Stogie Reviews: Zino Platinum Scepter Pudge

From smoking “dawgs” to R&B music, the unique Zino Platinum website makes clear its cigars are for “fashionable and entertainment-driven smokers who are stylishly aware of their heritage and ethnicity.” Famous even uses the word “phat” to describe this Davidoff offshoot’s unique shapes and sizes.

If I focused solely on advertising, I’d quickly conclude that Platinum cigars aren’t for me. Let’s just say I’m not exactly hip or urban. I’m more interested, however, in how these sticks smoke than to whom they are marketed.

So, scrolling past all the graphics and fluff on the website, I was able to determine that the Scepter blend is composed of a one-year-old Ecuadorian wrapper, a four-year-old Connecticut binder, and filler tobaccos from Peru and the Dominican Republic. The other Platinum line, the heartier Crown Series, is made up of ligero tobacco.

I smoked two Scepter Pudges for this review. Stubby with a few soft spots, this four inch by 50 ring gauge cigar is vein-free (yet moderately wrinkled) with a light and sweet prelight fragrance.

After toasting the foot, I found the first few puffs to be hollow, uninviting, and chemically. The taste quickly takes a turn for the better, though, exhibiting mild flavors of creamy butter and sweet hay.

The smoke, which only lasts for about 35 minutes, is at its best in the middle when undertones of spice creep in to provide a salty dynamic. Balance is the name of the game. All of the tastes add up to produce a gentle, soothing aroma that reminds me of the smell of fresh sawdust.

Anytime you have more ash than un-smoked tobacco left on a cigar, you’re likely enjoying supreme construction. Such is the case here. The burn is as straight as possible with a dark, thick mascara. The ash is concrete and finely layered. And each effortless draw yields plenty of smoke.

All told, despite the funky marketing, this is a nice little morning smoke. But as my colleague pointed out in a Quick Smoke, I don’t think the Zino Platinum Scepter Pudge deserves its lofty $7 price tag. It does deserve three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys