Buy the Man O’ War Ruination at Famous Smoke Shop
- Size: 5.7″ x 56 (Belicoso)
- MSRP: $220.00 (box of 22); $10.00 for a single
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sungrown
- Binder: Nicaraguan Cuban Seed
- Filler: Nicaraguan Cuban Seed and Honduran ligero
- Body: Medium / Medium Full
- Strength: Medium
- Humidor Time Prior to Review: 9 months
- Cigars Smoked Prior to Review: 2
- Source: Purchased with Personal Funds
- Date Smoked: September 2, 2018
I reviewed the Man O’ War yesterday. After that experience, how could I review anything else besides the Man O’ War Ruination? The original Man O’ War was a top notch smoke from A.J. Fernandez, and is one of the most impressive $5 cigars I have had to date.
The Ruination is supposed to kick things up even further. A full bodied full strength experience that cranks the amp to 11. That’s a pretty tall order, especially on the heels of the MOW, but I’m pumped to try it so try it we shall.
Once again the manufacturer doesn’t have the cigar listed on his website, so I’m forced to the bowels of the internet to try and find details on the cigar. While the MSRP is around $10 a stick by the box, you can find these for much less. I picked mine up on C-Bid a while back as part of a MOW sampler for a couple bucks a cigar. But that’s C-Bid so you never know what you will get. Regular retail appears to be in the $8 range. My guess is they go on deep discount from time to time.
Appearance and Pre-Light Aromas
I have the belicoso this time around. It is a big pointy cigar, and it reminds me of a 50 caliber bullet. The wrapper is a dark rusty brown and is covered in veins. There is a little tooth to the wrapper like a soft a brown paper bag. Seams are tight and the cigar is on the rustic side, but looks nice. The pointy cap has been rolled neatly.
Feeling the cigar in my hand it feels normal for its size. The pack is firm and even.
Sniffing the wrapper yields strong barn yard aromas, cedar, and dark chocolate. From the foot I get hay, cedar, spice, and sweetness.
I clip a little of the cap away with my Xikar cutters and take a test draw. It’s pretty good, but I decide to clip off another 1/8″. I get cedar, leather, and natural tobacco on the cold draw.
I get to toasting. Start time is 1:05 P.M.
First Third
The first hot pull on the cigar yields charred wood, pepper, nuts, and chocolate. The second and third puffs yield tons of pepper.
We are immediately at full bodied, and I’m getting a dense wall of flavors behind the pepper. Mostly earth and a pungent cedar, but my palate is somewhat overwhelmed. The finish is wood and then a lingering pepper.
After a couple minutes I’m getting earth, cedar, generic wood, toasted nuts, chocolate, and a little coffee now with a peppery finish. The Man O’ War was something of a kitchen sink blend, and this Ruination appears to be starting off that way, but with more body.
A creamy element teases its way from the draw. It’s there briefly, and then quickly subsumed by stronger elements. Sweetness is finding its way in as well before being crushed beneath a wave of earth, cedar, and red pepper.
Suddenly the pepper backs off and leather finds its way into the retrohale. We may get to experience all the colors of the rainbow with this cigar.
10 minutes in and the burn is a little ragged. On one side the cigar has burned half an inch of wrapper. On the other side maybe 1/8″ has been burned and the seam of the wrapper is slowly peeling away. I loved how yesterday’s MOW required only a single touch up in the final third. Somehow I don’t think I will be so fortunate today. I offer a minor correction to help it along.
I’m getting cream, chocolate covered pretzels, earth, and nuts. There is a definite increase in sweetness. Cedar and leather on the retrohale. Pepper on the finish.
It’s another hot day in S.W. Florida. It’s clear and sunny, but we have a stout breeze. I’m tucked behind a corner of my house to shelter my cigar and its aromas. What else is new? Apparently the red tide afflicting our coast has finally blown out, at least for now. That was tragic. Hopefully its is gone for good so our sea life and local economy can begin to recover.
Tomorrow is labor day, so today is a second Saturday. Hallelujah. I am getting hammered with stuff at work. Nice to take a breather and focus on the things that really matter – like reviewing cigars.
Back to our MOW Ruination. Not a whole lot new to report actually. We are 25 minutes in and the cigar is burning slowly. A little coffee has entered the equation and that’s about it. The burn line still looks ragged, but it’s otherwise smoking swell. The aroma is sweet and chocolatey. Like a chocolate sugar cookie.
The sweetness continues to escalate. I’m getting a little raisin now, and a little baking spice.
We are getting some significant tunneling issues here. Holding the cigar half an inch below the char line and it’s too hot to handle. Not good. Smoke output begins to wane so I perform some emergency surgery with my torch. That seems to do the trick.
Out of nowhere it begins to rain. Fuck. This review may be doomed.
Well that was unfortunate. We got rocked by a squall and it came down hard. Your buddy Dan managed to keep his cigar and all his gear dry under the umbrella, but it was touch and go for a minute. After 10 minutes or so it passed overhead. I tried to start this review early, but not early enough to escape the afternoon’s rain showers apparently.
The good news is that the Ruination held up great. After that big touch up the ash dropped and I was able to get some great smoke out of the cigar. The flavors have shifted to dark chocolate and coffee. We are now into the 2nd third…
Second Third
Smoke time is at 45 minutes, but I’d say we crossed into the second third maybe 5 minutes ago.
Time for a flavor update as things have progressed: black dark roasted coffee, earth, dark chocolate, and some nuts. The flavors have darkened. The retrohale is coffee, leather, and a little pepper. Body has dipped down to medium full.
The cigar is showing signs of burning well, with plenty of resting smoke, a fairly even burn, and currently there is half an inch or so of dark gray ash.
The sun has come out with plenty of azure sky behind me, and a roiling moil of dark gray in front of me. I’m facing West and things are blowing out to the Gulf of Mexico. Since the storm started out behind me I didn’t see it coming. Too busy enjoying my Ruination.
It is interesting to note that the aroma has grown quite leathery. That’s not an aroma I experience often. In general I find leather to be a very unique flavor for a cigar. Some flavors tend to blend together, like tangy cedar and citrus, and the more delicate fruit flavors in general, but leather is easy to pick out in the crowd. You aren’t going to confuse it for anything else.
The Ruination has gotten very leathery. It reminds me of a tack shop. What a treat.
Earth and tangy cedar joins the leather. The sweetness from earlier has backed down. It’s getting savory. Coffee is coming back in as well. So has wood. The finish is long and earthy.
The burn line appears to have calmed down for now. It’s almost razor sharp. I was concerned for a little while. This is a big cigar, and the bigger ring gauges don’t always smoke as well. I’ve had a couple of these Ruinations before and I don’t recall them having burn issues, but admittedly it has been a month or two since my last one.
Coffee has been building. It’s black and strong. The creaminess from the first third is long gone. A little sweetness is trying to break in. It’s subtle, underpinning the coffee, wood, and cedar flavors. The leather from a few minutes ago faded away for a couple puffs, but now it’s back.
The sweetness has identified itself as raisin. A sweet rounded flavor by my palate.
The burn line has once again gone ragged as we approach the band and the final third.
The Final Third
Smoke time is 1 hour 10 minutes.
A little salt is creeping into the Ruination. It reminds me of a hard salted pretzel. I don’t mind a little salt, but am not a fan of overly salty cigars. Thankfully there is plenty of coffee, earth, wood, and dark chocolate to accompany it.
We are at the band. It comes off without a fight. The naked cigar is smooth and attractive. There is a joke in there somewhere. The bronze in the band compliments the rusty brown wrapper nicely. An inch or so of pale gray ash clings to the cigar. I’ve noticed the ash flake off after an inch or so on this cigar. Lets see what happens.
That leather component is still here. It weaves in and out. If you are looking for a good leathery cigar, then the Ruination should be on your list. This is the most leathery cigar I have reviewed to date.
I get up to take a photo. More gray clouds behind me. Oh shit. This will be a race against mother nature. I say a Hail Mary and take a puff for good measure.
The flavors here are predominantly coffee, leather, indistinct wood, earth, and a touch of dark chocolate. The pepper has slacked off, but I still get a tiny amount on the finish towards the back of my tongue.
The wind picks up. The Ruination has me feeling like a Spartan before the battle of 300. Hold fast boys. Steady…
Plenty of bold coffee flavors are coming off this stick. Rich bold coffee. Very nice. I feel a couple soft raindrops on the back of my neck.
I step out from underneath my umbrella to bring the band inside. The sky is a wall of white. Ay caramba.
The ash I commented on earlier finally drops off into the ash tray. It was an inch and a half or so. Decent.
The rain falls gently. Nothing I can’t handle. The flavors are condensing. The bright cedar from earlier are gone. Rich coffee, dark chocolate, charred wood, and leather vie for my attention over a core of natural tobacco and earth. A little milk chocolate makes its way into the flavor profile as well.
One thing I haven’t commented on is the strength. That’s because I’m not getting a ton of nicotine out of this cigar. Fine by me. It may make for less goofy prose, but that’s alright. I don’t smoke these to lose my lunch.
As we burned down to the nub, the flavors continued to hold strong. Punchy coffee, earth, and charred wood. A little cedar on the retrohale. The dark chocolate has turned to more of a baker’s chocolate. Any residual sweetness made like Elvis, and has left the building.
I ended the review at the 2 hour mark. That left me with little over an inch of nub. You could keep going, but I’m good at this point.
Man O’ War Ruination Review – Final Thoughts
After the borderline transcendent experience that was the original Man O’ War, the Ruination had a lot to live up to. I think it delivers on its promise of a more full bodied cigar. It was very good, offering a medium full bodied to full bodied experience, with rich flavors. The leather component was the star of the show for me. If you like leather you need to get some Ruinations into your rotation. And it was a smooth cigar as well. Maybe not baby bottom smooth, but not harsh by any stretch.
But personally I preferred the breadth of flavors and transitions exhibited in the original MOW blend over the Ruination. This cigar seemed a little less complex, and the transitions weren’t as wild. While I did have some burn issues with this particular stick, the other cigars I smoked did not give me as much trouble. On average, the larger ring gauge and torpedo head will invite more burn problems then a regular robusto, but this is a carefully constructed cigar. Toss in a rainstorm or two and you are going to have some burn issues.
When you consider the price of this stick, $8-9 at regular retail, and offered at deep discount with some patience, you have a great every day smoke. Recommended for those wanting a solid medium full to full bodied cigar, and fans of leather.
Final Score: 4 out of 5 or a “1” on my 0-2 scale (I’d by it again, but not by the box)
Final Smoke time: 2 hours
I recommend purchasing the Man O’ War at Famous Smoke Shop. Please consider that purchasing things through any of the links on this website, including Amazon.com, helps support the website and keeps it going. Any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.
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