I got this today at a local shop and it didn't even see the inside of my own humidor. This particular shop seemed to have changed management and as a result, has greatly improved it's cigar inventory. It was a pleasant surprise for me as I saw a number of high quality cigars. I even picked up couple of flavored vanilla cigarillos because I was put in a good mood from potentially having another shop with a nice selection just around the corner from my place. I'll rate those maybe tomorrow. As much as I like cigars, I give myself an absolute limit of 1 a day, yet rarely have a cigar more than 2 days in a row.

*On a side note, some people have been commenting on that background I use when I take a picture of the cigars I have on my reviews. I've gotten a lot of, "That's a damn nice table top"s. And I tell them that it's actually the top of my homemade humidor. And I'd like you to know that it took a damn long time and a lot of effort to get that color and finish. Don't worry, I'll get the pictures of the build up soon.

Moving on. Once I took this out of the cellophane I immediately noticed the velvety feel of the dark vintage 90' wrapper. It smelled like dark unsweetened chocolate with a hint of cedar. Upon cutting I notice a not so well done cap. The guillotine caught an edge and there was slight unravelling but that was fixed when I put it in my mouth for a dry test draw. Yes, a little spit made it stay put. The unlit draw was very loose, a sign of very good construction and arguably one of the reasons cigars are box pressed. Box pressing helps open up the filler leaves after rolling allowing better air passage. Oh, did I mention this cigar is box pressed? I got ahead of myself. Now the light. The foot seemed to toast pretty quickly and lit without any trouble. The first puff was medium with a nice slightly bitter tobacco and cedar flavor. This mellowed out in the first 2 inches but picked up again in the last 3. The draw was so loose that puffing from this point warmed up the cigar a bit. Some people complain about a very warm draw but I think it improved the flavor of this RP. That cedar flavor came back in full force but was still mild in my opinion. The last 2 inches gave off a barely noticeable spice that complemented the cedar flavor nicely. I smoked this till my fingers could no longer take the heat and I only do that when I catch a really good flavor. This was a very good cigar although I wish that the flavor picked up sooner and without burning so hot.

The RP V90 gets a 7 out of 10

and that's partly because this stick was just a little too mild in my opinion and I'm a medium or full kind of guy.