Danli Honduras The Clown Double Maduro
Posted on July 05 2021
Vitola: 6x52
Smoking Time: 97 Minutes
Cigars Smoked: 4
Body: Medium +
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres, Ecuadorian Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan, Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran
MSRP: $11.89
Danli Honduras is a fairly new boutique taking the market by storm with their colorful presentation, and bold bands. Produced at the Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. Cigar Factory in Danli Honduras, these cigars are a must try. The Clown Series is a unique, love it or hate it, line. With 3 different blends, from corojo, double maduro, and the newest installment, a candela, all of which are barber pole cigars.
Visual Inspection: The Clown is adorned with a very large band that is over 2 inches at its largest. With the imagery of a clown, some people are immediately turned off by it, to which we say, just take off the band and enjoy it! There is some residual glitter from the band on the actual wrapper. The barber pole double wrapper is rather clean, with only a bit of overlapping from the Ecuadorian portion.
Aroma is very full coming off of the foot, notes of chocolate, earth, cedar, and honey are most prevalent.
First Third: The draw is a little tight, but it’s early. Upon first light, there were a load of flavors, chocolate, coffee beans, vanilla, and wood, but they quickly faded and have given way to muted and hard to find undertones. However almond liqueur lingers after exhaling, the flavors start to ramp up as I progress.
The draw has cleared up, and is now providing ample smoke per toke. The burn line is acceptable, but just that. Flavors of almond, cream, coffee, and milk chocolate are up front, but aren’t deep. The flavors are subtle and are mainly present on the post-hale.
Second Third: Still staying in the same general flavor profile as prior, flat and subtle. It’s strange that after retrohaling I receive almost no extra flavors. Overall, it's predominantly almond based in profile. Along with the mouth feel that comes with eating almonds, dry and leaves you craving water. I do not have a problem with how it comes across, as I am a huge fan of almond.
The burn line has tidied up, only dipping slightly. The ash is a light clean white at the burn line, and darkens slightly towards what would have been the foot. The ash isn’t strong, but is not flaking, which is enough for me.
Last Third: I am quite shocked at how little of the San Andres wrapper is influencing the flavors. The flavors are very close to how my palate receives most Ecuadorian leaves. Small hints of vanilla and green tea are peaking through the almond and cream flavors. The flavors blend together very well, simply not complex.
The burn line has stayed consistent throughout and overall very consistent flavors. The ash is still a light grey and retains the same qualities through the whole stick.
Final Thoughts: While the Clown was not deep by any stretch of the imagination, it was very consistent. If you like a simple and subtle very well performing cigar, this is for you. Strong notes of almond, cream, and chocolate, take charge and rarely leave. While I much prefer depth over flavor, this is a cigar I would save for a specific mood. I prefer the Corojo Clown, and have yet to smoke a Candela Clown, but this is a smooth stick from Danli Honduras.
-Sam