Delicate fruity bitter tones of grapefruit, nuts and coffee develop at the beginning. This cigar is tangy, sweetish, meaty and delivers a nice chocolatey sweetness. Very balanced and multi-faceted.

I fired up Kudzu with my single-flame torch and soon had a steady, even burn established. I got initial flavors of cedar, cinnamon, and earth up front, with semi-sweet chocolate and red pepper coming in closely behind. The retrohale had an intense pepper fire, followed up with roasted nuts and cedar. As I got into the second third, I got a lot more wood in the profile, both cedar and oak at this point. There was a slight citrus sweetness in the mix and the continuation of bell and red pepper notes. The final third had a return of some unsweetened cocoa mixing with the cedar and oak notes. Pepper spice diminished quite a bit as the last third went along.

As the Kudzu enters the final third, the early spice is present throughout the burn while the strength ramps up and is now medium to full. That could mean it would be full strength, to those that don’t smoke cigars on a regular basis, so you may want to be sure you have eaten before taking this one down to the nub.