Black Abyss Banshee (by JR Cigars) (5 x 50)

Video review HERE.

Black Abyss is a brand-new handrolled premium cigar crafted for JR Cigars by José “Jochy” Blanco, the guy who grows the leaf for a bunch of Boutique Blends cigar brands, including Aging Room and Swag, both of which have collected tons of high ratings in cigar magazines (the Aging Room Quattro F55 Concerto took second place in Cigar Aficionado's top 25 of 2013

Black Abyss is handmade at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic.

Jochy Blanco’s Black Abyss is made in four sizes (each featuring a somewhat sinister name: Banshee, Cerberus, Hydra, and Wraith) packed in boxes of 20 cigars.

Wrapper Color: Dark Brown / Maduro

Packaging: Box of 20

Origin: Dominican Republic

Wrapper Type: San Andres

Binder: Corojo

Filler: Cuban Seed Criollo 98/Olor/Dominicano/Piloto Cubano

The cigar is a very dark brown and has a nice feel in the hand.

The test draw after cutting the cap had some firmness but workable. The initial flavors at light up were heavy espresso, sweet cedar, boysenberry, and black pepper rated at a 7. The espresso is the overwhelming flavor. This is very dark noted cigar. The finish at this early stage is a toasted cream with some nice lingering black pepper.

A little over an inch in the espresso toned down just a tad. You know have some earth and cocoa. The cocoa mixes nicely with the sweet cedar. The boysenberry is tailing off making room for the cocoa notes. The finish is about the same. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this point.

About 2 inches in the cocoa is getting a little stronger. You have a little richness and buttery-ness in the cedar and cocoa. The espresso is still the lead flavor and there is some earthiness at the base. The added sweetness and richness from the cocoa is a good thing.

At the end some of the hints of boysenberry came back. The butter notes tailed off. You still have the sweet cedar and cocoa but I lost the richness. There are also some notes of dry wood. The espresso is still very prominent. The cigar ended up at medium to full bodied but it's close to full bodied. The finish is about the same but the cream is a little thicker. For the price point these cigars are well worth trying. You can get a 10 pack of these for $30. It would have been nice to have more richness throughout but not a bad mix of flavors. If you like heavy espresso cigars with some sweetness these may be right up your alley!

Score: 88