Principle Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 – Perfecto (4.5 x 60)
The Particulars
| wdt_created_by | cigarkey | brand | cigarname | vitola | strength | wrapper | binder | filler | infused | sweettip | origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mcclossm | Principle Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 - Perfecto (4.5 x 60) | Principle Cigars | Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 | Perfecto - 4.50" x 60 | Medium | Ecuadorian Habano Vuelta Abajo, Natural | Dominican Republic (H-192 Habano Hybrid, Aged 16-Yrs) | Dominican Republic (Two Regions) / Peru (Pelo de Oro) / Pennsylvania (Broadleaf) | No | No | Kelner Boutique Factory, Dominican Republic |
| COMPANY / BRAND: | Principle Cigars |
| CIGAR: | Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 |
| VITOLA: | Perfecto - 4.50" x 60 |
| STRENGTH: | Medium |
| WRAPPER: | Ecuadorian Habano Vuelta Abajo, Natural |
| BINDER: | Dominican Republic (H-192 Habano Hybrid, Aged 16-Yrs) |
| FILLER: | Dominican Republic (Two Regions) / Peru (Pelo de Oro) / Pennsylvania (Broadleaf) |
| INFUSED: | No |
| SWEET TIP: | No |
| ORIGIN: | Kelner Boutique Factory, Dominican Republic |
Prolegomenon and Other Random Thoughts
The Principle Holiday Bauble is an annual winter release that’s part of the Accomplice line. It’s called the Bauble because they’re styled to look like an ornament finished off with Christmas themed bands. To say the Holiday Bauble is a unique vitola is an understatement. It’s a short, fat Perfecto, but both ends are closed and tapered like the head of a traditional parejo. This means the head is finished with a pigtail, while the foot gets a traditional triple cap. You could technically smoke it from either end, as you need to clip both ends of the cigar, unless you want to light a fully closed foot. If it came with a traditional cut foot, I think this would just be a short Gordo. But the double-closed feet do lend to the ornament look, which was the goal.
They’re all made at the Kelner Boutique Factory and notable with this release is the Ecuadorian Habano Vuelta Abajo wrapper and Dominican Dominican H-192 Habano Hybrid binder that’s a vintage from 2007.
| Journaling Date | Cigar | Appearance | Draw | Burn | Flavors | Overall Experience | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-28 | Principle Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 - Perfecto (4.5 x 60) | Good | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent | 4.75 | Without a doubt (box worthy) | 9.67 |
The Review
This review for the Principle Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 - Perfecto (4.5 x 60) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-12-28
Appearance & Construction (0-3): Good (3)
This Ecuadorian HVA wrapper looks like low-grit sandpaper with thick and heavy tooth. It has only a light sheen and minimal mottling, looking a little on the dry side. As with the other Baubles, it has a pigtail at the head and a triple cap at the foot. It’s a thick leaf, so the seams stand out with raised edges, but they’re all tight, and the triple cap on the foot is immaculate. The bands never change on the Bauble except for the year, so it’s the same red and green fabric. Overall, it looks well-rolled and has a good feel to it.
Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4): Good (3) / Good (3)
Like a heathen, I decided to experiment and just light the foot without clipping off the cap. Naturally, the challenge is that you can’t draw until enough has burned off and you break through the cap. It took a little extra effort, but it worked and was surprisingly effective. However, the draw ends up a little tighter that way. This could be a good method if you prefer more resistance on the draw, but if you like it open, use a guillotine and cut the foot off.
In spite of my barbaric method, the burn starts beautifully with a nice crisp and even line. The ash is a very light gray with even striations and completely covered with bright white oil crystals. The burn line gets a hair uneven, but it’s well controlled. The ash stack makes it to the halfway point where I need to dump for a minor correction and relight.
Flavor Profile (0-5): Excellent (5)
Immediate hits of cedar, baking spice, and pepper on the light-up. I think lighting the cap on the foot gave me a good blast of the wrapper by itself before getting into the filler, because earth and chocolate quickly followed as I got past the very edge of the foot. Flavors quickly piled on. Cinnamon, cedar, malty chocolate, nuttiness, leather, baking spice, salted caramel sweetness, and a smooth, thick creaminess on the back end. There’s a kick of pepper that’s coating the back of my mouth, but it’s all refined and smooth; that aged tobacco is doing its thing.
The salted caramel sweetness is driving in the second third. But there’s a really nice savory meatiness to this as well. Malted chocolate, earth, the entire spice rack, cedar, peanut shells and almonds, and light floral notes. Still creamy, still refined, still incredibly well-balanced. There are minor transitions in strength and tweaks to the flavors in the blend, but this is fantastic. The way the caramel lingers on the tongue… 🤌🏻 There are no real changes in the final third, just a banger of a cigar.
Overall Experience (0-5): Excellent (5)
The 2023 Holiday Bauble was just fantastic. From what I can tell, the 2024 release uses the same blend, so if you can’t find the 2023, grab the 2024 in Principle’s sampler that has the ’21, ’22, ’24, and ’25 blends. You will not be disappointed, and it’s a very affordable pack for what you get.
Review Base Rating (0-5):
4.75
Would I Buy It Again?
Without a doubt (box worthy)
Review Final Score (0-10):
9.67
Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries
While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example! This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo. Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!
| Times Journaled | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4.75 | Without a doubt (box worthy) | 9.67 |
| Journaling Date | Cigar | Appearance | Draw | Burn | Flavors | Overall Experience | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-28 | Principle Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bauble 2023 - Perfecto (4.5 x 60) | Good | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent | 4.75 | Without a doubt (box worthy) | 9.67 |
Journaling Photos
The Flavor Wheel
| Category | Strength |
|---|---|
| Baking Spice | 2.00 |
| Pepper | 2.00 |
| Coffee / Espresso | 1.00 |
| Anise / Licorice | 0.00 |
| Sweet | 3.00 |
| Chocolate | 2.00 |
| Bready / Toasty | 1.00 |
| Woody / Charred | 3.00 |
| Grass / Hay | 0.00 |
| Earth | 2.00 |
| Leather | 1.00 |
| Floral / Aromatic | 1.00 |
| Fruity | 2.00 |
| Nutty | 3.00 |
| Salty / Mineral | 1.00 |
| Creamy | 3.00 |
| Musty / Barnyard | 0.00 |
| Bitter | 0.00 |
| Smooth | 3.00 |
| Harsh | 0.00 |
With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience. These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out. When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.
The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.
- 0: No flavor detected
- 1: Mild flavor
- 2: Medium flavor
- 3: Strong flavor
Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.
With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience. These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out. When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.
The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.
- 0: No flavor detected
- 1: Mild flavor
- 2: Medium flavor
- 3: Strong flavor
Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.
| Category | Strength |
|---|---|
| Baking Spice | 2.00 |
| Pepper | 2.00 |
| Coffee / Espresso | 1.00 |
| Anise / Licorice | 0.00 |
| Sweet | 3.00 |
| Chocolate | 2.00 |
| Bready / Toasty | 1.00 |
| Woody / Charred | 3.00 |
| Grass / Hay | 0.00 |
| Earth | 2.00 |
| Leather | 1.00 |
| Floral / Aromatic | 1.00 |
| Fruity | 2.00 |
| Nutty | 3.00 |
| Salty / Mineral | 1.00 |
| Creamy | 3.00 |
| Musty / Barnyard | 0.00 |
| Bitter | 0.00 |
| Smooth | 3.00 |
| Harsh | 0.00 |
Questions on how the ratings work?
Check out the detailed explanation here.
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