09/15/2026
🥃🔥 PUTTING OUR PALATES TO THE TEST 🔥💨
Josh and I are doing something pretty cool in Tony’s Bourbon & Cigar Lounge — a completely blind tasting of the Micallef Color Series.
We have 8 Micallef ci**rs, all stripped of their bands and numbered 1 through 8. We know which eight blends are in the challenge, but we have no idea which cigar is which.
The goal? Smoke our way through all eight, take notes, compare what each of us is tasting, and see if we can identify them before the reveal.
And it’s amazing what happens when the band comes off.
No name. No expectations. No reputation influencing what you think you should taste. Just the wrapper, aroma, cold draw, smoke, strength and whatever your palate actually finds.
On our first cigar, Josh picked up mild cocoa on the cold draw while I got straw/hay. Once lit, we both found plenty of pepper, followed by dark chocolate, cocoa, butterscotch and a nutty texture.
Then we moved to another cigar and it was almost the complete opposite — soft, creamy smoke with very little distinct flavor.
Same two guys. Same night. Same lineup. Completely different ci**rs.
This has turned into more than trying to guess eight Micallefs. It’s a pretty damn good exercise for training our palates and learning to trust what we taste instead of what a cigar band tells us we’re supposed to taste.
We’ve made our guesses on the first two. Six more to go.
Think we can go 8 for 8? 😎🔥
— Tony & Josh
Tony’s Bourbon & Cigar Lounge
Mooers, NY
