Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-coop.com website)
Late in 2015, cigar maker James Brown launched his second brand known as Black Works Studio. One of the first releases under that brand was a box-pressed offering known as NBK (an acronym for Natural Born Killers). At the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show, Brown would introduce an off-shoot of NBK that would be made available at events known as the NBK Lizard King. Lizard King utilizes a barber-pole wrapper over what is described as an amped up blend off the original Black Works Studio NBK. Today we take a a closer look at this cigar.
The lines of Oveja Negra Brands have followed a small batch philosophy in terms of its regular production and limited releases. While the Black Label Trading Company brand followed more of a “skull and bones theme” in terms of its packaging, the Black Works Studio brand has a much more contemporary and modern art look to it. In addition to a contemporary look, the cigars have shown some of the artesian qualities coming out of Brown’s Fabrica Oveja Negra factory. This has been seen in terms of some unique vitola design and incorporating themes such as barber-pole wrappers.
Blend and Origin
The Black Works Studio NBK Lizard King utilizes two Ecuadorian wrappers – an Ecuadorian Maduro and an Ecuadorian Rojiso wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos. As with all Black Works Studio offerings, the NBK Lizard King is produced at the company’s Fabrica Oveja Negra facility in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Wrapper: Ecuador Maduro and Ecuador Rojiso Barber Pole
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Fabrica Oveja Negra
Vitolas Offered
The Black Works Studio NBK Lizard King is offered in one size – a 5 x 50 box-pressed Robusto. The cigar is presented in 20-count boxes.
The barber pole looks nice in this cigar and the foot is completely closed.
The test draw was pretty good even with the closed foot. A few test draws after lighting the cigar proved it was drawing well. The initial flavors at light up were a citrus/cedar, a lot of brown sugar and cinnamon, a pasty nutmeg, leather, and black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2.
At the first third (22 minutes) the very tangy, sweet orange citrus notes really came out. In fact, they came out at the 9 minute mark. Caramel also entered the mix. For me the cigar took off. Lots of very nice sweet notes now. Absent from this cigar are the typical extreme dark notes in a James Brown cigar. There are dark notes but they are not the main player. You now have a very tangy, sweet orange citrus, brown sugar, cinnamon, caramel, pasty nutmeg, worn leather, and black coffee. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this point. The finish is nutmeg and a little caramel to give it some sweetness with a nice amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar is very tasty at this stage. I rated the first third 95.
Moving through the second third (51 minutes) the very nice tangy, sweet orange citrus has morphed over to a sweet cedar. I wish it hadn't because I loved that sweet citrus. The other flavor notes are in play, however, with the caramel notes somewhat lighter. The cigar is now full bodied. The finish has not changed. The loss of the sweet citrus notes caught my attention. I rated the second third 93.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 13 minutes. I had hoped the sweet citrus notes would return in the final third but alas, they did not. The cigar is still sweet. It's a cedar sweet with brown sugar, cinnamon, caramel, pasty nutmeg, worn leather, and black coffee (which ticked up a tad). The cigar is still full bodied. The finish is sweeter. There is more caramel on the finish to go along with the nutmeg. The lingering black pepper has increased. The cigar is still very good but less that tangy, sweet orange citrus. I maintained the rating of 93 for the final third. A very good cigar from Black Works Studio.
Overall Score: 93.67
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