Video review HERE.
(Description taken from kohnhed.com website)
Isabela Cigar Company is releasing our first Ltd Edition of 2022:
The Mammoth 660 PepperHead.
It is based upon our extremely popular “Mammoth” larger gauge portfolio. The Mammoth 660 is a ‘more accessible’ 6 x 60 vitola with a hopped up blend of higher priming tobaccos.
It is designed to give the Mammoth some extra punch and more transitions.
We blended the 660 to reveal ever-changing flavor profiles of honeys, vanillas, chili-peppers and spices.
It has 2+ years of post-production aging in order to take a slight edge off the spices so that it will enhance an exotic journey of spinning flavor changes!
MSRP is $12.95
Total production is 2000 cigars
Available at All Official Isabela Retailers. A list is available at the Isabela Cigar Co. website.
We had many many requests over the years for larger gauge cigars.
As I mentioned upon release of the Mammoth 770 and 880 last year, the large gauge sticks were probably one of the most difficult blends that would meet my standards. We wanted a large vitola to reflect our identity of multiple transitions.
We also wanted to craft a blend that would not require extensive post production aging; and we were able to accomplish that with the 770 and 880.
We also wanted to have a “Sizzler” available in the Mammoth line…a blend that went much further with depth of flavors and a slew of transitions, so we blended the Mammoth 660 in what we call our “PepperHead” format.
It has the barber pole wrapper with a bigger baseline for the Nicaraguan Habano Prieto wrapper and a smaller Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. Plus, we added higher priming binder and fillers.
We wanted to release all 3 at the same time, so we blended and produced the 660s over 2 years ago, let them age for a year, and then crafted the 770s and 880s.
When our tentative release schedule for the Mammoths arrived, the 660 was still not quite where we wanted it to be. We needed far more flavor reveals, so we held it back and only released the 770 and 880 in 2021.
The cigar has the look of a traditional Isabela cigar with the barber pole wrapper. The cigar has a weighty feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were citrus, apricot, brown sugar, pasty nutmeg, and leather. There was black pepper rated at 7. Nice start.
At the first third (40 minutes) the apricot notes came out nicely. They were followed quickly by citrus, brown sugar, a touch of citrus peel, decreased nutmeg, leather, and black coffee at the very base. The black pepper is still good at 7 to 7 1/2. The finish is apricot, nutmeg, and leather with good lingering black pepper. The cigar is burning evenly. I rated the first third 95.
As I moved through the second third (1 hour 20 minutes) Isabela is known for flavor transitions. This cigar is no different. The flavors stay about the same but they transition into more intensity of one over the other at any given point. Now the front end flavors are making a mix of all the flavors into a sort of soup. Nothing stands out and it's a mix of all flavors; apricot, citrus, and brown sugar. The leather is up a little. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is citrus, a little apricot, and leather with good lingering black pepper. I lowered the score to 94. Still good.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 57 minutes. A nice, long burn. Apricot notes took the lead once again, light citrus, brown sugar, decreased nutmeg, increased leather, and black coffee. The finish is apricot and leather with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied, leaning toward medium to full. I held the score of 94. This is another good cigar from Isabela.
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