The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Casdagli Villa Casdagli (Pigasus) - Figurado (5 x 58) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-11-12

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

The Pigasus is an interesting vitola. It’s not quite as short as other pigs, feeling more like a pyramid version of a Robusto Grande at 5″ long. It features a tapered wedge shape that comes to a narrow point at the head, and it sports a traditional closed foot at the bottom. So the real girth of the vitola is right at the foot, not in the center of the cigar like other pigs. Imagine an Arturo Fuente Shark without the box press.

The Ecuadorian wrapper is a beautiful, warm, medium-dark brown with plenty of rosado to it. It has a thick, glistening sheen that practically drips with oil, alongside a little bit of tooth. There are a number of veins—a couple of thick ones—and the cigar has a very firm feel. All the seams are nice and tight. The closed foot that’s neatly tied off with a pigtail gives it a great, semi-rustic feel. The bands are forgettable and fall off a little easily, but that’s really the only negative here.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Average (2)

Having a closed foot that’s twisted into a little pigtail, it predictably takes a little more effort to light up, but it does start evenly and immediately presents me with a good draw. The burn is incredibly slow in the first third, so it’ll reward you with extra smoking time relative to its size. Unfortunately, the burn also looks drunk as a skunk, featuring a swirling burn line that dips and dives all over the place. The ash itself is a very light gray with a lot of darker accents as small bits feather off. The burn ultimately starts to canoe, so I take the opportunity to safely roll the ash and apply a heavy correction. I’m a little worried the side that was burning slowly is rolled too tight to burn evenly, but it’s improved. It just needs a couple more mild touch-ups throughout the burn.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

Earth, charred oak, baking spice, mild pepper, raisin sweetness, bits of breadiness, dark chocolate… this thing is just exploding with immediate flavor. That breadiness quickly ramps up into a very nice graham cracker note that tamps down the earth and charred oak flavors, allowing more nuttiness to shine through. The spice sits at a nice medium-plus level. Both pepper and baking spice are deeply present, providing plenty of flavor and mouth tingle without ever becoming overwhelming. The sweetness has developed a dual personality that freely flips between raisin and honey. Even with the hearty spice levels, the delivery is incredibly smooth and it’s all wrapped up in a super rich and creamy finish. As I noted above, the first third burns exceptionally slow and really gives you a lot of time to savor and enjoy the flavors.

Getting past the thickest part of the Pigasus, the flavors get a little bit more intense, but the overall profile and balance don’t change. It’s still leading with graham cracker and nuttiness, a blend of peppers and baking spice, followed closely by that raisin and honey sweetness with a smooth and moderately creamy finish. This is a highly unique set of flavors, and I’m sure it’s the Peruvian tobacco with the additional fermentation doing its job. What’s fantastic is the dichotomy—or split personality—on display. On the inhale: baking spice and honey. On the exhale: pepper and raisin. If you’re a heavy retrohaler, you’re likely to get even more of that dynamic split. There are no real changes heading into the final third; this is just a delightful blend packed with fantastic complexity and flavor.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

Other than some frustrations with the burn that required extra attention and correcting, the flavor profile here is excellent and easily elevates the cigar above those structural headaches. I’m willing to give this specific example the benefit of the doubt that the burn issues are a one-off, and I look forward to revisiting this cigar sooner rather than later. The Villa Casdagli seems to be a cigar that was simply forgotten about as buyers moved on to new and different shiny objects, because there is really no reason to sleep on this blend!  And that’s unfortunate for them, but sometimes it’s just casting pearls before swine with select cigars and the buying public. 🐷

Postscript

2026-Aug-15:  These Pigasus vitolas in my collection are developing some real character with age and haven’t lost a single beat in the flavor department. It really is an exquisite and flavorful blend that wakes the palate up with varied spice, complexity, and nuance. But the Pigasus vitola just never seems to burn that well. It’s always uneven, with sections constantly lagging, even if they self-correct and no manual adjustments are required. It’s still a fun and unique vitola that’s worth exploring, but when I run out of these, I may explore other vitolas in the line next time to see if they burn better, or if they bring a slightly different experience to the blend itself. But I’m definitely a big fan of the Villa Casdagli Pigasus.

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!

The Flavor Wheel

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.