REVIEW: My Uzi Weighs A Ton by Subculture Studios and JDN

On Monday June 20th, my business partner Mario (@cigarexplorer on twitter) and I took a road trip from Columbus to the suburbs of Windy City Chicago for the release party of a new stick called My Uzi Weighs a Ton. (FYI It is a reference to this song) But who could come out with a cigar with such a strange name, other than the guest of honor for the event Jonathan Drew. We spoke to Jonathan at length about this cigar and upcoming projects from his company Drew Estate.

Quote from Jonathan about the My Uzi Weighs A Ton:

This project is not a necessarily for the bloggers or the hardcore boutique cigar smokers that tend to lean towards full body, full strength, smaller ring gauge cigars.  I when I came up with this idea I designed it for  the every day guy who might drive a truck, or might play golf all day, or might only smoke one cigar a week.  Those guys are not going to want something small, and something that is going to knock their head off. So keep that in mind when you are smoking it.

A quote about the make up of the cigar from Jonathan posted by Charlie at CigarFeed:

UZI is manufactured at the JDN Factory by their torcedors in three sizes (5×60, 6×60, and 7×60), BUT the materials for the cigars are mostly DE, including the Maduro Capa, Connecticut Capote, and half of the filler – which is Brazilian Mata Fina. The other half of the filler is Joya de Nicaragua’s Nicaraguan strong filler. 

With all that intro information written, the only thing left to do is tell you how it smoked. On to the review...

Specifics

Vitola: double toro
Length: 6
Ring Gauge: 60
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Brazilian & Nicaraguan
Price:  (launch release) $10.00 in bundles of 10
Smoking Location: My back deck
Beverage: water

Pre-Light 

This thing was a beast! I have smoked my share of 6x60 cigars, but this one felt like the biggest of them all. The wrapper was a very dark brown/almost black with lots of visible oils. There were some decent sized veins in the wrapper, but nothing to make it look ugly or rustic in my opinion. The pre-lit aroma was a mixture of fresh tobacco with a hint of coffee. It had a nice, free draw with just a tiny bit of resistance and tasted like toasted nuts with a slight bit of spice on the finish (which was interesting because I don't normally get a different flavor on the finish of the cold draw.)   

First Third   

Lighting my My Uzi Weighs a Ton (referred to as MUWAT from now on) took a little while, most likely to the size, but when it got going it was drawing big clouds of smoke. The initial flavors were a lot of raw sweetness on the front of the profile that coated the roof of my mouth, with a floral taste to round out the finish. It wasn't floral like the smell you get at your local nursery, but more of a taste that reminded me of dried flowers. I don't eat dried flowers, but that's what it reminded me of. Something interesting to point out about this cigar was just how little resting smoke the stick gave off. I would set the cigar down for a few minutes and then quickly grab it when I noticed no smoke coming off it for fear of it going out. Every time I did this, I was happy to find that the cigar was still lit and still drawing just like the beginning. About an inch in, I started to pick up some of the toasted nut flavors I got from the cold draw to go along with the sweetness that was very dominant. The body was in the medium range.

Second Third  

Burning into the second third of my MUWAT the flavor profile changed up a bit. The sweetness was still very present, but now on the finish I was getting a bitter espresso/very black coffee flavor. This taste balanced out the cigar nicely and cut into some of the sweetness which, by that point, may have become a bit overwhelming. It was a nice change of pace from the first third of this cigar. The burn was excellent -- I was smoking it outside on a very humid day so there is something to be said for that. Toward the end of the second third, the finish on the flavor profile picked up just a mild kick of black pepper. I could taste this mostly in the back of my throat. It was mild enough that it wasn't bothersome, but strong enough that I could definitely taste it. The cigar was still right in the medium range as billed.

Final Third and Final Thoughts 

Finally getting into the back stretch of this monster of a cigar, there was not much different to report from the second third. With that being said, is not a negative. I enjoyed the combination of the sweetness with the bitter espresso balance in the flavor and felt like the strength of the cigar picked up a bit towards the finish. It may have reached into the medium to full range, but far from full-on-knock-you-down-make-you-sweat power. The cigar never went out and the construction/burn was top notch all the way.

My final thoughts on the My Uzi Weighs A Ton by Subculture Studios and JDN? This was the second one of these cigars I have smoked (first one at the event) and I have to say it makes me reconsider some of my old general standing (cob webby-old, even) likes and dislikes with cigars. I will admit I didn't have the highest of hopes for this cigar before I smoked it due to its size and I'm glad it proved me wrong.  In my opinion, the size is right for this blend. It's a solid medium strength stick (as it's described as by its makers) with a lot of good flavor from start to finish.  The smoke is a long time from start to finish, but it's an enjoyable one.

Would I buy it again? I would buy this cigar again.  This is only the second 6 x 60 cigar I have ever said that about. This could be the perfect stick for an all-day tailgate...the ones where we still set up the party at 6am, even if the kick off is not until 8pm. Yep. We like our tailgating in Columbus.

Would I buy a box? The shop owners at Burning Leaf in Chicago were nice enough to give Mario and me a bundle of 10 of these cigars. I don't think I'll be buying more boxes in this size anytime soon, but I do look forward to trying the other two sizes

Dan