Anzû, by Blackbird Cigar Co.

So I was trying to do more regular reviews again, and a thing happened… while everyone else is dodging or getting schwacked by COVID, I just had to be different, and wound up with SHINGLES. It sucks. Bigtime. I’m only 37 years old, so it got me way earlier than normal, and I have been dealing with such excruciating nerve pain that I just haven’t gotten to any of my planned reviews this week (Fenrir, the last in my lineup of Family x Loyalty Cigars, will come on Tuesday, given Fenrir’s relationship with Tyr, for whom Tuesday is named).

Anyway, here I am, sitting up waiting to take my next round of antivirals, so I figured I might as well use the time to do another review. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you know I’m also a Blackbird Cigar fanboy, so I pulled another blend out of my humidor tonight, which has been sitting since 2020 waiting to be reviewed. It was an event exclusive for NFG 2020, hosted by Underground Cigars Shop And Lounge in Fort Worth Texas. Obviously, with COVID raging and a DOD-wide Stop Movement Order in place, I did not attend the event. However, I did manage to get my hands on a couple of these event sticks from Underground’s online shop at the time. I’m writing this review with full knowledge that neither I nor my readers will likely ever get to smoke this cigar again, but I’ve made it a goal of mine to review every cigar Blackbird produces, so here we go.

I did some searching on the name Anzû (the name of the cigar), and found that Anzû is a divine storm-bird in ancient Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, described as half-man, half-bird. He is the south wind and thunder clouds personified, and stole the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil, and hid it away on a mountaintop, after which he was killed when the gods set out to retrieve it.

He also appears in Babylonian and Assyrian mythology, similarly depicted. In these myths, he was also associated with the creation of the Universe, and stole umsimi, the “ideal creative organ,” from the father of the gods.

Anzû’s story can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and mirrors the stories of Cronus mutilating Uranus in Greek mythology, or of Set mutilating Osiris in Egyptian mythology.

Cigar: Anzû, by Blackbird Cigar Co.

Vitola: Robusto (5” x 50)

Price: $7.50

Origin: Dominican Republic

Wrapper: Unknown
Binder: Unknown
Filler: Unknown
Body: Medium-Full

Rating (out of 10): 10

Appearance:
The band is classic Blackbird; silver on black, standard pull tab. It stands against a dark brown wrapper, a shade somewhere between milk and dark chocolate. It’s rich with oil, lightly veined, and very neatly capped. 

Construction:
Even after being stowed away and nearly forgotten for two years, the cigar is perfectly soft to the touch. It’s well-balanced, shows no signs of damage, and cuts perfectly.

Aroma:
The scent along the barrel is woody and a bit leathery, with a hint of cocoa. Some really nice musk at the foot, with something sweet and fruity in there, too. 

First Third:
Perfect draw, prior to lighting I get cedar and cocoa right away.

Apply fire, get flavor. Cedar, with sweet tobacco, a peppery zing, and that cocoa is still there, but it’s a soft undertone now.

Very smooth smoke, packed with flavor. I have a nearly razor-sharp burn line, and a pristine white ash column. 

While I’m smoking, I’m going to just complain and vent about shingles, because, man, is this awful. Shingles attacks nerve roots, and the effects are felt from the root all the way out to all of the endings along that central nerve. My entire right side, front and back, is screaming at me. My back feels like I’ve been laid across a hot stovetop, my chest feels like it’s been crushed under a truck, the rash I developed is like millions of red-hot needles being driven through my skin, and my forearm feels like it’s been broken in three places. And the hypersensitivity means that the slightest touch feels like I’m being blasted with a quad-flame butane torch lighter. Since it’s on my torso, that means just wearing clothes is mind-blowingly painful. To be sure, the medication is beginning to help, but only to a degree. The pain just does not go away. It’s constant, always present, and that is absolutely maddening. I would not wish this hell on any other person. Maybe Vladimir Putin. 

The burn is just slightly less even now than it had been, but not terribly so. Actually, it’s really just at a slight angle, but still has a straight edge on it.

On the plus side, the shingles rash just narrowly avoided my tattoo, so there’s that. I also discovered the other night as Rom was giving me tons of kisses on my head, that the tingling sensation known as ASMR actually runs through the whole body and just completely overwhelms the pain my nerves were feeling. For at least those few moments, I was in absolute pain-free heaven. Now I’m like an ASMR junkie, trying to find that high again.

Second Third:
The cocoa has kind of faded by the second third, and there’s something sweet and citrusy in its place now.

The burn has straightened out, too, and even before the halfway point I can already sense this cigar scoring very high marks. Damn it. I wish it was still available.

Very nice bit of pepper on the finish. It’s almost more chili powder than black pepper, and just enough to give it a little kick, without overpowering the flavor.

Final Third:
If you thought we were going to forget Anzû was the divine storm-bird, it definitely comes out in the last third! It’s a fierce thunderstorm of peppery spice now!

Some strong cedar here, too.

This one finishes off nice and spicy, but still just as smooth as it’s been from the start. Still perfectly even, too.

Closing Thoughts:
Another perfect score, for what it’s worth. Alas, as an event-exclusive cigar from two years ago, this is one I’ll probably never be able to smoke again, and you’ll probably never find it, either.

I do love when cigars are named in reference to mythology, even when that mythology is from faiths other than my own. Everyone has a story to tell, and all religions and spiritual paths, even the ancient ones, deserve to have those stories told. 

Man, though, what I’d give for a full box of these sticks.