Punch and Draw are true to their school as they sample one of La Sirena’s new acquisitions from Old School Cigars: Jaxx LT 6 x 52 toro.Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
Manufactured in Honduras at the Plasencia Factory

Punch: Last month, La Sirena Cigars acquired Old School Cigars, adding to their stable of cigars this one and at least two others: Jaxx and Stixx. In an April 28, 2014, press release, founder and president Arielle Ditkowich explained that she was looking to blend a mild cigar when she came across the Jaxx LT and decided it would fill the need, so she bought it along with it’s siblings.

Draw: It’s nice to see one of the smaller, newer vendors working their way up by preserving an original line – in contrast to the larger staples acquiring the smaller boutiques. That’s the way to do it. That’s old school.

P: La Sirena provided us each with two of these for this review. Slipping this from the cellophane, there’s an aroma of floral perfume – orange blossom. Delicious smelling! I’ll take to the large punch, giving a medium-tight cold draw. The cold flavor is slight rose-petal and  faint saltine-cracker.

D: Agreed, it smells of sweet floral – lavender? Cherry blossom? This Jaxx LT has decent construction: my first one is not as smoothly rolled as others, nor is the bundling “centered” as much as others. To my eyes, the course lattice of widely-spaced significant veins plays into a deliberate visual appeal. The wrapper itself is a very fine tooth, very smooth to the touch. One of two review sticks had minor blemishes, if that matters to you. It also had a soft middle, but firm ends, and the middle might be slightly smaller diameter than the ends. My second stick had no imperfections in the wrapper, and was much more uniformly rolled – both in shape and position of the filler-core.

Using a large punch, it punched well, with a pleasing amount of give to hold the cut without any popping. A very satisfying punch. Cold draw tastes of sea sponge. Rubber band. Tennis shoe. I kid you not: a very light latex taste.

What image does the name Jaxx conjure up for you? The knave in a deck of playing cards, or those spiky metal things that children pick up while bouncing a small ball? If you said “yes” to either you’d be right, as the band for the Jaxx and Jaxx LT (the same for both) has images of each of these on each side of the central emblem of the band. Mind you, this is the original Old School band, which will likely change when new stock with the La Sirena branding hits the shelves.

While the same main band is used for both the Jaxx and this Jaxx LT, the LT is distinguished both by a lighter wrapper and the foot band shown below.P: Upon lighting, the Old School by La Sirena Jaxx LT starts off smooth, mild, and creamy with a very faint skunk component. It also has some sweetness on the attack. The finish is a mild sweet woody tobacco. I’m liking it so far.

D: Flavor is very hard for me to pin down. That doesn’t happen often. I’m going to say its tobacco with lavender air-freshner beads from 1964. It’s mildly sweet, or sweet-suggesting, nice smooth tobacco flavor, and then a hint of something… je ne sais quoi. I sip a Starbucks DoubleShot mocha (can) and then drag the stick. I get a caramel flavor from the stick.

P: I don’t know this Je ne, but I’m sure I would be interested in whatever she is hinting at. Here in the first third, I have some sweet cedar coming on. It is still mild overall. So far I’ve done one touchup at the halfway mark. This is quite nice and I’m having trouble putting it down. It is medium bodied, with medium complexity. 

D: Entering the second third, I think I’ve figured out: some kind of alcholol Like..congac? Very smokable. I’m hot-boxing, both to try to make the taste, and because it’s a very easy, likable smoke. A little latex on the aftertaste; something on the edges of my tongue.

Burn characteristics: I have a peninsula forming in second third, and while it won’t correct despite purging-fusilade, it also hasn’t worsened. I may touch it up. The draw is just right – a little on the tight side of middle. 

P: Here at the last third it has become a bit stronger but the flavor is still predominantly casmaletic cedar. 

D: Hold on — what does “casmaletic” mean?

P: Well, “sweet”, I guess.

D: Then why didn’t you just say “sweet”?

P: I have a philosophy; why use a simple word when you can make one up that sounds more krotonisive?

D: Okay, I guess that makes sense. But you sound like a Jabberwocky. The burn problem is persisting into the firmer last third, so I’m now going to attribute it to the off-center bundling of the filler; the heat is all toward one side. If that is in fact the case. I’m going to look for this in other cigars from now on as a predictor of burn issues.

Interesting transition at four-three fingers. More spicy. Nice spice on the middle and back of my tongue. Fenugreek. Im still having burn issues, but I’m also outside on a windy evening. At about a half-finger later, the transformation began. The flavor is growning stronger, and starting to turn bitter lemony. Its also quite hot. When toked slowly with plenty of rest between, it remains smokable.

P: At an inch and a half remaining I got a strong bitter flavor, possibly indicating the end of smokeability. It now tastes like charred cedar and the sweetness is coming and going. It is not really worth perusing much farther, but it has been great up to this point. I may be imagining it, but I’m starting to feel mild effects of nicotine.

D: Being a little behind, but not having one, I’m just now getting the bitterness too. It suddenly overtook all of the flavor. Like ReaLemon, or maybe even alkaline battery acid (I don’t recommend taste-testing that…). Purging did not help it: it made it much worse. Nothing but acid. I’m done. At about two fingers.

Burn it or Spurn it?

Punch: Burn it. This Old School by La Sirena Jaxx Lt is a nice mild-medium bodied cigar with a dominant theme of sweet cedar. It has occasional, brief, variations which keep it interesting. It is smooth and, at times creamy. The finish is a fairly short sweet cedar with a barely perceptible pepper at times. It is quite unlike any other cigar I have had and I find it to be very likable. This could be a go-to cigar for when I don’t want to have my usual mid-full flavored preference.

Draw: Burn it. Smooth overall. Medium flavor, medium-to-full strength. The flavor gradually changes over the length, with a surprise lemon ending. Like Punch said, the flavor profile is not like the other’s we’ve had. And I agree, this is a good go-to smoke when I want that variety in my lineup. On the second sample, I was able to avoid the worst of the acid finish by keeping my tokes low and slow. You know, old school!