. We both agreed that if we never smoked another one of these we wouldn't be disappointed. This is NOT a cigar for anyone looking for smoking satisfaction in the medium and up categories. Neither of us felt aging would help this smoke in any way and we agreed that if you paid more than $3 for this stick, your money would be wasted. Final thought: The experience of smoking this cigar reminded me of a Madeline Kahn line from the movie 'Blazing Saddles' .... "Oh. How ordinary." Vital Statistics: Shape = Robusto Length=5" RG =50 Wrapper = Connecticut Filler = DR Binder = DR Estimated Cost = $2.25
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